Speaking v4 & You be the judge

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo lwoo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Speaking v4

period 4

Speaking v4 period 4

• You work with a partner (you can choose yourself)
• You are given a spider web: five keywords linked to a question. 
• You get about 15 seconds to read everything, 
• You discuss the five topics with your partner for 2 minutes. 
• When the 2 minutes is over, you get another question. 
• You discuss that question for another minute.

Collaborative task

To collaborate means to work as a team. 

Imagine you had a discussion with a friend or work colleague:  you would listen to what the other person said and be interested in it.

So give your partner an equal chance to speak and be prepared to agree and disagree with them in a respectful way.

At the end you should both have spoken about the same amount of time.

 I can't talk about 5 points in detail in 2 minutes!

True! And you don't have to. In fact, you probably shouldn't. 

It's much better to have a really good, deep conversation about three of the topics than to race through and mention five. 

We don't agree about anything!

It doesn't matter - it's all about opinions.  

If you disagree, explain why. Try to persuade your partner that your way is right. 

But also, when your partner says something good, react. 

'Oh, that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that.'

We are only interested in the quality of the discussion and the quality of your language (your grammar and vocabulary). 

What if I say something crazy?

You won't lose points if you say something crazy, like:

“We shouldn’t build new parks because tourists hate green spaces. We should build more concrete buildings if we want to attract more tourists.”

In fact, those sentences are relevant to the task (providing parks is one of the 5 topics) and there's some good vocabulary.

What's the best way to do it?

• LISTEN to your partner. Don't just wait for your turn to speak. Be interested and politely agree or disagree. If you disagree, try to persuade them to change their idea, but don't spend too long doing that.
• Refer back to things you already said.
• Say a couple of sentences then ask a question. 
• Try to look at your speaking partner more than the paper.
• Turn your chair a little bit. It helps you remember who you should talk to. (Don't talk to me!)

Some tips

• Don't introduce the task: 'So, Bob, today we have to talk about attracting more tourists to our town.' Repeating it is just a waste of time.
• Don't talk about what the most important or best thing is. (That is normally the question for part 2.) Focus on what the question says: 'Why would these ideas attract more tourists to the town?' Not 'what's the best way to attract more tourists'. 
• If your speaking partner is talking about the wrong thing, bring them back to the task, saying 'that's very interesting but we should talk about why more tourists would come'.
  

What about the second part?

Everything about first part (2 minutes) applies to second part (1 minute). 

You have to take turns, respond to your partner, agree and disagree.

The only difference is the task. It's normally something like 'now decide which of the 5 topics is the most important'. 

Refer back to what you said in part 1, like: 'Well, as Bob said earlier, the answer definitely isn't putting up security cameras.'

When do we start?

right after the May break

What can you do to practise?

• Find a partner.
• Look up examples of discussion topics and talk about it.
• Have someone else watch you, to time your discussions.

www.fceexamtips.com

Linking words

Assignment 31 deals with linking words. 

• Why are these important to understand a text?
• Do you know all the linking words?
• If not? Make a list in your notebook, because you need these for other texts as well.

Need help doing ass. 31? Ask your neighbour or your teacher.

Continue WaspReporter 

Work for yourself, compare your answers with a partner.

A tale of Endurance (page 12-13): 

Finish the exam training exercise (assignment 30)

Practise Linking Words (assignment 31)

Or start a new text: You be the judge (pages 14-15)

Do assignment 35 & 36

WaspReporter: You be the judge

Before listening to article, discuss in pairs or in a small group:

• What do you think the article is about? (How can you tell?)
• Do you ever have 'domestic disagreements'?
• Give each other some advice on the issues mentioned.
• Are you able to solve these issues or do conflicts keep recurring?
• Have you ever consulted an outsider about such an issue?

WaspReporter: You be the judge

Read assignment 34 of your Student File.

Listen to the article. Which words are missing? Fill in the gaps.

To check your answers, read the article on page 14/15.

Finished and time left? Do assignment 36: A & C.

Review your book review

The school library at Stanislascollege wants to update their inventory of the English book department; say goodbye to books students do not like and buy more books that are popular with students in the upper grades. 

Send us a review which describes an English novel you have recently read: give a short summary, evaluate the positive aspects of the book according to plot development and its relevance in today’s world. 

Explain why you think this book is valuable to students at secondary school and tell us whether or not you would recommend the librarians to buy more copies of this specific book

What would you do differently next time?

Categories assessment review

• Content (Task!) - average 6,4
• Depth (think deaper) - average 6,4
• Organisation (Linking words, clear paragraphs) - average 6,6
• Language (Chosen Grammar & Vocabulary) - average 6,4
• Correctness (in spelling and other) - average 6,2

You can check your marks for each category with me.

What would you do differently next time?