Talking about Jobs

2015 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 45americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
TRY THIS
T
his section presents a stand-alone language-learning activity
emphasizing speaking. Specifically, students will participate in role
plays to describe occupations and job-related duties.
Role-Play Party:
Talking about Jobs
LEVEL: Upper Beginner or Low Intermediate
TIME REQUIRED: 45–60 minutes
GOALS: To ask and answer small-talk
questions about jobs; to practice using
language related to greetings, introductions,
and taking leave
MATERIALS: Chalk and blackboard, or
markers and whiteboard; paper and pencils
or pens; role-play character cards and graphic
organizers (see Preparation section for
details); timing device; overhead or digital
projector (optional)
OVERVIEW: Students will role-play being
at a party with assigned character names and
job titles. Several role-play parties occur in
the classroom at the same time. Party “guests”
must introduce themselves and ask one
another about their jobs; they are encouraged
to have fun and be dramatic. Students can
refer to supporting language information on
the board, if needed, but they do not follow
a script. When the parties end, students use a
graphic organizer to write down details they
remember about the other guests and their
jobs, then discuss and compare the information
they collected. Scaffolding options for lower-
level students and students who might not be
familiar with small-talk functions are provided
at the end of the activity.
PREPARATION:
1. Before class, use small pieces of card stock or paper to prepare character cards.
• During the role play, students will work in groups of 6. Each student in a group will need a unique character card. For example, in a class of 42 students working in groups of 6,
you would need to prepare 7 sets of
6 character cards; the different roles in each set can be the same from group to group. (Forming groups of 4 or 8 students is also acceptable; however, with groups of 8, students will have to remember more information in the final phase of the activity.)
• Each character card should contain a job title along with a male and a female character name; students will pick the name that matches their gender.
• The jobs you include on the character cards are limited only by your imagination, your teaching context, and the students’ proficiency. Examples are:
doctor
hotel clerk
teacher
police officer pilot politician

201 5ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 46americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
Police officer © John Roman Images/Shutterstock.com
lawyer
engineer
astronaut
tour guide
travel agent
singer
shopkeeper
hairdresser/barber
flight attendant zookeeper
If you like, you can customize the jobs to mak
e them specific to your local environment:
English teacher at [the name of your school], clerk at [the name of a local hotel], and so on.
Name: _____ (male) / _____ (female)
Job: _________________________
Blank character card
Name: Frank (male) / Francine (female)
Job: firefighter
Sample character card
2. Make and copy three-column graphic organizers that students can use to record details about other guests after the party ends. (If you prefer, students can draw their own organizers during the activity.) The first column provides space for each student’s real name, the second column for the character’s name, and the third column for details
about the character’s job.

2015 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 47
Graphic Organizer: Party Guest Information
Student name Character name Job title and details
(Example)
Carlo
Frank Firefighter – wears yellow uniform, likes to help people,
works in a fire station
3. To save time during the activity, consider
writing the job-description questions
on the board in advance and covering
them with a large piece of paper (see
Procedures, Step 4). Or, if you have an
overhead or digital projector, you could
prepare the text in advance and display
it as needed during the activity. If you
use the Scaffolding steps outlined
at the end of the activity, you might
also prepare in advance the Small-
Talk Function Chart and the dialogue
between Frank and Paul.
PROCEDURES:
1. Tell students they are going to pretend to attend a party, and each student will play the role of a party guest. Explain that people at this party don’t know each other, and therefore guests must introduce themselves to one another. Also, tell students that each person must learn about the other party guests’ jobs by asking them at least two questions about their work. Let students know that they must try to remember as many details as possible about each guest they meet.
2. Explain that before the party starts, students will receive information about their character and job, and that they will have time to think about their character and information related to the job.
3. Put students into groups of 6. Ask a student volunteer to pass out the sets of
character cards, giving one set facedown to each group. In each group, students should pass the stack of cards around, taking one card without looking at it.
4. When all students have a card, ask them to look at it without showing it to anyone else. Explain that students should choose the name on the card that matches their gender and that when the party starts, they will pretend they have the occupation written on the card. Tell students they will prepare to play their character’s role at the party by thinking about answers to the questions displayed on the board:
• What is your job? What type of work
do you do?
• What do you do at work?
• What do you wear to work?
• Where do you work? (Describe the
building or location.)
• What kinds of people and other things
do you see at work?
• Is your work dangerous? … boring?
… fun? … difficult? … interesting?
• What do you like about your job?
What do you dislike?
• Did you go to a special school or
training course for your job?

