Oral Assessments in Foreign Languages

By Tyler and Mrs. Childs

Two Kinds

• Teacher Gives The Question• Should Be Easier• People Tend to Procrastinate

• Teacher Doesn’t Give The Question• Can anticipate possible

questions• Will pertain to recent study

material

Problems

• Not Prepared• A question is asked that you don’t understand• You forget how to answer• You get nervous and freak-out• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dlyCTswYH0

What not to do

• Make random noises to pass the time (umm)• Says things that contradict or things that don’t make

sense• Talk in English• Give up, awkward silence

What to do• Fully answer each part of every question• Have no grammatical or pronunciation errors• Its all nice in theory

Before

• Preparation• Make sure you understand all the question (if given)

• If you don’t, ask a classmates or teacher

• Type out responses and use Lang-8 (http://lang-8.com/) to get them proofread for free

• Collaborate with classmates and practice asking each other questions

• Review materials or textbooks from class• PRACTICE SPEAKING OUT LOUD BY YOURSELF OR WITH

OTHERS

During

• Confidence• Eye Contact (or eyes forward)• Clear voice, strong positive feeling• If you really don’t understand, avoid the question like a political

candidate would• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KuZX_IRauM

Other Tips

• Use transition words to connect multiple ideas, teachers love them

• Elaborate on personal experiences, it is easier to talk about things that actually happened to you

• Your grade is based on what the teacher thinks, so impress them with new words and phrases that they don’t expect

• Preparation, practice out loud, use the resources your teachers give you, and be confident