BEC Speaking – AssessmentCriteria Activity
1. Which of the following would you encourage your students to do as preparation for the BEC P exam?
A. given a presentation e.g. for your company about a product
B. given personal information e.g. about your job or interests
C. had a discussion with a colleague in order to solve a problem or to decide on a course of action
D. made a speech e.g. at an office party
E. agreed with a colleague’s or client’s opinion
F. disagreed with a colleague’s or client’s opinion
2. Look at the words and phrases below (A – N) Organise your answer using the grid below.
A use of appropriate words
B use of appropriate grammar
C listening carefully
D giving information in a logical order
E use of appropriate intonation
F being able make a new contribution to a discussion
G being able to speak without pausing for too long
H knowing when it’s your turn to speak and when it’s your turn to listen
I clear pronunciation of individual sounds
J stressing the appropriate words in an utterance/sentence
K giving an answer or making a contribution that isn’t too long or too short - depending on what was said before the task
L knowing what information to include/exclude in relation to what was said before
M using accurate grammar
N finding the necessary words and phrase
Answers
3. Making a speech
5.
Grammar / Vocabulary / Discourse Management / Pronunciation / Interactive CommunicationA,B,M,N / D,K,L / E,I,J / C,F,G,H
Grammar and Vocabulary / Discourse Management / Pronunciation / Interactive Communication / Global Achievement
overall effectiveness (language)
range
accuracy
appropriacy / coherence
extent
relevance / stress
rhythm / turn-taking
repair strategies
hesitation / overall effectiveness (dealing with tasks)
impression mark
Overall effectiveness: how well has the task been carried out across generally.
Accuracy: correctly formed grammar and vocabulary
Impression mark:mark given by the interlocutor based on how well the candidate has performed throughout the test.
Coherence: Has the candidate used cohesive devices, such as, so, therefore, as a result
Repair strategies: repeat – “Could you say that again”
Relevance:Should relate to the task and not about something else.
Turn-taking: Current speaker may select, that is “choose”, who will be next speaker. For example, I could say “Ahmed, what do you think?” Current speaker might also select next speaker with “gaze”, i.e. making eye-contact.If current speaker does not select next speaker, a next speaker may “self-select”. What this means is that any participant in the conversation can choose herself as next speaker. Whoever begins speaking first becomes the new current speaker.
Appropriacy: Refers to words and phrases that fit the context and are well formed. For example: Maximum I’ll be leaving. Maximum is correctly formed, but it is inappropriate in this context because a better suited phrase is I’m 100% sure of leaving.
Extent: Anumber of words strung together (which is more than just a short phrase) should beappropriate to the task. For example in Part 3, long turns expect more sentences and phrases strung together, whereas a task for example in Part 4 which involves discussion will include shorter responses.
Range:The mixture of words and grammatical forms a candidate uses.
Stress: The emphasis placed on a syllable or word.
Rhythm: A way of breaking down sentences into component parts. After breakfastI went to classand tookout my homeworkfor the teacher.
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