Role Play Speaking Activities for Language Learners
10th February 2024
A New Set of Customer Service Role Plays
Customer service interactions have evolved dramatically in recent years – from chatbots to video calls to automated systems. Yet human communication remains crucial. This collection of role-play activities bridges the gap between traditional and modern customer service scenarios.
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Role Plays for Modern Day Interactions
This collection of role plays presents real-life situations in clear, practical formats. Simple cue words guide students through common interactions like package delivery and bus schedules, while supporting audio helps with pronunciation and timing. Some samples are below but the complete collection can be found at:
Role Plays for Modern Day Interactions
Running late for a meeting role play
This business English role-play puts students in a common workplace scenario – dealing with a delayed colleague. A series of short prompts guides learners to build a natural conversation between Priya, who’s covering at the office, and Marcus, who’s running late. The exercise combines visual, written, and audio elements to practice professional communication skills.
Business expansion role play
Guiding students through business expansion concepts, this role play focuses on a dialogue between a manager and assistant planning their company’s growth into Singapore and Malaysia. The exercise uses simple prompts and supporting images to help students practice natural business conversations about international expansion.
Husband-wife phrasal verb and request role play (with audio)
This is an elementary English ESL role play exercise for practicing requests and phrasal or two part verbs. Students complete the conversations with suitable expressions. Then they can compare answers and carry out the role play.
Celebrity chef interview
This is a role play and listening/speaking exercise with a celebrity chef . This is a really fun exercise with broad appeal. I noticed many of my online students went straight to this exercise ahead of many other exercises.
Interview with a famous athlete
Not all students love sport, but for those that do, this is a great exercise. They can watch/listen to the model role play(which can also be used as a listening exercise) and then create a role pay about their sports hero.
Lost person roleplay
This is an ESL or English language role play listening /speaking lesson for practicing conversational English. It’s a bit of an old classic and allows for imagination and creativity while practicing the past tenses and vocabulary for describing people.
Bad restaurant role play
Bad restaurant is a listening speaking and role play exercise for talking about restaurant food and service.
Interview with a famous celebrity role play (with audio)
Easily the most popular and appealing role play activity is the celebrity interview role play. I suggest that the teacher models this activity with a student as a warm-up and to get students in the mood. Then students can be put in pairs and groups to carry out the interviewer-celebrity role play themselves. The teacher can roam the room to monitor grammar and language. At the end of the role play exercise, it may be a good idea to get the students to write out the complete questions and answers so the teacher can check on accuracy. This is a fun communicative exercise that allows students to to be creative and to improvise. This activity can also be done as a listening activity. Listen to the interview and take notes of Selena’s answers.
(see the “Celebrity Interview” role play on Youtube)
Bad vacation
This is a role play about a bad vacation. It’s a role play exercise for practicing the past simple tense.
(see the “Bad vacation” role play on Youtube)
First impressions (woman)
This is a listening/speaking exercise for English language learners to talk about personality and first impressions. This exercise focuses on a woman. Students look at the pictures and try to create a story about how they got to know this woman. Or, the exercise can be used as a listening activity. Students listen to the audio and fill in the answers.
(First impressions – woman PDF)
First impressions (man)
This is another first impressions role play exercise. This exercise focuses on a man. As above the exercise can be used to try to create a story or role play about how they got to know this man. Or again, the exercise can be used as a listening activity. Students listen to the audio and fill in the answers.
Checking into a hotel (with audio and answers) worksheet
This is an English language exercise introducing and exploring hotel language and vocabulary. Students try to complete the conversation. Then they can listen to the conversation and check their answers.
Hotel reception listening and conversation (PDF)
Ordering in a restaurant listening activity and conversation worksheet (with audio answers)
This is a fun “Ordering in a Restaurant” gap fill speaking activity for an English language class. Students listening to audio and complete the conversation. Then the students can practice the conversation, perform role plays and/or write their own “Ordering in a Restaurant” dialogues.
Ordering in a restaurant dialogue (PDF)
Interview with a supply chain manager
An interview/role play listening/speaking exercise for higher elementary to pre-intermediate students.
Job enquiry by telephone (with audio and answers)
This is a listening/speaking telephone dialogue activity. A job candidate telephones a company manager and asks about he requirements for a job position. It includes language and vocabulary commonly used during the job application process. Students listen and try to complete the conversation.
Job enquiry conversation (PDF)
FAQ Mini-Roleplays
This role play activity focuses on the language necessary for customer service, INTRO: This role play activity is a suitable activity for: Elementary students- for present simple requests: “Where is..?”
“Could I ?” “How much?” etc. Pre-Intermediate students- indirect requests with verb “to be”: “Do you know where it is?” and “to do”: “Could you tell me how much it costs?” Intermediate students– requests using “if” and gerunds: “Is it Ok if?” “Would you mind if?” “Would it be OK if..?” “I wonder if I could? Would you mind telling me if? “I was wondering if..?”
Related Speaking Skills Resources:
Socializing Speaking Lessons Home
11 Classroom Debate and Discussion Language Activities
5 Cracking Complaints and Annoyances Language and Speaking Exercises
12 Brilliant Business English Speaking Skills Activities
ESL Listening Activities Guide
Consumer complaint role play
This role play activity is great for practicing the language of consumer complaints in a variety of situations.
Consumer complaint role plays (PDF)
Business English introductions role play
This is a business English ESL exercise. Students follow the guide on the PDF and write short conversations.
Business introduction role plays (PDF)
Cool Jobs
This is a lesson appropriate for pre-intermediate and intermediate ESL/EFL students. It would be a suitable activity for using with career vocabulary or with comparative adjectives and nouns.
Related Resources
Listening exercises for English language classes
9 Super Elementary Speaking Exercises
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
