Section of What you have to do The language you should use
exam Formal In the Formal topic presentation phase Language functions presentation Developing an argument of a topic Give a formal presentation, discursive in Defending a point of view prepared by nature, on a chosen subject, with an Expressing beliefs the candidate identifiable structure and sequence, using Expressing opinions discourse connectors and cohesive devices tentatively 5 minutes Introduce the presentation, develop particular Summarising points, give supporting reasons and examples information, ideas and Conclude the presentation by inviting questions arguments and comments from the examiner Deducing Grammar A broad range of complex A candidate- In the Topic discussion phase structures to express led discussion thoughts clearly of the topic Initiate and engage the examiner in a A high degree of presentation discussion of some of the points made grammatical accuracy, with the Share the responsibility with the examiner for although minor errors examiner the maintenance of the discussion may occur when Respond to the examiners requests for attempting to use a 5 minutes clarification or elaboration combination of Be prepared to defend a point of view and structures across develop an argument further sentence boundaries Interactive In the Interactive phase Lexis task Vocabulary specific to the Take responsibility for the direction and topic and subject areas 5 minutes maintenance of the interaction A range of idiomatic Utilise turn-taking conventions to ensure that expressions and the interaction flows and develops naturally colloquialisms Relate his or her own contributions closely to Modifying words, e.g. those of the examiner basically, quite, certainly Intensifiers, e.g. The examiner will say something like this: absolutely, completely, totally Sometimes Im not sure if some of the surprising things Tentative expressions, that keep happening to me are a result of chance or e.g. I may be wrong whether there is more to it. but..., Dont you think it might be... Or this: Signposting words, e.g. firstly, finally My daughter wants to go to school in this country but Phrases and expressions is not sure how much help she relating to the language would get with choosing a career. functions listed above Phonology You have to ask questions, respond to what the The correct examiner says, and keep the conversation going. pronunciation of topic and subject-area specific Listening task In the Listening phase vocabulary Sounds with minimal 3 minutes Understand a range of spoken texts and interference from the recognise implicit meaning first language Use contextual, grammatical and lexical cues to A range of stress and identify attitude, mood and intentions and intonation patterns, pitch anticipate what follows and volume to: Use knowledge of grammar, lexis and register engage and to identify context and participants from a maintain the piece of discourse examiners interest There are two types of task. signal the provision of new In the first task the examiner says something and you information have to complete the sentence. Example: indicate discourse The boss of an advertising agency, Mr Mason, was a structure tyrant. He was always in a terrible mood, shouting orders, complaining. He never said anything polite to his secretary, never greeted anyone when he arrived in the morning. Then one Monday morning, it was just as if he was a completely different person. He walked into the office and
In the second task the examiner says something and
you have to answer a question about the situation. Example:
I take the tickets as the people arrive and show them to
their seats. Even though the rows have letters and the seats are numbered, youd be amazed how confused people get. Most people arrive in good time for the performance, but there are always one or two latecomers. Then you have to make sure theyre as quiet as possible as the actors find the smallest noise disturbing.
Question: Where does the speaker work?
Expected answer: In a theatre.
Conversation In the Conversation phase
on two subject areas Share the responsibility with the examiner for selected by the maintenance of the conversation the examiner Offer new contributions to influence the direction of the conversation 6 minutes Participate without much obvious searching for expressions
The examiner will choose two subject areas from the
list below (List B):
International events Equal opportunities Social issues The future of the planet Scientific developments Stress management