REPORTED SPEECH GAMES

1. Reported speech reverse.

Option A. - Prepare cards with reported speech on one side and direct speech of the same
sentence on the other. Students have to correctly say what is on the other side to turn it over
and score one point.

Option B. - Prepare a set of index card each with a direct speech statement on one side and the
indirect statement on the other. Divide students into pairs. Student A picks up a card and reads
the direct statement. Student B must report on what they just said. Student A checks B’s reply
on the back of the card. The team with the most correct points wins.

Option C.- You may also try this other, easier version. Write the direct statements on index cards
and their indirect versions on another set of cards. Divide the class into two teams. Each student
must pick up a card and find the matching statement. You can make this more challenging by
using statements that are similar but in different tenses.

2.-Reported speech pairwork dictation

This idea lacks the fun element of the other games here (unless you choose or write an amusing
dialogue or one with a surprising twist), but is easy to do and check and can lead to examination
of things we usually leave out of reported speech such as “well” and “yes”. It can also be a lead
in to the similar but more fun activities below. Student A has one person’s part of a dialogue and
Student B has the other person’s part, and they convert their part into reported speech and tell
their partner what the person on their worksheet said so that their partner can convert it back
into direct speech (in their heads) and write it down in the gaps on their sheet. At the end when
they check their worksheets with each other they should have identical dialogues written down.
This activity can be made more challenging by one of the students having their half of the
dialogue in mixed up order.

3.-

In this energizing reported speech game, students report back answers to questions and race
to complete sentences about what people said. The class is divided into groups of three or
four. Each student is given a copy of the worksheet. The students write down the name of a
student that is not in their group at the beginning of each sentence on their worksheet. Each
group is then given a set of questions. A student from each group reads the first question and
memorizes it. The student then looks at the name at the beginning of the first sentence on
their worksheet (e.g. Sophia) and goes to the group where the person is located to ask them
the question. The student then returns and reports back the answer to the group using
reported speech, e.g. 'Sophia said that she had been studying English for five years'. Everyone
in the group then writes down what the student said on their own worksheet. When all the
group members have written the sentence, the next student asks the second question to the
person whose name is written at the beginning of the second sentence and so on. The first
group to complete their worksheets with grammatically correct sentences wins the game.
Prepare a series of cards/slips of paper, each with a different sentence. Here are some examples:

I’m sorry I’m late.

These canapés are delicious.

What time is it? I don’t have a watch.

Excuse me, I’m looking for my husband/wife.

Do those canapés have meat in them? I’m a vegetarian.

I have a PhD from Harvard.

Create enough cards so that each student has one.

4.-

Comic Strip Gaps

To prepare for this activity cut out comic strips from a newspaper or print some you find
online. Then use some liquid paper to white out what some of the characters say in their
speech bubbles. Write these lines down on separate cards. Students pick up a card and try to
match it to a character: Garfield said he wanted to eat lasagna.