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Guide to Roleplays

Straightforward

Philip Kerr

Lindsay Clandfield

Ceri Jones

Roy Norris

Jim Scrivener

Teaching made simple

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Straightforward

editionSecond


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The Straightforward Guide to Roleplays

Contents:What is roleplay? 2

Why use roleplays? 2

Tips from the Straightforward Teacher’s Book by Jim Scrivener 3

Giving extra practice: instant roleplays 4

Using props and realia for roleplay 5

Roleplays for elementary students 6–11

Roleplays for pre-intermediate students 12–17

Roleplays for intermediate students 18–23

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Lindsay Clandfield and Philip KerrAuthors of the Straightforward series

Welcome to the Straightforward Guides. We hope that they will be helpful for less experienced teachers, as well as providing a number of fresh ideas for everyone.

Each guide follows a simple, easy-to-use format.

The first section presents an aspect of language teaching practice in a clear, accessible way, with the busy teacher in mind.

The second section provides a selection of classroom activities that require only minimal preparation, along with tips on how to incorporate this kind of work into your day-to-day teaching.

This guide is all about roleplays in the language classroom. We look at WHAT roleplays are and WHY we might use them. You will also find advice and useful tips on HOW to set up and run roleplays in your classroom.

Finally, there are some sample roleplays at three levels (Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate) for you to use with your students.

We hope you and your students enjoy them!


What is roleplay?In plain terms, roleplay is a useful tool not only for developing language skills, but also for increasing sociocultural knowledge and intercultural awareness.

In plain terms, roleplay is a classroom activity in which learners take on a ‘role’. They play the part of someone else. So, for example, students acting out a discussion between a travel agent and a potential client are engaging in roleplay.

Within this broad definition, there are several different kinds of roleplays. What follows is a list of characteristics that some (but not all) roleplays may have.

1. Roleplays are usually spoken, but they can be conducted in written form (through a series of emails for example).

2. Roleplays usually involve role cards, but the cards are not always necessary.

3. Roleplays usually mean learners are pretending to be someone else, but learners can play themselves merely in a different context (this is sometimes called ‘simulation’ or ‘real play’).

4. Roleplays usually involve some preparation, but many classroom activities can be made instantly into roleplays with no prior preparation at all.

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Why use roleplays?Depending on how a roleplay is designed and set up, it can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Frequently, roleplays are used to offer a chance to practise the language of particular situations, but they can also be used to practise particular areas of grammar, sets of vocabulary, functional language and even features of pronunciation. They may not even have a specific language focus and can be used to provide opportunities for students to practise their speaking (and listening) skills.

In practice activities, it’s important to offer students to chance to speak honestly about themselves and their own lives. However, for most students there is a limit on what varieties of practice they are exposed to in class. They won’t get the chance to try out important information in a whole range of situations, e.g. booking a ticket, having a meal at a restaurant etc. Roleplays are a simple but important way of extending the range of useful practice.

There are several other good reasons for using roleplays in class. Here are six more:

1. Roleplays help shyer students address potentially controversial or personal issues by giving them a ‘mask’.

2. Roleplays help learners cope with the unpredictable nature of language and forces them to think ‘on their feet’.

3. Roleplays help learners work together to make a piece of communication work, rather than a simple transmission of information from one person to another.

4. Roleplays provide a ‘rehearsal’ for events that students might encounter. This is particularly useful for learners with specific language needs.

5. Roleplays encourage learner-learner interaction, giving learners more responsibility in their learning.

6. Roleplays can be lots of fun!

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Tips from the Straightforward Teacher’s Book by Jim ScrivenerWhen running a roleplay it’s worth remembering:

1. Students usually need preparation time: (1) to understand the task and role card, if there is one; (2) to think of some ideas; (3) to think of appropriate language they can use (maybe finding specific vocabulary items).

2. This preparation time is the time for the teacher to monitor and actively help. Avoid interrupting and interfering too much once students have actually started the roleplay.

3. Remember that a roleplay is usually a chance to practise using language to communicate. Being fluent and getting one’s message across is often more important than getting it 100% correct. Don’t forget this when giving any feedback afterwards. Tell students about how well they conveyed (or didn’t convey) the message rather than picking on a long list of little grammar points.

