Pros & Cons Speaking Task

Talk for a Minute!

Take turns to roll the dice and talk for a minute about the advantages and disadvantages of the topic shown
which corresponds to your roll. If you roll a 6 with either of the dice, you can choose any topic from the board.
If another student has already spoken on the topic, you can either repeat it or roll again.
Try to use some of the following words/phrases:

• On the one hand ... / On the other hand ... • One benefit/drawback of ... is ... • One good/bad side of ... is ...

• One advantage/disadvantage of ... is ... • ... whereas / while ... • One positive/negative aspect of ... is ...

Spending the
Working in an day at the beach Being single /
Being Famous office / Working / Spending the Video Games Being in a
remotely day in the relationship
countryside

Living in a Being an
Living in the city
house / Living employee/
Having a Pet / Living in the Smart Phones
in an apartment Being self-
countryside
employed

Having a native
Holidays abroad English teacher
Shopping online
Social / Holidays in / Having an
/ Shopping in Online Dating
Media another part of English teacher
person
your country from your
country

Having children
Having siblings / before twenty- Living alone /
Artificial Being an only- School
five / Having Living with
Intelligence child Uniforms
children after flatmates
thirty-five

Travelling by Exercising in the

Online Home-schooling Being gym / Exercising
train / Travelling
Education / Regular school Vegetarian outdoors
by car

FREE

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 Teacher’s Notes
Lesson: Pros & Cons Speaking Task Level: B1+ - C1 Time: 30 mins

Preparation:
- Print a copy for every group of 2-4 students, or display it for online You might also like …
lessons/send a copy to your students by email. • Talk for a Minute
- You will need a pair of dice for each group. • Talk for 2 Minutes
Instructions: •

- Put students into their groups, and give each group a copy of the board.
- Go through the introduction and useful language for talking about pros and cons as a class,
explaining any unknown vocabulary. Then have the students repeat the words and phrases after you.
- Add an example topic to the board and elicit some sentences from the class using the words and
phrases provided. Add their sentences to the board, correcting them if necessary and demonstrating
further sentences/examples.
- You might want to demonstrate speaking for a minute, using the text below.

Topic: Buying new clothes / Buying second-hand clothes

One benefit of buying new clothes is that they are in perfect condition, whereas second-hand clothes might
have a rip or be worn in some way. Another advantage of new clothes is that they are fashionable, while
second-hand clothes might be out of fashion. On the other hand, you can often get something unique and
trendy in a charity shop that you may not be able to buy in a high-street store. A big advantage of buying
second-hand clothes is, of course, the fact that they are usually much cheaper than new clothes. It is also
better for the environment to buy second-hand clothes. A negative aspect of buying new clothes is that they
end up in landfills.
One drawback of buying second-hand clothes is that there is usually only one of the same item, and it may
not be the right size for you. Finally, second-hand clothes can sometimes smell a bit musty from being in
storage, and you have to wash them before you wear them.

- Put students into small groups of 2-4 students and give them a set of dice.
- Players take turns to roll the dice and talk about the corresponding topic for one minute. The other
students in their group should keep time.
- Encourage the students to use some of the language from the introduction as they speak.
- Monitor, and provide support, but try not to interrupt the flow of their turns. Take notes of any
common errors they make to focus on in a feedback session afterwards.

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