Rainie (Minghao) Zhang

Integrated Speaking and Listening Lesson Plan

English 891 Portfolio
Spring 2011

Integrated Listening and Speaking Lesson Plan

I. Class Profile

The class is designed for an intermediate level (level 5) non-credit four-skill ESL
class in the City College of San Francisco downtown campus. The class emphasizes on
reading, listening, and speaking skills inside of class and writing skills out of class.
Though the Ss were placed in the intermediate level, their proficiency is actually
slightly below the intermediate level as most of them have taken this level more than
once. The age of the Ss ranges from 19 to 78. Most Ss of the class are immigrants to the
United Sates. The relatively young Ss take the class to linguistically prepare themselves
for their future academic study in American universities. The middle-age Ss take the
class for better linguistic performance in their workplaces. The elders in the class take the
class simply for their own interests and also family communication purpose. Though
there are a variety of L1 backgrounds in the class, the dominant L1 of the class is
Cantonese. The class meets every week from Monday to Thursday and each class
meeting lasts 100 minutes from 8:00 am to 9:40 am.

II. Objectives

 Listening Objectives:
Micro-Skills Macro-Skills
• SWBAT identify different intonations, • SWBAT recognize the communicative
in questions and statements in a functions of utterances in asking for
hotel-book conversation information and making request.
• SWBAT discriminate among the • SWBAT comprehend the conversation
distinctive sounds in numbers. of making hotel reservation.
• SWBAT identify words in stressed and • SWBAT infer situations, participants,
unstressed positions when asking for goals using real-world knowledge.
and giving information. • SWBAT develop listening strategies,
• SWBAT recognize reduced form of such as detecting key words and
words in spoken English. guessing the meaning of words from
• SWBAT process speech containing context.
pauses, errors, corrections in spoken
English.

 Speaking Objectives:
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 • SWBAT practice questioning and answering skills
• SWBAT form questions out of given information using linguistic knowledge
• SWBAT practice contraction form of words in spoken English
• SWBAT learn to use certain words and phrases to politely make requests.
• SWBAT use discourse markers in a hotel-booking conversation

III. Class Context

Each unit of the class covers a real-life topic such as hospital, natural disaster,
traveling abroad, etc. In the current unit, Ss are learning language use, both written and
spoken, in the tourism related settings. The class occurs in the middle phase throughout
the semester. In the previous class meetings the T has already introduced politeness in
asking questions and Ss have already started building the pragmatic knowledge of what
is politeness in spoken English.

IV. The Lesson

 Listening Activities

Pre-Listening Task: Schema Building (10 min)

After greeting the Ss, T would start the class with asking the Ss about their plan
for summer break and their former experience of making hotel reservation. Ss would
talk to their partners and share their experiences of booking hotel.

T: What plan have you got for your summer break?

S: I will go back to China.
S: I am going to Toronto to visit my friends.
S: I am planning a trip to Europe.
T: Great! Sounds like you all have come up with some plans for this summer. So Bao,
you said you are planning a trip to Europe. Have you decided where you will be
staying?
S: I will book hostel or some cheap hotels.
T: I see. I believe that most of us all have had some experience of making hotel
reservations before. Now I would like you to turn to the person next to you and
share with each other your experience of booking hotel. When did you book it? Did
you book it by phone or online? What kind of room did you get and how much did
you pay?
(Ss talk to each other for approximately 5 minutes)

First Listening Task: Listening for specific information (15 minutes)

Ss would be listening to the phone conversation where a man is making a hotel

reservation. T would hand out the worksheet (See Appendix A) and ask the Ss to pay
attention to specific information so as to achieve a global understanding of the text.
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The listening material could be found at:
http://www.esl-lab.com/hotel1/hotel1.htm

T: OK. I heard that most of you used to book hotel by phone. Now we are going to
listen to a conversation between a guest and a hotel receptionist. Before I play this
conversation for you, I would like you to first look at the worksheet that I just gave
you. During listening to the conversation, remember to pay attention to the
information in the conversation and check the box of the right answer.
(After 2 minutes for the Ss to look at the worksheet, T plays the conversation and Ss
listen to it.)

After listening to the conversation, T leads the Ss to go through the worksheet.

