800/2

SPEAKING
 Speaking
- 30 minutes
- Two tasks involved
-Task 1: Individual presentation. (2 minutes to
prepare, 2 minutes to present)
-Task 2: Group discussion that consists of four
candidates. Every candidate has to come up
with points and decide among group
members
which point is the best. Every group will be
allocated 10 minutes to discuss.
 EXPLORING SPEAKING SKILLS

A presentation / discussion normally

consists of three stages.

Here are some useful phrases to be used

in opening, maintaining and closing a
presentation / discussion.
 Useful Expressions
Function Expressions
Greeting Good morning, everyone
Good morning examiners and all my friends
Stating Situation / Task Given The situation states that…
Based on the situation… given…states
Introducing A Point Of View I think…
I feel that…
I believe that…

Introducing The First Point Let’s start with…

I would like to begin by…
Illustrating A Point First of all, I propose…
Therefore…
This means that…
This is because…

Providing An Example One example is…

For instance…
Take for example…
What about…
Function Expressions
Starting A New Point Why don’t we…
Another suggestion is…
Moving on to my next point…
Referring To What You Have As I have said earlier…
Said As I have pointed out at the beginning…
Signaling Cause And Effect As a result…
Due to…
For this reason…
Signaling A Main Point My main point is…
The most important reason is…
One important factor is…
Making Comparisons …is much more important than…
You can’t compare…with…
Giving Reasons I think …is right because…
…and so I think that…
Function Expressions

Making Strong Suggestions The only solution to this problem is…

There is no alternative but to…
We must…
Making Tentative It might be a good idea to…
Suggestions One solution would be to…
We could always…
Perhaps we should…
Making Neutral Suggestions I recommend / suggest that we should…
My recommendation / suggestion is that we
should…
I propose that we should…
I think we should…
Asking Or Requesting For What would you suggest?
Suggestions What are your views on this?
What’s your opinion?
Do any of you have any suggestions / ideas?
Function Expressions
Presenting Alternative There are two solutions to the problem
Solutions One solution is to… Another is to…
One possibility is to…
Alternatively we could…
Either we could...or…
One way is to … or else we could …

Justifying Choices And X has many advantages …

Alternatives One advantage is … Another advantage is …
For one thing Y has the advantage of …
But even more important is its ability to …
By doing X we’ll be able to ... and …
The best solution to the problem is … because it
can not only … but also …

Contrasting Alternatives / While X has some advantages … Y is still a better

Choices choice because …
Y does seem to have the potential to minimize
the effects of …
On the other hand, X has already been proved to
be effective
Function
Formal Acceptance Of Ideas /
Proposals
Not Accepting Of Ideas
Expressions
Strong :
That’s a fantastic / great idea
I support that idea whole-heartedly
I’ve no objections whatsoever to your proposal
I’m completely in favour of that …
Neutral :
I’m in favour of that idea
That sounds like a good idea
That proposal seems fine to me
I support that idea
Neutral :
I’m sorry, but that’s not practical
I’m sorry, but I have reservations / doubts about
that
I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that
I’m afraid I can’t agree with you
Diplomatic / Polite :
I appreciate your point of view, but …
I can understand your concern , but …
I do see your point, but …
That’s very interesting, but …
Function Expressions

Summarising The Main Points Let me / us go over the key points again ..
So, to summarise, there seems to be three
propositions: first …, second …, and third …
I’ll briefly summarise the main causes / effects /
problems / solutions
Let us go over what has been said so far
To sum up …
Briefly …
In short …

Agreeing / supporting other Yes, that’s right…

people’s opinion I (fully) agree with …
X raised some good points…

Expressing certainty and I’m absolutely certain that…

uncertainty I’m not at all sure if…
You may have a point there. But I’m not sure..

