This is a quick activity I threw together to help higher level students with expressing opinions on a range of controversial or “hot button” topics. I got the list of opinion expressions from the excellent englishclub.com, they have some great lists of functional language exponents organised by level, check them out:
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/fl-giving-opinions.htm
Download the handout and PowerPoint below:
Procedure
Give out the handout and have students work together to try to complete the opinion expressions.
Go over their answers in open class.
Drill natural pronunciation of the expressions. Point out to students that we often emphasise or stress the part that identifies the stated opinion as our own:
In MY opinion,…
As far as I’M concerned,…
You know what *I* think?
For the hot-button topics you could either brainstorm some with your students by asking:
What issues are people debating fiercely these days?
What was the last heated argument/debate you had about?
Or, you could use the ones in the PowerPoint. Show a slide and have students express their opinions in small groups.
If you have an exam preparation group, the activity would work well as a warm-up to tackling some of the collaborative tasks such as Advanced speaking parts 3&4.
Thanks for your lesson plans, they help me a lot. Would this lesson be helpful for IELTS students? I like variety to aid with exam driven classes.