4. Don’t set up a roleplay and then immediately expect a pair to perform for the rest of the class to watch. Most roleplays work best if all pairs or groups do their speaking simultaneously, so that they don’t feel anyone is watching and judging. If some are very good, are funny or interesting, you could ask them to repeat a version for the class to watch at the end. However, beware of forcing unwilling students to embarrass themselves.

If your students really like roleplays, don’t limit them to the roleplays in the book. It’s very easy to turn many activities into roleplays. See ‘Instant roleplays’ on page 4 for more.

Straightforward Teacher’s BookThe complete guide for successful English teachers

n Extensive teaching notes and extra ideas for every lesson

n Detailed notes on the language and cultural content of the Student’s Book material

n Regular ‘Methodology Builders’ offer immediately useful teaching ideas and advice

n A photocopiable worksheet for every Student’s Book lesson, including songs

n Two resource CDs, including tests and self-assessment worksheets, linked to the Common European Framework

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Giving extra practice: instant roleplays1. A quick and useful way to provide students with more practice in a language area

is to set up an instant roleplay.

2. Teachers sometimes avoid roleplays because they think it involves lots of preparation of roleplay cards or because they think students won’t like it, finding it too ‘silly’.

3. Both of these objections can be made to evaporate. Don’t make a big thing out of roleplays. Don’t announce it as something special or unusual. Just drop it into the lesson along with all the other practice. You don’t need complicated cards – a simple instruction will do. And very often, it’s possible to add a roleplay to a lesson when you realize that students need more practice, even if you haven’t planned anything in advance. With a little practice they are not very hard to invent spontaneously on the spot.

4. To make a simple roleplay you need to tell the students (a) where they are (b) who they are (c) what they should talk about. It’s often possible to say this in just one or two short sentences. If you want to give more instructions, you can also say any further information that might help, e.g. some things that should happen during the conversation – or perhaps remind students of useful language. But often the simple (a) (b) (c) instruction is sufficient.

For example, imagine your students have just finished an exercise where they ask each other about travelling habits (Do you like flying etc.). When they have finished doing the questions, say ‘In pairs. You are both sitting on a plane. Talk to the passenger next to you. Tell them what you think about flying’. If you want to add more colour to the situation, you could add ‘It’s a terrible journey. The plane keeps bumping. You feel sick!’.

5. You can also use role-play as a way of repeating a task when students need more practice without it seeming too dull. For example, imagine students have shared information about the last vacation they had. You could say ‘OK. Now think of a famous person (e.g. President of America, famous pop star etc.). Now – you ARE that person! Meet other people and ask them your questions. But remember to answer as the famous person not as you!

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Using props and realia for roleplayMany teachers like to support roleplays with some kind of prop, or realia (realia is real objects brought into the classroom for language development). Using props is by no means necessary, but it can help make a roleplay feel more ‘real’ and more fun. Props and realia also give students something to ‘hold on to’ while doing a roleplay, providing another level of security.

Here is a list of props that are either (a) probably already present in the classroom or (b) cheap and easy for teachers to get.

Mobile phonesMany of your students may have them already. For any phone call simulations, have students take out their mobile phones and sit back to back to do the roleplay.

An overhead projectorIf you have an overhead projector in your class, use it as a lamp to set ‘ambience’ for a large “mingle type” roleplay. If students are role playing ‘meeting at a party’ turn the lights off and the projector on. Put on some quiet music and hey, presto – the party becomes more real. You can also use the overhead projector to role play the police questioning a suspect or other similar situations.

A newspaperJust giving students a newspaper (in any language) to hold on to during a roleplay can help them feel less nervous. Some students can incorporate it into their roleplay.

A hat or sunglassesFor bolder students, giving them a hat or sunglasses to wear during a roleplay will help them ‘get into’ character almost immediately.

A (fake) microphoneA real or fake microphone is great for any roleplaying of the news. Nervous students tend to like to have this to hold on to (it stops the fidgeting). It doesn’t have to be a real microphone, a pen or a pencil can work equally well.

Background photos and musicIf you have an overhead projector, another idea is to display a picture or photo of the background to the roleplay. So if your students are roleplaying conversations at an airport, project a big photo of an airport as a backdrop. Background music also helps student to get speaking during roleplays. Make sure the music is appropriate to the situation though!

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Roleplays for the E L E M E N TA R Y classroom

Celebrity party N OT E SLevel: Beginner – Elementary‘Can do’ outcome: introducing yourself

Preparation:Complete the invitation cards with a date and place and make a copy for every student in the class.

