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ESL Role-Play Activities · CEFR A1-B2

15 ESL Role-Play Activities With Role Cards

Fifteen role-plays with the roles written out, ready to copy onto the board or onto slips of paper. Each one says what language it practises, how long it takes, and what each partner knows that the other does not.

  • CEFR A1-B2
  • Role play
  • Speaking
  • Large classes
  • 15 activities

About these activities

They are grouped by what they are for: everyday transactions, work and study, situations with a problem to solve, and role-plays where learners disagree. The last group is the one that produces real fluency, and the one most classes never reach.

What makes a role-play work rather than die

  • Give each partner different information. A role-play where both learners know everything is a conversation about nothing. A's card should contain something B's does not - a price, a time, a reason, a refusal.
  • Put the functional language on the board and leave it there. Could you tell me ...? I'm afraid that won't be possible. Would you mind if ...? Learners cannot invent these while also inventing what to say.
  • Give a minute to read the card and think, in silence. Learners who start speaking immediately produce their first idea and stop. A minute of thinking time roughly doubles what a pair produces.
  • Never start with a performance. Everyone does the role-play at the same time, in pairs. If you want it heard, hear one pair at the end, after they have already done it once.
  • Swap roles and run it a second time. The second run is the fluent one, and it costs three minutes. This single habit does more for fluency than any new activity.
  • Do not correct during the role-play. Write down four sentences you hear, two correct and two not, and put them on the board unnamed afterwards for the class to sort out.
  • Keep the roles close to the learners' lives. A learner who has never been in a bank plays a bank clerk badly. A learner playing an angry customer at a phone shop has the vocabulary and the feeling already.

Everyday transactions

Short, repeatable and useful outside the classroom. Best at A1 to A2, and good as five-minute warmers at any level.

1 At the ticket counter

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need Write both roles on the board

Language Asking for information; times and prices; How much is ...? What time does it leave?

  1. Role A (traveller): you want to go to the nearest big city tomorrow morning, arriving before ten. You have 800 rupees. Find out the time, the price and the platform.
  2. Role B (clerk): the morning trains leave at 5.40, 7.15 and 9.30. The 7.15 is full. Tickets cost 620 for the express and 310 for the slow train, which takes two hours longer. Platform 3.
  3. Give a minute of silent reading, then run it in pairs simultaneously. Everybody speaks at once.
  4. Swap roles and run it again with the traveller now needing to arrive before eight - which makes the only option the slow train.

Variation Role B may not simply read out the timetable: the clerk answers only what is asked, so A has to ask three questions properly.

Large class Both roles on the board, left half and right half. Rows work in pairs without anyone moving.

2 Returning something that does not work

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need Role cards, or both roles on the board

Language Complaining politely; It doesn't work. I'd like a refund. Do you have the receipt?

  1. Role A (customer): you bought a phone charger four days ago. It worked for two days. You want your money back, not another charger. You have lost the receipt but you paid by card.
  2. Role B (shop assistant): without a receipt you can normally only exchange, not refund. You may make an exception if the customer can show the card payment. You must not lose the customer.
  3. Teach three phrases first: I'm afraid ... , Would you be able to ... , Let me see what I can do.
  4. Run it in pairs. At the end ask how many customers got a refund and how they managed it - that discussion is where the polite-complaint language is noticed.

Variation At B1, A has no card record either, and B must refuse without losing the customer. Much harder, and much more useful.

Large class No change. Ask three pairs to report the outcome in one sentence rather than acting it out.

3 Ordering for somebody with a problem

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need None

Language Food vocabulary; requests and modifications; Does it contain ...? Could we have it without ...?

  1. Two learners are customers and the third is the waiter. One customer cannot eat something - dairy, nuts, chilli - and does not know the menu.
  2. The waiter invents the menu as they go, which is the point: it forces real listening and real questions.
  3. The customers must order two courses that are safe for both, and ask at least two questions about ingredients.
  4. Rotate the waiter and run it twice more so everybody takes the harder role.

Variation The waiter's restaurant has run out of two things, and only says so when they are ordered.

Large class Groups of three suit a crowded room - nobody moves and only one learner speaks at a time within each group.

Work and study

The role-plays adult learners most often say they need. Best at B1 and above.

4 Hiring for the hotel

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need Interviewer's questions on the board

Language Present perfect for experience; talking about strengths; hedging: I'd say ... , I tend to ...

  1. Role A (candidate): you are applying to be a receptionist at a hotel. You are good with people and you speak three languages. You have never used a computer booking system.
  2. Role B (interviewer): you need somebody who can start next week and use the booking system from day one. Ask about experience, languages, and one weakness.
  3. Put four interview questions on the board and teach two hedging phrases for the weakness question.
  4. Swap roles with a different job - a delivery driver with no licence yet - so the second run is not a repeat.

Variation The interviewer must decide yes or no at the end and give one reason. Candidates take the reason far more seriously than a mark.

