I have been teaching English as a foreign language to adults for over seven years, and the one thing I see time and time again is that speaking and conversation practice is the absolute best way to help students improve their skills, not just in terms of fluency, but also when it comes to vocabulary and grammar usage.
I’m sure as an English teacher, just like me, you want to make sure that you cover an array of topics with your adult students. Typical EFL/ESL themes, such as travel, hobbies, work and daily routines, are definitely important to discuss because learners tend to feel much more confident when speaking about familiar things they already know. However, I have sometimes found that there comes a point where I’ve run out of fresh ideas to talk about in my speaking lessons, particularly with long-term students who I’ve taught for a number of years. You know, there are only so many times we can talk about the pros and cons of social media or what kind of films students enjoy watching before things start to get a little repetitive and dull! That’s why I try to regularly set aside time to explore a variety of online news sources to give me inspiration for unique conversation lesson subjects that go beyond the “classic” English-learning topics.
I’ve decided to start a blog series aimed at giving other EFL/ESL teachers topic ideas for their own speaking lessons. All of the themes covered in this series are ones I have used in my own lessons with intermediate and advanced learners, and have been extremely effective in encouraging meaningful and engaging discussions. I do only teach 1:1 online lessons, but all of these subjects could of course be suitable for group lessons too, whether in-person or remote. There will also be a few links to external articles in each blog post, which I highly recommend as background reading for teachers. Likewise, some of the articles could even be read out loud in class by students to practise pronunciation, or be given as reading homework to prepare for the lesson discussion.
So, to kick off part one of the blog series, here are five conversation topics related to work and employment that you can use in your own EFL/ESL classroom:
1. Work friendships: positive or problematic?
This is a conversation topic that all my adult students have been able to talk about at length because they have all had personal experience of communicating with colleagues, regardless of the industry they work in. Something I found worked amazingly was a debating exercise, where I got my students to talk about the pros and cons of being friends with work colleagues, then conclude by giving their final verdict. With more advanced students, we read this editorial piece from CNN and discussed whether they agreed with the author’s point of view.
2. Corporate crimes
This theme has proved successful in the past with my upper-intermediate and advanced students. I got my learners to brainstorm all the different types of corporate crimes they knew in English, discuss how common they are and what punishment is appropriate. Moreover, we talked in detail about specific case studies, such as this one related to the infamous Theranos scandal. I also recommend checking out Linguahouse, where you can find a free C1–C2 advanced lesson on this scandal. To download the PDF lesson activities and teacher’s guide, all you need to do is have a registered account.
3. Blind recruitment
This conversation theme is perfect for EFL/ESL learners who work in the corporate world, particularly in human resources, and could be expanded to give students the opportunity to talk about hiring processes, interviews and the importance of diversity in the workplace. Before discussing this topic, I encourage you to read and use this article in your lesson, which is about a company that has a completely anonymised recruitment process, whereby a candidate’s face, name and voice remain unknown until they are offered a job. From personal experience, this topic was really engaging because many of my students were completely surprised by the idea of anonymous hiring, and it also prompted a deeper discussion on fairness in recruitment.
4. Right to disconnect
This next work-related conversation topic is based around this article on an Australian law, which mandates that companies could be fined if they try to force their workers to answer calls and emails outside of office hours. My adult students and I debated how effective the law is, and extended the conversation to the more general issue of work-life balance, and tips for how to achieve it. Work-life balance has been a hot topic for a number of years, which makes it a great speaking EFL/ESL lesson theme as it’s likely most learners have much to say about it.
5. Career co-piloting
This last subject is a fascinating topic I came across recently in the news, and my adult EFL/ESL students had a lot of thoughts on it. The subject is about parents who get over-involved in their Gen Z children’s professional lives, such as helping them write job applications and even attending interviews with them! In my speaking lessons, we also went on to discuss attitudes towards work among different generations, and advice for how young adults should go about finding work in today’s world. For more information, you can consult this article.
Do you have any great conversation lesson ideas you'd like to share with other EFL/ESL teachers? Leave a message in the comments!
I hope you found part one of this new blog series useful. Do check back regularly for new instalments of this series, or follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for updates.
Are you looking for EFL/ESL classroom activities to use with teens and adults? Take a look at some of my downloadable resources:
⭐️ A1–B2 grammar speaking task cards (printable cards + digital PowerPoint versions)
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