T: Let’s look at the worksheet together now. Which hotel did you check for the first
question?
Ss: (silent) / I didn’t hear it. / Maybe the Sunnyside Inn. I am not sure.
T: OK. It seems that we are not very sure about the first one. When do you usually
hear the name of the hotel when you make a phone reservation?
Ss: At the very beginning. / After the receptionist picks up the phone.
T: Yeah, that’s right. Usually when the receptionist picks up the phone, s/he will first
tell the name of the hotel. So, let’s hear the very beginning of the conversation again
and see if we can get the answer.
(T plays the first 2 seconds of the conversation again.)
T: So what about this time? Have you got the answer?
Ss: Yes. It’s Sunnyside Inn.
(T then checks the answer to other three questions.)
T: Good. Now, does anybody want to tell us what the conversation is mainly about?
Yes Guofu.
Ss: Mr. Maexner made a reservation. / He will go to the Sunnyside Inn on March 20th
with somebody else and stay in a non-smoking room.
T: Very good. Anybody wants to add something? Yes King.
S: The price is 80 dollars and 10% room tax.

Second Listening Task: Listening for Phrases of Expressing Politeness (10

minutes)

After the first listening for gist, Ss are supposed to focus on the words that the
speakers use to express the politeness in making request. Before the Ss’ listening to
the conversation again, T would hands out the transcription of the conversation (See
Appendix B).

T: Great. Now we are going to listen to it again. This time I want you to look at the
transcription of the conversation while you are listening. The left part of the class, I
want you to pay attention to the words that Mr. Maexner uses and the right part of
the class, you are supposed to pay attention to the receptionist’s words. I’d like you
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 to underline the words or phrases that you think are polite. Is it clear?
Ss: I don’t quite understand. / Could you give us an example?
T: OK. Let’s see. If I say “I want a non-smoking room” and “I would like to have a
non-smoking room”, which one do you think is polite?
Ss: The second one.
T: Right. So which words do you think make the sentence polite?
Ss: would like.
T: Yes. And what other words do you know that people use to express politeness?
Ss: “please” / “could you please”
T: Good. So now we are going to listen to it again, and this time we are going to look
for polite words. Clear?
Ss: Yes.
(T then plays the conversation again.)
T: OK. Let’s see what words have you underlined. Left part of class, which words
did you underline?
Ss: “I’d like to…” / “Non-smoking please.”
T: Good. What about you guys, the right part of class?
Ss: “May I help you?” / “Would you like…” / “Could I have your name please?”
T: Very good. (T writes these phrases on the board for the Ss to refer to in the later
speaking activities.)

 Speaking Activities:

First Speaking Task: Drilling of Polite Phrases (15 minutes)

In the first speaking task, T would distribute a handout where there are phrases
of politeness on one side of the column and some examples of requests on the other
(See Appendix C).

T: Let’s take a look at the work sheet together. So who can tell me when people
usually need to use polite words?
Ss: Ask questions. / Ask for something. / When you want something.
T: That’s true. We have practiced how to be polite when we ask questions. Actually
we also want to be polite when we want something from other people. To do this, we
can ask questions or directly say what we want. So now, let’s practice some questions
and statements together. Read after me. “ Could I”(with rising intonation)
Ss: “Could I”
T: “Could I have two room keys please?”(also rising intonation)
Ss: “Could I have two room keys please?”
(T then leads the Ss to read the whole 6 phrases)
T: Good. Now I would like you to practice using these phrases with your partners.
I’d like you to take turn to read out these phrases with the examples and make sure
the example you choose from the right columns makes sense. For example, (T points
at the board) if I pick “Could you…” from the left column, and which one in the
right column do you think can go together with it?
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Ss: “Sign here”/ “Show me your ID card”/ …
T: Very good. So does it make sense if I say “Could you” and “double bed”?
Ss: No. / That doesn’t make sense.
T: Yeah. And did you notice that there are blanks?
Ss: Yeah.
T: In the blank, remember to write your own example that is appropriate in a
conversation happened at a hotel’s front desk and practice polite words with your
example as well. Clear?
Ss: Yes.
(Ss then work in pairs and take turn to practice reading out these polite requests in a
front desk conversation.)