201 5ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 48americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
5. Model the character preparation
process by doing a “think-aloud”
about an example character not
used in the student cards. Use level-
appropriate examples, make notes
on the board during the process, and
elicit information from students when
possible. For instance, after you look at
your example card, your think-aloud
might go something like this:
“My name is Frank, and I’m a
firefighter. Hmm … what do I do at
work? I fight fires. I put water on
fires … . What else? [Ask students.]
“Ah, yes, I help people. What clothes
do I wear? I wear a uniform. [Ask
students what color the uniform is.]
“Yes, a bright yellow uniform … and
a special hat … . What is it called?
[Ask students.]
“That’s right; a helmet. Where do
I work? Hmm … a building for
firefighters … what is that place
called again? [Ask students.]
“Oh, right, a fire station … . What
does my character’s voice sound like?
Hmm … maybe a deep voice like
this [demonstrate a deep voice] …
Hi, my name is Frank. Nice to
meet you. …”
(Note: If you are female, you can replace
“Frank” with “Francine” and adjust the
character information, if necessary, as
you perform the think-aloud.)
6. Give students a few minutes to consider the character description questions. Tell
students they can make notes during
this preparation stage, but they can’t
use the notes during the party. Remind
them they can be dramatic and “get into
character” during the party by adopting a
different voice or by walking or standing
in a way that matches their character.
You might ask questions like these: “How
does your character talk? How does your
character walk? What gestures does your
character make?”
7. Ask student volunteers to pass out
the character graphic organizers.
(If students are making the graphic
organizers, guide them through the
process.) Explain that after the party
ends, students will use the graphic
organizers to record what they
remember about each character they
met. Remind students they will not
make or use notes during the parties.
Model filling out the organizer by
using details from your demonstration
character, Frank or Francine.
8. Before starting the parties, give students a minute or two to review the notes they
made about their characters. Remind
students to:
• Meet all the other party guests and
ask them at least two questions about
their jobs
• Try to remember as many details as
they can about each character
• Have fun while playing their character
9. Establish “party locations” for each group in different areas of the classroom, and
set a time limit for how long the parties
should last (approximately ten minutes,
depending on the group size). Ask
students to leave their notes and graphic
organizers at their desks, and then
ask students to get up and go to their
designated areas.
10. Start the parties. Walk around, monitor
student performances, and provide
support, when requested, by referring
students to language examples on the
board. You might want to make notes
about language or communication
issues you observe for use in a
whole-class feedback session at the end
of the activity.

2015 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 49
11. When three minutes are left in the
parties, give students a verbal
warning such as, “Only three
minutes left. Try to meet all of the
party guests.”
12. When time is up, end the parties and ask students to return to their seats. Ask students to use their graphic organizers to write down all the information they can remember about the other party guests. Tell them it is okay if they can’t remember everything; they should just do their best.
13. After a few minutes, direct groups to work together to discuss each character at the party. Ask someone in each group to volunteer to be the discussion leader. For each student, the discussion leader will ask the group members to supply the character’s name and all the details they can remember about the character’s job. Tell students to add any
missing details to their charts during the discussions.
14. If you want, after the group discussions, conduct a whole-class review of the role plays. Ask all the students who played each character to stand up or raise their hands, and then ask students from a few groups to share details about the character and his or her job. You might ask questions like these:
• Would everyone who played Mark or
Maria the shopkeeper please stand up?
• What did you all learn about Mark or
Maria’s job?
• How did this character act during the
party?
Because students in different groups
may have provided different character
details or acted differently, students can
Firefighter © Flashon Studio/Shutterstock.com

