Cambridge English: First for Schools Lesson Plan:...

Cambridge English: First for Schools 1 Speaking Test 4 Lesson Plan © Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2017

Cambridge English: First for Schools

Lesson Plan: Speaking

This lesson plan accompanies Cambridge English: First for Schools 1 Speaking Test 4 Part 1

This lesson is suitable for students at the beginning, middle or towards the end of their Cambridge English: First for Schools course.

This lesson is also suitable for any upper intermediate course in order to practise giving extended answers to questions and develop oral communication skills.

Lesson Goals

1. To give learners practice in answering exam-style oral personal questions 2. To develop language which avoids giving one word answers

Activity (see brackets for resources required) Time

needed Interaction

Warmer 5-10 mins

• Ask students to work in pairs or small groups and think about what they need to do in the Speaking test to get good marks. Allow 2 minutes for the discussion then conduct class feedback. Hopefully giving answers of more than one word will be mentioned. Focus in on this point.

• Ask students to suggest why giving one word answers is a bad idea (i.e. examiner has no evidence of student’s range of vocabulary, ability to use grammar effectively, pronunciation, communication skills, etc.)

• Ask students to guess which one word answers are the most common (i.e. ‘yes’ and ‘no’).

• Ask students to write down lists of words and expressions they know which mean the same or similar as ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

• Ask students to compare lists in pairs and check they are correct.

4 mins

1 min

1 min

2 mins

2 mins

S-S then S-

T

T-S

T-S

S

S-S

Main activities (copies of Resource 1 and Resource 2 for each individual or pair)

30-35 mins

Activity A

• Explain that students are going to practise the first part of a peaking paper. Hand out Resource 1 and ask students to read the questions and think about how they might avoid ‘yes/no’ answers.

3 mins

T-S then S


• Model the activity. Get one student to ask you questions and reply without saying ‘yes/no’ and expanding your response with detail. For example: Do you enjoy watching TV? Oh, I only watch TV at weekends because I am very busy during the week planning my lessons and marking homework, but at weekends I like watching the football on TV on Saturdays and sometimes on Sunday I watch a film or drama just to relax.

• Ask students to reflect on how you answered the question (i.e. by going into detail and using a variety of vocabulary).

• Explain that students are going to work in groups of 3. One at a time, they will take roles – examiner, student and listener/timer. The examiner will ask the questions from the sheet. The student must reply without saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The listener/timer has to time how long the student speaks without saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’, saying ‘stop’ if the words are used. A simplified mark scheme could also be used by the listener to give more structured feedback to the speaker (see Resource 2).

• The students practise the dialogues and keep a note of times. The winner speaks the longest without saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Activity B

• Ask each student to work on their own and write any yes/no question they’d like to ask their class mates (e.g. Do you like your teachers? Do you do your own homework?)

• Ask everyone to get up, walk around and find a partner to ask them the question. The response must not include yes or no. Then they swap and the other person asks their question. Students ask their question to as many classmates as they can in the allotted time.

• After they have all sat down again ask some students to share some of the best answers they got.

3 mins

2 mins

2 mins

10 mins

2 mins

10 mins

3 mins

T-S

S-T

T

Ss-Ss

S

S-S

S-T

Extension activity 15 mins

• Elicit from students the topics they may be asked about in the Speaking test (e.g. sport, music, jobs, future plans and friends). As they mention a topic, write it on a piece of paper and put it in a hat or box.

• Explain that you are going to have a competition to find out who can talk the most without stopping on any topic:

o Choose a student randomly and ask them to come to the front of the class.

o Choose a topic from the hat. o Ask another student to be the time-keeper.

3 mins

12 mins

S-T

SS-T


o When the speaker makes a significant pause their time is up.

o Allow as many students as possible to have a go. o The winner is the student who speaks the longest. o This activity can be made more challenging by changing

the rules so time is up if the student speaking makes any major grammar mistake or repeats a word such as ‘nice’ or ‘good’ too many times.


Resource 1

First of all, we’d like to know something about you. Where are you from, (Candidate A)? And you, (Candidate B)? What do you like about living (here / name of candidate’s home town)? And what about you, (Candidate A/B)? Habits and routines • Do you like to be busy every day? (Why? / Why not?) • What sport do you enjoy playing? (Why do you like doing that?) • Do you enjoy watching TV? (What’s your favourite programme?) (Why do you like it?) • Do you ever meet your friends in the evenings after school? (What do you do together?) The Weekend • Do you prefer to spend time with your family or with your friends at the weekend? (Why?) • Are there a lot of interesting things to do in your town at the weekend? (What do you do there?) • Do you often have to do homework at the weekend? (How do you feel about that?) • Can you tell us something about what you’re planning to do next weekend? The Future • What are you going to do after school today? (Why?) • What would you like to do for your next birthday? (Why?) • Is there something you’d like to learn in the future? (What would you like to learn? Why?) • What would you like to do when you leave school? (Why?)


