Problem-Solving Activities That Encourage Communication

Why do people really learn a language? Let’s be honest: most learners don’t start studying a new language just to memorize irregular verbs or pass a grammar quiz. 

As ESL teachers, our job is to give students a reason to speak — something that feels relevant, practical, and even a bit fun. When they understand the "why" behind what they’re doing, engagement follows.

Remember school subjects that felt pointless because you couldn’t see how they applied to real life?

That’s where problem-solving activities come in. These tasks give students a real reason to speak. 

Whether they’re solving a mystery, building something together, or escaping a fictional scenario, they use English as a tool to accomplish a shared goal. It’s communication with a purpose — and that’s powerful.

Stranded on a deserted island, students must pick 5 items from a list of 20 to survive. In small groups, they debate, persuade, and decide together. 

It’s rich in language: modal verbs ("We should take…"), conditionals ("If we have a knife, we can…"), and functional expressions for agreement or disagreement. Bonus? It always sparks laughter and deep thinking.

Give students a fictional crime, a cast of suspects, and scattered clues. Each group has different pieces of information and must communicate to piece the story together. 

Great for past tenses, deduction phrases ("It must have been...") and questions. It feels like a game, but it’s really fluency gold.

Yes, it’s a STEM-ish task, but it works wonders for language. Students build the tallest possible structure from spaghetti, string, tape, and a marshmallow. 

Success requires constant communication: instructions, suggestions, negotiating ideas. It’s messy, interactive, and full of opportunities to use English in a real way.

Create a series of puzzles, riddles, and tasks that students must solve to "escape" the classroom. They decode messages, solve vocabulary challenges, and follow clues under a time limit. 

Language used? Problem-solving expressions, instructions, and collaborative dialogue. Energy? High. Learning? Guaranteed.

Let your students become entrepreneurs. In small teams, they invent a product or service and pitch it to the class. Others act as investors, asking tough questions. 

This encourages persuasive language, presentation skills, and vocabulary tied to innovation. Great for advanced learners and a hit every time.

Groups rotate between stations to solve sections of a larger puzzle. Each new group builds on what the previous one did, requiring them to explain, understand, and collaborate. 

Ideal for sequencing, clarification, and teamwork.

Each group receives a partial map and different clues. Only by asking each other the right questions can they figure out the route.

Excellent for practicing directions, clarification, and spatial language.

Language learning doesn’t need to be dry or robotic. With the right kind of task, your students will speak because they want to, not because they have to. And that’s when real learning begins.