Fluency activities for higher levels

Learners beyond intermediate level require more opportunities to speak at length. It can be a challenge to find interesting topics and we can sometimes concentrate too much on issues and topics in the news.

The following activities add a lighter touch whilst tapping into students' interests and sense of fun. The key is to choose subject matter in tune with the students in your classes.

Just a minute

Each contestant is given a topic and must talk for one minute about it without hesitating, repeating information or deviating from the topic.

Things in common

Each team is given four pictures (or words) of people, objects or places.

• One of the four items is the odd one out and they must decide what three of them have in common.
• Challenges can draw on your students' knowledge and curriculum interests or their outside musical, sporting and cultural interests, e.g. four items commonly found in a teenager's room (three of which contain a microchip), four singers (three of them write their own songs).

Slaves to fashion

Take a fashion item which is important to young people in the country where you are working.

• Ask students to bring as many pictures of these items from magazines as they can (bring your own too). Put students in groups to compare their photos. Ask them to divide the collection into three categories: fashionable, practical, both.
• Each group must then choose the best possible style for their age range and explain their choice to the rest of the class.
• This can lead in to discussions on how important it is to be fashionable/peer pressure/marketing to young people/parental attitudes to their choice of clothes, etc.

Let's have a holiday

Give each group a handout featuring adverts for four or five holidays. Adverts can be from travel brochures, newspapers, websites, etc. These can be pure fantasy holidays, adventure holidays (climbing Everest, exploring the Amazon, etc.) or more usual holidays, such as a city break, a sporting holiday, a cultural visit to historical sites, etc.

• The group must come to a decision on a holiday to book together and then explain their choice to the class.
• This can lead into a discussion on the best places for holidays in their country or a wider topic, like the idea of future holidays in space.