Signaling That You Are About Let’s look at another possible solution…
To Move On Now let’s consider some possible solutions…
To A Possible Solution
Function
Signaling That You Are
Drawing A Conclusion From
What Has Been Said Earlier
Concluding
Concluding A Discussion
Bringing A Discussion To An
End
Expressions
So we can see that…
This in turn can lead to…
As a result…
As a conclusion…
I would like to conclude by saying…
If all of you are in favour, I suggest that we..
If everyone is in agreement, I propose that ….
So, if all of us agree, we can decide to …
If there is no objection, I suggest that we …
In conclusion …
To conclude …
Our unanimous decision is that we
If nobody has anything to add, we can end the
discussion …
Does anyone have anything else to say? If not, let’s
bring the discussion to a close
So if there is nothing more to say, let’s end now
Task A (Invidual Presentation)

• Candidates are given two minutes to prepare

their points on a topic they are given.
• They are then given two minutes to make
their oral presentation.
• Other candidates, who will be listening to the
presentation, are required to make notes which
they are to use for the group discussion in Task
B.
Helpful Tips - Preparation

- Since the time for preparation is only two minutes, you need
to think fast and make the best of the time given. Here are
some strategies:
- When you are given the situation, read it carefully.
Understand the tasks you are given.
- Think of at least three main points.
- Give plausible reasons and suggestions to support the main
points.
- Jot down the points and then elaborate on them when you are
presenting. You do not have time to write out the whole
presentation.
Task A
How you say something is as important as what you say.
Keep the following in mind:
- Speak clearly. Make sure you enunciate your words.
Stress words in the right places.
- Speak in complete sentences.
- Although you should aim for grammatically correct
sentences, do not sacrifice fluency for grammatical
accuracy.
- If you are stuck for words, try to express your ideas in
simple sentences; otherwise move on to the next point.
- Present your points logically and systematically.
Task B (Group Interaction)

- Candidates are divided into groups of four.

- Each candidate is given two minutes to prepare
points either to support or oppose the points raised by
the other three members of the group.
- The group is then given 10 minutes for their group
discussion.
- The aim of this discussion is to arrive at a decision
as to which argument, point of view, reasoning or
suggestion is the best or most relevant for the given
topic or stimulus.
Helpful tips Task B

- You will need to familiarize yourself with language functions like

turn-taking, asking for and giving information, making suggestions,
giving reasons, giving opinions, persuading, drawing conclusions,
agreeing and disagreeing, interrupting, managing a discussion etc.
- Listen to what the others are saying and make appropriate
responses.
- Non-verbal communication cues are important. Nodding will
show agreement.
- You need to cooperate with the other members of the group so that
the discussion can be carried out smoothly.
- If member of a group is very quiet, ask relevant question to draw
him into the discussion. This will help him to increase his/her
confidence level.
- At the end of the discussion, the group must arrive at a definite
conclusion/decision on the best solution or course of action to take.
This diagram below illustrates a sample activity of the individual presentation
and group interaction
 Starting A Presentation /
Initiating A Discussion

a. Using greetings
the easiest way to start a presentation or a
group discussion is to greet your audience

b. Making Introduction
 Sample 1

Situation:

The reputation of a school is based on a number of factors. What are

these factors?

Task A: The reputation of a school is based on the academic

performance of the students. Elaborate.

Introduction –

( use suitable phrase)
 … the reputation of a school is based on a number of factors. In my
opinion, it is based on the academic performance of the students. …
 Sample 1

Situation:


Your class is organizing a farewell party. What should be included in your
preparation?


Task A: You need to decide on the venue. Elaborate.


Introduction –


… my class is organizing a farewell party. I feel that in our preparation we
need to decide on the venue. … (change the pronouns in the situation to suit
the task)
 Making A Presentation / Maintaining A
Discussion

1. A simple way of starting the presentation is to

ask the questions Why, How and What
2. An effective presentation will have well-
developed ideas with a mature content and
absence of many gaps
3. This can be achieved by the ability to identify
the difference between main points,
supporting points and supporting details
Sample 1
SITUATION: As the junior executive, you need to organize a retirement
party for a senior executive officer. What should be included in your
preparation?
Task A: You need to decide on the venue. Elaborate.
Main point 1
Main point 1
The venue for the retirement party should be accessible
for all. (answers to the question: what about this
venue)

(another word for venue)

Supporting The location should be close to the public
point transportation access. (answers to the question: where)

(answers to the question: why)

Supporting
Guests who do not own any transport or cannot drive
detail
to the place can take the bus, taxi or train to attend the
party.
There should also be maturity of ideas in the
response.

