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First and Second Conditional Negotiating Practice

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Students make realistic and unrealistic requests and proposals with suggested trades in the right form of conditional, predict the response, and sees what their partner really says - with first conditional vs second conditional presentation and practice.

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Lesson Plan Content:


First and second conditional in negotiations games

Work in groups of two or three. One person chooses one of the proposals below. Think about how you could complete that proposal with a request for your partner to do something for you in return. Think very carefully about which tense is needed for that proposal:

  • First conditional for real, possible or likely proposals
  • Second conditional for imaginary, impossible or unlikely proposals

Which tense you need might depend on you, the person who you are speaking to, and your relationship, so bear in mind that this is a real communication between the two of you, not a roleplay.

When you have decided on a yes/ no question proposing an exchange (in the right tense), try to guess what your partner’s reaction will be to that proposal. If you think that your partner will accept your proposal, secretly put a tick in the “Yes” column next to that proposal. If you think that they will reject what you offer and ask for, secretly write a cross (X) in the “No” column. If you think they won’t give a clear yes or no answer, put a question mark (?) in the “Maybe/ It depends” column. Ask the question that you made, listen to your partner’s reaction, then show them which response you predicted. Then switch roles and do the same.

Useful phrases for saying it depends/ maybe

“I might be able to accept that if/ as long as/ providing…”     

“I can accept that unless…”

Ask about any phrases below which you don’t understand or can’t make a sentence out of, discussing which tense would be most suitable between you and your partner each time.

Play the same game, but this time continuing your discussion until you get the response that you predicted, e.g. trying to persuade your partner if you expected a positive answer but got a negative answer.

Do the same thing the other way round. Think of a proposal (“If I…” etc) that could go together with the requests on the bottom sheet below, secretly write down what you think your partner’s response will be, ask the question, then compare their answer to what you predicted.

What function does this third conditional response have in a negotiation?

“I would have been able to if you had told me earlier”

Use as many conditional forms as you can while you roleplay a whole negotiation. You get one point for each time that you say “if”, “providing”, “unless” or “as long as”.

 

Making requests and predicting responses version

Proposal

+ request/ desire/ what your partner could do in response

Predicted reaction by your partner

 

 

Yes

No

Maybe/

It depends

bring you some lunch next week

 

 

 

 

cook some traditional food for you

 

 

 

 

double your budget

 

 

 

 

give you a free gift with my company’s name on it

 

 

 

 

give you a free… worth 10 dollars

 

 

 

 

give you a lift (= a ride) to the supermarket

 

 

 

 

give you a million pounds

 

 

 

 

give you a promotion

 

 

 

 

give you a superpower

 

 

 

 

give you a very good evaluation

 

 

 

 

give you extra paid leave next year

 

 

 

 

give you some good investment advice

 

 

 

 

give you two weeks to finish (…)

 

 

 

 

lend you a book written in my language

 

 

 

 

lend you my car

 

 

 

 

let you finish early today

 

 

 

 

pay for your coffee

 

 

 

 

pay for your petrol and parking

 

 

 

 

promise you a 5% ROI (= return on investment)

 

 

 

 

recommend a good baker’s to you

 

 

 

 

recommend a good place to go on holiday

 

 

 

 

say it can save your company millions of dollars

 

 

 

 

threaten to sue your company

 

 

 

 

 


Making proposals and predicting responses version

If…

Request/ Desire

Predicted reaction

 

 

Yes

No

?

 

allow me to employ ten (more) people

 

 

 

 

arrange three English classes a week

 

 

 

 

cancel next week’s lesson(s)

 

 

 

 

come in to work at 7 a.m. on Monday

 

 

 

 

do extra preparation before the next lesson

 

 

 

 

give me a budget of $7 million for my project

 

 

 

 

give me a full refund

 

 

 

 

give me a pay rise of ten times the rate of inflation

 

 

 

 

give me a perfect evaluation

 

 

 

 

give me a permanent job

 

 

 

 

give me one year’s unpaid leave (= a sabbatical)

 

 

 

 

give me ten weeks’ paid holiday next year

 

 

 

 

give me two more weeks to finish (…)

 

 

 

 

invest in my start-up

 

 

 

 

join me in a new business venture

 

 

 

 

lend me five dollars

 

 

 

 

let me use your credit card

 

 

 

 

let me use your house

 

 

 

 

let me work from home (= telecommute)

 

 

 

 

move abroad (= move overseas)

 

 

 

 

move departments

 

 

 

 

move this lesson to Saturdays

 

 

 

 

offer a discount of 40%

 

 

 

 

pay for me to take some training

 

 

 

 

pay for me to travel to…

 

 

 

 

proofread a report for me

 

 

 

 

put me in charge of a large(r) project

 

 

 

 

put me in charge of your personal finances

 

 

 

 

relocate to Siberia

 

 

 

 

share an office

 

 

 

 

sign a five-year contract for English lessons

 

 

 

 

take charge of relocating the call centre to India

 

 

 

 

tell me every detail of your company’s next product

 

 

 

 

tell me some famous jokes from your country

 

 

 

 

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