Large class Works as it stands. Collect the yes or no decisions with a show of hands - it takes twenty seconds and gives the class a result.

5 Asking for time off

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need Both roles on the board

Language Requests and refusals; reasons; I was wondering whether ... , The problem is ...

  1. Role A (employee): you need three days off next week for a family wedding. You already took two days last month. You are willing to work the following Saturday.
  2. Role B (manager): two other people are already away next week. You can allow one day, or three if the employee finds somebody to cover.
  3. Teach the structure of the request: reason, request, offer. Then teach one phrase for a soft refusal.
  4. Run it, swap, and run it again with the manager now unable to agree to anything - so A has to accept a refusal politely, which is the harder skill.

Variation At B2, the manager must say no and keep the employee willing. Both learners then report the conversation to a third learner in reported speech.

Large class No change needed.

6 Explaining the missed deadline

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need None beyond the two roles

Language Past simple and past continuous; apologising; I should have ... , What happened was ...

  1. Role A (student or junior colleague): your work is two days late. The real reason is that you misunderstood what was wanted and started again on Monday.
  2. Role B (teacher or manager): you want the work, an explanation, and a new date you can trust. You do not want an apology repeated four times.
  3. Teach the shape of a useful explanation: what happened, what you did about it, when it will be ready. Not three apologies.
  4. Swap roles. The second time, B has already had this conversation with A once before.

Variation A must not use the word sorry more than once. It forces them into the language that actually repairs the situation.

Large class No change. Two pairs may report the agreed new deadline; that is enough feedback.

7 The parents' evening

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need Three short role cards

Language Describing progress; giving advice; softening bad news

  1. Role A (teacher): the learner works hard in class and does almost no homework. Marks are falling.
  2. Role B (parent): you believe two hours of homework are done every evening. You want to know why the marks are falling.
  3. Role C (the learner): you are present. You do homework with your phone beside you and it takes four hours to do one hour's work.
  4. Run the three-way conversation, then ask each group what they agreed. Groups almost always arrive at the phone, which makes the language of advice necessary rather than an exercise.

Variation Role C says nothing for the first two minutes. The two adults must then ask questions rather than talk about the learner.

Large class Groups of three are the easiest grouping in a crowded room; write the three roles in three columns on the board.

Situations with a problem to solve

Role-plays where the pair has to reach an outcome. The outcome is what keeps the talk going past the first two turns.

8 The lost luggage

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need Both roles on the board

Language Describing objects; past simple; insisting politely; Are you sure ...? Could you check again?

  1. Role A (traveller): your bag did not arrive. It is dark blue, has a red ribbon on the handle, and contains medicine you need tonight.
  2. Role B (airline staff): the computer shows no bag matching that description. You can offer 5,000 rupees and delivery tomorrow, but nothing tonight.
  3. Teach two phrases for insisting without rudeness, and one for the staff member holding a line.
  4. Run it, swap roles, and run it again with the medicine detail removed so the pair notice how much the urgency changed the conversation.

Variation Role B speaks first and offers the money immediately. A has to refuse an offer and keep asking, which is harder than complaining.

Large class No change needed.

9 The neighbour's noise

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need None

Language Complaining to somebody you will meet again; I don't want to make a problem, but ... , Would it be possible to ...?

  1. Role A: your neighbour's music keeps your family awake three nights a week. You have to live beside this person for years.
  2. Role B: you work nights and practise music in the evening because it is the only time you have. You did not know anyone could hear it.
  3. Put on the board the difference between a complaint that ends a relationship and one that fixes a problem, and three phrases for the second kind.
  4. Run it and ask each pair for the agreement they reached. Compare two very different agreements with the class.

Variation A has already complained twice and nothing changed. The language needed changes completely, and learners feel that.

Large class No change. The agreements can be collected in one word each - time limit, headphones, weekends - and written on the board.

10 One room, two bookings

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need Three roles on the board

Language Negotiating; apologising; offering alternatives; What if we ...? That's not really acceptable.

  1. Two guests have bookings for the same last room; the third learner is the hotel receptionist.
  2. Guest A booked first and has a confirmation. Guest B arrived first, is already unpacked, and has a small child.
  3. The receptionist has one room in a hotel twenty minutes away and a discount to offer, and must not lose either guest's goodwill.
  4. Every group must reach a decision. Compare solutions at the end - there are usually four or five, which is the interesting part.

Variation The receptionist may not offer the other hotel for the first three minutes.

Large class Groups of three; the comparison of solutions at the end works better with a big class than a small one.

11 Borrowing what you broke

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need None

Language Admitting; offering to repair; I'm afraid I've ... , Let me pay for it.

  1. Role A: you borrowed a friend's bicycle and bent the wheel. You cannot afford a new one this month.
  2. Role B: you need the bicycle to get to work on Monday. You lent it because you were asked nicely, and this is the second time.
  3. Teach three ways of admitting something that are neither a confession nor an excuse, and one way of offering a solution instead of an apology.
  4. Run it, then swap so that everybody has to both admit and be annoyed.