Second Speaking Task: Role-Play of Making Hotel Reservation (20 minutes)

After the Ss do the drilling of phrases of politeness, they are to practice using
these phrases communicatively in a given context – in this case, the conversation of
making hotel reservation. Ss would do this activity in pairs. They will be given two
worksheets. One is a prompt of their roles where either the hotel information or the
traveling information is provided for them to talk. Another worksheet is grid where
they are supposed to write down the information they get from their partners (See
Appendix D and E). Ss would take turn to play the role of either the receptionist or
the guest and they would be required to be at least twice of each role. In other words,
each S would have filled out at least two rows of information in their grid. They
could continue to work on the third one if time allows.

T: Good. I heard that we all practiced reading these polite words. But in real life, we
need to really use these words right? We heard the two speakers use these words
when making hotel reservation. So now we are going to be guests and front desk
receptionists and we will make hotel reservation ourselves.
(T hands out the worksheets – Appendix D and E)
T: I would like you to work with your partner again. One of you will play the guest
and the other is the front desk receptionist. From the worksheet “role-play prompt”,
you can pick any hotel or any guest you want to be, but you need to switch the role
and make sure everyone all have played both guest and receptionist. Remember to
write down the information of the hotel or the guest on the other work sheet you
have in your hand.
Ss: (Looking at the worksheets)
T: OK. Sylvia, could you come to the front and we do it first for the class?
S: Sure.
T: Thank you. So class, now Sylvia will be the guest and I will be the front desk
receptionist. Sylvia, which guest do you want to be?
S: Maybe the guest number 3.
T: OK. I will pick the Sleeper Inn. Let’s start. Are you ready Sylvia?
S: Yes.
T: OK. Hello. Welcome to the Sleeper Inn. How may I help you?
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S: I would like to have a room.
T: Sure. Would you like a single room or a double?
S: I travel with my husband, so we’d like a single room.
T: OK. We have both smoking and non-smoking single rooms. Which one would you
like?
S: I’d like a non-smoking room please.
T: Could I have your name please?
S: Sure. It’s Sylvia Chen.
T: Could you spell your last name for me please?
S: It’s C-H-E-N.
T: Great. So Mr. and Mrs. Chen and a single room. How many would you like to
stay?
S: We will stay for 2 nights.
T: Perfect. How would you be paying?
S: Could I pay with credit card?
T: Sure. We accept Visa, Master, and American Express.
S: Great. Do you have a swimming pool?
T: Yes, we do. It’s on the 2nd floor.
S: OK. Thank you. And where could we have breakfast?
T: Oh. We actually have two restaurants. One is on the 1st floor and the other one is
on the 3rd floor. The one on 3rd floor serves breakfast from 6 am to 9:30 am. Would
you like a wake-up call?
S: Yes. We’d like a morning call at 6 am please.
T: OK. Could you sign here for me?
S: Sure. Oh! We’d like a king bed please.
T: Let me check if we have room available with king bed. Wonderful! Room 708 has
a king bed. Here’s your key.
S: Could we have two room keys?
T: Sure. Here you go. Our checkout time is no later than 10 am. Have a nice stay!
S: Thank you.
T: Very good. Thank you, Sylvia. Now let’s work in pairs and we have 10 minutes to
figure out the information of hotels and the guests.
(Ss then work in pairs. T walks around in the classroom and checks the Ss’ working.)

Third Speaking Task: Ranking of factor for choosing hotel (25 minutes)

After a guided role-play, Ss would be conducting a communicative ranking

activity where Ss need to first come up with a list of factors that they will consider
when they choose hotels and then rank the factors according to the importance.

T: Great job. So I think you all have information of at least two hotels in your
worksheet. Now what we are going to do is still working with your partners and
think about the questions you just asked for making reservation, for example, price
or smoking or non-smoking. Take out a piece of paper and list them on it. Do you
get what you are going to do?
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 Ss: Not really. / Hmm..
T: Let’s see, when you call or walk into the hotel, what factors would you think about
and would influence your decision of whether staying at the hotel or not?
Ss: Price. / Location.
T: Good, good. So now you are going to write them down on the paper. I hope you
can come up with at least 5 factors and then discuss with your partner which one is
the most important, which one is more important than the other one, and why you
think so. For each factor, write a number beside it to indicate its importance. For
example, if you think price is the most important factor, write number 1 beside it.
Are we clear?
Ss: Yes.
(Ss then work in pair doing the list and ranking; T walks around and help the Ss
who have problems doing the task.)

