ICFE Speaking Paper Part 4 – teacher’s notes

Description
In this activity, students will understand the format and testing aims of ICFE Speaking Part 4.
They will practise a sample Part 4 task, concentrating on keeping the discussion going.
There is also a focus on the assessment criteria, especially Grammar and Vocabulary.

Time required: 35 minutes

Materials  Sample Task
required:
 Student’s Worksheet
Aims:  to familiarise students with Speaking Part 4
 to give students the chance to practise Speaking Part 4.

Note: As Parts 3 and 4 of the Speaking test are interconnected, it’s strongly recommended
that you familiarise students with Part 3 before doing this activity. See the activity for ICFE
Speaking Paper Part 3.
Procedure
1. Review the format of Part 3 of the Speaking test by eliciting the following from
students:
• candidates are given a task on a finance-related issue to discuss
• they must work together without the examiner’s (interlocutor’s) intervention
• they should speak together for about 3 minutes
• they should negotiate, express and justify opinion, collaborate and turn take,
etc.
See the activity for ICFE Speaking Paper Part 3 for more detail.
2. Do a short dictogloss of the Part 4 task. Read out the following text at a normal pace.
Students should write down as many words as they can. They must not worry if there
are many words they can’t write down: you will read the text again several times.
They should leave spaces between the words they write, so they can fill in the gaps.
Text: Part 4 consists of a discussion on topics related to the collaborative task. The
interlocutor leads a discussion with the two candidates, based on questions related to
the task in Part 3. Part 4 lasts for 3 minutes.
3. After you have read the text, students compare what they have written with a partner.
Then read the text again, and students repeat the process. They should try to
reconstruct the text with their partner. You will probably have to read the text at least
3 times. If necessary, explain that the interlocutor is the examiner who leads the test
and gives a global achievement mark. The second examiner does not interact with
the candidates, but concentrates on the assessment.

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 4. Once most students have most of the text, ask them to dictate it to you to write on the
board. Allow other students to suggest alternatives or fill in any gaps, until you have
the original text.
5. Discuss briefly what the testing focus of this part of the test could be. Use the
following questions to elicit ideas:
• Why might there be a three-way interaction in the test? (to provide a
different dynamic and to allow for further assessment of interactive
communication skills, e.g. responding appropriately, expressing and justifying
opinions, agreeing and/or disagreeing)
• Why would it be useful to continue to discuss the topic from Part 3?
(This allows candidates to develop the topic further and at greater depth. It
provides an opportunity to demonstrate the full range of their language and
speaking skills.)
6. Refer students to the Sample Task (this is the same as the one used in the activity
for ICFE Speaking Paper Part 3.) Ask them to cover the box which contains the
interlocutor’s instructions for Part 4.
7. In groups of three, students should think of three questions related to the situation
given in Part 3 which could be asked in Part 4 of the exam. Remind them that the
questions should elicit opinions, not just knowledge of the topic. Allow around 5
minutes for this.
8. Once they have finished, elicit ideas and write them on the board. Elicit
corrections/Correct, if necessary, any mistakes in use of grammar of vocabulary.
9. Students should now look at the interlocutor’s instructions for Part 4 on the Sample
Task. They compare their questions to the ones in the task. Add any different ones to
the list of questions on the board.
10. In their groups of 3, students should discuss the questions on the board. Before they
begin, review briefly the skills you looked at for Part 3 and mentioned in Step 5
above. Point out that the worst thing that can happen is a long silence. Elicit ideas for
how they could avoid this, e.g.:
• react as quickly as possible to what they are asked
• give themselves a little time by “thinking aloud”, e.g. ‘well, that is something
I’ve never actually thought about, but, on reflection, I would say that…’
• relate the question to their own experience.
11. Students discuss the questions. Allow about 5 minutes, and monitor the activity for
good examples of students keeping the conversation going and for range, accuracy
and appropriacy of grammar and vocabulary use. See the Assessment section of the
ICFE Handbook for more details.
12. Feed back on their performance, firstly commenting on any examples of students
who avoided long silences. Recap briefly the four assessment criteria in the
Speaking test: Pronunciation, Discourse Management, Interactive Communication
and Grammar and Vocabulary (See Assessment section of the ICFE Handbook for
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 more details, or the other ICFE Speaking test activities). Discuss briefly what is
covered in the Grammar and Vocabulary criterion:
• range: how wide a variety of structures and vocabulary is used
• accuracy: how accurately grammatical forms and syntax are used
• appropriacy: if vocabulary is used appropriately for the tasks.
Remind students that all the criteria are assessed throughout the test, but that you
have been concentrating on the Grammar and Vocabulary criterion today. Feed back
on their performance, giving examples of good use of language as well as working on
errors.
13. Refer students to Student’s Worksheet and ask them to decide if the sentences
about Speaking Part 4 are true or false. Check answers with the whole class.

