Speaking lab test 2

Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2
Part 1: Analysis
Why this answer would score well...
The Basics: The candidate's voice is loud and clear enough to be understood.
Pronunciation is clear and easy to understand. The candidate's vocabulary is appropriate
in relation to the questions asked. There are no grammatical inaccuracies.
Presentation: The candidate sounds very relaxed, friendly and confident!
Structure: The candidate responds appropriately to the questions asked. The answers are
well structured: the questions are answered and in all cases additional, related details are
given.
Content: The responses answer the questions the examiner asks in detail (no one or two
word answers!). The candidate's friendly personality is evident right from the very
beginning making the experience an enjoyable one for both candidate and examiner. The
candidate answers the questions with good examples and involves the examiner with a
rhetorical question.
This is a good, confident start!

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2
Part 2: Analysis
Why this answer would score well...

The Basics: The candidate's voice is loud and clear enough to be easily understood.
Pronunciation is excellent and the candidate's use of words/vocabulary shows he can
communicate on the topic effectively. There are no grammatical inaccuracies.
Presentation: The candidate sounds relaxed and confident. The personality of the
candidate comes through and through the use of vocal variety, the topic is made more
interesting.
Structure: The candidate responds appropriately to the questions asked on the Candidate
Card. The first two questions are answered almost immediately leaving most of the time
to expand upon questions 3 & 4 (personality and influence of the person). A point is
made and then additional, related details are given.
Content: Remember the question required the candidate to discuss:
1. who he or she is
2. how you met him/her
3. what his/her personality is like
4. explain how this person has influenced you.
All of these aspects of the question were answered. Good idiomatic expression ('comes
out of her shell') and general expression ('centre of attention').
One of the interesting things about the presentation is that the candidate ran out of things
to say. She decided to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of having children.
The use of Advantages/Disadvantages was a good way to further elaborate on 'how this
person has influenced you'. She used 'A-D' (See speaking lesson 3).
This is a good, confident continuation of the test!

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2
Part 3: Analysis
Why this answer would score well...
The Basics: The candidate's voice is loud and clear enough to be easily understood.
Pronunciation is excellent and the candidate's use of words/vocabulary shows she can
communicate on each topic raised by the examiner effectively. There are no grammatical
inaccuracies.
Presentation: The candidate continues to sound relaxed and confident. The personality of
the candidate continues to come through and builds upon the rapport established through
Parts 1 & 2.
Structure: The candidate responds appropriately to the questions asked. Firstly, she
answers the question then conversationally, she expands upon the topic. In other words, a
point is made and then additional, related details are given.
Content: The information presented in the conversation clearly answers the questions.
The candidate demonstrates very well that she has a diverse vocabulary on many
different topics - a demonstration of a very advanced knowledge of the language. Some
good, academic words are used (eg: functions, wisdom, assume, realistic,
theory/practical) When she was not sure about an answer, she made a funny statement
('you seem to know how to ask difficult questions') which reduced the tension and
allowed her a little more time to think about what she would say.
This is a good, confident conclusion!

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2

Part 1:
Q1 Can we talk about your home town? Tell me about the biggest industries in
your town.
Yes um, I’m from Mitchford which is a coastal town. We've got a lot of white, sandy
A1 beaches and a pleasant climate all year-round...so, I'm sure you can guess what our
main industry is? Tourism. Each year we get about a quarter of a million visitors to
our town so as a result another big industry is building and construction...so all our
visitors have got somewhere to stay!
Um...restaurants...the food industry is another big industry in my town. We have all
kinds of restaurants – Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Turkish, you name it, we've got
it! If you like eating out, Mitchford is a wonderful place to visit. There's one
restaurant called 'Curry in a Hurry' which, you can probably guess, is an Indian
restaurant...if you ever visit Mitchford I highly recommend it!
Q2 It sounds like you really like your home town. Are there any things you dislike
about it?
A2 Mmm, that's a difficult question. Honestly, there aren't many things I dislike about
Mitchford....but....I guess.....I'd have to say one of the things I dislike about Mitchford
is the fact that my grandparents don't live there! My grandparents live about 9 hours
away...by car, so we don't get to see them that often. It would be great if they lived in
Mitchford.
Q3 Fine. Let’s move on to the topic of food and restaurants. What kinds of foods
do you like to eat?
A3 Food...my favourite topic! Well, that's an easy one for me to answer. Ever since I
was a child, my favourite food's been Chicken Kiev. Have you tried it before?
[Examiner: No, I haven’t] It's made from the leg and thigh of a chicken. The
chicken is wrapped in butter and garlic. It's then covered in bread crumbs and fried.
The chicken comes out golden brown and when you cut it, the butter and garlic runs
out...it's absolutely delicious...probably not too healthy for you but the taste is
incredible!
Q4 What about dislike? Are there any foods you don't like to eat?