Variation Role A must open the conversation with the bad news in the first sentence. Learners find that hard, and it is precisely the useful bit.

Large class No change needed.

Role-plays where learners disagree

The group most classes never reach, and the one that produces real fluency: two roles that cannot both get what they want. Best at B1 and B2.

12 The family car

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need Four one-line roles

Language Agreeing and disagreeing; making a case; conceding; You've got a point, but ...

  1. The family has one car and four people want it on Saturday: for a job interview, for a sick relative's hospital visit, to move furniture, and for a football match that has been paid for.
  2. Each learner gets one role and one minute to prepare their case. They may not see the other roles.
  3. The group must reach a decision everybody can live with within eight minutes, and the decision cannot be take turns.
  4. Each group reports its decision and one reason. Different groups decide differently, which is the discussion the class then has.

Variation Give one learner the deciding vote. The language changes from arguing to persuading, and the difference is worth naming.

Large class Groups of four in a fixed-desk room: two learners turn round. Nothing else is needed.

13 Cutting one thing from the budget

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need Four roles on the board

Language Presenting a case; refusing; compromising; comparatives and superlatives

  1. The school must cut one of four things: the library, the sports programme, the computer room, or the school bus.
  2. Each learner represents one of them and has a minute to prepare two reasons why theirs must stay.
  3. The group must agree on one cut. Nobody may defend more than one thing, and everybody must speak before the decision.
  4. Collect the decisions. Ask the groups who cut the bus whether anybody in the group actually takes it - the answer usually makes a point about arguing from your own position.

Variation At B2, add a fifth role with no stake and the final say. That learner has to summarise both sides fairly before deciding.

Large class Ideal for a large class: four learners per group, no movement, and a result from every group in one word.

14 The rule nobody likes

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then swap roles
  • You need None

Language Modals of obligation; making and refusing requests; We're not allowed to ... , Why can't we ...?

  1. Role A (learner representative): you want the rule about phones changed. You have forty signatures.
  2. Role B (teacher or principal): the rule exists because last year two examinations had to be cancelled. You are willing to discuss a limited change, not removal.
  3. Teach the language of a proposal - We'd like to suggest ... , On condition that ... - and the language of a conditional yes.
  4. Run it, swap roles, and ask what changes were actually agreed. Realistic proposals succeed and total demands fail, which learners notice without being told.

Variation Role A may not mention the phone directly for the first minute and must open with the problem it causes.

Large class No change. Collect the agreed changes on the board and let the class vote on the best proposal.

15 Two witnesses, one accident

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need Two short witness accounts

Language Past continuous and past simple; contradicting politely; reported speech

  1. Two learners witnessed the same minor accident and each gets a short account that contradicts the other on three points: the colour of the vehicle, the speed, and who was on the phone.
  2. The third learner is the insurance officer, who must question both and then write three agreed facts and three disputed ones.
  3. Witnesses must not see each other's accounts, and neither is lying - each simply saw part of it.
  4. The officer reports the findings to the class in reported speech: He said the car was ... , but she claimed ...

Variation Add a fourth role: the driver, who arrives at the end and hears the report. The driver may object twice.

Large class Write the two accounts on the two sides of the board before the lesson and have each witness copy only their own.

In short

The pattern under all fifteen is the same: different information for each partner, the functional language on the board, thinking time in silence, everybody at once, and a second run with the roles swapped.

Change the situations to suit your learners - the local bus station, the shop on their street, their own school's rules. A role-play about a place learners know produces twice the language of one set in a country they have never visited.

Questions teachers ask

My learners refuse to act. What then?

Do not ask them to act. A role-play is not drama: nobody stands up, nobody performs, everybody stays in their seat and talks to the person beside them. Most refusal is a fear of performing in front of the class, and that fear disappears when all twenty pairs speak at once.

Do I need printed role cards?

No. Both roles written on the two halves of the board works for everything on this page, and for many role-plays it is better - learners look up and read rather than hiding behind paper. Print cards only when the two roles must not be seen by the other partner.

How do I stop one partner doing all the talking?

Give the quieter role the information the other one needs. If A must find out three things that only B knows, B has to speak. An imbalance in a role-play is nearly always an imbalance in the information.

Should I correct their mistakes?

Not during the role-play - correction stops fluency and the stopping is what learners remember. Note four sentences, two right and two wrong, and put them on the board unnamed at the end for the class to sort out.

Is a role-play worth the time if the examination is written?

Yes. Learners who have argued a case aloud write that argument faster and with better structure, and the functional language - requests, refusals, proposals - is the same language written examinations ask for in letters and emails.

How do I use these online?

Two learners per breakout room, the roles pasted into the chat, and one sentence typed into the main chat at the end saying what was agreed. The written outcome is what tells you the conversation happened.

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About this collection

Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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