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FunActivitiesForTheSecondConditional(TEFL.net)
Stimulatingwaystopractisetheimaginarysituationsandadvice,negotiationsandmoraldilemmasmeaningsofthe
secondconditional.

1.MoralDilemmas
SecondconditionalsareusedinreallifetotalkaboutquestionslikeWhatwouldyoudoifyouhadtochoosebetween
lettingawarcriminalgofreesothathedstopthewarandcontinuingthewaruntilhecouldbebroughttojustice?
Givingstudentsafewquestionslikethistodiscusscanbeintellectuallystimulatingandproduceagoodmixofthe
secondconditionalandotherlanguage.Itcanalsobedesignedtofitinwiththetopicsofthebook(e.g.
environmentalmoraldilemmas)orwiththeirjoborstudies(e.g.medicalmoraldilemmas).Theycanalsomakeup
similarquestionstoaskeachother.

2.GuessMyAnswer
TheMoralDilemmasactivityabovecanbemademorefunbygettingstudentstoguesstheirpartnersanswersbefore
theyaskthequestions.Thisalsoworksforothermeaningsofthesecondconditionalsuchastentativeoffersin
negotiations.GivestudentsalistofdealssuchasIfIgaveyou1,000pounds,wouldyoudomywashingupfora
month?andgetthemtoguesswhattheirpartnerswillsaybeforetheyaskthequestion.Theycanthenmakeup
similarsentencesspecificallytoelicitaparticularresponse,e.g.WouldyougivemeyourwifeifIgaveyoumy
bicycle?toobtainaNo,Iwouldnt.

3.SentenceCompletion
GivestudentsatleastfifteensecondconditionalsentencestarterssuchasIfIhadfourlegsorIfIweretherichest
personintheworld.Theyshouldcompletethesentenceswiththeirownideasandthenreadoutjustthepartthey
havewritten(notthesentencestemsontheworksheet)fortheirpartnerstoguesswhichsentencetheywroteitin,
e.g.Peoplewouldtakephotosofmeallthetimecouldbewrittenineitherofthosetwoexamplesentencestems
above.Thesentencestemscouldalsobemoraldilemmas,oryoucouldwritethemtotiethesecondconditionalin
withotherlanguagepointssuchasfeelings(Iwouldfeel_______iftheinternetdisappeared)orphrasalverbs(If
_______,Iwouldgetonmuchbetterwithhim/her).

4.ProblemSolving
ProblemslikebeingstuckonadesertislandorhavingacanoffoodbutnocanopenerareoftenusedinELTfor
practiceofgoingtoforplans.However,asthestudentsarenotreallyinthatsituationitismuchmorenaturaltoask
Whatwouldyoudoiffloodwaterscutyourhouseoff?andWhatwouldyoudoifallelectroniccommunication
permanentlybrokedown?Peoplecanthendebatewhichideaisbestand/orvoteonthebestidea.
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5.Votes
Votingcanalsobeusedinotherwaystopractisethesecondconditional.Forexample,peoplecanpresenttheirideas
onwhattheywoulddoiftheywereputinchargeoftheworldoriftheyweregivensuperpowers,andthenpeoplecan
voteforthebest.Theideasneedtobequiteoutlandishoneslikethese,becauseotherwisethefirstconditionalisa
morenaturaltensetousetopresentyourideas.

6.ConsequencesChains
Studentssayorwriteasecondconditionalsentenceaboutthemselves,perhapsusingalistofpossiblesentence
stems,e.g.IfIdidnthavethisclassnow,(Idstillbeinbed).Theotherstudentssayorwritetheconsequencesof
thatactionandtheconsequencesoftheconsequences,e.g.Ifyouwerestillinbednow,youdoversleepandfeel
groggywhenyouwokeup,Ifyoufeltgroggywhenyouwokeup,youddrink3cupsofcoffee,Ifyoudrankthree
cupsofcoffee,youdgetchestpains,etc.Theycontinueuntiltheyreachacertainnumberofsteps(usually8to10is
agoodnumber)orcometoanaturalconclusion.

6.PersonalityQuestionnaires
Thisiskindofanextensionofthemoraldilemmasideaabove.Studentswritesecondconditionalquestionstotest
theirpartnersononepersonalitytraitormore,thenaskthemthequestionsandjudgetheiranswerswithouttelling
themwhattheyarebeingtestedon.Thepeoplewhoareansweringthequestionscouldthenguessthetopic(s)and
howwelltheyhavedonebeforebeingtoldtheresults.Forexample,forbravetheycouldbeaskedquestionslikeIf
yousawthatthepersonsittingnexttoyouhadagunintheirbelt,whatwouldyoudo?

7.IfIWereYou
AnyfunactivitiesongivingadvicecanbeusedwithsecondconditionalphraseslikeIfIwereyou,,IfIwerein
yourplace,andIfIwasinyourshoes,.Possibilitiesincludewritingagonyauntletters,givingdeliberatelybad
advice,andguessingtheproblemsfromtheadvicegiven.

8.IfYouAnsweredMeThatWay
Studentsaskeachothersecondconditionalquestionsinthehopeofgettingspecificanswers,e.g.Whatwouldyou
doifyouwonthenationallottery?tomaketheirpartnersayIdquitmyjoborUnderwhatcircumstanceswould
youbuyagun?togetthereplyIftherewasaforeigninvasion.Theresponsesthattheyshouldgetcouldbegiven
onslipsoraworksheet,ortheycouldwritedownresponsesforthemselvesorotherstoobtain.

RelatedPosts:

1.Fun1stConditionalPractice
2.Practisingthirdandmixedconditionals
3.15funactivitiesforPresentSimple/PresentContinuous
http://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/grammar/activitiessecondconditional/ 2/3
16/3/2017 FunActivitiesForTheSecondConditional|TEFL.net

4.PracticeactivitiesforGoingto

WrittenbyAlexCaseforTEFL.net
September2011|FiledunderActivities,Grammar
AlexCaseistheauthorofTEFLtastic.

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