Speaking Activities for the Classroom

News Program Presentations 

 

It’s also fun for students to organize and present their class like a TV show, 

which is especially prepared for English language students. You can divide the 

class into pairs and groups and assign them jobs and let them choose the topics 

they will perform in the next class meeting, which may include some or all of 

the following tasks : 

 

1.  Choose a Master of Ceremonies, or Presenter, who will perform the 

introduction to the show and tell us what sequence of tasks will be 

performed by the other students. He/she should introduce the 

presenters as they take turns and then speak some final words at the 

conclusion of the show. 

2.  Explain Proverbs or Idioms : This is a good way to start off the show 

with one pair of SDS each introducing one proverb/idiom and giving 

examples of how it is used in daily speech. 

3.  Presenting General knowledge : Another group can speak on an 

informative topic to tell us about something that everyone should know, 

for example, about health or geography or computer technology.  

4.  A Word Game is another good activity: like an example from hangman 

or scrabble or a crossword puzzle. 

5.  A Role Play may follow with the SDS acting out a scene from a popular 

movie, soap opera, fairy tale or myth. SDS choose the scene and write 

and perform their own dialogue. 

6.  A Joke from the Internet or a joke book presented by one or two SDS 

can help to add humor to the sequence.  

7.  Singing a song using a VDO would be an interesting way to involve the 

SDS and work on pronunciation at the same time. See also the following 

suggestions: 

8.  A VDO Clip from a popular film followed by questions and discussion. 

9.  A Cooking Demonstration that can be performed easily in class without 

flame or fire, for example, how to make a certain kind of sandwich or 

salad or dessert. 

10. A Debate : choose a topic on which the class is divided in opinion and 

put the SDS in two lines of chairs opposite one another and argue it out. 

11. Eating Out : SDS can have a conversation about dining out at Siam 

Center, KFC, Mac Donald’s, S and P, MK-Sukiyaki, etc. Students can tell 

about value-for-money and talk about some of the food items. 

 

Plan out the format and timing of the show, so that each student speaks for 

an equal amount of time and everyone does an equal amount of work. 

 

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News Desk 

 

If the students reliable enough to do their homework, another effective way to 

hold a classroom activity is to give the students this handout sheet in advance 

of the up-coming class, and tell them to prepare themselves, by reading English 

newspapers and magazines, or watching the news on cable TV, or looking at 

Internet sites, to speak for two minutes one topic of their choice from of the 

following categories : 

World News Headlines 

Bangkok News 

Asian News 

The Royal Family 

World Sports 

Computer News 

New Technology 

Business and Finance 

The Stock Market 

Currency Exchange 

World Weather 

Medical Research 

Health and Fitness 

Fashion and Design 

Home and Garden 

Food and Dining 

Weather Report 

Super Stars 

Believe it or not 

Animal Planet 

Music  

Movies 

When they know they will be graded for their performance, it encourages 

students to work outside class; otherwise, this class could fall flat-on-its-face. 

 

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Table Talk 

 

You may have heard about an international organization, called Toastmasters, 

which holds regular meetings in which like-minded people, mostly 

professionals, learn to practice the art of public speaking. One of the 

techniques they use is called “Table Talk” in which any member of the 

audience may be asked to stand up and come forward and speak, with no 

previous preparation, on a subject that is given by the Table Talk Chairman. 

Imagine, for example, if you were asked to stand up and say in English what 

you think of Thai TV Game Shows, could you do it? Of course you could! It 

just takes a bit of guts and a lot of practice. Some other impromptu table talk 

topics might be as follow. Tell us about :                   

 

Simple things in life that you enjoy 

The duties of a good mother 

Ways to gain merit by doing good 

How to run a profitable business 

The influence of American movies 

Respect for your elders 

The best teacher you ever had 

Who your role model is and why 

The entrance exam 

Telling the truth 

Your favorite family member 

Your most memorable holiday 

Puppy love versus enduring love 

A scary experience 

A piece of good luck 

Mistakes that get teenagers into trouble 

The earliest memory that you have from childhood 

Something learned in school that helped in later life 

The first time you try this before an audience, you may be dissatisfied with the 

result, but if you keep doing it, you’ll become more confident on your feet. 

