Your adult ESL students know how to do their jobs, but when their manager calls them in to talk, or a coworker crosses a line, the words aren't always there. That's because work is full of conversations that feel high stakes even in one's first language. This Jobs and Careers role play pack gives your adult ESL students the language to handle them before those moments arrive.

Asking for a raise, resigning without burning a bridge, and telling a coworker politely but clearly that something isn't okay are conversations most people dread regardless of their language level. For adult ESL students, the language gap makes them harder still. This pack gives students a place to rehearse those moments so they're not figuring out the words in real time, in front of someone whose opinion of them matters.

WHAT'S INSIDE the 29-page ROLE PLAY PACK:

• ✅ Teacher pages — a full lesson arc with engagement activities, discussion prompts, and guidance on how to move students from structured support to impromptu role play.
• ✅ 2 Anticipation pages— students rate their agreement with statements about jobs and careers on a 1–5 scale, setting up real discussion before the role play begins.
• ✅ Idioms and expressions handout — common workplace idioms and expressions with brief definitions, grounded in the theme.
• ✅ Essential vocabulary handout — words and phrases students will need for the scripts, the scenario cards, and the conversations that follow.
• ✅ Conversation matching worksheet — students match lettered responses to fill in the employee's lines and build a complete, natural two-person conversation. + answer key + script version
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• ✅ Dialogue prompts — half-page prompt cards that give pairs a framework for what to say and when, without scripting the actual language. Students cut the page and use their own words.
• ✅ 10 Scripts — ready-made dialogues for students who need the support of written lines; ideal for reader's theater 
• ✅ Scenario cards — ten sets of character cards for pairs and small groups, designed for impromptu role plays or script writing. Most scenarios work with two or more students.

THIS IS DESIGNED FOR YOUR ADULT ESL STUDENTS

Every scenario, every script, and every conversation in this pack was written with adult students in mind. These are the real workplace moments your students are likely to face or may already be facing. Resigning from a job, setting limits with a difficult coworker, finding out they're being laid off aren't abstract. For many of your students, they're next week.

This role play activity pack also works well with older secondary students in life skills classes who are building the same practical communication skills. If your students are mature enough to come up against these situations on their own in the real world, they're the right audience for this pack.

This is included in my Adult ESL Role Plays Bundle.