4ESO Speaking - B2

For the past couple of weeks, we have been practicing speaking skills and abilities. Here is a breakdown of what the test includes and there will be another entry, discussing grammar and vocabulary points.

The B2 exams:

• Contains 4 parts.
• Is 15 minutes.

There will be 2 or 3 students with 2 examiners. One examiner is an interlocutor and assessor, managing the interaction by asking questions and providing cues for the candidates. The other examiner will only assess the interaction and will not join in with the conversation.

Part 1:

Task Type - a conversation between the interlocutor and each candidate spoken questions). The focus is on general interaction and social language. This part lasts 2 minutes (1 minute per candidate).

Try to sound natural rather than rehearsed/ robotic.

• Find any opportunity to talk about yourself - talk to your friends, family, teachers. You will be asked about everyday life such as favourite sports, holidays and school. Respond promptly with interesting answers. Don't just say "My favourite subject is Maths" - elaborate and explain why -  "My favourite subject is Maths because I enjoy working with numbers" or "I enjoy Maths at school as I would like to study it at university".
• Don't rehearse answers as they might be incorrect for the questions asked. Prepare answers for all topics such as where you live, your school, favourite subjects etc as it is better to respond than say "I don't know" or "I don't understand".

Part 1  gives candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their social and interactional language skills by giving personal information about themselves. The questions focus on the candidate's own lives. Candidates must respond to their questions and listen to their partner's responses.

Candidates are not invited to talk to each other. 

Part 2:

An individual 'long turn' for each candidate with a brief interaction from the second candidate.  Candidates are given two photographs to talk about and describe through comparisons.

Each candidate has 1 minute to describe the photos whilst the other candidate has 30 seconds of interaction at the end. The total time for Part 2 is 4 minutes.

• Listen carefully to instructions and read the question above the photographs. If you ignore this, you may miss the main focus of the task, which could affect your speaking time.
• You will not lose marks if you ask the examiner to repeat the instructions.
• Practice with photographs from a variety of sources such as magazines and newspapers. For example, 2 photographs could show different types of holidays (relaxing on a beach and skiing in the mountains) - questions could range from "What would people enjoy about a holiday relaxing on the beach?" and "Why wouldn't people enjoying a skiing holiday?".
• Do not give detailed descriptions of each picture. Compare the pictures and give your reaction to them.
• Focus on language to express difference and similarity. "One similarity is that... whereas in the other photo, there is...". By using comparatives and linking words, you will create an extended and varied sample of speech rather than simple sentences and statements.

In Part 2, candidates are given the opportunity to speak for 1 minute without interruption. You have to compare two photographs and then make a further comment about them in response to the examiner's question.
A prompt is given in the form of a question; written above the photographs. You are expected to point out the differences and similarities between the two photographs and then move on to dealing with the question; answering it in reference to the photographs.

Part 3:

Is a two-way conversation between the candidates. You will be given instructions and written prompts, which will be used in discussion and decision making tasks.

The focus is to sustain an interaction, exchange ideas and express/justify opinions through agreeing and disagreeing with each other.

This part is a 2-minute discussion followed by a 1-minute decision-making task. The time given for part 3 is 4 minutes.

• A question will be provided for candidates to discuss. Use the written prompts as much as possible. Afterward, the examiner will ask the candidates to come to a decision by agreeing or disagreeing with each other.
• It is very important to interact with each other. Make positive contributions to move the discussion forward through agreements, disagreements, and questions rather than repeating information from the task.

Part 4:

Is a discussion of topics related to the theme of Part 3. The focus is to express and justify opinions whilst agreeing/disagreeing and speculating.
This part last 4 minutes.

• Give full answers to the questions asked. Don't respond with a simple "yes" or "no" answer. Remember 'Why?', 'How?', 'When?' and 'Where?' when answering questions. This will allow you to elaborate and contribute extensively.
• For example, you could be asked: "Do you think after school classes would be popular with students?". From this, you could respond with reasons why they would be popular, why some lessons would not be popular and what they would like to do.
• Candidates may be asked individual questions or a question could be asked to engage both candidates - be prepared.
• There are no right or wrong answers to Part 4 - you will not be judged on your opinions, you are only assessed on the language they use to express their opinions. Expand your knowledge on current affairs and different topics and avoid answers such as"I don't know", "I am not sure" or "I haven't thought about that".