201 5ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 50americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
compare and contrast information from
other groups with information about
their own group’s character.
15. In addition to the role-play character
discussion, to close out the activity,
you can review with the class any
small-talk, grammatical, or
vocabulary-related issues you noted
while observing the students’
improvised conversations.
VARIATIONS
More drama!
If you want to make the role-play parties
more dramatic and character-driven, add a
“character mood” or “character description”
note to each character card during the
preparation phase (Step 1 under
Preparation). For example, a character
card might say:
Name: Frank (male) / Francine (female)
Job: Firefighter
Character description: grumpy [or shy , sad, very
happy, tired, nervous, etc.]
The additional information encourages
students to use vocabulary knowledge about
moods and personalities while planning
and developing their character’s voice and
behavior. Include a fourth column called
“Character personality” on the graphic
organizer so students can note their
observations about each party guest’s
behavior and mood during the party.
Notes support
Some students might find it too challenging
to have unscripted conversations and then
remember the details from the conversations
they have had with several party guests. If
this is the case in your class, allow students
to take the graphic organizers to the party
and make brief notes after each conversation.
Students can revise their notes, adding any
details they remember after the party, prior to
the group discussions. Be sure to extend the
time allotted for the party conversations if you
choose this variation.
SCAFFOLDING
Small talk
If your students have practiced “small talk”
in English, you might be able to skip these
Small-Talk Function Chart
Introductions/Greetings —
Starting the Conversation
Acknowledgement
Statements — Keeping the
Conversation Going
Taking Leave —
Ending the Conversation
• Hi, my name is _____.
• I’m ______.
• Nice to meet you, _____. / Nice to meet you, too.
• Hi, ____, how are you?
• Isn’t this a great party?
• Are you having a good
time?
• I see. / Oh, I see.
• That’s interesting. / How
interesting!
• Oh, really?
• That’s great.
• That sounds fun / exciting /
difficult, etc.
• It was nice talking to you.
/ I enjoyed talking to you.
• It was nice to meet you.
• I’ll see you later. / See you
later.
• Have a good time. / Have
a good time at the party,
____.
• Enjoy the party!
• Bye. / Good-bye.
Note: This chart does not cover all small-talk functions; a limited number of examples are
provided here for upper-beginner/lower-intermediate learners.

2015 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 51
scaffolding steps or to review them quickly. If
your students are unfamiliar with small talk,
take time to explain that short conversations
people have at parties or in other settings are
examples of small talk. Ask students to give
you examples of other times or places small
talk can occur (waiting for a bus, waiting in
line at a store, etc.).
Tell students that small talk often has three
parts: starting a conversation, keeping
the conversation going, and ending the
conversation. On the board, display the Small-
Talk Function Chart. Ask students to identify
examples of the different functions in a sample
dialogue (you might want to use the dialogue
between Frank and Paul, below), underline
examples they identify in the dialogue on
the board, and emphasize that the pieces of
information in the chart can be combined
during a short conversation. Ask students
to provide additional examples to the chart
under each functional category. You can keep
the Small-Talk Function Chart on the board
for the students’ reference, if needed, during
the role-play parties.
Sample conversation
If necessary, prepare students to participate
in brief small-talk conversations at a party by
modeling an example conversation. Display
the conversation on the board and model it
with the help of a student volunteer or by
playing both parts yourself using different
voices, body language, and/or positions for
the two characters:
Frank: Hello. My name is Frank.
Paul: Nice to meet you, Frank. I’m Paul.
Hotel clerks © Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com

201 5ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 52americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum
Frank: Nice to meet you, too. Paul, what
do you do?
Paul: I work in a restaurant. I’m a server.
Frank: Oh, I see. What do you like about
your job?
Paul: I meet many new people.
Frank: What do you dislike about your
job, Paul?
Paul: I stand up all day, so I get tired.
Frank, what is your job?
Frank: I’m a firefighter.
Paul: That sounds exciting. What do you
wear to work?
Frank: I wear a yellow uniform and a
helmet.
Paul: I see. Is your work dangerous?
Frank: Yes, but I like to help people.
Paul: That’s great! Have a good time at
the party, Frank.
Frank: You, too, Paul.
(Move on to chat with other party guests.)
This activity was written by Heather Benucci, an
EFL teacher, teacher trainer, and materials development
specialist. She has led virtual professional development
programs for EFL teachers in over 100 countries and
has worked face-to-face with teachers and students in
Russia, Korea, England, and the United States.
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