Some FAQS about Speaking Paper
Hello folks! A few days ago I gave a talk to a group of form six students and I asked casually about problems that they face when it comes to MUET. To my surprise, quite a number of them listed speaking as an issue, especially on proficiency, grammar and idea (or the lack of it! ). So this week
I’ve decided to revisit this paper and discuss it from a different angle.
One of the big problems in speaking is that you are not given feedback of your performance after Task A. You’re left wondering how you’ve performed or whether you should tweak your delivery in Task B in order to garner better marks. This, therefore, underlines the importance of practice before you sit for it for real. A good number of people are of the opinion that speaking paper is easy to score (possibly because they think they can speak well) but truth be told, a candidate who scores Band 5 or 6 are usually wellprepared, calm and collected and most importantly, deliver within the topic given to them, and this cannot be achieved without enough practice. So this week, I’ll dispel and clarify some issues or maybe myths about this paper so you will have a better idea of what is expected from you.
Let’s take a look at each of the statement listed below.
SPEED EQUALS PROFICIENCY
Two minutes isn’t, admittedly, a long time. But it’s advisable for candidates not to storm through the time with their points because this might bury their important points and will cost marks. Instead, discuss only 2 points and calmly go through them using appropriate voice stress and undulation. In other words, speed doesn’t mean being proficient and in most cases will only cause confusions to the examiners.
CONCLUSIONS ARE A MUST
In short, a conclusion is not the end all, be all of your delivery either Task A or B. In other words, don’t get too hung up with the conclusion because it doesn’t play a big role in your eventual band award. The bulk of the evaluation will be in the main body of your presentation. So don’t get stressed up if you or your group fail to conclude the delivery. It’s normal to see at the end of the discussion, a group concludes with “we agree to disagree”.
YOUR MARKS ARE INFLUENCED BY PEOPLE IN THE GROUP
Sometimes candidates worry when they are grouped up with nonresponsive group members because they worry that it will somehow affect their own marks. Usually, this won’t happen. Say for example you’ve performed well in your Task A, and in Task B you find that you’re not getting much response from the rest because they are not performing. In this instance, you’ll not be faulted for what isn’t your fault. Which means, you’ll still get good band even though you’re not interacting much with the group.
IF YOU OVERSHOT YOUR TIME, MARKS WILL BE DEDUCTED
Sometimes in your exuberance of presenting, you overshoot your time limit and the examiner cuts in saying “time’s up”. Don’t get upset. This doesn’t mean marks are deducted simply because there are no provisions for that in the Band Descriptor. When this happens the examiner will evaluate you up to the 2 minute mark, with or without conclusion.
GREETINGS AND REPETITION OF TASK ARE IMPORTANT
Every time a candidate starts off, invariably it’ll be preceded by greetings to the examiners and repetition of the task. This is not important at all, because marks are not awarded on these things. You’ll do better to leave out the greetings and repetition and dive straight into the presentation since 2 minutes is all you have; you need to maximize your time.
AS LONG AS YOU SPEAK, MARKS WILL BE AWARDED
This is true to a certain extent. But an offtopic presentation will usually earn you a band 2, not even a low band 3. So while it’s true that as long as you speak marks will be awarded but you have to make sure that you’re within the topic scope.
SERVICE-OVER IS A GOOD STRATEGY
Sometimes in Task B you find yourself short of ideas or points to contribute, so instead of just going quiet, you carry the discussion by saying “what do you think candidate _____” a number of times. This is fine for the first one or two times. But this is not a good strategy on a long stretch simply because it shows your lack of contribution towards the discussion. So it’s best that you only use this phrase sparingly or use it only AFTER you’ve presented your piece of opinion.
In conclusion, these are some of the FAQS that I’m able to clarify this week. I hope after you’ve read this article you will get a clearer picture and a better understanding of how the Speaking Paper works. More importantly, I hope this article has shed some light on some of the inner workings of how marks and the eventual band is awarded.