Identity Swap

Students answer a questionnaire as they think their partner would, then compare answers to see how well they know each other.

Procedure

1. Pair up: Students sit with a partner they know reasonably well.
2. Questionnaire: Give out a set of 5–8 personalised questions on a topic (shopping habits, weekend routines, opinions on a theme, etc.).
3. Swap identities: Students answer the questions silently — not as themselves, but as they believe their partner would answer.
4. Compare: Partners reveal their real answers alongside the guesses. They discuss what was right, what was wrong, and why.
5. Report: Pairs tell the class how well they knew each other, sharing the most surprising right or wrong guess.

Variations

• New class version (Profiles): Students fill in a profile card about themselves. Cards are redistributed randomly. Each student reads out the profile and the class guesses whose it is.
• Topic focus: Use questions from the current coursebook unit — turns any personalisation exercise into a guessing game.
• End-of-course version: Use as a reflective activity to see how well students have got to know each other over the term.

Tips

• Works best when students have been together for at least a few weeks — too early and they're just guessing randomly.
• Emergent language includes reported speech (I thought you would say...), similarities/differences (Both of us... Neither of us...), and preferences.
• Keep questions open enough that guesses require real knowledge of the person, not just common sense.