Fair trade
Lesson plan overview
This Fairtrade and Ethical Consumerism ESL worksheet is most suitable for B2-level students. It helps learners explore global trade, sustainability, and consumer ethics. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to use topic-specific vocabulary accurately in context and understand and discuss ethical trade concepts including Fairtrade certification, worker conditions, and consumer responsibility. This worksheet is perfect for adult or young adult ESL/EFL learners interested in global issues, sustainability, and responsible consumption and Business English students exploring ethical business practices and global trade. Other lessons you might like are: “Trade wars“, “Greenwashing“, and “Farmers’ protests in Europe“
Lesson Overview – What’s Inside:
Lead-in Discussion: Warm-up questions and images introduce Fairtrade concepts and spark curiosity about where products come from.
Vocabulary Building: Students look at fictional news article headlines and match the words included (e.g., exploitation, supply chain, boycott, working conditions, premium, living wage, middleman, poverty) to their definitions. Then, they discuss what the articles might be about. As a practice acivity, they read a short text “The Ethical Consumer’s Dilemma”, and complete it with the target vocabulary. After that, they engage in a discussion about the topic.
Listening Tasks (A–C): Two authentic videos offer contrasting views on Fairtrade, with multiple-choice and summary exercises to build critical listening skills. Video 1 is called “Benefits of Fairtrade“, while video 2 is called “Fairtrade not benefiting the poor“. Students analyse the benefits and criticisms of Fairtrade to develop balanced arguments, and engage in a post-listening discussion.
Speaking: Students rank three ethical business models and present a short speech defending their top choice.
For more speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation cards.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
To download the PDF files for this lesson, you need to have an active Premium or Premium + subscription.
Browse FREE lesson plans here.
Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Not sure yet?
Try one of our FREE lessons plans
Share this lesson plan with someone who will find it useful