Reported Speech Chain

A student whispers a sentence to the next. The recipient reports it using reported speech: She said that... The next student reports that report: He said that she said... The chain multiplies embedding levels, revealing the pattern.

Procedure

1. Groups of 4–6.
2. Teacher whispers a sentence to Student 1: I'm going to the cinema tomorrow.
3. Student 1 turns to Student 2 and reports: Lan said she was going to the cinema tomorrow.
4. Student 2 reports to Student 3: Minh said that Lan had said she was going to the cinema tomorrow.
5. Continue. Each student adds a layer of embedding.
6. The final student reports the full chain to the class.
7. Compare with the original. Class discusses: what changed? What stayed the same?

Why It Works

• Multiple passes through the transformation: each student executes the shift (said → had said, is → was, tomorrow → the next day).
• Tangible embedding: abstract grammar (backshift) becomes a visible chain reaction.
• Natural repetition: same structure repeated in the group without drilling tedium.
• Comparison with the original reveals whose transformation worked and where the chain went wrong.

Backshift Transformations to Observe

Direct	Reported
am / is / are	was / were
simple present	simple past
simple past	past perfect
will	would
can	could
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
yesterday	the day before / the previous day
here	there
this	that

Good Starter Sentences

• I'm meeting my friend at the cinema tonight.
• We went to Đà Nẵng last summer.
• I think this exam will be difficult.
• She bought a new car yesterday.
• I'll come to your house tomorrow.

Variations

• Thought report: instead of said, use thought / wondered / believed. Different reporting verbs.
• Question version: sentence is a question (Are you coming?). Chain must shift to reported questions (asked whether/if...).
• Command version: sentence is an imperative (Close the door). Chain shifts to reported commands (told him to close the door).
• Chinese whispers + report: the sentence gets distorted (as in Chinese Whispers); the final reporter reports the distorted version. Funny and educational.

Tips

• Start with the first transformation modelled. The double-embedding is where confusion begins; walk students through slowly.
• Don't insist on perfect transformation every pass. Errors along the chain are teaching moments.
• Cap the chain at 4–5 students. Beyond that, even native speakers struggle with the embedding.
• Excellent follow-up to Three-Step Interview — where reported speech emerges more naturally.

Source

Common grammar drill in ELT coursebooks. Hadfield, J. (1990) Intermediate Communication Games.