Procedure:1. Draw two stick people on the board. Explain that they are at a party. Ask What do

they say? Elicit the following dialogue line by line and write it on the board.

Hello.Hi.My name’s XX. What’s your name?I’m XX.Nice to meet you.Nice to meet you too.

Alternative: you could use two photos of famous people for this stage. Post them on the board.

2. Drill the dialogue chorally, line by line. Focus on the pronunciation and intonation of the dialogue.

3. Ask students to practise the dialogue in pairs, using their own names.

4. Set the scene. Explain that the students are all at a celebrity party. They are all going to play the roles of famous celebrities. Give them a minute to choose who they are. Distribute the invitation cards with useful language.

5. Ask everyone to stand up. Tell the students they must circulate and ‘meet’ each other. Tell them to talk to at least six or seven people. They should use the dialogue as a starting point, but can talk more if they like.

6. Allow students to mingle. You could play some background ‘cocktail party’ music during this activity.

7. After the activity finishes, ask students to sit down again. Can they remember who was who at the party?

Variation:You could join in the party by being a waiter, going round offering drinks. Explain your role before they start.

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Celebrity party M AT E R I A L

You are invited to a special party.

Date:

Place:

See you there!

Useful language:Hello. Hi.My name’s...What’s your name?Nice to meet you.

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Somewhere to live N OT E SLevel: Elementary‘Can do’ outcome: describing a home

Preparation: Prepare copies of the role cards for every 2 students in the class.

Procedure:1. Draw a simple picture of a house on the board. Explain that a friend of yours

wants to rent this house. It’s a ‘perfect’ house. Ask students to ask you questions about it, for example “How many bedrooms has it got?”

2. Write the questions up on the board and give answers. Embellish as much as you like. If not many questions are forthcoming, help students by suggesting others, e.g.

Where is it?Has it got a garage?Is there public transportation near?Is there a park near?How big is it?

3. Once you’ve got a few questions and answers out divide the class into pairs. Assign each pair the role of seller or buyer. Explain that the buyers are interested in finding a perfect home for them, and the sellers are trying to rent their homes.

4. Distribute the role cards. Each seller pair should get a seller role card and each buyer pair should get a buyer role card.

5. Tell the buyers to prepare a list of questions about the house they would like. Tell the sellers to customise their perfect house by specifying number of rooms, what it’s close to etc. Allow five minutes for students to prepare this.

6. When students are ready, tell the buyers to get up and talk to a seller. Tell them they must talk to at least three sellers before they make a decision on which house to buy.

7. Allow some time for buyers to talk to sellers. When they have finished, ask everyone to sit down. Were the buyers able to find the perfect home?

Variation:You could give the role play another twist by writing a role on the back of their buyer cards. For example:

you have a family of three small childrenyou are two students at universityyou are 80 years old and very richyou are a new immigrant and don’t have much money

Tell them to find a place suitable for their role.

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Somewhere to live M AT E R I A L

BuyerYou want to rent a house/flat. Decide what is important for you and prepare some questions

SellerYou have the following property to rent:

House / Flat in:

Number of bedrooms:

Other details:

Close to:

Useful language:I’m looking for a house/flat Has it got ...a garage? a garden?Is there (a park, public transportation...) near?How many (bedrooms, bathrooms) are there?How big is it?When can I come and see it?

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In a market N OT E SLevel: Elementary‘Can do’ outcome: a simple shopping scenario

Preparation: Copy and cut out the material so that every student has a card.

Procedure:1. Write the following questions on the board:

Is there a market near your house?How often do you buy food at a market?

Tell students to ask and answer the questions in pairs.

2. Explain that the students today are going to role play a shopping situation at a fruit and vegetable market. Divide the students into pairs, A and B.

3. Give every B student a B card. Explain that this is what they have to sell. However, it is late in the day and they don’t have all the items anymore. They must cross out two items from their picture. Tell them they can choose which items they delete. Demonstrate by showing one of the pictures and crossing out two items.

4. While the B students are doing this, distribute two food cards to each A student.

5. Explain that the objective of the activity is for the A students to circulate and buy the food items they have on their cards. The B students must sell what they have on their cards. Every time a B student sells an item from their picture, they should cross it out. Write the following useful language on the board:

Do you have any...?Yes, how many would you like?No, I’m sorry I don’t.How much are the...?They’re ....I’d like...Here you are.Thank you.

