22 Practical ESL Role Play Scenarios

ESL role play scenarios are a powerful way for your students to practise in meaningful, real-world scenarios. They help students develop fluency and build speaking confidence for public or unfamiliar situations. They are especially useful for ESL learners preparing for travel, job interviews or customer service roles, but also help with many everyday conversations.

However, we understand that thinking up appropriate scenarios can be very time-consuming! That’s why we’ve created a ready-to-use list of ESL role play scenarios for you. We’ve carefully crafted them to not only cover practical situations, but also provide opportunities for humour to keep students engaged. Each scenario not only has a description, but also the language it is useful for practising, so you can make an informed choice about which of them to use.

These role play scenarios are great for pairs, groups, or even online classes. They are designed primarily for two students, but can be adapted to groups of three if needed. We suggest dividing the class into pairs and giving the pairs 1-2 minutes to improvise something simultaneously. Optionally, you can then select one or two pairs to act this topic for the rest of the class.

To project these role play scenarios one at a time on the board, try our Role Play Generator. All the ESL role play scenarios on this page are preloaded into that generator – no prep required! Get instant access with a free 7-day trial (no payment details required):

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• Talkative Taxi Driver


• Scenario: A taxi driver who loves to ask their passenger questions but doesn’t watch the road.
• Language: This role play is great for practising small talk, asking and answering personal questions, and giving polite but firm responses.

• Ticket to Ride


• Scenario: Someone wants to buy a ticket to another city at the train station.
• Language: Ideal for practising question formation, travel vocabulary, dates, times, and polite requests.

• Bargain Hunt


• Scenario: Someone wants to buy something at the market, but they want to get a better price.
• Language: Useful for practising negotiation phrases, comparatives, conditionals, and polite refusals.

• Doctor Visit


• Scenario: A patient visits the doctor because they don’t feel well.
• Language: Great for reviewing health vocabulary, symptoms, advice-giving, and present simple/present perfect.

• Office Call Confusion


• Scenario: Someone calls an office because they want to speak to the manager, but they aren’t there, and the receptionist answers.
• Language: Helpful for practising telephone etiquette, indirect speech, and formal vs. informal register.

• In-Flight Questions


• Scenario: A passenger on a plane asks the flight attendant for information about the journey.
• Language: Excellent for practising question forms, travel-related vocabulary, and polite requests.

• Booking a Hotel Room


• Scenario: Someone wants to book a hotel room, and they call the hotel asking for more details about the facilities.
• Language: Focuses on future forms, amenities vocabulary, and polite inquiries.

• Messy Flatmates


• Scenario: Two flatmates/roommates argue about the mess in the kitchen.
• Language: Great for practising expressing annoyance, using modals of obligation, and giving advice.

• Sandwich Bar Selection


• Scenario: Someone chooses the items they want at a sandwich/salad bar.
• Language: Useful for practising countable/uncountable nouns, food vocabulary, and making polite requests.

• Too Many Cooks


• Scenario: A chef doesn’t like what a cook has made in a restaurant kitchen.
• Language: Teaches constructive criticism, cooking vocabulary, and using imperatives appropriately.

• Restaurant Complaint


• Scenario: A diner at a restaurant tells the waiter about a problem with their food.
• Language: Builds skills in complaining politely, food vocabulary, and past tenses.

• Tough Job Interview


• Scenario: A boss asks difficult questions in a job interview.
• Language: Good for practising job-related vocabulary, formal language, and responding to open-ended questions.

• Driving Lesson Drama


• Scenario: A driving instructor teaches a nervous driver.
• Language: Practises giving directions, using imperatives, and expressing encouragement or concern.

• Red Carpet Interview


• Scenario: A journalist interviews a celebrity on the red carpet.
• Language: Great for practising question forms, informal and expressive language, and reported speech.

• Fender Bender Fight


• Scenario: Two drivers argue about a car accident.
• Language: Practises giving opinions, describing past events, and using modal verbs for speculation.

• Selling a Car


• Scenario: A salesperson tries to sell someone a car.
• Language: Excellent for persuasive language, adjectives, comparisons, and conditionals.

• Teenage Rebellion


• Scenario: A teenager argues with their parent about going out with their friends.
• Language: Useful for expressing opinions, negotiating, and using modal verbs of permission and obligation.

• Clothes Shopping


• Scenario: A customer wants to buy some clothes and asks a store assistant for more size/colour options.
• Language: Perfect for practising shopping vocabulary, adjectives, and polite questions.

• Tourist Information


• Scenario: A tourist asks the tourist information office about the best things to do.
• Language: Great for using superlatives, giving recommendations, and asking polite questions.

• Lost in the City


• Scenario: A lost tourist asks a local for directions.
• Language: Ideal for practising location and direction vocabulary, imperatives, and prepositions of place.

• Parking Ticket Dispute


• Scenario: A driver parks for two minutes and a traffic officer gives them a parking ticket.
• Language: Good for practising expressing frustration, giving excuses, and understanding official language.

• Curious Customer


• Scenario: A diner at a restaurant asks the server lots of questions when ordering.
• Language: Useful for food vocabulary, forming detailed questions, and polite conversation.

Use these ESL role plays in your classroom or study group to build vocabulary, improve fluency, and make learning English more enjoyable!