Pairwork: Question Review Activity (Intermediate ESL)

Note: This page is for English teachers. Students, you can do these exercises online here.


ESL Level: Intermediate

Time Required: 20 minutes

Number of Students Required: 2+

Language Focus:  WH-questions, Present Simple, Past Simple, Present Perfect, Present Progressive question forms

Materials: One copy of worksheet for each pair of students

Worksheet Downloadquestions-pair-work-intermediate.docx

Description: This is a simple activity for reviewing question forms. Before you hand this out to students, look at the list and make sure you have taught the forms therein. (Otherwise, you'll end up with confused students a lot of questions!)

Activity Execution:

  1. Tell the students that you are going to say a sentence, and they should tell you the question that matches it. Then say, "No, I didn't eat breakfast this morning." Elicit the question from your students (Did you eat breakfast this morning?).
  2. Tell them they are going to do the same thing with a partner. Put student in pairs. Have them decide who will be StudentA and StudentB. Tell them that one student will read an answer aloud to his/her partner. The partner should then say the question that matches that answer. If s/he cannot, the partner can give him/her hints. They can continue until all sentences have been read on both students' sheets.
  3. Distribute half of worksheet to each student (a StudentA or StudentB part) and let them try it.

Note that some answers could have more than one possible matching question, so I have underlined a word in the sentence. That is the key information the question should ask about.

Speaking Activity Preview: 

Student A — Questions Review! Read the answers below to your partner. Get your partner to guess the question that matches the answer. Give hints if you need to.

  1. No, I don't own a car. (Do you own a car?)
  2. I wake up at 8 am. (What time do you wake up?)
  3. I like jazz music. (What kind of music do you like?)
  4. The movie was boring. (How was the movie?)
  5. That's Matthew's bag. (Whose bag is that?)
  6. Yes, I have eaten breakfast today. (Have you eaten breakfast today?)
  7. I'm taking the grammar class. (Which/What class are you taking?)
  8. I brush my teeth twice a day. (How often do you brush your teeth (a day)?)
  9. He has worked there for 1 year. (How long has he worked there?)

------------------------------- cut ---------------------------------------------------------

Student B — Questions Review! Read the answers below to your partner. Get your partner to guess the question that matches the answer. Give hints if you need to.

  1. No, I didn't see John yesterday. (Did you see John yesterday?)
  2. I have lived in Toronto for 6 months. (How long have you lived in Toronto?)
  3. The trip takes 20 minutes from school to my house. (How long is the trip from school to your house? / How long does it take from school to your house)
  4. My breakfast was delicious. (How was your breakfast?)
  5. My brother is kind and funny. (What is your brother like?)
  6. I have 2 brothers. (How many brothers do you have?)
  7. Those are Jack's shoes. (Whose shoes are those?)
  8. `Frightening' means `very scary.' (What does frightening mean?)
  9. He broke his right arm. (Which arm did he break?)

Pair-work activities like these are a communicative way to review grammar before a test (that's why I developed it). Good luck with your classes.

- Matthew Barton / Creator of Englishcurrent.com

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4 comments on “Pairwork: Question Review Activity (Intermediate ESL)

  1. Mike Kennefick (Posted on 5-21-2016 at 04:20) Reply

    Excellent

  2. Kathy (Posted on 10-8-2016 at 16:19) Reply

    Another way to use these prompts would be to see how many different questions the students’ partners could ask for any one given answer.

  3. joe n (Posted on 11-28-2016 at 00:57) Reply

    thanks i use it foe speaking activity

  4. Nazim (Posted on 1-11-2017 at 21:24) Reply

    Nice way to explain

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