Teaching English as a second or foreign language can often rely too heavily on theory and the use or textbooks. An important part of developing your students' confidence, though, is to encourage them to contribute in a group environment and set them about performing interesting tasks that bring another dimension to the student/teacher dynamic. Using these activities to help your students apply their learning to practical tasks will help them relate what they've learned to everyday scenarios.

Grammar Quiz
Write a quiz that will help your students apply the English grammar they've learned to basic everyday questions. An example question might be "How often do you attend class?" Supply three multiple choice answers. In the case of our example question use "A: On Friday," "B: For three hours" and "C: Twice a week." The correct answer is "C." Ask the questions in a group environment and instruct your students to raise their hands when they know the answer. Encourage discussion among your group as to how they arrived at their answers or when any problems arise.

Describing Appearances and Characteristics
Ask one student to come to the front of the class and describe the characteristics and appearance of another member of the group. Then instruct the rest of the class to draw a picture based upon the description given. When the student at the front of the class has finished their description, ask the rest of the class to reveal their drawings and discuss the results. Repeat so as each student has the opportunity to describe another. This is an effective way to encourage your students to apply descriptive words and phrases as part of a fun activity.

Opposites
Give your students a list of ten adjectives. Then stand at the front of the class and call out the opposite of each word and encourage your students to identify its partner. Call out "Short" for your students to pair with "Tall" or "Happy" for them to link to "Sad." Ask your class to raise their hands when they have an answer and encourage discussion if one of your students arrives at the wrong answer.

True or False Quiz
Write out a worksheet of twenty questions or statements and include a grammatical or spelling error in at least half of them. An example of an incorrect statement might be "I have only been in New York for a weak." Ask your students to decide which statements are correct and which are incorrect and discuss. This exercise will work equally well if you write each question on a whiteboard and ask your students to raise their hands with the answer.