 

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Tell Me a Story  

This is another activity in which you must think on your feet and talk off the 

cuff, without preparation. As in a Toastmaster’s meeting, various members of 

the audience are asked to come forward and tell a story from their experience 

that illustrates, for example, 

A good deed 

Something to be proud of 

A childhood dream 

A childhood accident 

An unusual character 

Something grandmother taught 

Your father as a role model 

A moral lesson  

Learning from a mistake 

Letting down a friend 

An act of loyalty 

An act of courage 

An act of kindness 

Setting a good example 

An ungrateful friend 

A happy end 

Getting lost 

The importance of tolerance 

Something you learned from a monk 

Being cheated by someone you trusted 

A change in plans 

Achieving a goal 

Earning the respect of others 

Forgiveness 

You’d better hope that if they call on you, you’ll have something to talk about. 

 

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Interactive Role Plays 

 

Let the students choose a friend, so they can work together in pairs. Get them 

to choose one of the topics below, or think up a more creative one, and, then, 

write a dialogue, to perform in front of the class in the next period. Give them 

some time, in class, to read and discuss the handout and then some more time 

to think about what they will say, and, then, even more time to start writing 

down and practicing the actual words of their dialogue. While all this is going 

on the teacher should be circulating throughout the room, prepared to offer 

help and answer questions. Each student must talk about two minutes all 

together, so the sketch is finished in less than five minutes. 

 

Two people disagree on a point and argue it out 

•  the old man next door tells you your party is too loud 

•  you try to explain that you are just young people having fun 

or 

•  the neighbor complains about your barking dog 

•  you explain that it is in a dog’s nature to bark 

or 

•  your friend wants to buy your 1980 230 Benz for half a million Baht 

•  you argue it is well-kept and has classic value and ask for a million 

or 

•  your wife is jealous because you came home with lipstick on your shirt 

•  you claim some strange girl on the bus accidentally rubbed against you 

or 

•  the boyfriend wants to pay the bill in a restaurant 

•  the girl insists that she pays to illustrate sexual equality 

or 

•  your wife is suspicious because you come home so late 

•  you try to console her by explaining you work overtime 

In this kind of role play situation, it is better to let the students think up their 

own dialogues, because this is more fun for them and also funny and 

entertaining for the class. Freedom will relieve their sense of pressure. 

 

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Asking Your Friends for Advice 

 

In this task, one student goes to the front and pretends to have a problem and 

asks the others for advice. This is a kind of free-for-all activity that gives 

everyone a chance to speak if they wish. It also shows the teacher which 

students are ready to participate and which ones hang back and may need extra 

attention and encouragement. A student explains his/her problem thus : 

•  I want more than anything to major in drama and maybe one day be a 

star, but my parents are dead set against it because I would have to come 

home late from rehearsals, I wouldn’t be wearing a school uniform, and 

this might not be safe, and, most of all, they feel that I would have no 

chance of a proper career if I follow this path, what should I do? 

The other students can ask questions and talk with her about her problem. 

•  My family will not accept my boyfriend because they think he does not 

come from the right kind of background. They say he doesn’t know how 

to behave or speak in the proper manner. They look down on his family 

because they have less money than us, and they want me to break off the 

relationship right away. What they don’t know is that I have been seeing 

him for about three years, and we have become quite close. We really 

love one another and even plan to get married after we graduate. What 

can we do to resolve the situation? 

•  I saw my best girlfriend’s boyfriend holding hands with another girl in a 

shopping mall. Then, they went into a movie and because of my 

curiosity, I followed them. I actually saw him stealing a kiss when he 

thought nobody would be looking. They seem very familiar with one 

another and I feel that he has been seeing this other girl all along, from 

even before he started going with my girlfriend, Ann, two months ago. I 

think that he has just been stringing Ann along and I feel it is my duty to 

tell her all I know. What should I do? 

•  My mother allowed me to get a driver’s license and bought me a car to 

drive to school, but she made me promise never to drive outside the 

limits of the city. Last weekend, on Saturday, all my best girlfriends 

talked me into driving them to Pattaya for the day. I was home by seven-

thirty, and my mom didn’t even have the slightest suspicion because she 

has absolute confidence in me keeping my promise. .When I started 

thinking about it, I realized that for the sake of my friends, I had 

betrayed my mother’s trust. Now, I feel so guilty because I love my 

mother even more than I love my friends. Should I go to my mother and 

tell her everything? What should I do?   

