Speaking Test

Levels B1-B2

Panel of 2 examiners with students in pairs (in case there is an even

number of students, one test will be conducted in a group of 3)

15 minutes (Max. 25 min in case of groups of 3)

Topics: friends, study, leisure time, family, home, travelling, sports,

food, celebrations, holidays)

Part 1: Introduction (initial salutation, everyday life questions)

Part 2: Photo (describing a photo, explaining its possible story, giving

opinion)

Part 3: Conversation in pairs (using some prompts – phrases giving

ideas about the topic in a flow chart, or illustrations – students discuss
about the situation)
 Mock exam
Part 1: Introduction
(Approx. 3 minutes; 5 minutes for a group of 3 students)
[To both students]
Good morning / afternoon
Let me introduce myself: I’m ______ and this is ______

[To student A]
What’s your name?
[To student B]
What’s your name?
I would like to know a little about you. Where are you from? Where do you live?
What’s the name of your neighbourhood?
[To student A]
And how about you? Where are you from? Where do you live? What’s the name of
your neighbourhood?
Tell me about your hobbies. What do you like doing? When do you normally do these
activities? Do you do them with your friends or with your family?

Part 2: Photo description

(5 minutes; 8 minutes for a group of 3 students)
[To both students]
Now we start the second part of the test. In this part you are going to talk about two
pictures on your own. You will describe the pictures, explain the possible situation
and answer a question.

[Prepare the test sheets with the pictures, but do not show them to the students. Both
students should have the same time to look at their pictures, so first show sheet with A1-A2
pictures while keeping the other sheet out of sight]

[Put “Pictures A1-A2 sheet” on the table in front of student A]

[To student A]
Here you have your photographs. Study them for 30 seconds.
Picture A1

Picture A2
________________________________________

Now, tell me about each of them. Speak first about picture A1 and then about picture A2.
What do they show?
[Allow student A time to speak]
That’s fine. What are the major differences between them?
[Allow student A time to speak]
What advantages and disadvantages do find in each of the situations?
How do you feel en each situation?
Thank you.

[Collect “Pictures A1-A2 sheet”.

Put “Pictures A3-A4 sheet” on the table in front of student B]

[To student B]
Here you have your photographs. Study them for 30 seconds.

__________________________________________________________
Now, tell me about each of them. Speak first about picture A3 and then about picture
A4. What do they show?
[Allow student B time to speak]
That’s fine. What are the major differences between them?
[Allow student B time to speak]
What advantages and disadvantages do find in each option?
Thank you

[Collect “Pictures A3-A4 sheet”]

Part 3: Conversation
(7 minutes; 12 minutes for groups of 3 students)
[To both students]
This is the last section of the test. You going to discuss about a topic together.
The topic is _________________.
Ask each other if you would like to _________________ and why.
(…)

[Show the students “Test 1 Conversation Sheet”. Place it in front of them. It provides
information about possible ______________________.]

Here you have information.

Study the information. You have 30 seconds.
(…)
Discuss about the topic.
(…)
 Now try to get information so that each of you can choose an option that would be
suitable for each other.
(…)

Thank you.
[Collect “Test 1 Conversation Sheet”]

[Encourage students’ conversation making the following questions:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Use some prompts if necessary:

What do you think?
Do you agree?
Can you give an example?

Thank you. This is the end of the test.

Level Descriptors

B2 Overall Descriptors
Students at the B2 level are typically able to communicate effectively on most general or
familiar topics, and to make themselves understood when discussing more complex or
academic topics.
They can:
• Almost always speak in a fluent and sustained way
• Almost always use intonation effectively
• Produce speech that is always understandable to listeners, with only minor
errors in pronunciation
• Almost always produce vocabulary and grammar that is accurate, varied and
effective, with only a few errors
• Tell a complete and coherent story with elaboration and detail
• Understand and accurately convey all main ideas and supporting details
from an academic lecture, with almost no omissions

B1 Overall Descriptors
Students at the B1 level are typically able to talk about general or familiar topics with
relative ease.
They can:
• Usually speak in a fluent and sustained way, with some stops or hesitations
• Usually use intonation effectively
• Produce speech that is usually understandable to listeners, but with some
pronunciation errors
• Usually produce vocabulary and grammar that is accurate and effective,
although with some errors
• Tell a story that is mostly complete and coherent, although some details are
inaccurate or left out
• Understand and convey main ideas from an academic lecture, although
some supporting details may be left out or inaccurate