Problem/Advice Reported Speech Activity

You’ll often find reported speech in some of the higher level ESL/EFL textbooks, but it’s not easy to design an interesting, engaging activity to use with it. Check out what I do related to giving advice.

Problem/Advice Reported Speech Activity

If you have high level students, an excellent activity that you can use for reported speech is problem and advice. These two things just naturally fit well together, and it’s actually what you can find in many ESL Textbooks.

How Does the Activity Work?

Show the students a problem that you found online or made up. Here’s mine about a high-school student dating a college guy. Note the reported speech examples that are underlined.

I wrote it myself in just a few minutes. It would work well for high school, university students or adults but not for younger students.

After reading, have students talk about the problem with a partner and say what advice they would give. It depends on the level, but I usually allow 2-3 minutes for just a quick discussion.

Adapt it to Any Age or Level of Student

Of course, you can easily make your own problem to adapt to the age and level of students that you have. It generally works best if the age range of the person is the story is the same as your students.

What do the Students Have to Do?

Next, students have a few minutes to write their own problem in 5-8 sentences,  using 2-3 sentences with reported speech in it (My Mom told me that…).

I’ll keep my example story on the powerpoint or board for students to refer to if necessary. Point out the examples that you underlined previously if they need a bit of help with grammar.

Then, have students share the problem with their partner and he/she gives them some advice.

The Reported Speech Serious Practice Part

The original pair joins with another pair and the first student has to share her problem (briefly) and then use reported speech to say what advice her partner gave her. That student could also say whether or not they thought it was good advice.

Continue until all three students have shared their problems and the advice that they got.

This reported speech activity is really fun because everyone loves to talk about their problems and people also like to give advice!

It’s also a great way to get some speaking practice with reported speech. If you think about it, this actually is not that easy to do but this activity is a good one.

Do you Like this Reported Speech Activity?

Did you think this was a great activity that you’d like to try out with your students? Yes? Thought you would! It’s a fun way to get your students practicing this skill that can be a bit tricky to come up with activity ideas for.

Check out this Book on Amazon

Then you’ll want to check out this book over on Amazon, 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults. It’s lesson planning made easy, guaranteed.

Well Organized into Various Sections

The book is organized into sections: reading, writing, vocabulary, warm-up, etc., so you’ll be able to easily find what you need in minutes. Keep your students engaged and interested in your classes by adding some variety into them.

Available in a Variety of Formats

The good news is that 101 ESL Activities is available in both print and digital formats. Keep the book on your school’s bookshelf for a handy reference. Or, take the digital copy with you wherever you go for doing lesson plans at home, in coffee shops or in the office.

Shop Now

Check out the book for yourself over on Amazon, but only if you want some ESL awesome in your life:

Reported Speech Activity: Have Your Say!

What’s your go-to activity for practicing reported speech? Or, what do you think about this ESL activity?  Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

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If you need some more ideas for teaching English grammar, check this out: Interactive Grammar Activities and Games.

Last update on 2024-08-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API