KET – TEST 2

Ta Minh Thao

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 8

Control of grammar: 7
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 6
Pronunciation: 8
Reaction: 9

Overall score 38/50

Thao was able to achieve the Speaking test. Her range of lexis was OK but it could be greatly improved with more use of
collocations and chunks of language. Examples of good collocational language include; twin brothers, small village, eye
tiredness, and health problems. In addition, she displayed some good use of descriptive adjectives e.g. intelligent,
friendly, and tasty. Moreover, she was able to convey some impression of how she feels about her own statement,
through the use of conjunct ‘in my opinion’ On the other hand, she overuses the lexis ‘love’,. Her discourse would seem
much more cohesive if she replaced the word ‘love’ with a variety of synonyms, such as, be crazy about, be keen on, be
fond of, have affection for etc. Furthermore, there was confusion of the word order of the language chunk ‘no have
time’, the correct form being ‘have no time’.

In terms of grammar, she was able to produce the comparative structure to compare herself and her best friend e.g.
She’s taller than me. However, she has not quite mastered the comparative rule of adding ‘more’ or ‘less’ with
polysyllabic words, or words with more than three syllables e.g. is beautiful than me. She makes some good attempts at
complex sentences through the use of conjunctions ‘but’ and ‘because’. On the other hand, she used the gerund form
with the infinitive marker ‘to’ e.g. to relaxing. Please keep in mind that the infinitive marker ‘to’ always collocates with
the base form of a verb.

Her pronunciation was satisfactory but she should pay attention to contractions in speech e.g. My best friend’s Vy. She’s
etc.

Nguyen Xuan Mai Anh

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 9

Control of grammar: 6
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 8
Pronunciation: 7
Reaction: 6

Overall score 36/50

Mai Anh was able to achieve the Speaking test. There was a good range of lexis. Examples of good collocational language
include; modern house, first floor, popular place, tomato sauce and many benefits, three times a week, and healthy
food. I addition, she displayed a few instances of some more sophisticated vocabulary e.g. introvert, nutrition, benefits
and serious. On the other hand, some collocation attempts were unnatural e.g. one floor (first floor), medium town
(medium-sized town).

In terms of grammar, there were some good attempts at forming complex sentences through the use of conjunction ‘so’
and ‘but’. She used some cohesive devices such as pronouns to avoid repletion e.g. it. She used a range of tenses e.g.
present simple, present continuous, past simple and future simple. She also successfully used the 3 rd person aspect on
some occasions e.g. has, instead of have. On the other hand, there were many inaccuracies in the use of grammar. To
name a few; she uses the present simple instead of the appropriate present progressive e.g. I study (I am studying),
there is an instance of using the bare infinitive form of the ‘be’ verb instead of the 3 rd person singular form e.g.be (is)
good at, and she confuses the determiners that collocate with countable and uncountable nouns e.g. many (much)
nutrition.

Furthermore, her pronunciation on a couple of incidence was incomprehensible.

Nguyen Van Hoang

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 5

Control of grammar: 4
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 3
Pronunciation: 7
Reaction: 7

Overall score 26/50

Hoang achieved the test a very basic level. He clearly did not prepare his answers for the test, as required by the
homework because the language use was very basic. I cannot stress enough the importance of preparing your answers,
for exam preparation courses. The quality of the answers would have been greatly improved through the use of
collocations and language chunks. He does, however, use a range of basic vocabulary related to the topic.

In terms of grammar, there were some examples of adverbs of frequencies e.g. often, usually. In addition, he used the
gerund form e.g. playing basketball. On the other hand, he forgets to use the 3 rd person aspect e.g. have (has), like (likes)
and don’t (doesn’t). Furthermore, there were incidents where he used the infinitive instead of the gerund form e.g. he
like play (likes playing). There were no complex sentences throughout his discourse, all of which were simple and
compound sentences. Complex sentences can be achieved through the use of conjunctions, such as, ‘but’, ‘so’, ‘because’
etc.

Nguyen Tuan Phuc

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 10

Control of grammar: 8
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 5
Pronunciation: 8
Reaction: 9

Overall score 40/50

Phuc was able to achieve the Speaking test. He used a good range of topic related vocabulary, however, I want to
emphasise the role that collocations and language chunks have on enhancing the quality of the language used. Examples
of good collocational language included; of course, elder sister, younger brother, super short hair, secondary school, first
floor, good at it. There were also examples of collocations that sounded unnatural e.g. super house (massive house), the
England king (the king of England). Try to focus on the vocabulary when preparing next time.

In terms of grammar, there were some attempts of complex sentences through the use of conjunction ‘but’. There were
examples of anaphoric (backward) and cataphoric (forward) references using the pronoun ‘it’, to avoid repetition. He
demonstrated examples of similes e.g. taste like chicken, like the England king. On the other hand, he did not use the
infinitive marker on an occasion, e.g. I like (to) eat. There was an incorrect construction of the past perfect form e.g.
when it’s built (when it was built). Furthermore, there was an example of using the bare infinitive where the gerund
form was appropriate e.g. My hobby play computer (my hobby is playing the computer).

