Information about the Speaking test Advanced level and C1.
The format of the speaking test for the two levels is the same. The difference lies in the length of time you will be required to speak and the level of difficulty of the tasks. All the speaking tasks are based on the curricular topics for each level. You will find a copy of these at the end of the “Continguts� documents on the school webpage. Here is the link again: Advanced level: http://www.eoinca.com/doc/1213/Extr.%20progr.%20av.%20angl%C3%A8s.pdf C1 level: http://www.eoinca.com/doc/1314/c1.pdf You will see that the curricular topics for the C1 levels are of a more demanding nature and this is reflected in the tasks you will be asked to carry out . You should bear in mind that the examiners will be looking for high-level vocabulary and structures and also an understanding of the more challenging aspects of the topics you are required to study which you will be expected to discuss in some depth.
Organization of the speaking test. The speaking test is carried out in pairs. On the day of the written examination the English department will list all the students who are to do the Speaking test and put them into pairs. This list will be published on the day of the Written exam (time and human resources permitting) or the day after. On the day of your oral test, you should be at the school and wait outside the room you have been allocated to at least 15 minutes before your test is due to start. The department will try not to keep you waiting long, but please be aware that the starting times will be approximate. When you go into the examination room with your partner, you will both be asked to choose a topic out of a selection which you will see face down on the table. You will be given a few seconds to discuss which of the two topics you both feel happy about. After that, you will be instructed to take a seat and you will be given 7 minutes (Advanced level) or 10 minutes (C1 level) to prepare the speaking task. The topic you will be speaking about comes in a plastic envelope. There are two sheets of paper inside. One is for partner A and the other is for partner B. The first part of the test is a conversation between you and your partner. This part of the test is the same for partner A and B. You will be provided with some images related to the topic, which you may have to refer to as part of the conversation, or they may be there just to give you some ideas. The images are
followed by some questions or prompts. The intention of this part of the test is for you and your partner to use the questions or prompts as a guide in order to carry out a conversation about the issues mentioned. This part of the test should last around 3-4 minutes. In part 2, you are required to produce a monologue. Partner A has different prompts to partner B, although the prompts all refer to the curricular topic you have chosen. Here you will be required to talk for approx. 1 ½ - 2 minutes. You should try to ensure that the examiners do not need to help you in this part. Try to speak confidently without too much hesitation. If you realize that you have made a mistake, try to correct yourself. At the end of each monologue, the examiners may ask you a question about what your partner has said (or vice versa), so it is important to listen to each other. By now you will have realized that if you are to prepare both the conversation and the monologue, then you will need every second of the preparation time. You will need to negotiate with your partner how to approach the conversation and you will need to think very carefully about what you are going to say in the monologue. Use this time well.
The criteria the examiners use to evaluate your performance are as follows: FLUENCY: Here the examiners are looking for a natural pace and rythmn. There should not be too much hesitation and you should be able to extend your contributions appropriately. ACCURACY: This criterion deals with the correction in the language you use. At the Advanced level, it is very important that you correct any errors you think you make: you just say “I’m sorry, not ……, I meant …… .” This is obviously also true at the C1 level although the examiners will expect very few errors at this level. You should also try to use some of the grammatical structures that you have studied during the year. VOCABULARY: We know that everyone gets very nervous in an oral examination , but it is the only opportunity you are going to get to show us some of the vocabulary you have learned during the year. Remember that you are doing a speaking test at a very high level and your vocabulary must be appropriate, precise and wide-ranging. PRONUNCIATION: Nobody is expecting native-like pronunciation, but we do expect the following at this level: No mispronunciation of individual words. Some knowledge of English intonation: particularly word stress and sentence stress. You probably have a Spanish or Mallorcan accent, but this should not be too intrusive. If you have a problem with any of the above aspects of pronunciation , now is the time to get some help. INTERACTIVE TASK RESPONSE: Here the examiners will evaluate you on how you carry out the task.
Part 1: The conversational turn. The examiners want to see a conversation in the first part of the exam. This means that, as in any conversation in a social situation, you have to support your partner and she must support you. You don’t have to agree about everything, but it is important that you try to respond to what your partner is saying by agreeing, disagreeing and evaluating their opinion and justifying your own. If you wish to change the subject, you should tell your partner you are going to do so and invite her to participate. Candidates who talk over their partners and do not allow them to intervene will be negatively penalised, so it is very important that you understand part 1 as a COLLABORATIVE task and that in order to do well, you have to work together. In part 2, you will be evaluated on how well you manage the monologue, whether you need any help from the examiner and also on how well you respond to any unexpected questions the examiners may decide to ask.