Past Work Experience: Group Activities for the ESL Classroom

Speaking Activities for the ESL Classroom

Encourage more student-talk-time in your classroom with these group activities for ESL learners. Based on practical life situations, these speaking activities provide learners with the opportunity to practice real-world English in the classroom. By focusing on real-world tasks and prioritizing more collaborative speaking time in your ESL class, your students will be ready to apply their skills in real life much faster. The group activities can be used as a single lesson or as a smaller piece of a larger module.

Free Materials for ESL Speaking Activities

ESL teachers have a lot on their plate. To assist teachers in their lesson planning, FLOW Speak has created free, ready-to-use resources to implement more speaking activities for ESL students. This ESL activity is ideal for adult English learners who are interested in finding employment in an English-speaking country. There are other activities available for adult and young adult ESL students also based on real-world communication skills such as travelling, health, shopping, and more.

Group Activity: Past Work Experience

Prepare your students for their next job interview by engaging them in an activity focused on past work experience. This activity highlights the importance of transferable skills when applying for jobs. After this activity, students should understand how they can leverage their past job experience when applying for work in a new country. 

Designed for students studying at CEFR B1, this activity uses job profiles that are common for entry-level employment in a new country. Students will think about their own personal experience, brainstorm skills they already possess, and match them to different job profiles they could apply for. By conversing with their classmates, they become more prepared and confident for their next job interview.

How to Use ‘Past Work Experience’ in Your Class

Employment is a common source of stress for immigrant ESL students. To help them succeed in the job market, facilitate this activity on communicating about past work experience in your ESL classroom. 

There are three distinct parts to this lesson that help prepare students for this real-world task. First, students will learn about transferable skills through the profile of Ana, an English student and immigrant looking for her first job in her new country. Students will work together to match Ana’s skills with a job advertisement she is interested in. Next, students will spend time brainstorming about their own skills. Finally, students will match their experience to the job advertisements of six different entry-level jobs. 

The teaching materials include detailed instructions for teachers as well as the handouts necessary for the activity. The ‘Teacher Instructions’ page includes information on delivery, necessary materials, enabling objectives, and suggested homework. 

The suggested homework shares related FLOW Speak lessons that can be assigned after the activity for individual speaking practice to reinforce what was learned in class. The lessons related to ‘Past Work Experience’ include the ‘Job Interview’ AI Talk lesson, the ‘Transferable Skills’ Expression lesson, and ‘What's your background?’ Conversation lesson. If you are interested in learning more about using FLOW Speak lessons in your classroom, contact achieve@flowspeak.io.

Download the materials
FLOW Speak Activity - Past Work Experience.pdf