 

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Problem-Solving 

 

Most of the tasks in this book are short and can be finished in one-sitting. In student-centered 

learning, however, some of the tasks that we do may be long tasks that can take six weeks or 

even all semester.  First, we divide the students into groups of about 5 and let them choose a 

topic, with the help of the teacher, and then students go out and research the topic to collect all 

the information they need and then put it together in big report which can also be given as an 

oral presentation at the end. For example, 

Assign the students a general problem, like “How to Solve a Social Problem,”  and 

then get them to narrow the topic so that each group has a different problem to 

research and explain and suggest a solution for. 

Some sample ideas might be 

Children who sniff glue 

People who live under bridges 

Students addicted to heroine 

Each group can find its own special topic, different from the ones above, that 

is small enough to gather comprehensive information about, using any source 

that is helpful in collecting data, such as surveys, interviews, statistics, books, 

magazines, journals, the Internet, and so on. Don’t choose subjects like  

Traffic in Bangkok 

Air Pollution 

Political Corruption, etc., 

because they have often been done by other student groups in other classes. 

The activities should proceed in steps or stages as follow : 

Group discussion of general topic 

Narrow the topic 

Clear it with the teacher 

Decide on how to best gather information 

Give each student an individual search-task 

Write and conduct a survey, where appropriate  

Consult with the teacher on a weekly basis 

Report on progress and discuss any problems. 

 

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Problem-Solving Continued 

 

In these group activities, the teacher should circulate from group to group to 

provide help wherever needed, giving constructive criticism and suggestions 

about how to make the report even better. If there are two classes a week, one 

class may be for group work and planning and the other for consultation. 

Students may also sometimes be allowed to leave the classroom and go to the 

Computer Lab or the Student Access Learning Center. In class, if the groups 

are sitting in small circles, they should leave one chair empty so the teacher to 

sit with them rather than standing looking over their shoulders and being an 

outsider. Students can show signs of their progress by 

Bringing copies of their research articles to class 

Explaining what role each student is playing 

Deciding on the main idea to be stressed in the solution  

Showing a draft outline of the project presentation 

Discuss the logic leading to the conclusion 

Providing proof to back up assertions 

Bringing in graphics to illustrate ideas, and so on. 

Students can be graded using a combinations of different criteria, such as giving 

an agreed number of for   

 

 

   

teamwork 

leadership 

individual research 

participation in consultation 

speaking during the presentation 

evaluating the quality of the final report 

following accepted scholarly criteria in the research reports, etc. 

It should depend on the judgment of the teacher(s) what criteria to use in what 

proportion depending on the class and the level. Actually, the social topics 

above sound a bit simple. Third-year structural engineers might want to choose 

topics more closely-related to their field of study. IT students might be 

encouraged to do a website and give their presentations in the computer lab 

using Power Point. Where technical support is not available, try an E-zine. 

 

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Chapter Nine : A Bit Of Business 

 

A lot of the training programs which I have been asked to teach in Thailand 

were intended to help business managers and government administrators to 

function in a more effective manner, when they were required to coordinate 

with native-speakers of English.  

 

I am including a few of these tasks and activities that have worked-well for me 

in such classes. A lot of the others were too job-specific and are not included. 

 

Students who wish to study on a more elementary, everyday, office work-level 

may consult another of my books called Better Business English, published by 

Chulalongkorn University Press and available at the Chula Book Center at Siam 

Square in Bangkok. 

 

In this fast-changing world, where global companies and international business 

standards and practices, all have to comply with the standards and expectations 

of high-level corporate entities, Thai business professionals should  attempt to 

develop their English skills to a level comparable with that of their professional 

counterparts in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Holland, Sweden, France, 

Germany, Italy and other countries like Japan where the working-language of 

international commerce and communications will be English.  

 

If you are a Thai trying to use English as a second language in order to do 

business, you don’t have to be exactly perfect, but you will want to be as close-

to-perfect as you can be.  

 

This means that you will need constant practice in order to keep upgrading 

your competence and ability-level.  

 

The hard truth is that, in the grueling world of international business, you must 

perform-up-to-expectation, or you will be left behind, while other colleagues 

get the promotions and salary raises, as they work their way, towards, the 

sources of big money.  

