Animals

ESL discussion questions about the world of animals.

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  1. Which animal most fascinates you and why?
  2. What is the most exotic animal you have ever seen?
  3. Have you ever had a pet? What sort of animal was it?
  4. Do you think that growing up with a pet is beneficial for children?
  5. Does your country have any dangerous wild animals?
  6. Are there any animals which frighten you?
  7. Does your national flag or emblem feature an animal?
  8. Do you consider human beings to be animals? Are you an animal?
  9. Why do we tell children stories which feature animals as characters?
  10. Do you think that human beings can learn anything from animals?
  11. Are there any (non-human) animals which can learn a language?
  12. Are there any animals which have emotions? What sort of emotions do they have?
  13. Apart from humans, which animal would you say is the most intelligent?
  14. Do you think animals have rights? What sort of rights do they have?
  15. If it is possible to live without meat, is it right to kill animals for food?
  16. On balance, would you say zoos are a good thing for animals or not?
  17. Do human beings have a responsibility to help endangered animals?
  18. Is there anything wrong with killing an insect?
  19. Have you ever been on safari in Africa? Would you like to one day?
  20. Do you have any interest in taxidermy? Why are some people fascinated by this?
  21. Can you think of a great film about an animal?
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PDF (Pairs)
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PDF (Threes)
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Other topics you may be interested in...


General Topics

Air Travel, Animals, Appearance, Art, Childhood, Cinema, Crime, Eating Out, Education, Environment, Ethics, Fame, Family, Fashion, Food, Football (Soccer), Friendship, The Future, Globalisation, Health, History, Holidays (Vacations), House and Home, The Internet, Language, Language Learning, Life, Literature, Marriage, The Media, Money, Music, Personality, Politics, Religion, Romance, Science, Shopping, Smartphones, Sport, Technology, Time, Town and City, Transport, Travel, University, Video Games, War, Weather, Work.


Business Topics

Advertising, Brands, Building Relationships, Change, Communication, Competition, Consultants, Crisis Management, Cultures, Customer Service, Employment Trends, Ethics, First Impressions, Human Resources, International Marketing, International Markets, Job Satisfaction, Leadership, Management Styles, Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, New Business, Online Business, Organisation, Project Management, Raising Finance, Risk, Strategy, Success, Team Building, Training, Travel.


Grammar Topics

Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Used to, Have to, Going to / Pres. Continuous, Going to / Will, Comparatives, Superlatives, First Conditional, Second Conditional, Third Conditional, Mixed Conditionals, Should, Should have, Can, Could, Can / Could / Be able to, Is done / Was done, Being done / Been done.

How to use the animals ESL discussion questions

It is recommended that you download the animals ESL discussion questions in PDF format using one of the links above. The best way to encourage classroom interaction is to download and print the animals discussion questions in the 'pairs' or 'threes' PDF format and then divide the questions by cutting along the dotted lines. This allows students to take turns asking and answering the animals discussion questions in groups of two or three. Alternatively, you could use the 'cards' format to distribute the questions to any number of students to ask and share.

It is advisable to prepare students for using these discussion questions by first introducing them to the topic of animals in an interesting and engaging way. An anecdote, quiz question or a related image or video could all be used to achieve this. Depending on the level, it may also be necessary to pre-teach any challenging vocabulary related to animals contained in the discussion questions.

For more ESL discussion questions, see this site's main page. There are discussion questions on a range of topics including general, grammar and business English topics.

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