Business English lesson plan: Agree/disagree

Students: A2 (Beginners), B1(Intermediate)

Language Emphasis: Lexis for agreeing and disagreeing ideas in meetings, discussion with
supervisors and peers
Objective: By the end of this lesson, students will learn 4 expressions to agree and 4 expressions to
disagree ideas with appropriate language register at situations such as meeting, discussions with
supervisors and peers.
Materials needed: Overhead projector with speakers, role cards

Stage objective: Time:

Project four sentences on the projector and for
1. To create interest; to 10 mins every sentence pick any two students to respond
personalise lesson only by saying agree/disagree. Introduce the
context important of using the appropriate expressions for
agreement and disagreement at workplace.

2. To illicit familiar 5 minutes Ask student what are the expressions they are
expressions currently familiar with for agreeing or disagreeing with ideas.
used by the students Collect the results on the board.

3. To clarify /teach the 20 mins Introduce 4 useful expressions for agreeing ideas
expressions, context, meetings/discussions. Clarify scenarios and context
tone and scenarios of on these expressions.

target expressions
Introduce 4 useful expressions for disagreeing ideas
in meetings/discussions. Clarify scenarios and
context on these expressions.

Sensitise expressions for strongly disagreeing ideas

by clarifying certain situations where such
expressions would be necessary.

4. To demonstrate 10 mins Play 2 videos demonstrating sample conversations

actual discussions which use the above taught expressions.
using audio/visual
material

5. To provide 15 mins Students are asked to pick chits, which has either
opportunities for agree or disagree role written on them. A topic is
practice; to asses given with a starting sentence. Students will be
students’ ability to use given 10 minutes to think of 2 points for their role.
target items After 10 minutes, students conduct a discussion
using the above taught expressions.

Detailed explanation of each stage:

1. To create interest; to personalise lesson context: Before the class begins, I will write the
Objective on the board. When the students are seated in their places, I will begin the class by projecting
4 opinions on the board and randomly pick two students to respond and ask them to respond only by
saying agree or disagree. Next, I will ask them if they had a common agreed or disagreed on the
opinions? Continuing, I will introduce the topic by telling them that disagreements and agreements are a
common scenario in meetings and discussions. While it is easier to respond in in an informal setting like
here, agreement and disagreements at workplace should be done using the right expressions so as to
not offend anybody.

2. To illicit familiar expressions currently used by the students: Next, I will ask students to
give some expressions that they generally use at their workplace. I will fist illicit expressions for ‘agreement’
and put them on the board. Next, I will repeat the same for ‘disagreement’.

3. To clarify /teach the expressions, context, tone and scenarios of target

expressions: Using the overhead projector, I will first teach students some appropriate expressions for
‘agreement’. At this stage, there might be a chance that one to two expressions might also be on the board.
I would softly compliment the student for coming up with the expression beforehand.

Expressions for agreement:

1. “that makes sense to me too” - this expression is candid and can be used in a larger discussion when
agreeing to other’s idea or showing a common agreement to other’s idea. Appropriate for both meeting
and discussions.

2. “that’s a very important point/question” - While the previous expression simply implies agreement,
sometimes students may want to add what they feel or support the idea with more detail. In such case,
this expression is more appropriate. In some cases, the idea might come as a question or a part of
brainstorming made by the peers. This expression is very appropriate as it compliments the peer as well
as expresses agreement.

3. “I couldn’t agree more” - This expression is similar to “that makes sense to me too” except that this
expression is more appropriate for agreement with opinions over ideas as in the case of former.

4. That’s brilliant - the tone of the above expressions are more formal. Whereas sometimes the agreement
might require a slightly more impressed/praising tone. This expression is perfect in such cases.

Expressions for disagreement:

1. “I am afraid…I don’t totally agree with you” - I will start by saying that while agreeing can be direct,
disagreeing, unless required, should mostly be less direct. This expression is commonly used in both
formal and informal discussions to express disagreement.

2. “that may not be the best option” - This phrase expresses disagreement and also expresses that you
may want to add something more. The phrase is appropriate in brainstorming where the employee might be
leading the meeting.

3. “I understand what you are saying…but” - While the above 2 expressions only express disagreement,
another nice way to expressing disagreement is to first agree and then disagree. This expression is
appropriate in discussions and while brainstorming ideas.

4. “you’ve got be kidding me” - As a teacher, I must sensitive students that not always do we need to be
polite during disagreement. Some situations might require us to giver a stronger opinion especially when
the idea is unreasonable. In such cases, this expression should be used. I will also warn students that this
expression is not appropriate for brainstorming or meeting when there are many people around.

After introducing the above expressions, I will once again summarise the teaching by asking the student to
quickly recollect the 8 expressions they learnt till now. I will end the teaching stage by asking if they have
any questions or specific scenarios that they would like clarification on.

4. To demonstrate actual discussions using audio/visual material: Now, I will play 2

videos which introduce usage of these expressions to the students. The link is provided below:

British council: How to disagree politely (Source: Youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40LgX2hk3vo

Note: I will not be playing the whole video but only the duration between .35 to 2.06.

Meeting: agreeing and disagreeing Source: Youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAxVOm9QlR0

5. To provide opportunities for practice; to asses students’ ability to use target

items: After I play the video, I will lead the students towards a role play, which will be the final element of
the class. Here I will first ask them to pick a chit on which either agree/disagree will be written. Next, I give
them a topic and a beginning line - “Work from home”, Working from home is a great option especially in
urban areas to avoid traffic congestion…..

NOTE: the topic for discussion is general but can be customised it the class is conducted to employees of a
same company or a similar profile.

I will then ask them to discuss and prepare a conversation where each person has two points for their
respective role(agree/disagree). I will give them 10 mins to prepare. I will emphasise to the class that they
have to use expressions they learnt for each of the points they give. The conversation has to alternate
between an agreement idea and one disagreement idea. After 10 mins, the students will present their
conversation.

I will help correct the errors, if any and praise, if the activity is done well.

I will close the class by asking them if they feel confident about using the above expressions at their
workplace.