How do we identify that?

• the extension of general knowledge

• the depth of explanation or justification
• the citing of global / local reference
 Situation:

As the treasurer of the Students’ Club, you suggest some activities to collect more
fund. What are some of these activities?

Task: You suggest the club members to organize a charity dinner.

Sample Response
(the given task)
(Greetings)… I feel that the club members should organize a charity dinner. This
charity
(how can the charity dinner collect money?)
dinner can sell seats at a price affordable for all, which means the students’ parents or
(who can go to this dinner?) (where can
students themselves can buy tickets to help donate to our club. This dinner can be held in
the dinner be held?) (why there?) (what can be done
our own school hall so the cost for the venue can be minimized. The club can invite some
to encourage people to come?)
famous personalities to attract people to buy the dinner tickets. …
 Familiarize yourself with the test specifications
Candidates will be assessed in three aspects:

Task Fulfillment
• understanding of the topic given
• development of ideas
• relevance of response
• adequacy of response

Language
• Sentence structures – simple, compound, complex and compound-
complex
• Appropriate vocabulary
• Varied vocabulary
• Pronunciation, stress and intonation

Communicative Ability
• Fluency
• Confidence
• Interactiveness
Hosting an international sporting event like the
Commonwealth Games or the F1Series is good for the
country. In what way do you think M’sia can benefit from
such events?

Task B: Discuss which one of the following will benefit the

country most:

(i) M’sia will be internationally-known

(ii) M’sia will earn more income due to the event
(iii) M’sians will get the opportunity to attend an
international event
(iv) M’sian sportsmen and sportswomen will get the support
of the home crowd.
 Who’s Who

Candidate A Candidate B
Candidate C Candidate D
Candidate
Speech Skills
Cand. 1.I do not agree with Candidate D’s point that
Malaysian sportsmen and sportswomen would
A get the support of the home crowd. 2. This is
because winning a game actually depends on the 1-Expressing
skills and talents that you have is not due to the
support of the crowd. Being in the home disagreement
country is not actually the main factor of why
you win a game. 3.I do not deny that somehow 2-Stating &
it, somehow or rather it would affect the game
and to what extend would it help? I wouldn’t justifying points
win a game just because my family was there to of view
support me, it’s due to practise. 4.On the other
hand I think the main cause of hosting this 3-Expressing
international event is that we get to attend an agreement
international event where it would put us on a (partial)
stage where we would compare ourselves with
the rest of the world.
4. Giving
opinions
Cand D
Actually I do not deny also as you say practise
actually contributes a lot to the athletes 5. 5- expressing
but let’s see , say that you are going to disagreement
compete ah and your competitors are not
actually that bad, they are really good but (colloquial
then what happens if you tend to get tense language) able
up or sort of I am scared , I am very to justify
anxious. There is nobody cheering for me .
Oh, what am going to happen, I might be opinion
lose and then how if I go back to the
country, how I going to tell them like its
very hard to face the fact. See if let’s say
that you have home crowd there , at least
oh, I have some many there, back stage
behind me, so many challenge for me, so I’ll
do my best. 6. Of course practise do
contribute some but at last moment from I
6.Partially
mean is last moment I think that those Agreeing ,
cheery banners and those claps really help a reaffirm
lot and of course we internationally known stand
its …
Cand. Yeah, I Oh,15. I agree with that you
A would tend to be more motivated and 15.
passionate if you have people around expressing
you, supporting you.
agreement

-
Cand. Em.. they feel better.
D

-
Cand. (nodding)
A

Cand. Like I said also it’s not about winning

B the game or chances of winning. But, 16.Making
it’s about getting the support and this
support is important er ..16 what do suggestions
you think about being internationally
known ? What is that benefit? - prompting
Thank you for
sharing
with us.