Suggested follow-up activities

1. If you have done the Sample Task 2 Part 3 task, students could repeat Steps 6–11
above with the Sample Task 2 Part 4 task.
2. Set up regular debating sessions in class. Students could be given a short time to
argue for or against a finance-related topic. This will encourage students to express
their ideas in public, gain confidence and comment on different issues they may not
have thought about. This could be done in different ways. For example two groups of
students can be formed, each group having a role to play, such as being in favour or
against a certain topic or issue. Groups should be given some minutes to exchange
ideas and prepare their arguments before carrying out the actual debate.
3. When walking monitoring discussion activities on a specific topic, ask each group
one or two questions related to the topic that they are not expecting, so that they
have the chance to practice reacting to an unexpected question and answering
without having time to plan what to say.
4. Encourage students to read newspapers or English language accounting journals
and to listen to or watch the international news on a regular basis. This will give the
candidates ideas which they may be able to use in this part of the test. Furthermore,
students could be asked to read newspapers or watch the news and bring interesting
articles or pieces of news into the classroom for discussion. This will be both fun and
useful for students to develop fluency and confidence.
5. Practise speaking activities which last for at least as long as the whole Speaking test
(16 minutes). This is because candidates may start to tire by Part 4 and lose
concentration, so they need practice in engaging with tasks for an extended period of
time. If possible, practise the whole Speaking test with pairs of students at least once
before the exam.

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ICFE Speaking Paper Part 4 – answer keys

Key to Student’s Worksheet

1. T
2. T – It is a three-way discussion.
3. T
4. F – Candidates are encouraged to ask questions to each other and show their
discussion skills.
5. F – Students should offer more than one-word answers and show what they can do.
6. F – It takes 3 minutes.
7. F – Students will not be assessed on their ideas or their knowledge of finance, but
the language they produce.

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ICFE Speaking Paper Part 4 – Student’s Worksheet

Are these sentences about Speaking Part 4 true (T) or false (F)?

1. The topic for Part 4 is the same as in Part 3.

2. You should discuss with your partner.

3. The interlocutor leads a discussion with both candidates.

4. Only the interlocutor can ask questions.

5. It is okay to answer just Yes or No.

6. Part 4 takes 4 minutes.

7. Both your knowledge of finance and your use of the language

will be assessed in this part.

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 ICFE Speaking Paper Part 4 – Sample Task 1

PARTS 3 and 4 7 minutes (10 minutes for groups of three) Task 21

Auditing

PART 3

Interlocutor Now, in this part of the test I’d like you to talk to each other. I’m going to
describe a situation to you.

Place Part 3 booklet, open at Task 21, in front of the candidates.

A large company with its own internal auditing department also pays a firm of
accountants to carry out an annual external audit. A major shareholder has
asked why both audits are necessary. You have been asked to discuss
whether the costs of the present arrangement can be justified.

There are some discussion points to help you.

You have about three (four) minutes to discuss this.

Candidates  Approximately five seconds

Interlocutor Please start your discussion now.

Candidates  Approximately three minutes (four minutes for groups of three)

Interlocutor Thank you. (Can I have the booklet, please?)

Retrieve booklet.

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PART 4

Interlocutor Select any of the following questions, as appropriate: Select any of

the following
prompts, as
• Is internal auditing always necessary? Why (not)?

• Should internal auditors work with external auditors?

Why (not)?
• What do
• Is a favourable external audit always a sign of a you think?
company’s well-being? Why (not)? • Do you
agree?
• Do you think that external auditors should also provide • How
other commercial services to clients? Why (not)? about you?

Thank you. That is the end of the test.

Auditing

A large company with its own internal auditing department also pays a firm of accountants to
carry out an annual external audit. A major shareholder has asked why both audits are
necessary. You have been asked to discuss whether the costs of the present arrangement can
be justified.

Discussion points:

• The need for an internal auditing department

• The link between internal and external auditing

• Who benefits from an internal audit

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SET 1 (for candidates in pairs)

PARTS 3 and 4 7 minutes Task 21

Takeover bid

PART 3

Interlocutor Now, in this part of the test I’d like you to talk to each other. I’m going to describe a
situation to you.

Place Part 3 booklet, open at Task 21, in front of the candidates.

A medium-sized company in the service sector is considering making a takeover bid

for a rival company. You have been asked to consider the performance and position
of the target company. Discuss the type of information you need to collect about the
company and where this might be available.

There are some discussion points to help you.

You have about three minutes to discuss this.

Candidates  Approximately five seconds

Interlocutor Please start your discussion now.

Candidates  Approximately three minutes

Interlocutor Thank you. (Can I have the booklet, please?)

Retrieve booklet.

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 ICFE Speaking Paper Part 3 – Sample Task 2

PART 4

Interlocutor Select any of the following questions, as appropriate: Select any of the
following prompts,
as necessary:
• What non-financial information may be relevant to the
takeover bid?

• Why might the company decide not to make the bid?

• What do you
• Why might a takeover be beneficial to the company? think?
• Do you agree?
• What financial implications would a successful bid • How about
have for the company? you?

Thank you. That is the end of the test.

Takeover bid

A medium-sized company in the service sector is considering making a takeover bid for a rival company.
You have been asked to consider the performance and position of the target company. Discuss the type
of information you need to collect about the company and where this might be available.

Discussion points:

• sources of financial information about the company

• how the performance of the company can be measured

• the reliability of information published in external reports

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