Post-Speaking Task: Sharing with the whole class (5 minutes)

After the Ss work in pairs, a pair either volunteers or is called on to share their
ranked list with the class and explain why they ranked the factors that way. The T
then elicits differences of list from other Ss and let other Ss to explain why they have
come up with different rankings. Different pairs are very likely to have come up
with different factors and different rankings; therefore, the time for this activity
could be flexible and if time allows, T could let more pairs to compare their list and
rankings to other Ss’ until the end of the class.

(End of the class)

V. Rationale

The Listening activity

Selection of input material
According to Rost (2002), listening input materials need to be first relevant to
the Ss’ learning goals and general interests. In the current lesson, hotel reservation is
a real-life topic/theme and Ss are all very likely to have previous experience of
making hotel reservation. Besides, since most Ss take this class in order to improve
their English competence for real-world communication purpose, topics covering
different aspects of daily life are likely to match what the Ss are interested in and
want to learn out of the class. Therefore, the topic of the listening input follows
Rost’s principle of relevance of listening input. In addition, in terms of the language
use in the material, Rost reminds T to choose the listening input that reflects real use
of the language in life (authenticity) and involves linguistic and phonologic features
occurring in conversation between native speakers such as speed, intonation,
pausing, correction, etc. (genuineness). The current listening input material is
carefully selected to meet the requirements of authenticity and genuineness.

Tasks and Sequence

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 The two listening tasks are listening for main ideas and sound-form-pragmatic
link. Though the class aims to get the Ss to be aware of polite words that people use
when making request, this cannot be achieved without a general and global
understanding of the listening input beforehand. In the
listen-for-specific-information task, T has generated four main ideas for the Ss to
notice. These four main ideas are chosen because they are the information that
people are most likely to notice and remember when reserving hotel room.
According to Ur (1984), when Ss listen for specific information, irrelevant and
unimportant information is filtered out and target information is given most
attention. In the current listening task, Ss are expected to get the gist of the
conversation out of the four main ideas.
Having listened for comprehension, Ss move to work on listening for perception
– in this case, the perception of the link between sounds and form. Also, Ss employ
their previous pragmatic knowledge of politeness into the task so that Ss actually
work on listening for perception of sound, form, and pragmatics. Ur (1984) states
that following a written text when listening is a technique that gets the Ss to
establish the correspondence between orthography and pronunciation. Ur (1984)
also warns that this activity has very little value for listening comprehension, which
is exactly the reason why the T designs a listen-for-comprehension task before this
task.
In general, the two tasks follow Ur (1984)’s suggestion that listening tasks need
to have a pre-set purpose as people in real life listen and talk to others with a clear
purpose.

The Speaking activity:

Tasks and Sequence

The controlled-guided-communicative sequence of tasks is borrowed from
Celce-Murcia et al. (1996). It is believed to be true that if the sequence works for
pronunciation task, which is also a type of speaking activities, it could be applied to
oral communication skill class.
Drilling, as an effective noticing technique, enables the Ss to gain the control
over the target functional chunk (Thornbury, 2007) – in this case, the polite sentence
starters when making requests. Through repeating and imitating, the target chunks
are stored in Ss’ short-term memory and moved gradually from short-term to
long-term memory (Thornbury, 2007). In the current class, Ss both follow the T to
repeat those polite sentence starters and work in pairs to drill the sentence starters
with example requests in a decontextualized way. This prepares the Ss for the
following tasks that are more free and communicative.
As Thornbury (2007) and Kayi (2006) states, the nature of role-play is to get the
Ss to speak, to simulate a social context that the Ss are likely to encounter in their
real life, and to provide the Ss with speaking opportunities where they have a
different persona so that Ss could possibly have less anxiety and are more likely to
take risk. This class follows Kayi’s suggestion that T gives the Ss necessary
information for their roles such as who they will be, what they are going to do, or
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 how they feel, etc.
In ranking activity, Ss work in pairs and engage in discussion in order to reach a
consensus. This will lead to very much negotiation of meaning and expression of
agreement and disagreement. Such interactive discussions between Ss, according to
Thornbury (2007), are considered facilitating autonomous learning.

