Negotiation Exchange

Groups receive incomplete sets of items and must negotiate trades with other groups to complete as many full sets as possible — practising transactional and persuasive language under time pressure.

Procedure

1. Prepare: Take a deck of playing cards (or printed picture sets, puzzle pieces, etc.) and cut or split each item into 2–4 parts. Mix all parts and divide them equally among groups.
2. Sort: Groups get 2–3 minutes to sort their pieces, identify complete sets, and note which parts they need.
3. Negotiate: Set a time limit (8–12 min). Groups send members to other groups to trade, barter, and persuade. They must speak English to request, agree, or refuse — no silent swapping.
4. Tally: When time is up, groups count their completed sets. Most sets wins.

Variations

• Resource swap: Use any collectable set — vocabulary cards split in half (word + definition), sentence halves, picture + caption pairs.
• Strategy layer: Give groups 2 minutes to discuss strategy before trading begins (split up or stay together? trade generously or hold back?).
• Difficulty: For advanced learners, add bluffing rules — groups can claim to have pieces they don't, but get penalised if caught.

Tips

• Pre-teach or review key negotiation phrases: Do you have...?, I'll give you X for Y, No deal, How about...?
• For beginners, keep it to two-piece sets. For advanced, use three or four pieces per set.
• Debrief the process: What language did groups use? What strategies worked? This often leads naturally into a focus on transactional language and conditionals.