1 Write a conversation exercise: greetings and introductions (with example conversation and audio)

I teach really large classes. One of the biggest problems in large classes is assessing students’ speaking and language abilities. I have found that this is a great way to assess students speaking skills as I teach through an elementary English language course.  At the end of  a  class I hand out the worksheets. The students create their own conversation or dialogue and come and perform the dialogue for me. I give each student a score. This exercise (write a conversation format ) can be done every 2 or 3 classes (or even every class!-it’s worked really well for me) and gradually you build up a really accurate picture of a students’ abilities. I have now added an example conversation and audio so it can be used as a listening exercise also.

Greetings and introductions (PDF)

 Greetings and introductions conversation audio (mp3)

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 2 Write a conversation exercise: family (with examples)

Talking about the families is another easy topic for dialogue/conversation writing for elementary English learners. This exercise includes 3 example conversations and one conversation (audio file) that can be used as a listening activity.

Write a conversation: family (PDF)

Talking about families audio (mp3)

Related Resources:

9 Super Elementary Speaking Exercises

5 Elementary Create a Conversation Exercises for Speaking Classes

5 Elementary Conversational Expressions Exercises

5 First Day Activities for an ESL Class

10 Really! Elementary ESL classroom icebreakers

7 Essential Speaking Activities for ESL Classes

12 Great Icebreakers to Start a Class

8 Invitation and Request Dialogues for Everyday Scenarios

3 Write a conversation exercise: routines and daily activities with dialogue and audio for a listening exercise

Write-a- conversation exercises work really well for many topics including routines and daily activities.  I always get the students to perform just for me …not in front of the class..as they are more relaxed and I get a close up and personal look at their performance. Also, I can ask them to repeat the conversation easily if it is not fluent enough.

Routines and daily activities (PDF)

Routines conversation audio (mp3)

4 Write a conversation exercise: going out

“Going Out” is another good conversation topic. When students write these dialogues in pairs or small groups they automatically fall into a role play mode without any direction from the teacher.

Going out (PDF)

5 Write a conversation exercise: plans for the weekend

(with examples and audio)

“Plans for the weekend” is similar to the above but a little more advanced. It requires students to understand  language for talking about the future. But the good thing about these exercises is that students can choose words and phrases they can manage.

Plans for the weekend (PDF)

Plans for the weekend audio (mp3)

 6 Write a conversation exercise: friendship

Of course, friendship is a great topic for getting students to use adjectives for personality and describing people.

Friendship (PDF)

 7 Write a conversation exercise: houses and neighborhoods

Of courses, it’s also fairly easy for students  to talk about their  houses and neighborhoods if they have suitable vocabulary. One of the things that surprised me when listening to students perform these conversation exercises was how quickly I could get through a class of fifty students. The students were using similar vocabulary in various ways which revealed their language and conversational abilities. And so it was easy to compare and assess the students.

Houses and neighborhoods (PDF)

 8 Write a conversation exercise: food and eating

One of the best conversation writing topics is food. Students instantly start creating fun role plays. Also, vocabulary around food and eating  brings in a lot of interesting pronunciation challenges.

Food and eating (PDF)

 9 Write a conversation exercise:  simple past tense

The past tense is quite challenging for elementary students. This conversation exercise gives students the opportunity to practice creating a conversation and get used to pronunciation of past tense endings.

Create a conversation- past tense (PDF)

Past tense conversation 1 (Mike and Zee) audio (mp3)

Past tense conversation 2 (Joey) audio (mp3)

 10 Write a conversation exercise:  health

Here, students have to write a health and illness conversation or dialogue. Writing a dialogue about health is one of the best ways to get students using health vocabulary, which can cause quite a few pronunciation problems.

Create a conversation- health (PDF)

 11 Write a conversation exercise:  start a business (with audio and example conversations)

Staring a business is a popular topic with teenagers and university students. They have lots of ideas and opinions. This includes example conversations (restaurant and laundry service) with audio.

Create a conversation- start a business (PDF)

 Starting a business conversation (laundry service) audio (mp3)

Starting a restaurant audio (mp3)

 12 Write a conversation exercise:  hotels

Most students have experience and opinions about staying in hotels. So it’s another good topic at an upper elementary (and above) level.

Create a conversation- hotels (PDF)

Related Speaking Skills Resources:

Socializing Speaking Lessons Home

10 Role Play Speaking Activities

11 Classroom Debate and Discussion Language Activities

5 Cracking Complaints and Annoyances Language and Speaking Exercises

12 Brilliant Business English Speaking Skills  Activities

 13 Write a conversation exercise:  “used to” (compare past and present)

Here, students have to compare the past and present using “used to”. It’s a fun and interesting conversation writing exercise for students with some fluency.

Create a conversation- “used to”(PDF)

 14 Write a conversation exercise:  problem/solution

Here, students have to compare the past and present using “used to”. It’s a fun and interesting conversation writing exercise for students with some fluency.

Create a conversation- problem solution (PDF)