ESL Activities

ESL Games, Activities, Lesson Plans, Jobs & More

  • Warm-Up
  • Listen
  • Read
  • Speak
  • Write
  • Jobs
  • Podcast

in Icebreakers + Warm-Ups· Speaking

Group Therapy | A Fun First-Day Activity for ESL Students

Are you looking for a fun ESL activity for your adults students? Then you’ll need to keep on reading for more details about this group therapy activity.

ESL Icebreaker Activity for Adults

Group Therapy ESL icebreaker activity

Check out Group Therapy ESL Activity

Skills: Speaking/listening
Materials Required: None
Time: 5-15 minutes (depends on class size, but if too large, put students into groups of 5-6 people)

Group therapy is a fun activity for ESL students. It’s not kid-friendly though! In the style of an AA meeting, students sit in a circle if possible and introduce themselves, “My name is _____, and I’m _____.” Instead of finishing with “. . . and I’m an alcoholic,” finish with a problem they have learning English, such as using articles, the present perfect or imperatives correctly or conjugating verbs. They should then solicit tips and tricks from their classmates.

The teacher should begin by modelling and could give an actual problem they have as a language student. For example, “My name is Jennifer, and I’m never sure how formal or polite to be when speaking Korean to someone I don’t know well. Does anyone have any advice for me?”

Teaching Tip for Group Therapy

This is a great first day activity, because it is a not-very-sneaky way to get an idea of what areas of language the students perceive to be more difficult, which you can use to inform your lesson planning for the semester.

You may be tempted to try this out with kids. However, it’s not really ideal for them because they often don’t really have an idea of what “group therapy” looks like. In addition, they may not have the insight to really explain what their weaknesses in learning a language are. It’s certainly an adult-only kind of activity.

Procedure for Group Therapy

1. Before class, arrange the desks in a circle, if possible. If the class is very large, divide students into several large groups.

2. Begin by telling your students that everyone has trouble learning languages, and even those who speak several languages fluently have difficulty with some aspect of any language they learn.

3. Introduce the lesson as “therapy” for them to get counselling for their troubles.

4. Begin with your own example of a problem you have with a foreign language you speak. For example, “My name is Jennifer, and I’m never sure how formal or polite to be when speaking Korean to someone I don’t know well. Does anyone have any advice for me?”

5. Go around the circle and give each student a turn to introduce themselves, “My name is _____, and I’m _____.” Instead of finishing with “. . . and I’m an alcoholic,” finish with a problem they have learning English, such as using articles correctly or conjugating verbs. They should then solicit tips and tricks from their classmates.

Want to Make your Life Easier?

I know that I sure do. I try to plan my lessons as quickly as possible so I can have more time to go surfing and hiking and the other stuff that I really love! This idea for ESL students is from the book, 39 ESL Icebreakers: For Teenagers and Adults.

My co-author and I have over 20 years of experience in ESL/EFL classrooms and all the activities have been personally tested and approved as awesome! Click the link below to get the book now on Amazon. It’ll be lesson planning made easy, guaranteed.

The book is available in both digital and print formats. Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office as a handy reference guide for lesson planning before the beginning of the semester. Or, take a copy with you on your phone or tablet for lesson planning at your favourite coffee shop. Yes, it really is that easy!

How is the Book Organized? 

The activities are well-designed to make it very easy for you. They start out with a brief overview of the activity so you can see at a glance whether or not it’ll be right for your students. Then, it moves into the detailed step-by-step instructions that start with what you need to do for prep before class, how to explain the activity to your students, and then what the students actually have to do. Finally, don’t forget about the handy teaching tips that’ll make the activity go even better, and you can also avoid some of the most common problems.

Where Can I Get the Book?

Does it sound like this book is exactly what you need? If you liked this group therapy ice breaker activity, you’ll probably love it. Click the link below to learn more about it on Amazon:

39 ESL Icebreakers: For Teenagers and Adults

Group Therapy Icebreaker: Join the Conversation

And, have you tried out this group counselling style activity for ESL/EFL classes? Leave a comment below and share your tips and experiences with us, please.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.

group-counselling-icebreaker-esl

Group therapy ice breaker activity for ESL/EFL students

Teach kids? You may want to check out this password game.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 20 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder, 67 ESL Conversation Topics,and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram

« ESL Spelling Game: Word Challenge
Idiom Activity for ESL Students | English Idioms »
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners and Teachers (Teaching...
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners and Teachers (Teaching...
Check Price on Amazon
103 Low-Prep ESL Speaking Games & Activities for Kids, Teenagers, and Adults: The Ultimate Book for...
103 Low-Prep ESL Speaking Games & Activities for Kids, Teenagers, and Adults: The Ultimate Book for...
Check Price on Amazon
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
Sale 1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
Check Price on Amazon

Search this site

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

Sale 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Check Price on Amazon
Sale 39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
Check Price on Amazon
ESL Classroom Management

ESL Classroom Management Tips and Tricks | Teaching ESL

last day of school games

Last Day of School Ideas for Games, Activities & More

giving-instructions-esl-classroom

Giving Instructions: Tips for Teachers | Teaching ESL Abroad

things that come in pairs chart

Things That Come in Pairs: List, Pictures & Chart of Pairs of Things

ESL role playing ideas

Role Play Topics and Ideas for ESL | ESL Role Playing Activity

Sale 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Check Price on Amazon
  • About + Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Top Selling ESL Activity Book

39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More ESL Activities and Games

there is there are activities ESL

There Is There Are Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

wh-question-games

WH Questions Activities and Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

classroom objects

List of Classroom Objects in English with Pictures | English Vocabulary

esl-idiom-activity

Idiom Activity for ESL Students | English Idioms

About, Contact, Privacy Policy

Best-selling author and English teacher Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL activities and games since 2015. The goal is to bring you the best ideas, lesson plans, and activity recommendations for your TEFL classes.

Get in touch: About + Contact

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Email: jb.business.online@gmail.com

Pinterest

Facebook

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Copyright © 2025 Jackie Bolen + ESL Activities. All rights reserved.