Success-Oriented

As Ur (1984) suggests, tasks should be success-oriented so that not only could Ss be

motivated, but also the T could ensure that s/he effectively delivers the tasks. Ss learn
best when they to some extent successfully conduct the task. Thus all the tasks in the
current class are easy for the Ss to achieve some success but still somewhat challenging.
As long as Ss follow the instruction and actively engage with the task, they are very
likely to come up with results and success in some way.

VI. References

Celce-Mucia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996). Teaching Pronunciation: A

Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. New York: Cambridge

University Press.

Kayi, H. (2006). Teaching speaking: activities to promote speaking in a second language.

The Internet TESL Journal, 12-11.

Rost, M. (2002) Teaching and Researching Listening. London: Longman Pearson Education.

Chapter 9: Input

Thornbury, S. (2007). How to teach speaking. London: Pearson Longman.

Ur, P. (1984). Teaching listening comprehension. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ESL Teacher Resources, Job Boards, and Worksheets. http://bogglesworldesl.com

Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab. http://www.esl-lab.com/

9
 Appendix A

Listening Activity 1

 Listen to the conversation of making hotel reservation. Pay attention to

these questions and check the right answer according to the

conversation.

HOTEL: Which hotel was the man calling?

 Beachside Inn  The Shirlyton Hotel  Sunnyside Inn

 The Sleeper Inn  The MidDay Motel  The Wyatt Hotel

DATE: When will the man be staying at the hotel?

 March 20th  May 21st  March 21st

 May 20th  March 22nd  May 22nd

ROOM: Which room did the man book?

 • Smoking  • Non-Smoking  • Smoking

• Double • Single • Double
• $75+10%TX • $75+10%TX • $75+10%TX

 • Smoking  • Non-Smoking  • Non-Smoking

• Suite • Double • Suite
• $200+10%TX • $80+10%TX • $200+10%TX

GUEST: What is the man’s name?

 Tom Max  Bob Max  Tom Maexner

 Bob Maexner  Tom Maxer  Bob Maxer

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 Appendix B

Listening Activity 2

 Listen to the conversation again. Pay attention to and underline the

words that the speakers use to express politeness.

Women (Receptionist) Man (Guest)

W: Hello Sunnyside Inn. May I help you? M: Yes. I’d like to reserve a room for two on
the 21st of March.
W: OK. Let me check our computer here M: OK.
for a moment.
W: It’s 21st of May, right? M: No. March. Not May.
W: Oh! Sorry. Let me see here. [tapping on M: Are you all booked that night?
keyboard] Hmm…
W: Well, we have one suite available, M: OK.
complete with kitchenette and sauna bath.
W: And the view of the city is great too. M: How much is that?
W: It’s only 200 dollars plus a 10 percent M: Oh! That’s a little too expensive for me.
room tax. Do you have a cheaper room available
either on the 20th or the 22nd?
W: Well, would you like a smoking or M: Non-smoking please.
non-smoking room?
W: OK. We do have a few rooms available M: Well, how much is the non-smoking
on the 20th. We’re full on the 22nd unless room on the 20th.
you want a smoking room.
W: 80 dollars plus the 10 percent room tax. M: OK. That’ll be fine.
W: All right. Could I have your name M: Yes. It’s Bob Maexner.
please?
W: How do you spell your last name Mr. M: It’s M-A-E-X-N-E-R.
Maexner?
W: [tapping on keyboard] OK Mr. M: OK. Good bye.
Maexner. We look forward to seeing you
on March 20th.

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 Appendix C

Speaking Activity 1

 With your partner, take turn and practice the polite phrases in questions

using the example requests in the right column. Write your own

example in the blank of number 7.

Words / Phrases of Politeness in Example Requests

Questions
1. Show me your ID card
1. Could I/you...? 2. Spell your last name for
2. Could I/you…please me
3. Would you…? 3. Sign here
4. Would you like…? 4. Give me two room
keycards
5. A smoking / non-smoking
room
6. Double bed / King bed
7. [Your Example]
____________________

 With your partner, take turn and practice the polite phrases in

statements using the example requests in the right column. Write your

own example in the blank of number 5.

