Discussions / Competition
Competition Conversation Questions for Adult ESL Classes
Use these 20 discussion questions about Competition to run a full speaking lesson with adult learners (B1–B2). Each part opens with a vocabulary warm-up, every question is labelled with the thinking skill it practises, and each part fills roughly thirty minutes of class time on its own.
Reviewed by Brando Oxley · 24 Aug 2026
Part 1
Competition in School, Work, and Sport
Focus: discussing competitive experiences, motivation, winning, losing, performance, and differences between healthy and unhealthy competition
Think of two competitive activities, two actions people take to improve, two people or groups who may compete, and one feeling connected to competition.
EXPERIENCE
In what situations have you experienced competition in school, work, sports, or everyday life?
PREFERENCE
Do you enjoy competitive activities, or do you prefer situations where people work together? Explain your preference.
MOTIVATION
How can competition motivate people to improve?
COMPARE
How is competing against another person different from trying to improve your own previous performance?
FEELING
Why do some people handle losing better than others?
WORK
What are the advantages and disadvantages of competition between coworkers?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
Two employees want the same promotion and their relationship is becoming unfriendly. How could they handle the situation professionally?
DISCUSS
At what point can competition stop being motivating and start becoming harmful?
EVALUATE
Should children be encouraged to compete from a young age? Explain your view.
REFLECT
What can people learn from losing a competition that they may not learn from winning?
Part 2
Fairness, Cooperation, and the Pressure to Win
Focus: discussing rules, fairness, rivalry, pressure, teamwork, rewards, cheating, and the wider effects of competitive environments
Choose one word from each category: Person: athlete, student, employee, coach; Action: compete, practice, celebrate, complain; Situation: exam, race, promotion, contest; Feeling: proud, jealous, nervous, disappointed. Use your four words to describe a short scene in two or three sentences.
DISCUSS
What makes a competition feel fair to the people involved?
COMPARE
Which creates more pressure: competing as an individual or competing as part of a team?
RESPONSIBILITY
How should coaches, teachers, or managers respond when competition becomes too aggressive?
REWARDS
Do large prizes and rewards make competition better or create unnecessary pressure?
TEAMWORK
How can people compete with each other while still cooperating when necessary?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
Someone discovers that another competitor is breaking the rules. What should they do?
BALANCE
How can parents encourage a child to succeed without making winning feel too important?
CULTURE
Do some societies or workplaces seem more competitive than others? What might explain the difference?
EVALUATE
Does strong competition usually produce better results, or can cooperation be more effective?
RECOMMEND
What rules or attitudes help keep competition healthy and enjoyable?