Resource 2

For Peer Feedback and Self-Assessment for Speaking Task Part 1

Assessment – Did …………………(name)

Confident with this Need to work on this

use of a range of grammar structures and vocabulary?

answer the question and stay on topic?

make their point clearly?

have clear pronunciation of words and sentences?

Test 4

94

SPEAKING (14 minutes)

You take the Speaking test with another candidate (possibly two candidates), referred to here as your partner. There are two examiners. One will speak to you and your partner and the other will be listening. Both examiners will award marks.

Part 1 (2 minutes)

The examiner asks you and your partner questions about yourselves. You may be asked about things like ‘your home town’, ‘your interests’, ‘your career plans’, etc.

Part 2 (a one-minute ‘long turn’ for each candidate, plus a 20-second response from the second candidate)

The examiner gives you two photographs and asks you to talk about them for one minute. The examiner then asks your partner a question about your photographs and your partner responds briefly.

Then the examiner gives your partner two different photographs. Your partner talks about these photographs for one minute. This time the examiner asks you a question about your partner’s photographs and you respond briefly.

Part 3 (4 minutes)

The examiner asks you and your partner to talk together. You may be asked to solve a problem or try to come to a decision about something. For example, you might be asked to decide the best way to use some rooms in a language school. The examiner gives you some text to help you but does not join in the conversation.

Part 4 (4 minutes)

The examiner asks some further questions, which leads to a more general discussion of what you have talked about in Part 3. You may comment on your partner’s answers if you wish.

© Cambridge University Press and UCLES 2014

Visual materials for the Speaking test

C10

4A

4B

What do you think might be difficult for people travelling around a city in these ways?



C11

4C

4D

Why do you think the people are enjoying doing these things on a free afternoon?



C12

doing things together

sharing secrets

helping with problems

being honest

buying presents

How important are these things if you want to have

good friends?

4E


104

Frames for the Speaking test

Test 4

Note: In the examination, there will be both an assessor and an interlocutor in the room. The visual material for Test 4 appears on pages C10 and C11 (Part 2), and C12 (Part 3).

Part 1 2 minutes (3 minutes for groups of three)

Interlocutor: Good morning/afternoon/evening. My name is ............. and this is my colleague ............. . And your names are? Can I have your mark sheets, please? Thank you. First of all, we’d like to know something about you.

Where are you from, (Candidate A)? And you, (Candidate B)? What do you like about living (here / name of candidate’s home town)? And what about you, (Candidate A/B)?

Select one or more questions from any of the following categories, as appropriate.

Habits and routines• Do you like to be busy every day? (Why? / Why not?)• What sport do you enjoy playing? (Why do you like

doing that?)• Do you enjoy watching TV? (What’s your favourite

programme?) (Why do you like it?)• Do you ever meet your friends in the evenings after school?

(What do you do together?)

The Weekend• Do you prefer to spend time with your family or with your

friends at the weekend? (Why?)• Are there a lot of interesting things to do in your town at the

weekend? (What do you do there?)• Do you often have to do homework at the weekend? (How

do you feel about that?)• Can you tell us something about what you’re planning to do

next weekend?

The Future• What are you going to do after school today? (Why?)• What would you like to do for your next birthday? (Why?)• Is there something you’d like to learn in the future? (What

would you like to learn?) (Why?)• What would you like to do when you leave school? (Why?)


105



Travelling around a cityA free afternoon

Interlocutor: In this part of the test, I’m going to give each of you two photographs. I’d like you to talk about your photographs on your own for about a minute, and also to answer a short question about your partner’s photographs.

(Candidate A), it’s your turn first. Here are your photographs. They show people travelling around a city in different ways.

Indicate pictures 4A and 4B on page C10 to Candidate A.

I’d like you to compare the photographs, and say what you think might be difficult for the people about travelling around a city in these ways. All right?

Candidate A: [1 minute]

Interlocutor: Thank you.

(Candidate B), how would you prefer to travel around a city? (Why?)

Candidate B: [Approximately 30 seconds]


Now, (Candidate B), here are your photographs. They show people doing different things on a free afternoon.

Indicate pictures 4C and 4D on page C11 to Candidate B.

I’d like you to compare the photographs, and say why you think the people are enjoying doing these things on a free afternoon. All right?

Candidate B: [1 minute]


(Candidate A), which of these things would you prefer to do on a free afternoon? (Why?)

Candidate A: [Approximately 30 seconds]



106


Parts 3 and 4


Interlocutor: Now, I’d like you to talk about something together for about two minutes. [3 minutes for groups of three]

Here are some things that might be important if you want to have good friends and a question for you to discuss. First you have some time to look at the task.

Indicate the visual 4E on page C12 to the candidates. Allow 15 seconds.

Now, talk to each other about how important these things are if you want to have good friends.

Candidates: [2 minutes / 3 minutes for groups of three]

Interlocutor: Thank you. Now you have about a minute to talk about which two things are most important.

