Reflection after testsWhen you are going through practice tests and marking your results, it is of course important to record your scores and see of you are improving. However, even more important than just increasing your score is reflecting upon a number of issues
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How to Do Task 1 (Giving Advice) of the CELPIP Speaking TestThis is a section that demands 90 seconds of speaking, The only other section that demands this is part 7 (Opinion). The key strategy is to keep the recommendations to two. Here is a process I recommend:
1.Have an social introduction You are giving advice but you should say hello and start by saying that you have heard that the person is going to do something and you are giving advice. 2.Give recommendation Make this brief 3.Say why Give the general reason why this suggestion is a good one. Many test takers forget to do this and quickly jump to the next suggestion but this misses an opportunity to explain the reasons for the suggestion. 4.Say what can happen This is different from giving the reason. Give the positive consequence of your suggestion. You may phrase it in the conditional tense (Eg If you do some research first, you can avoid many problems in the future) 5.Give concluding advice These are some concluding tips that might be what the person has to be careful of or just 6.Sociable farewell Just a goodbye and a wish the person good luck. You could offer to help more in the future. Read more on this topic Reducing Bad Hesitation on the Speaking Sections Parts 1, 3 and 7Reducing bad hesitation utters.
The computer recorder picks up only sounds and not visual signs of struggle. One major one is the struggle sounds of hesitation that demonstrates a lack of control and smoothness in speech. Your speaking score will suffer it it sounds like you could not keep your voice moving in a fluid way Getting Rid of Bad Hesitation Strategies and Replacing Them With Good Ones. Hesitation is not a bad thing, if it is done properly. There are two main types of bad hesitations. 1. Hesitations that repeat the same kind of noises such as uh, uh, uh/um,um,um 2. Hesitation that repeats a word more than once (i.e. stuttering) The better way to hesitate is by pausing first and stringing together a thought before continuing. For that to occur successfully you cannot be frightened of brief moments of silence. There are also a number of stall expressions: Key Expressions Expressions I think there are two main reasons that ...... It’s difficult to say because...... I'm not really sure but I would guess that... It really depends on ....... In other words, … Ok, let me think for a second...well, personally..... I guess what I’m trying to say is that … Example 1st speaker I uhh think, I think...the government should uh uh do more and now it is um, uhm quite uhmm, worse than it used to be and and … that’s uh maybe because uhh of the new roads uh uh uhh that have been built, so that uhh that has meant that has meant that there is less uhh less con … congestion. So I uhh, think this uhh uhh is better, is better for everyone if the uhhh government gets gets involved in uhhh the traffic situation. How many times does the speaker say uhh or uhmm? 17 times How many times does the speaker repeat words? 5 times 2nd speaker Well let me think now, its a tough question because there are good points on both sides but I think I'd have to say that uhhm well, I think that the traffic system is well… for the most part I'd say that it is something the government should get involved with, and perhaps if uhh they do get involved aggressively and new roads are built, well, so this means less .... you know, congestion. Congestion is not good for anyone. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that it would be better for everyone if the government did take an active role. How many times does the speaker say uhh or uhmm? _____ times How many times does the speaker repeat words? _____ times Describing Graphic IllustrationsIn Part 2, be prepared to gather and guess about information from a visual and the provide responses to it. The first graphic could be an illustration of
There are 3 questions. The question is spoken so you must listen carefully to the question. It will not appear on the screen. You have 40 seconds The questions usually involve:
The skills needed are
If you get good practice with each of these skills you should be able to talk about any visual. However you will be better prepared if you can use a few standard sentence structures: Language Needed
This is a picture of …….. 2. Use existential “there” In the picture there is/are…….. 3. Use present continuous The boy is playing………. 4. Use speculative sentences with modal I think he could/might be …….. 5. Use future sentences to predict what will happen I think the boy will probably 6. Use opinion phrases + should have PP to express how you feel I think the boy should have been more careful 7. Giving examples For example I once fell down and someone helped me so I think…… The CELPIP test is a different style from TOEFL and IELTS. It uses far more visuals to prompt listening and speaking and for that reason, it is worthwhile to collect pictures, photos, cartoon drawings, maps - really anything that forces you to talk about not only what is in a picture but also what is happening. It is especially useful to collect the ‘find the differences’ paired pictures and make comparisons as well as a number of simple maps.
I have some suggestions. 1. Look through ESL assessments in listening and speaking. CELPIP draws heavily from the CLB style of assessment as opposed to Cambridge, ETS or CollegeBoard style. 2. Have a partner to listen to you as you describe a number of illustrations. 3. Brainstorm the grammar structures you need to make these descriptions. Here are some of the more common. a. Present continuous (He is running to……) b. Location prepositions (e.g. ‘next to, on the left hand side of...etc.) c. Existential sentences & possession (There are…..It has……) d. Future tenses (He is going to…..) e. Speculation (I think he might…..) f. Opinion modals (I think he should….) 4. Find maps and describe places. Do this with friends. Have them test you by saying some sentences in True or False manner. 5. Collect old upper level ESL textbooks – many of them contain similar types of exercises and assessments |
Nevin BlumerNevin Blumer (MA Applied Linguisitics, BEd, TESL Dip) is Director of TPS and has been teaching TOEFL since 1998. Archives
April 2018
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