Using the useful language, demonstrate the activity with one student.

6. Ask B students to stand behind their desks and A students to circulate and do their shopping.

Variation:You could ask the B students to decide the prices in advance of all their items and give the A students a fixed budget and a list of things to buy.

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In a market M AT E R I A LStudent A cards

APPLES

ORANGES

BANANAS

TOMATOES

Student B cards

CARROTS ONIONS LETTUCE EGGS

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Roleplays for the P R E - I N T E R M E D I AT E classroom

The Follow up Story N OT E SLevel: Pre-intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: talk about recent past events and future plans

Preparation: Prepare copies of the material for every two students in the class.

Procedure:1. Write the headline of the news story on the board. Ask students to work in pairs.

Give them the following two tasks:

a) guess what you think the story is aboutb) make a list of four words you think you will find in this story

Allow students time to discuss.

2. Distribute the material and give students time to read it. Ask who was closest in their guess about what the story was about. Did any pair guess all the right words?

3. Now assign each pair the role of journalist or Julian Wilson. Explain that it is several months later and the journalists are researching a ‘follow up’ story. Give the role cards and briefly go through the information on them.

4. Allow students to prepare their story and questions. Circulate and monitor.

5. When they are ready, reorganise pairs so that each journalist is now talking to Julian Wilson. Let them start the roleplay.

6. When students have finished the roleplay, do some whole class feedback. Which follow up story is the most interesting?

Optional task:Ask the students to write up their follow-up story for homework.

Variations:You can do this activity with any short news item that catches your eye. Here are three suggestions for finding a ‘human interest’ news story.

• Use the web. Google news at http://news.google.com often has a collection of short news items of ‘human interest’.

• Write your own news story including local places or people.• Use a local newspaper. The story doesn’t have to be in English! If the goal of the

activity is speaking, you could use a news story written in the students’ language. Skip the first two stages and explain that the journalist is from an English news agency (which is why the conversation must be in English).

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The Follow up Story M AT E R I A L

Student AYou are a journalist. It is six months later and you are researching a follow up story with Julian Wilson. Prepare some questions you would like to ask and then interview him.

26 IS DRIVER’S LUCKY NUMBER

A British man is finally going to take his practical driving exam after he failed the theory twenty-five times.

Julian Wilson passed his driving theory test on the 26th time. He said he had failed the other times because he was nervous.

“I’m confident that I will pass the practical exam, one day. I’m not good at studying theory, but I think I’m a good driver,” Stuart-Wilson told reporters. “I’m really excited about driving.”

Student BYou are Julian Wilson. It is now six months after your driving exam. A journalist is coming to talk to you about your life now. Think about some ways in which you have changed and then speak to the journalist.

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Airport situations N OT E SLevel: Pre-Intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: functioning in a number of airport-related situations


Procedure:1. Ask students to think about the last time they were at the airport and the answers

to these questions.

Which airport was it? Were they going somewhere? Where? Were they meeting somebody? Who? What did they have with them?

2. When they are ready, tell them to turn to a partner and talk about the last time they were at the airport.

3. Do some whole class feedback on their discussions. Ask if anybody has had a frustrating time at the airport. If you have a frustrating airport story, you could tell it now (for example, your plane was delayed several hours, you lost your bag).

4. Tell students they are going to roleplay a series of typical frustrating airport situations. Explain that the first two lines of their role play are provided for them, but they must continue the conversation.

5. Divide the students into pairs and give a copy of the material A to them. Tell them to begin the first roleplay.

6. Give them three minutes to role play this situation. Then call out stop. Tell them to continue on to the next situation on the card. Do this for the other two situations.

7. During this time circulate and monitor. Make notes of any errors or interesting points of language here.

8. After the roleplays are finished, go through some of the errors on the board and ask students to correct them.

9. Tell students to work with a new partner. Distribute the copies of the material B to each pair and repeat steps 3 to 7, but this time ask them to do it better and/or faster.

Variation: You can use the same idea of a chain of events in different situations (e.g. restaurant situations, shopping situations, conference situations).

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Airport situations M AT E R I A LSituations A

In the TaxiThe driver is asking you for lots of money.

TAXI DRIVER: That’s 30 dollars please.YOU: 30 dollars?! That’s a bit expensive!

