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I thought I could start by sharing today's lesson from my 1st year class: we explored the theme of accent barriers in education and employment. I started by modelling different British accents and then showed short videos highlighting how accent variation can affect understanding and job interviews. Students compared this to their own cultures and experiences, before moving into a reading comprehension and a role-play activity where pairs acted out situations in different accents for the class to guess. It was lively, engaging, and raised real questions about prejudice and identity. Looking ahead, I’d like to extend this work with new interaction formats: speed chatting to gather personal reactions, fishbowl discussions to deepen debate on solutions, a podcast project so students can create authentic oral texts, and a hot seat Q&A to simulate job interviews and test responses. Together, these variations should help move from awareness of accent barriers towards practical strategies for breaking them down, while keeping oral interaction central.

1. Speed Chatting (as a warm-up after the first video)

After showing the video of different accents, set up 2–3 minute “speed chats” where pairs rotate.

Each round, give a different quick prompt:

“Which accents do you find easiest/hardest to understand?”

“How are accents judged in your own country?”

“Have you ever felt judged for the way you speak?”

This ensures everyone processes the video actively and shares personal reactions, not just the confident students.

2. Fishbowl Discussion (moving towards solutions)

After the role play or reading, put 4–5 students in the middle “fishbowl.”

Prompt: “What can we do to break down accent barriers in education and the workplace?”

Observers listen and take notes on useful phrases or strong arguments, then swap in.

This pushes them towards deeper, structured discussion and makes sure the whole class is involved.

3. Podcast Project (as a follow-up assignment)

Students work in pairs to record a 5–7 minute “Accent Podcast.”

Episode must include:

1. An introduction (set up the issue).

2. A short interactive discussion (personal experiences or reactions to a clip).

3. A “listener Q&A” (role-play a question about accents and respond).

It ties beautifully into your theme because accents are so auditory — perfect for podcast format!

4. Hot Seat Q&A (during or after the role play)

Instead of just guessing accents in the role-play game, take it further: put one student in the “hot seat” as a job applicant with a strong accent (role-played).

The rest of the class are the “interview panel” and fire questions.

The “hot seat” student has to stay in character, while the others practise asking probing but fair questions.

This variation makes the “accent barrier” issue very real, since students get to feel what it’s like being judged on the way they speak.

This activity fits the theme of Identities because accent is a powerful marker of who we are and how we are perceived. By exploring how different accents shape opportunities in education and employment, students reflect on the link between language, identity, and prejudice. The role plays and discussions highlight how identity can both empower and disadvantage individuals, making the issue personal and immediate.

Just as a follow up: I have not attached links here as I have many, and there are a wide variety available - youtube videos that link perfectly to this class. I think that it should be a personal choice, whatever fits the teaching style you have.

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Thank you Naz, for opening up the discussion! Here's my speaking lesson overview using Macbeth.

Lesson Overview: Macbeth and Oral Interaction

Step 1: Reading & Fast Speaking
We read the section where Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy. Students noticed how the language differs from modern speech, learning expressions like thou and thee. Then, they discussed what kind of character Macbeth seems to be at this point.

Step 2: Writing
Students predicted what might happen after Macbeth hears the prophecy. Through process-oriented writing, they developed their own storylines and practiced building strong plot structures.

Step 3: Group Work
Each student shared their draft with their group. Together, they chose the most interesting storyline and rewrote it collaboratively. Assessment focused on whether the storyline was engaging and whether characters were consistent (e.g., if Macbeth was portrayed as ambitious, that trait had to remain clear; if he fell into corruption, the reason had to be convincing).

Step 4: Role Play
Groups performed their scenes, with a minimum speaking time set for each student to ensure participation. Afterward, students gave self-feedback about which competencies they had improved, and peer-feedback to each other.

One highlight was the use of masks. At first, I simply asked early-finishing groups to draw masks on A4 paper. Surprisingly, this had a very positive effect: shy students felt more comfortable performing behind masks, and they even expressed emotions more vividly through tone and intonation. Instead of speaking more quietly, as I had expected, they actually spoke louder and more confidently.

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Thanks Naz and Jihyun for sharing how you practice oral interaction in the class.

Let me also share how I perform this in the classroom. I am interested in using activities like Jig Saw and Gallery walk.

Here’s how I would combine these activities into one lesson.
For the unit Sharing the Planet, I’d use the guiding question: “How should we tackle plastic waste?”

1. Warm-up
Start with a quick pair chat: “What kind of plastic do you use the most in daily life?” This gets everyone thinking and sharing personal connections to the topic.

2. Jigsaw Activity
Students work in expert groups, each focusing on a different angle—like sources of plastic waste, environmental impact, health risks, or possible solutions. After discussing in their expert groups, they move into mixed groups to teach each other what they’ve learned.

3. Gallery Walk
Each mixed group creates a poster that pulls together their ideas. The posters are displayed around the room, and the class walks around to read, ask questions, and leave comments on sticky notes.

