Speaking

In the speaking paper there ware two examiners, one who is asking the questions and the other who is taking notes, and two or three candidates. The candidates will need to demonstrate their ability to respond to questions asked by the examiner as well as their ability to have a conversation with their partner or partners. In total the test will take around 14 minutes or slightly longer f there are three candidates, and is worth 20% of the overall exam result.

Although there are four different parts, the candidate will be assessed on their overall ability and not given specific marks for each part of the test. The different parts are as follows:

• Part 1 – Interview
• Part 2 – Long turn
• Part 3 – Collaborative task
• Part 4 – Discussion

General Preparation for the Speaking Paper

The first thing that candidates to be comfortable with is understanding what happens in each part of the paper. Just practicing speaking is not enough, they need to know exactly what is expected of them in each part are what they need to do to get the best marks. Candidates should practice listening to others answering the questions or even recordings of themselves so they analyse the areas that could be improved.

Candidates should also be aware and practice different skills to get their point across more effectively such as non-verbal communication (eye contact, hand gestures etc.), tone and word stress. There are many marks that candidates can get that are not directly related to the vocabulary or grammatical structures that they are actually using which is why entering the exam with confidence is crucial to achieving top marks.

Candidates can prepare for the exam by speaking with a partner or on their own where they should practice answering exam style questions on a range of different topics, and repeat as much as possible until they are fully confident and comfortable answering a variety of different questions.