At Check inYou can’t find your ticket.

CHECK-IN CLERK: Your ticket and passport please.YOU: Just a minute, I knew my ticket was here somewhere.

SecurityThe security guard wants you to open some gifts you have in your bag. The gifts are wrapped and are at the bottom of the bag. It took you an hour to pack these!

SECURITY GUARD: Can you please open the packages?YOU: They’re only presents. Is this really necessary?

In a cafeYou would like a sandwich but you can’t see the menu. The person at the café only speaks a little English.

YOU: What sandwiches do you have?CAFé ATTENDANT: Sorry? Repeat please?

Waiting for the planeYour flight is delayed but you don’t know how long. You are asking at information.

YOU: I’d like some information about the flight. Nobody is saying anything.

INFORMATION CLERK: We will tell you as soon as we know.

Getting on the planeYou are in the queue, waiting to get on the plane. Somebody tries to get in front of you.

YOU: Excuse me, there’s a queue.OTHER PERSON: I know, but I was here before.

Situations B

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Complaints and apologies N OT E SLevel: Pre-intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: making simple complaints and apologies


Procedure:1. Choose one of the situations from the material and explain it to the students. Ask

them to quickly roleplay the situation.

2. Conduct some feedback on the roleplay. Ask students to tell you some of the expressions they used. Make a note of any good ones.

3. Write COMPLAINING and APOLOGIZING up on the board and write up any of the good expressions the students used in stage 1. You can add others at this point. Here are some examples.

ComplainingI’m sorry, but this isn’t acceptable.I’m not happy about this at all.I have a complaint to make.I’d like to talk to the (director, manager, person in charge) please. I’d like to complain.

ApologizingI’m/We’re sorry.Sorry.I’m sorry about this.I do apologize (very formal!)

4. Tell students to swap pairs and work with a new student. Ask them to repeat the original role play, but to incorporate some of the new expressions from the board.

5. Now distribute other situation cards and ask students to do the new roleplay.

Note: Complaining and apologizing is a very culturally sensitive area of functional language. You might wish to discuss situations where students have been surprised by people complaining and or apologizing. Additionally, if you feel the situations in the material are not suitable, make some of your own which are more appropriate for your students.

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Complaints and apologies M AT E R I A L

A. You are in a restaurant. Your food is very undercooked and the air conditioning is making the restaurant too cold.

B. You are the waiter. You can change the food, but you can’t do anything about the air conditioning.

A. You bought an MP3 player on sale from a shop two weeks ago. The MP3 player works, but you have noticed that there is a scratch on the screen. You want a new MP3 player.

B. You work at the shop. The reason the MP3 players were on sale was because they had small defects (like scratches). If the MP3 player works then you can’t change it.

A. You brought your car to the mechanic last week because you had a problem with the brakes. The mechanic has made many extra changes and now is asking for more money.

B. You are the mechanic. You made several extra adjustments because you thought they were necessary.

A. You are B’s boss. You have an important meeting with B. B is fifteen minutes late. You have several other meetings this morning.

B. You work for A. You forgot the meeting this morning!

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Roleplays for the I N T E R M E D I AT E classroom

The Exhibit N OT E SLevel: Intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: expressing strong beliefs

Preparation: Prepare copies of the role cards for every six students in the class.

Procedure:1. Start the class off by asking some discussion questions about art. For example:

Do you have any art in your house? What kind? Where is it?What artists do you like, if any?What kind of art don’t you like?Have you ever seen a piece of art you thought was offensive?Are there any controversial works of art where you live?Try to get some responses from different people for the last two questions.

2. Explain the following situation to the students.

A local art gallery has started an exhibit called Modern War. There a several works of art, mostly paintings, photos and sculptures by different artists. The exhibit has been heavily criticised because the works of art are, in many cases, extremely graphic and violent.

3. Divide students into pairs or small groups. Assign each pair or small group a letter A, B or C. If you have 9 or 10 students in your class you could just split them into three groups.

4. Explain that A and B represent people with different interests in the exhibit. Distribute the role cards and give the groups time to read them.

5. Go over the useful language on the cards, including any potential pronunciation problems.

6. Put groups together into larger groups. You should have groups of A, B and C. Group A and B must present their case to group C. Let them do the roleplay.

7. At the end, ask group C for their decision. This could lead into a discussion on controversial exhibits in general, or censorship.

