UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.

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IELTSSpeakingPart1Activityteachersnotes www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org
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IELTSSpeakingPart1Activityteachersnotes
Description
AnactivitytointroduceSpeakingPart1,focusingonwhatthispartoftheexaminvolvesand
thetopics covered andtogive studentspracticein talkingaboutthesetopics using related
vocabulary.
Timerequired: 60minutes
Additional
materials
required:
alargepieceofpaper,atleastA4sizeforeachstudent
pens
Aims: tointroducePart1speakingandtoexplainitspurpose.
topractiseansweringthetypesofquestionthatmaybeaskedinthis
partoftheexam.
todevelopstudentsvocabularies
Procedure
1. ExplainorelicitwhathappensinPart1Speakingandwhatthepurposeofthismight
be. Based on this, elicit from the class what topics might be asked about, e.g.
accommodation,friends,hobbies,food,workorstudies.Writethese,spacedout,
ontheboard.
2. Ask students to copy the topics in the form of a mind map onto a large piece of
paper.Asaclass,decideonsometypicalusefulvocabularyforeachtopicincluding
nouns, verbs and adjectives, e.g. accommodation flat, neighbourhood, live, close
to.
3. Divide the students into groups, with one groupper topic (or divide into subgroups
with the same topic if you have a large class). Ask them to continue adding
vocabularytotheirtopic.
4. After5minutes,circulatethemindmapsaroundtheclasssoeachgrouphasanew
topic.Askstudentstoreadthevocabularyandaddanymoretheycanthinkof.
5. Repeatstep4asmanytimesassuitableforyourclasssize/time.
6. Write the following question on the board: Can you tell me about the kind of
accommodation you live in?. Elicit more possible questions about accommodation
andwritethemontheboard.(e.g.Howlonghaveyoulivedthere?Whatdoyoulike
aboutlivingthere?)
7. Put the students into pairs and ask them to write down possible questions on the
different topics. If possible, these pairs should be formed of students from different
groupssotheyareworkingwithsomeonenew.Goroundandcheckthequestions.
UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.Forfurther
informationseeourTermsofUseathttp://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo
IELTSSpeakingPart1Activityteachersnotes www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org
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8. Studentsaskandanswerquestionsinpairs,onetakingtheroleofexaminerandone
takingtheroleofcandidate.Askstudentstodecidewhotheexaminerisandwhothe
candidate is for the first round. Explain that the candidate should try to give a full
interesting answer consisting of 2 or 3 sentences to the questions on one of the
topics.Theexaminerwillchoosethetopic.Encouragestudentstousesome(notall!)
of the vocabulary just covered. Monitor and make a note of good examples of
language,andlanguagewhichcouldbeimprovedon.
9. Each student exchanges roles. The new examiner asks questions about a different
topic. Monitor and make anoteofgoodexamples of language and language which
couldbeimproved.
10. Holdawholeclassfeedbacksessionabouttheexamplesoflanguageyouheard.
11. Ask students to change partners. Repeat the question and answer activity with
students choosing a different topic. This time encourage the students to give
feedbackontheirpartnersperformancewithintheirpair.
12. Repeatiftimeallows.
13. Ask students to reflect onhowdifficult theyfelt it was to do this activity.Encourage
them tofeel comfortable and competent within these topic areas and reemphasise
thatoneofthepurposesofPart1istosettlethecandidateintotheexam.Pointout
that the topics should be fairly familiar. Ask follow up questions see below in
suggestedfollowupquestions.
14. Stickthemindmapsonthewallandaddtothemovertime.
Additionalinformation
Theexaminerintroduceshim/herselfandchecksthecandidatesidentity.Thens/heasksthe
candidateaboutfamiliartopicssuchasfriends,hobbiesandfood.Thepurposeistostartthe
test,totrytoputthecandidateateaseandtofindoutsomegeneralbackgroundinformation
aboutthecandidate.
Suggestedfollowupactivities/questions(andanswers)
1. HowdoyoufeeltalkingaboutthetopicsinPart1?Howeasyordifficultisit?(usually
studentswillrealisethatthispartofthetestisrelativelyfamiliarandthatitisauseful
waytogetovertheirnerves)
2. Howcouldyouimproveyourperformanceinthispart?(e.g.practiseaskingand
answeringquestionsonthesetopicswithapartnerinclass,practisesimilar
questionswithotherstudents/speakersofEnglishoutsideclassandwheneverthey
meetsomeonenew)