So, Angela, Bridget, what do good
candidates do in the speaking tests? A number of things, I think. They listen
carefully, listen to the tasks listen to their partners. They listen and also react to what
their partners have said to keep the conversation going. Yes. They show they're interested
in what their partner says which is important. Yes. And they interact with, as you said both their partner and with the
interlocutor throughout the exam. In part three, for example, they
move the interaction forward very good candidates, don't they? They actually take control together
and keep you going move it towards a conclusion of some sort. I think also, a bit of eye
contact is very natural in a good conversation. So, I
think that body language is encouraging to your partner. Yes. It's a good feature of
interactive communication. And in part two, when they're
describing the photos obviously they're relying on
their language resources but they manage with what they've got I suppose, is what
a good candidate does. And they show an ability to extend... Yeah. when it's possible. Yes. And to not get stuck, to paraphrase if
the word doesn't come, they know it but not to spend time struggling, but
to paraphrase it somehow to find a way of expressing what they want to say. Yes, that's a good skill. And they balance fluency and accuracy which is related
to being able to paraphrase. And so, they don't dry
up, but they're also monitoring what they
say as well to be accurate. What else? I guess they ask questions
if they don't understand. -Oh yes, that's important.
-Help their partner sometimes as well. Yeah. It helps to keep them relaxed I think, if they know that
there is the opportunity to ask for help that's something they can do,
and it's a good thing. I suppose they're putting all their hard
work and all their preparation before the exam, into the exam on the day. And therefore,
that's a good performance. Yes. Yeah. Being able
to overcome nerves which is obviously a non-linguistic skill but that can make a big difference to
how well they perform on the day. I suppose it also helps for them to have
practised sufficiently so that they have a feeling for how long a minute
is because when you're nervous -a minute does feel like a long time.
-Yes. That's important to
maintain the flow long enough and not stop too early. Yeah.
It's very difficult to restart. And it's not difficult
to practise it in that way. You can think of all kinds
of topics and you can have a stopwatch and just do it. And I think
probably the more prepared you are in a test, the more relaxed you are. Yeah, definitely. So, knowing how
long their answer should be, roughly say in part one, knowing that it's two or three sentences and knowing that in
part four, they need to extend their answers as well. So, being able to extend
where it's appropriate. And not to be put off
when the interlocutor interrupts them because of the timing. Yeah, that's true. That's part of preparation
at school or college. Yeah. So actually a lot of it
is coming back to preparation, isn't it? Yes.
