How to spot a liar

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• • – study language related to the behavior of deceivers and learn techniques to identify them.
  • – acquire and practice higher-level vocabulary about deception through targeted activities and a reading passage.
  • – develop listening comprehension skills about identifying deception with a video called “The Language of Lying”.

In this B2 English language lesson plan, learners acquire and practice vocabulary related to lying, and techniques to identify deception. Students develop their listening and speaking skills by doing an analysis of verbal and non-verbal cues during a conversation. 

Warm-up

The lesson starts with an exercise where students pick words related to deception.

Video

Students practice their listening comprehension with a video called “The language of lying.” After watching this short film, they choose which strategies of deception were referred to in the video.

Exercises

During the first practice, learners select the sentences most likely to be lies. In the second part, they complete a gap-fill exercise. 

Reading

During the reading phase of the lesson, students read a short passage about deception. This is followed up by questions and answers to check and test learners’ comprehension of the text.  

Discussion

In this last stage of the lesson, students discuss a quote related to the lesson topic.