Candidates: [1 minute]



Interlocutor: Use the following questions, in order, as appropriate:

• How easy do you think it is to make new friends? (Why? / What’s the best way to do this?)

• What is the perfect number of friends to have? (Why?)

• How important is it to be able to trust our friends? (Why?)

• What do you think is the main reason why friends argue? (Why?)

• Is it possible to have close friends who are a lot older or younger than us? (Why? / Why not?)

• People in families sometimes find it hard to be friends with each other. Why do you think this is?

• Is it possible to be close friends with people that you only talk to online? (Why? / Why not?)

• Is it easier to be friends with someone who is very similar to you or someone who is very different? (Why?)

Thank you. That is the end of the test.

Select any of the following prompts, as appropriate:

• What do you think?• Do you agree?• And you?


117

Listening

One mark is given for each correct answer. The total is weighted to give a mark out of 40 for the paper. In Part 2, minor spelling errors are allowed, provided that the candidate’s intention is clear. For security reasons, several versions of the Listening paper are used at each administration of the examination. Before grading, the performance of the candidates in each of the versions is compared and marks adjusted to compensate for any imbalance in levels of difficulty.

Speaking

Throughout the test candidates are assessed on their own individual performance and not in relation to the other candidate. They are assessed on their language skills, not on their personality, intelligence or knowledge of the world. Candidates must, however, be prepared to develop the conversation and respond to the tasks in an appropriate way. Candidates are awarded marks by two examiners: the assessor and the interlocutor. The assessor awards marks by applying performance descriptors from the Analytical Assessment scales for the following criteria:

Grammar and Vocabulary

This refers to the accurate use of grammatical forms and appropriate use of vocabulary. It also includes the range of language.

Discourse Management

This refers to the extent, relevance and coherence of each candidate’s contributions. Candidates should be able to construct clear stretches of speech which are easy to follow. The length of their contributions should be appropriate to the task, and what they say should be related to the topic and the conversation in general.

Pronunciation

This refers to the intelligibility of contributions at word and sentence levels. Candidates should be able to produce utterances that can easily be understood, and which show control of intonation, stress and individual sounds.

Interactive Communication

This refers to the ability to use language to achieve meaningful communication. Candidates should be able to initiate and respond appropriately according to the task and conversation, and also to use interactive strategies to maintain and develop the communication whilst negotiating towards an outcome.

Marks and results


118

Marks and results

B2Grammar andVocabulary Discourse Management Pronunciation

InteractiveCommunication

5 • Shows a good degree of control of a range of simple and some complex grammatical forms.

• Uses a range of appropriate vocabulary to give and exchange views on a wide range of familiar topics.

• Produces extended stretches of language with very little hesitation.

• Contributions are relevant and there is a clear organisation of ideas.

• Uses a range of cohesive devices and discourse markers.

• Is intelligible.• Intonation is

appropriate.• Sentence and word

stress is accurately placed.

• Individual sounds are articulated clearly.

• Initiates and responds appropriately, linking contributions to those of other speakers.

• Maintains and develops the interaction and negotiates towards an outcome.

4 Performance shares features of Bands 3 and 5.

3 • Shows a good degree of control of simple grammatical forms, and attempts some complex grammatical forms.

• Uses a range of appropriate vocabulary to give and exchange views on a range of familiar topics.

• Produces extended stretches of language despite some hesitation.

• Contributions are relevant and there is very little repetition.

• Uses a range of cohesive devices.

• Is intelligible.• Intonation is generally

appropriate.• Sentence and word

stress is generally accurately placed.

• Individual sounds are generally articulated clearly.

• Initiates and responds appropriately.

• Maintains and develops the interaction and negotiates towards an outcome with very little support.


1 • Shows a good degree of control of simple grammatical forms.

• Uses a range of appropriate vocabulary when talking about everyday situations.

• Produces responses which are extended beyond short phrases, despite hesitation.

• Contributions are mostly relevant, despite some repetition.

• Uses basic cohesive devices.

• Is mostly intelligible, and has some control of phonological features at both utterance and word levels.

• Initiates and responds appropriately.

• Keeps the interaction going with very little prompting and support.

0 Performance below Band 1.


119

Marks and results

The interlocutor awards a mark for overall performance using a Global Achievement scale.

B2 Grammar and Vocabulary

5 • Handles communication on a range of familiar topics, with very little hesitation.• Uses accurate and appropriate linguistic resources to express ideas and produce extended discourse that is

generally coherent.


3 • Handles communication on familiar topics, despite some hesitation.• Organises extended discourse but occasionally produces utterances that lack coherence, and some inaccuracies

and inappropriate usage occur.


1 • Handles communication in everyday situations, despite hesitation.• Constructs longer utterances but is not able to use complex language except in well-rehearsed utterances.

0 Performance below Band 1.

Assessment for Cambridge English: First for Schools is based on performance across all parts of the test, and is achieved by applying the relevant descriptors in the assessment scales.


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