Speaking v4 preparation 2 & review writing test T3

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

Speaking v4

period 4

Preparation 2

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 are over, you get another question. 
• You discuss that question for another minute.

Collaborative: work as a team

Like having a discussion with a friend or work colleague: 

• listen to each other's arguments and opinions
• give your partner an equal chance to speak 
• be prepared to agree and disagree 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 just 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.

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?

After the v4 language trip, on 23 May

Where? In classroom, while others practise a reading exam.

What can you do to practise?

• Pick a 'spider web' and discuss the topic as if it is an exam.
• Have someone else watch you, to time and give feedback on your discussions.

www.fceexamtips.com

Review your book review. Assignment:

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 development of the characters and the relevance of the book's themes in today’s world. 

Explain why you think this book is valuable to students at secondary school and 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

• Plan & Lay out
• Content & Depth 
• Cohesion & Conventions
• Vocabulary, Spelling & Capitalisation
• Grammar & Punctuation

You can check your marks for each category with the rubric.

If you have any questions, come to your teacher.

What would you do differently next time?

Exam Training: Minecraft

Warming up: 

Discuss the questions of assignment 28 with a partner.

Exam Training:

Do assignment 30 by yourself.

Next week

Language trip

The week after: 

practise reading with a Cito Havo exam & do the speaking test