Words / Phrases of Politeness in Example Requests

Statements
1. I/We would like… 1. A smoking / non-smoking
2. …please. room
2. Double / King bed
3. A wake-up call
4. Two room keycards
5. [Your example]
_____________________

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 Appendix D1

Role-play Prompts: Hotel Guests

• Traveling alone • Traveling alone

1 2
• Single room • Single room
• Smoking / Non-smoking • Non-smoking
• One double bed • One king bed
• Pay with cash • Pay with cash
• 2 nights • 2 nights
• Need to wake up at 7:00 A.M. • Need to wake up at 7:30 A.M.

• Traveling with husband/wife • Traveling with brother

3 4
• Single room • Double room
• One king bed • Two double beds
• Non-smoking • Smoking
• Pay with credit card • Pay with cash
• 2 nights • 2 nights
• Need to wake up at 6:00 A.M. • Need to wake up at 8:00 A.M.

• Traveling with two friends • Traveling alone

55 6
• Suite • Single room
• Three double beds • One double bed
• Smoking / Non-smoking • Non-smoking
• Pay with credit card • Pay with credit card
• 1 night • 4 nights
• Need to wake up at 6:30 A.M. • Don’t need to wake up early

Adapted from www.bogglesworldesl.com

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 Appendix D2

Role-play Prompts: Front Desk

The Beachside Inn The Shirlyton Hotel

Price Available Room Price Available Room
Single $125.00 102s, 103ns, 104s Single $120.00 203s, 204ns
Double $165.00 201ns, 203ns Double $165.00 604ns, 605s, 708s
Suite $210.00 501ns Suite $230.00 None
Pool No Pool 5th floor
Restaurants No Restaurants 1st floor; 3rd floor
Checkout 11:30 A.M. Checkout 11:00 A.M.
Laundry Service Yes Laundry Service Yes

The Midday Motel The Wyatt Hotel

Price Available Room Price Available Room
Single $25.00 102ns, 103s, 104s Single $110.00 708ns, 710ns, 904ns
Double $35.00 201ns, 203ns Double $145.00 802ns, 1107s, 1108s
Suite N/A N/A Suite $190.00 1401s
Pool In front of the motel Pool 4th floor
Restaurants 2nd floor Restaurants 2nd floor; 3rd floor
Checkout 10:00 A.M. Checkout 10:30 A.M.
Laundry Service No Laundry Service Yes

The Sleeper Inn The Sunnyside Inn

Price Available Room Price Available Room
Single $95.00 604ns, 605s, 708ns Single $80.00 302ns, 303ns
Double $125.00 203ns, 204s, 206ns Double $110.00 517s, 518s, 519ns
Suite $150.00 501ns Suite $200.00 801s
nd rd
Pool 2 floor Pool 3 floor
Restaurants 1st floor; 3rd floor Restaurants 1st floor
Checkout 10:00 A.M. Checkout 11:00 A.M.
Laundry Service Yes Laundry Service Yes

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 Appendix E1

Hotel Role-play You are a traveler who would like a room

Guest
at a hotel. Go from hotel to hotel and

book a room in each. Important Polite Words:

Hint: You may use some of the phrases and questions on the right:
Hotel Room Number Price Checkout Time Restaurant Pool
Name Location Location
(1) May I…?
(2) Would you like…?
(3) Could I/you…?
(4) Could I/you…please?
(5) How would you…?
(6) I would like….
(7) I would like…, please?
(8) …please.

Adapted from www.bogglesworldesl.com

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 Appendix E2

Hotel Role-play You work at the front desk of a hotel. As

Front Desk
guests come in write down their

information in the table below: Important Polite Words:

Hint: Ask the questions on the right side of this worksheet:
Name Room Number of Number of Wake-up Method of
Size People Nights Call (Y/N) Payment
(9) May I…?
(10) Would you like…?
(11) Could I/you…?
(12) Could I/you…please?
(13) How would you…?
(14) I would like….
(15) I would like…, please?
(16) …please.

Adapted from www.bogglesworldesl.com

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17