Variations: You could adapt this exhibit activity by changing the theme of the exhibit and finding something that is familiar to your students (e.g. an infamous person from their country’s history, a controversial sport etc).

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The Exhibit M AT E R I A L

Useful language:We think... for the following reasonsWe honestly feel...Without a doubt...We’re convinced...We strongly believe...In our estimation...It’s clear that...

Group AYou are representatives of a local organisation of concerned parents and teachers. You think the exhibit should not go on, because:• it’s tasteless and offensive• it glorifies violence • there is no warning on the exhibit, which means families could come to the

gallery and get a nasty surprise (Think of other reasons)

Group BYou are the owners of the gallery. You think the exhibit should stay because:• it’s art, and good art should provoke a reaction• it addresses serious issues • you have a contract with the artist; if you pull the exhibit then you will have to

pay a lot of money! (Think of other reasons)

Group CYou must listen to each side present its case, then decide if the exhibit should go on or not. Prepare to summarise the debate at the end.

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How to get there N OT E SLevel: Intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: making requests about travel

Preparation: Complete the role cards with suitable local information, then make copies for every two students.

Procedure:Before beginning this activity, complete the role cards with a destination that a) is far enough from your class to be able to travel by air, train or coach and b) is familiar or popular with your students.

1. Ask the students to think about the last trip they made outside of their town city. Tell them to visualise this trip while you ask the following questions.

When was this trip? Where did you go?Who were you with? How did you get there?How long did it take?

2. When students are ready, ask them to turn to a partner and tell their partner about the trip.

3. Tell students to continue working in pairs. Nominate each pair as an A pair or B pair. Explain the situation. The A students need to get to (insert here the place you’ve decided they are going to). Their objective is to find the best way to get there.

4. The B students each represent a different travel company that specialises in one form of travel. They must try and ‘sell’ their trip.

5. Distribute the role cards and allow students time to prepare in pairs. Direct them to the useful language on the card.

6. Organise the class so that the Bs remain seated but that the As can circulate and talk to different B students.

7. Tell the As to sit with a B student and role play a phone call to B’s travel agency. Demonstrate this by playing the part of a B student and ask an A student to ‘phone’ you.

8. Repeat stage 6 three or four times, with As speaking to different travel agencies.

9. Ask the class to return to their original seats. Ask the As to say which journey they would choose, and why.

Variation: You can use this format for a variety of travel type situations with the B students ‘selling’ hotels, holiday packages, weekend city breaks, guided tours...

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How to get there M AT E R I A L

Useful language:Hello, I need to get to...What would you recommend?Could you tell me … how much it costs? how long it takes? how many trips per day? what time it leaves? etc.

Student AYou want to go to . Phone different travel agencies to find out what the best way of getting there is.

Student BYou work in a travel agency. At the moment, you can offer ONE of the following forms of transportation to .

Choose one of the above modes of transport and make notes of the following details:

Cost

Length of trip

Frequency

Departure times

Be prepared to answer questions about what you can offer.

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Money talks N OT E SLevel: Intermediate‘Can do’ outcome: giving advice

Preparation: Prepare copies of the material so that every student in the class has a card.

Procedure:1. Write the words Money Problems on the board and ask students to brainstorm in

pairs as many different money problems as they can think of. Set a time limit of 2 minutes. Give the first example, e.g. You owe money to a friend and can’t pay it back.

2. Elicit suggestions and put them on the board. Use this time to pre-teach/review the following words:

owe, borrow, lend, spend, inherit, pay

3. Explain that today the students are going to role play some money problems. You are going to give role cards to half of the students. Explain that they have the problem listed on the card and they must talk to three different people and ask for advice.

4. Distribute the role cards and tell students with the cards to talk to a partner about the problem. After three or four minutes, tell the students with the card to talk to a different partner.

Note: for this activity, only the students with role cards need to move around. The other students remain where they are.

4. Repeat stage 4 two more times.

5. At the end of the role plays, ask the students to tell their problem to the class and explain what was the best solution offered.

Optional stage:After stage five you could do a correction slot on any mistakes or good examples of language you heard. Then repeat stage 4 again, but with different students holding the role cards.

Variations:You can do this ‘giving advice’ roleplay activity with any other typical problems: work problems, love problems, school problems etc.

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£

£$£

$ £

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Money talks M AT E R I A L

You owe money to a friend and you can’t pay it back. Ask other people for advice.