His pronunciation was satisfactory but he should pay attention to contractions in speech e.g. his name’s etc. In addition,
he uses a communication strategy of circumlocution to compensate not recalling a specific word e.g. What’s it called?
You know the floor …

Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 10

Control of grammar: 7
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 7
Pronunciation: 8
Reaction: 8

Overall score 38/50

Trangwas able to achieve the Speaking test. Her range of lexis was OK but it could be greatly improved with more use of
collocations and chunks of language. Examples of good collocational language include; at the weekend, hang out, long
black hair, secondary school, first floor, small town.

In terms of grammar, there was one attempt of a complex sentence through the use of conjunctions ‘because. However,
the majority of them are simple sentences. She uses the gerund form appropriately e,.g. watching TV, playing games.
She demonstrated the use of determiner ‘that’ e.g. that game. In addition, she used the comparative construct
successfully e.g. he is taller than me. On the other hand, she sometimes forgot to use conjunctions e.g. go to the coffee
shop, go to the cinema. Moreover, she did not apply the 3rd person aspect e.g. my house have (has).

Her pronunciation was satisfactory but she should pay attention to contractions in speech e.g. My best friend’s Hai,
She’s etc.

Nguyen Phuong Anh

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 7

Control of grammar: 5
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 4
Pronunciation: 7
Reaction: 7

Overall score : 30/50

Phuong achieved the test a very basic level. I do not think she prepared her answers for the test though, as required by
the homework because the language use was very basic. I cannot stress enough the importance of preparing your
answers, for exam preparation courses. The quality of the answers would have been greatly improved through the use
of collocations and language chunks. Examples of good collocational language used by Phuong include; elder brother,
younger brother, secondary school, second floor, small village, and free time.

In terms of grammar, she used the gerund form appropriately e.g. listening to music, reading a book. She also makes her
speaking more cohesive by using the anaphoric reference ‘that’ to avoid repetition.

. Moreover, there was a good example of parallelism, when one or more elements of a sentence that have the same
grammatical structure. used to intensify the rhythm of language, or to draw a comparison, emphasize, or elaborate on
an idea. e.g. sometimes peaceful, sometimes noisy. On the other hand, her only used simple and compound sentences,
there are no use of complex sentences. These kind of sentences can be achieved through conjunctions such as ‘because’
‘but’ and ‘so’. There is also a lack of range in grammar tenses, as she only used the present simple tense.

Nguyen Nhat Huy

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 7

Control of grammar: 7
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 8
Pronunciation: 9
Reaction: 10

Overall score : 41/50

Huy was able to achieve the Speaking test. However, some of his answers to questions were only one sentence long. He
needs to be aware that the exam requirement is 2-3 sentences each sentence. His range of lexis was good. Examples of
good collocational language include; little brother, little sister, three stories, access to the roof, second floor, pretty
decent, flavoured chicken, fried chicken, barbecue chicken, and phrasal verb ‘set up’. There was also a good example of
adverb usage to express approximation e.g. ‘about’ 10 years old.

In term of grammar, there was one attempt of a complex sentence through the conjunctive adverb ‘meanwhile’.
However, most of his constructions were simple and compound sentences. There is a good example of possessive
marker usage e.g. dad’s room. He also makes his speaking more cohesive by using the anaphoric reference ‘it’s to avoid
repetition.

Nguyen Ngoc Hung

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 10

Control of grammar: 9
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 8
Pronunciation: 8
Reaction: 7

Overall score; 42/50

Hung was able to achieve the Speaking test. His range of lexis was good quite good. Examples of good collocational
language include; four members, curly hair, reading comics, near sighted, kind and friendly, first/second/fourth floor,
pasta sauce/ hours a day, at all, and secondary school.

In terms of grammar, he attempts to form a couple of complex sentences through the use of conjunction ‘so’. He used
the particle ‘too’ appropriately, to add a further point. He also used the comparative structure successfully e.g. older
than my brother. In addition, he used the abverb ‘about’ appropriately, to make an estimate. On the other hand, there is
an instance when he does not include the preposition article ‘to’ in the preposition phrase ‘next (to)’. Moreover, there
was an occasion when he forgot to add the plural marker to the noun, e.g. 2 hospital(s).

Nguyen Ba Gia Huynh

Interactive Listening and Speaking Ability: 10

Control of grammar: 8
Lexical Range and Accuracy: 9
Pronunciation: 7
Reaction: 10

Overall score : 45/50

Huynh was able to successfully achieve the Speaking test. His range of lexis was very good. Examples of good
collocational language include; (long) spiky hair, passed away, iron gate, variety of, food and snacks, teacher’s room, five
stories, third story, fourth floor, sixth floor, working space, fictional stories, fantasy games, action games, and puzzle
games. However, there was a word that I did not recognize, i.e. Kaki room?

In terms of grammar, He makes good use of the phrase used to, to talk about the past. There was one example of a
complex sentence through the use of conjunction ‘because’. However, most of the sentences were simple and
compound sentences. Try to focus on making more complex sentences through the use of subordinate conjunctions,
such as, since, but, so, though, as, although, while, and whereas etc. Apart from the complexity of his sentences, the
standard of his grammar was of a good standard. In general, apart from the complexity of his sentences, his grammar
usage was of a good standard.

There was an occasion when the pronunciation of a word was incomprehensible. Also he should try to focus on
contractions to sound more natural, e.g. name is (name’s).