4. Wrap-up
Groups go back to their posters, read the feedback, and respond. The teacher ends by asking: “If we could choose one action as a school or community to reduce plastic waste, what would it be?” This encourages students to connect discussion to real-life action.

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For myself, I would aim to have the primary goal for my classes on oral communication to be focused on developing confident and effective communication, more so than grammatically perfect linguists.

Some warm-up activities that I might use would include Questions of the Day, where I would assign a stimulating question related to the current theme. For example, we are currently working on Mental Wellness as part of the Identities theme and a question I asked was whether too much emphasis was placed on exam results, in light of the stress it puts students under. Another warm-up activity could be quick Debates where students must physically move to one side of the room to show agreement/disagreement with a statement and must justify their position. A useful activity related to SL assessment is to use a picture prompt. I would show an image and have students describe it in pairs, speculating on the context surrounduing it.

To try and develop oral communication skills, the picture prompt practice can be expanded. Students are given a new visual stimulus and, in pairs, use a graphic organizer to brainstorm: description, connection to the theme, relevant vocabulary, and potential links to a target culture. To try and develop the skill of students being more comfortable under time pressure, 60-Second Speeches can be used where students are given a topic and they then have 1-minute to prepare a mini-speech about it. Simulating real-life scenarios (e.g., a job interview, a complaint in a restaurant, a debate on a social issue), allowd students to practice interactive and receptive skills. Adapting Socratic dialogues and having students discuss a text or a complex question can help to focus on building on each other's points, asking clarifying questions, and using persuasive language.

An example of how I might utilise these and similar techniques using the theme of "Identity" with a Focus on Mental Wellness would include warming up with Vocabulary Building. I would introduce terms like resilience, stigma, anxiety, mindfulness, burned-out, vulnerable. Students are then shown a stimulus such as a photo of crowded classroom, they must then prepare a presentation to give to the class using the vocabulary and the photograph. Building on this presentation, numerous follow-up oral activities could be used such as debates and role play.

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Gloria                                                                             Ethical Debate: The Hot Air Balloon Scenario

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Gloria                                                                             Ethical Debate: The Hot Air Balloon Scenario

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This week in my IB TOK class, I tried out an ethical debate activity based on the hot air balloon scenario, and it turned out to be both engaging and effective in developing students’ oral skills.

The setup was simple but dramatic: students were told that a hot air balloon was losing altitude, and unless one person was sacrificed, everyone on board would die. Each student received a character role, such as a doctor, scientist, teacher, artist, or teenager, along with a short description of that character’s background. Their task was to argue why their character deserved to survive, negotiate with their peers, and ultimately reach a group decision on who should be sacrificed.

Before the debate, students spent a few minutes preparing their arguments individually, thinking about what their character contributed to society and how to defend their survival. Then, in small groups, they entered the debate. I encouraged them to use linking phrases like “In my opinion,” “On the other hand,” and “If we consider the future…” to structure their arguments more clearly.

The discussions were lively and surprisingly passionate. Some groups quickly united to protect characters they felt were essential to society, while others found it much harder to agree. A few students even tried to bargain or compromise, which led to some authentic and spontaneous use of English. At the end, each group had to announce their final decision and explain their reasoning.

We finished with a short class debrief. Students compared outcomes across groups, reflected on which arguments were the most persuasive, and thought about how ethics and values shape our choices. It was also a chance to highlight effective communication strategies, such as giving examples, listening actively, and responding directly to others’ points.

Overall, the activity worked well because it combined critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and spontaneous speakingin a way that felt fun rather than exam-oriented. It also linked naturally to IB themes such as Identities and Fairness and Development. For me, it was a reminder that oral tasks don’t always need to feel like “practice for the exam”—sometimes the best preparation comes from creating a space where students want to argue, defend, and challenge each other in English.

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I really enjoyed looking through the list of activities, and it made me reflect on how I might approach oral interaction when I teach English B next year.

For an additional activity, I would like to try a Story Relay.

Step 1: Warm-up – Students work in pairs to brainstorm 3–4 vocabulary words that could appear in a story (e.g., forest, secret, storm).

Step 2: Relay – Sitting in a circle, one student begins the story with a sentence. Each following student adds one sentence, incorporating at least one of the suggested words.

Step 3: Reflection – After the story is complete, students reflect on which sentences connected well and how the plot developed. This encourages careful listening, creativity, and spontaneous speaking, while lowering pressure on weaker students.

Another idea is Opinion Corners.

Step 1: Statement – The teacher presents a provocative statement (e.g., “Social media does more harm than good”).

Step 2: Movement – Students move to the part of the room that represents their stance: Agree / Disagree / Not sure.

Step 3: Discussion – Within each group, students prepare their reasons, then share with the class. Peers from different corners can respond or challenge ideas.

I think both activities combine fluency practice with authentic interaction, while also creating energy in the classroom. If I were to teach English B, I would definitely want to try them.