You inherited a very large sum of money and you don’t know what to do with it. Ask other people for advice.

A friend owes you money and hasn’t paid it back. You feel uncomfortable asking for it. Ask other people for advice.

You need to borrow some money, but the bank won’t give it to you. Ask other people for advice.

You think your wife/husband is too careful with his/her money. He/she never buys anything nice! You are always arguing about money. Ask other people for advice.

You think your wife/husband isn’t responsible with money. You would like him/her to be more careful, but he/she doesn’t listen. Ask other people for advice.

StraightforwardPhilip Kerr, Lindsay Clandfield, Ceri Jones, Jim Scrivener, Roy NorrisBeginner to Advanced

Straightforward •isbasedonwhatgoodteachersdointheclassroom•hasatransparentstructure•containswidelyvariedcontentwithinterestingtopicsforadultsandyoungadults

Straightforward Student's Book contains 90 hours of teaching material.

All lessons include a balance of language and skills work, and the different sections on the page are clearly labelled so that students know exactly what they are focusing on at each moment.

Covering twelve topics per level, the units in the Student's Book contain skills work, contextualised grammar activities, vocabulary development exercises and functional language lessons. At the end of each unit is a language reference which contains grammar notes and a word list which shows word frequency.

The Student's Books are also now available with the Student's CD-ROM included.

Straightforward Teaching made simple


Straightforward Second Edition

Straightforward has come of age and has been treated to a review, revamp and facelift. Much of the content has been updated and made more relevant to our ever-changing world. You’ll find new topics, articles and exercises plus a shiny new design. All the old teachers’ favourites are still there – meaning it will still be a joy to teach with.

Key features

• Pick-up-and-use practicality – great for new teachers

• Intuitive, easy-to-follow format

• Flexible and adaptable for more experienced teachers

• Strong emphasis on reading and vocabulary

• Supported by one of the most comprehensive Teacher’s Books around

What’s new?

• A lot of the content has been updated and made more relevant to our ever-changing world. You’ll find new topics, articles and exercises plus a shiny new design. You won’t lose out on the old favourites though – they are still there with a facelift!

• We’ve put a lot of emphasis on wordlists and lexical features and there is a vocabulary builder with activities from the new supporting online component.

• The strength of the Teacher’s Book has been built on with the addition of a Teacher’s Resource disc that includes six 2–3 minute video clips per level, photocopiables and new methodology videos. There is a teacher’s resource website with additional reading texts and teaching support.

• The CEFR still plays a prominent part in the series and there is even clearer signposting and self-assessment.

• There is a new supporting online component – no more worries about installation or CD-ROMs sitting unused at the back of the Student’s Book. The content of the previous CD-ROM is now available via this website plus a whole host of other features.

ISBNsElementary Pre-intermediate Intermediate Upper Intermediate

Student's Book 9780230423053 9780230414006 9780230423244 9780230423343

Student's Book & Webcode 9780230424456 9780230424463 9780230424470 9780230424487

Workbook & CD 9780230423060 9780230423169 9780230423268 9780230423350

Workbook & CD 9780230423077 9780230423152 9780230423251 9780230423367

Teacher's Book Pack 9780230423114 9780230423206 9780230423305 9780230423404

Audio CD 9780230423121 9780230423220 9780230423329 9780230423428

IWB DVD-ROM 9780230424227 9780230424272 9780230424340 9780230424395

IWB DVD-ROM 9780230424210 9780230424289 9780230424333 9780230424401

Teaching made simple

TRANSPARENTstructure

PRAGMATICmethodology

VARIEDcontent

Beginner and Advanced levels will be available from 2013.

This leaflet has been produced by Charlotte Ellis, Marketing Executive for Adult, Business and Methodology. If you need to any further information on the products mentioned here, you can contact Charlotte through [email protected]

Your Straightforward Guide to Roleplays is all about presenting roleplays in the languageclassroom. We look at WHAT roleplays are and WHY we might use them. You will also findadvice and useful tips on HOW to set up and run roleplays in your classroom.

Finally there are some sample roleplays at three levels (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate andIntermediate) for you to use with your students.

For more information about Straightforward and more teaching tips and ideas visit theStraightforward website:


Look out for the other booklets in the free Straightforward Guides series:Straightforward Guide to Presenting GrammarStraightforward Guide to Dictation and Translation

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