Teaching functional language articles

55 articles on teaching functions like requests, offers and interrupting. If you like anything here and want more, please support TEFLtastic.  

How to thank people in English – NEW

How to apologise in English

How to disagree in English

How to disagree politely

How to practise offers and requests

How to teach offers

Making and responding to offers practice activities

How to teach interrupting

Formal and informal language games

15 fun complaining and dealing with complaints activities

How to teach making enquiries

How to teach ending conversations

12 fun turn-taking activities

Fun apologising activities

12 fun checking/ clarifying practice activities

12 fun agreeing and disagreeing activities

How to review functional language

12 fun recommendations activities

How to teach starting and ending conversations

How to teach Social English

How to teach restaurant language

How to teach recommendations, advice and suggestions

How to teach making and responding to invitations

How to teach small talk

How to teach small talk questions with how

How to teach British and American functional language (with differences in requests, small talk, etc)

How to teach directions

How to teach shopping language

40 telephoning activities

Favourites in EFL classes

How to teach like and would like

How to teach telephoning

Getting students to use more complex language Part Two

Getting students to use more complex functional language Part One

How to teach comparing and contrasting

How to teach hedging and generalising

How to teach advantages and disadvantages/ looking at both sides

How to teach supporting your arguments

How to teach the language of likes and dislikes

Sharing personal experiences in EFL classes (including useful functional language for that purpose)

How to teach requests

Activities for making requests

How to teach dealing with enquiries

How to teach giving examples

How to teach the language of prohibition

How to teach turn taking

How to teach checking/ clarifying

How to teach the language of opinions

Classroom speaking for the language of opinions

Tying functional language in with your syllabus

Teaching formal and informal language 

Functional language for IELTS Speaking

What your students need to know about thanking in English

Classroom activities for the language of thanking

Classroom activities for the language of requests

How to teach dealing with enquiries

15 things to teach about apologizing

15 games for likes and dislikes

How teach directions to young learners

TPR for can/ can’t

Practice activities for can/ can’t

How to teach modals of possibility/ probability/ deduction

Games to practice want/ want to

How to teach have/ have got

7 games for have/ have got

Updated 1 March 2024