Engaging English Language Learner Activities

Games and activities are essential for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), providing engaging ways to learn. They can be used as warm-ups, lesson breaks, or end-of-class fillers. This article provides a list of fun English games and activities for teachers to use in the classroom.

Vocabulary-Focused Activities

Board Race

Board Race is a popular game for revising vocabulary. It can be used with words from the current or previous lessons and is suitable for classes with six or more students. Divide the class into teams. The teacher says a word, and one student from each team races to write it correctly on the board. Each correct word earns a point for the team. This activity promotes active participation and reinforces vocabulary learning.

Word Jumble Race

This game encourages teamwork and competition in the classroom and works well with all age groups. Write out sentences using different colors for each sentence. Split your class into teams of 2, 3, or 4. This adds an element of fun and excitement to vocabulary review.

Splat

Splat is a dynamic game that uses flashcards with vocabulary pictures, tape, a board, and two plastic fly swatters. Tape the flashcards to the board. Two students come to the board, and the teacher says a vocabulary word. The first student to splat the correct flashcard with the fly swatter wins a point for their team. This helps students review and retain vocabulary in a competitive and memorable way.

Memory Game

In this memory game, the teacher presents 10-15 target vocabulary words on the board. Students are given a minute to memorize the words. Then, they turn around, and the teacher removes one word. The first student to correctly guess the missing word scores a point. This game enhances memory and vocabulary recall. To add variety, a student can take the teacher's place.

Picture Dictionary

Picture dictionaries are a great classroom resource, but having students create their own picture dictionaries is one of the best vocabulary activities for ELLs. Provide a template with words in place and then offer drawing materials, magazine clippings, clip art, or even a camera to help students create images that will help them remember each word.

Categorizing and Connecting

Appropriate for all levels of ELLs, categorizing vocabulary and showing connections among words is easy and effective. Give students familiar and new vocabulary words in whatever platform you’d like. Students should categorize the words according to what makes sense to them. You can pair it with discussions or short writing activities. Throughout the unit, build upon the vocabulary and have students repeat the activity as many times as you’d like as a formative assessment. By the end of the unit, students should be able to make connections and categorize the vocabulary for the unit.

Word Bingo

If you have a large amount of vocabulary to cover at once, try playing word bingo. Call out the words to practice recognition, and as your students’ understandings grow, you can call out definitions or fill-in-the-blank sentences to check for comprehension as well. In order to check their winning board, students must read back the words they’ve marked.

Previewing Text

Before reading, have students scan the text for words or phrases they don’t know. Create a list on the board and then work together as a class to see how many you can define based on context clues and prior knowledge. You may want to create a vocabulary word wall so that students can reference these terms.

Read also: Decoding Language Learning

Speaking and Listening Activities

Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie

Call My Bluff is a great icebreaker game at the beginning of a term. Students create three statements about themselves: two truths and one lie. Other students ask questions and guess which statement is the lie. This game enhances speaking skills and encourages interaction. After the game, the teacher can address any language mistakes made during the activity. This game can be played in pairs, small groups, or as a class.

Simon Says

Simon Says is perfect for young learners. The teacher gives instructions, prefacing them with "Simon Says" (e.g., "Simon Says, touch your nose"). Students only follow instructions that begin with "Simon Says." This game improves listening skills and reinforces vocabulary related to actions and body parts. Speeding up the actions adds to the challenge and excitement.

Hot Seat

Hot Seat is a favorite among students and helps build vocabulary while encouraging competition. A student sits in the "hot seat" facing away from the board. A word is written on the board, and their teammates must describe the word without saying it. The student in the hot seat tries to guess the word. This activity enhances descriptive language skills and teamwork.

The Mime

Miming allows students to practice tenses and verbs in a fun, interactive way. Students act out words or phrases while others guess what they are miming. This game is suitable for various age groups and requires minimal resources or planning.

Back-to-Back Interview

This activity enhances listening skills by removing visual cues. Students sit in pairs, facing away from each other. One student interviews the other, then they switch roles. Afterward, each student shares what they learned about their partner with the class. This forces students to rely solely on their listening skills.

Read also: Unlock Your Potential with English

Question of the Day

This speaking activity is ideal for morning work. Each day, the teacher poses a simple question, and students answer as they enter the classroom. For newcomers, a selection of questions can be provided for the entire week, allowing them to choose which one to answer.

Desert Island

In small groups or as a class, students take turns choosing an object in the room. The next student must explain how to use that object to survive on a desert island. There are no wrong answers, which reduces the pressure of speaking in front of the class.

Mini Debates

Create a list of opinions for the class to discuss, related to a recent lesson or a random topic. Divide the class into two groups: one to argue for the statement and one against it. This activity teaches persuasive speaking and helps students think on their feet.

Similarities and Differences

Students pair up and ask questions to discover one commonality and one difference between them. Then, they share their findings with the class.