A4 Well, the first thing that comes to mind is brussel sprouts! I remember the first day
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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

my mother served them for dinner. Needless to say, my brother and sisters
complained loudly! They have such a sharp taste...I don't like them at all. Also, at
times...um...zucchini has the same kind of sharp taste. In fact, I had zucchini on top
of a home-made pizza recently and in my opinion, the sharp taste of the zucchini
ruined the pizza.
Q5 What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of home-cooked
meals?
Home cooked meals...mmm...well, the first idea that comes to mind is home cooked
A5 meals are generally healthier. The idea, I guess, is that if you're cooking the meal at
home, you know what ingredients are that have gone into making it...so the food
should be healthier. For example, if you're using oil to cook your meal, it will be
with fresh, unused oil. I know that some restaurants reuse their oil over and over
again...I don't think that's good for health.
[Examiner: Disadvantages?] Disadvantages...um...yes...well for a start, the kitchen
is left in a mess! I'm speaking from experience here! At the moment I share a flat
with 2 other people and every evening around dinner time, the kitchen looks like a
total mess! Pots and pans...containers half opened...the sink full of dishes and
cutlery...stuff everywhere! After cooking our flat looks like a danger zone. So,
related to this point is that it takes so long to clean all the mess up. Most times, I
couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of cooking...I pick up some kind of fast
food...it's much more convenient!

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2
Part 2: Transcript
Q1

Ok that was very good. I'm now going to give you a topic that you will need to
speak about for 1-2 minutes. You can take notes if you want. You have 1 minute to
prepare what you want to say. I want you to talk about a young person who has
influenced your life.
Ok. You have a maximum of 2 minutes to speak so if you go over 2 minutes, I will
ask you to stop. Can you please begin speaking now?

A1

A young person who has had a big influence on my life is my niece...my sister's child. I'll
never forget the day that I first met her...it was at the hospital and my mother and I went
to visit my sister and it was only a few hours after she had the baby. She’s now six years
old. Her name’s Kate. She's got blonde hair and brown eyes - she's so cute! My sister
always dresses her in cute clothes and puts her hair in pig tails. She has her mother's
personality too! She's quite shy and reserved around strangers but when she's around my
family, she really comes out of her shell...she starts talking and talking...and my sister is
actually teaching her how to sing. My sister's always asking her to sing for people...you
know, 'twinkle, twinkle little star', the 'ABC/alphabet song'. My parents - her
grandparents - delight in her performances, I'd say she's become the 'centre of attention'

at Dad and Mum's place.
I do miss her. In some ways, her being born reminded me that I'm growing up and...that
I needed to start thinking more seriously about my own future. I suppose I began to
wonder what it would be like to have my own children. For a long time, I didn't care too
much about kids, but after spending time with Kate, I realised that I'd love a child or two
of my own. Umm....let’s see...I’d have to say that I think there are more advantages than
disadvantages with having children. I've learned that of course, it's not all easy looking
after a child all day. When Kate was really young, my sister seemed to hardly get any
sleep and they never seemed to go out all that much. But when you see her cute little
face and her cute little smile, all that sacrifice seems to be worth it. I've never seen my
sister so happy since Kate came into her life.

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Speaking Lab 2
Part 3: Transcript
Q1Ok, that's great. We've been talking about a young person and I'd like to discuss
one or two more questions that are related to this. Firstly, let's consider
attitudes. In your country, what is the attitude older people have toward
younger people?
A1 Hmm…I think, the older generation tend to look at the younger generation as being in
a hurry to go somewhere or do something. I suppose this is pretty natural considering
when a person gets old, they tend not to move so quickly...you know, instead of going
out, most old people tend to just stay at home. I don't mean all old people are like
this, but I think it's probably true of a majority of the older generation [Examiner:

Right].
Q2 In your country, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being younger?
A2 Well, I'm young so I obviously think it's an advantage! Um, the first thing that comes
to mind is the fact that technology is changing so quickly, it takes an alert, young
mind to keep up with it...um...there are benefits in keeping up with
technology...um...you can do things quicker. For example, if you understand email,
then you can communicate faster with people...all around the world. A lot of older
people may use email but they may not know all the functions...um...to use it to their
best advantage. If you don't know how to properly use new computer software, you
can end up wasting great amounts of time...um...the disadvantages...well...the
disadvantage of being young...um....let's see... well, I think one disadvantage is that
you have a little life experience. What I mean is that you don't have much wisdom,
you're starting out. You might make a lot of silly mistakes in your life because you
don't know any better um...that's a definite disadvantage.

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Sample Speaking Test

Speaking Lab 2

Q3 Good. Let's now consider young people and education. Can you tell me about
the numbers of young people in your country studying overseas?
A3 I'm not too sure about that...the total numbers, that is...um...I know from my high
school...er...when I graduated there were 4 or 5 students who wanted to travel and
study in England. I've lost contact with them, I assume they went ahead with their
plans. Considering my high school had around 1000 students...um... and we had 4 or
5 who wanted to study overseas, I assume there are a lot of students who had the
same goal.

Q4 Do young people receive any government assistance in your country when it
comes to education?
A4 Actually, yes and no. Yes, because if they decide to study at university and they have
no money - this is assuming they are accepted into a course – um, they can apply for a
student loan. What happens is the government pays the money for their education –
that's the good news...but the bad news - and this is the ‘no’ part of my answer - is
you have to pay the money back once you get a job. I believe if you don't pay it back
by a certain time, the government starts to charge you interest on the loan or
something... [Examiner: Ok]
Q5 What future changes would you like to see in your country regarding young
people and education?
A5 Oh, that's another difficult question to answer...you sure seem to know how to ask
difficult questions! [Examiner: Thank you!] Um, I guess a change I would hope for
is that the student loans would not have to be paid back! I don’t think this is realistic,
after all, it would be too expensive for the government...perhaps removing the
repayment with interest part of the loan would be a good change for the future....oh
yea...another thing that came to mind...I think education will become more ‘hands on’
– less theory and more practical. I think 'head knowledge' is fine, but it must be
backed up with practical application...I'd like to see this change in the future.

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