 

To be able to do this, you will also have had to have spent considerable time 

polishing up your pronunciation skills.  

 

There are a number of exercises included, later, further on in the text, under 

pronunciation,  that can help you speak more clearly and understandably. 

 

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Polite and Impolite Language 

 

Avoid using informal language and slang when you are doing-business. There is 

a certain standard of formality that is expected in the business community. For 

example, when you talk on the phone, never say informal things like : 

Yah?  Who are you? What do you want? Wait a minute, He’s not here. Call back later.  

 

Instead, try to get in the habit of speaking more politely as follows : 

“Hello. Good morning. Can I help you? 

Good morning. This is Simplex Limited, may I help you? 

How may we be of service to you? 

May I ask who is calling please? 

Could you please repeat that? How do you spell your name please?  

Thank you very much sir. One moment please. 

Oh, I’m afraid he is not here at the moment. May I tell him you called? 

May I take a message? Would you like him to call you back? 

What is your number please? Let me repeat that to be sure I got it right.” 

 

Often the person who is calling, forgets his manners and says things like : 

Give me Tony O’Neill. I want to speak to Tony. Is he there? Where is he then? 

Instead say things like, 

“Hello. Good morning. May I please speak to Mr. Tony O’Neill? 

Good afternoon, Could you please connect me with Mr. O’Neill? 

Would you please be kind enough to have him call me back? 

Could you please ask him to return my call? 

 Would you please ask him to call Mr. John Dillon I’m staying at the Hilton. 

Would please ask him to fax me the specifications for unit number 3323?” 

 

312

Mind Your Manners  

 

Sometimes, a customer or client or sales representative will extend you an 

invitation. Be careful how you answer. Don’t say the first thing that comes into 

you head without thinking. If you are invited out for dinner, don’t say, 

“No. I can’t I don’t want to. I’m not hungry. I’m busy. I want to go home to my family.” 

 

Instead, speak positively, and give a polite explanation why you cannot go, like : 

“Oh, that’s very kind of you. Normally, I would love to, but my husband is 

picking me up to go to the doctor’s. Perhaps we can make it another time.” 

Or, if it is strictly-business, you might say, 

“I would like to, but my husband always picks me up at the office at six-thirty. 

Perhaps we could meet for lunch one day soon and talk over the details of your 

case.” Or you can say, 

“That sounds great, but I have to get out the monthly-report and I’ll be 

working in the office until after midnight. Let me take a rain-check. Would that 

be all right?” 

In fact, it is a “no-no” to say “no.” Never say “no” to the client, customer, etc. 

Don’t say, “No, I can’t. I’m still not ready. You’ll have to wait. I’m not finished yet.” 

 

Instead say, “I wish I could send the report to you right now, but I am waiting 

for some last minute documents, and I promise I will sent to you at the first 

possible opportunity. I’m doing my best.”  Start with something positive, and 

give a good reason. That’s why you have to start on an encouraging note, like 

“We have put your project on high priority, and we can send you the tax report 

as soon as you provide us with the custom’s invoice for item number seven.” 

 

 

313

Rewrite the Following Sentences 

 

You’d better pay up immediately. 

Unfortunately, it is our duty to inform you that……………………………….. 

 

You got your figures wrong. 

We have examined your invoice, and ......……………………………………… 

 

Where is the $30,000 you owe us? 

We wish to inform you that ………………………………………………… 

 

No more delays of payment! 

We regret to inform you that …………………………………………………. 

 

We can’t deliver your order in time. 

We regret to inform you that due to ………………………………………….. 

 

You are charging us too much. 

We have looked at competitive pricing, and  .………………………………… 

 

Where are those specifications? 

With reference to our e-mail of ……………………………………………….  

 

Reply to my query immediately. 

We would kindly request ……………………………………………………… 

 

I can’t come to the meeting. 

I regret to inform you that due to …………………………………………….. 

 

You’ll have to wait for the results. 

Due to ……………………………………………………………………….. 

 

You forgot to send proof of payment of VAT. 

We would like to bring to your attention …………………………………….. 

 

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. 

We are sorry that you were not satisfied with ……….….. but …………….… 

 

We want to buy cheap. 

Our profit margin is so tight that …………………………………………….. 

 

314