Songs, Rhymes, and Responses

Especially for newcomers, group speaking activities like songs, rhymes, and "call and response" can reduce the pressure of speaking individually.

Around the World

Have one student stand next to a seated student. The standing student must make it around the world (around the class) by correctly answering the question before each of the seated students does. An example of a question might be “What is the correct past tense ending of [insert an infinitive verb]?” Change the verb with each turn. If the standing student can answer correctly enough times to make it around the class, they have won!

Dice Questions

Write the numbers one through six on the board and a different question word (who, what, why, where, when, how) next to each one. When a student rolls the dice, he or she needs to make a question with the corresponding question word.

Minimal Pairs

Use minimal pairs (words that sound similar and are often mispronounced by EFL learners) to make a list on the board. Examples: 1. very 2. berry 3. kitchen 4. chicken 5. three 6. tree 7. sixty 8. sixteen 9. sit 10. six. Students must write a number five or six digits long and then say their number using only the corresponding words.

Story Circle

Students form a circle (this can be as a whole class or in small groups). Write a sentence that could start a story, ideally incorporating vocabulary or grammar from the day’s lesson. Give the sentence to the first student, who continues the story by writing the second sentence before she passes it to the next student, who continues. At the end of the circle, have a student read the completed story.

Emoji Story

Using your phone, make a pictorial representation of any day in your recent past using only emojis. Take a screenshot, and then share it with your students (either give them handouts or display it on your screen if teaching online). Individually, with partners, or in groups, have students make simple past sentences about your emojis. For example, using the photo above, which represents a Saturday, they could say something like, “She slept in. She woke up and ate breakfast. She watched some TV and took a shower. Then, she went to the park for a run. Next, she went home and read while she listened to music. Later, she got a coffee with her friends. Finally, she went home and slept.”

Writing Activities

Social Media Writing Prompts

Social media prompts can make writing more engaging. Students can summarize a story in five "tweets" or write Instagram captions for provided photos.

Write an Advertisement

Students bring in a favorite object (or a photo) and write an advertisement to persuade the class to buy it.

Practicing Proofreading

Proofreading exercises help students identify and correct errors in writing.

The "New" Student

Students create a list of tips for a new student joining the class, testing their understanding of classroom rules and procedures.

Mad Libs

This simple game is a great way to test word recognition and teach definitions at the same time. Create a paragraph of text using your vocabulary words. Then, remove either the vocabulary words themselves or the context clues around them.

Movement-Based Activities

Where Shall I Go?

This game tests prepositions of movement and is best played after teaching this topic. The classroom is turned into a maze, and students work in pairs, with one blindfolded and guided by their partner using prepositions. This activity is fun but requires careful supervision to ensure safety.

Alphabet Race

To play this ESL game for children, divide your students into two groups. Have each group write the letters of the alphabet on pieces of paper you give them to make flashcards. Shuffle each group of flashcards and place them in two piles on one side of the room. Have each group line up on the opposite side of the room. On the word “Go,” the first student in each line has to run across the room, find the letter A, and bring it back to their group. The next student finds the letter B, and so on.

Pass the Ball

Keep an inflatable ball in your classroom (or use something else, like a balled-up piece of paper, in a pinch!). Choose a question/instruction based on the lesson/level you just taught, e.g., “Name a fruit!” The student must answer and then toss the ball to another student to answer. Change the question mid-game.

Other Engaging Activities

Hangman

Hangman is a classic game suitable for warming up a class or filling spare minutes. Students guess letters to reveal a hidden word.

Pictionary

Pictionary involves students drawing a word or phrase while their teammates guess what it is. This game encourages creativity and teamwork.

Kim's Game

Pick five small objects and hide them under a piece of cloth. Show the objects to your students for a minute or two and then cover up the objects again. See how many of the objects your students can remember.

Whispers

Students form a circle and one student starts by whispering a sentence into the ear of the student next to them. Have students incorporate at least one new vocabulary word or the newly learned grammar structure in their sentence. The second student then whispers the same sentence in the next student’s ear, and so on.

English Only

Turn it into a competition to speak only English during the whole period. Keep a tally on the whiteboard for each time a student speaks in their native tongue. This keeps them focusing on English, and fellow students even turn into “English police.” To turn it into a reward/consequences game that everyone can enjoy, have the student with the most tallies bring a treat for the whole class next time.

Balloon Pop

This high-energy game (from the Bridge Specialized TEFL/TESOL Certification Course in Teaching Teenagers) incorporates balloon popping and cell phones, so it’s perfect for teens or young adults.

Maximizing Engagement and Productivity

To make ESL activities more engaging and productive, involve all students actively. Assign students responsibility for moderating activities, allowing the teacher to provide targeted support. Find out what your students are interested in and use it in your class. Offer small rewards or other incentives to motivate students. Involve students in the lesson planning. For example, give them two options for activities for the next class and let them vote on which one they want to do.

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