Section outline

◄Topic 4
►Topic 6
    • Low level response

      • Whole test - click to listen

      show/hide  Transcript and commentary

      Example candidate response transcript – low

      Role play 6 transcript

      Teacher/examiner: Hallo! Wie findest du die Party?

      Candidate: Ja, ich wäre Geburtstagsparty im Ausland haben. Ja.

      Teacher/examiner: Ja, gut. [Encouraging candidate and keeping the role play going, despite completely inappropriate candidate response.] Und ..wie viele Leute kennst du denn hier?

      Candidate: Nein.

      Teacher/examiner: Wie hast du deinen letzten Geburtstag gefeiert? [To maintain the momentum, teacher/examiner prefers not to repeat these questions, despite having the opportunity to do so.] 

      Candidate: Meine Geburtstag ist neunzig um September.

      Teacher/examiner: Sind Partys hier in Österreich anders als bei dir zu Hause?

      Candidate: Ich liebe der Mountains. Ich liebe die Beruf. Und meine Lieblingland ist Österreich.

      Teacher/examiner: Warum? [Required as follow-up question, despite the answer to the main question being inappropriate.]

      Candidate: Ich liebe der View.

      Teacher/examiner: Aha. Was hast du morgen vor?

      Candidate: Entschuldigung?

      Teacher/examiner: Was hast du morgen vor? [Repeats question on request.]

      Candidate: Ah. Ich werde mit meine Frend ins Kino werden.

      Teacher/examiner: Das ist ein guter Plan. Diese Idee gefällt mir sehr. [Good, positive end to the conversation. This is reassuring for a candidate.]

      Wir sind am Ende des Rollenspiels.

       

      Topic conversation 3 transcript

      Teacher/examiner: Jetzt werden wir ϋber zwei verschiedene Themen sprechen. Zuerst sprechen wir ϋber das Thema Reisen und Verkehrsmittel. [Good link between sections.]

      Wie oft fährst du in einem Auto? [Repeats this question and others, as required.]

      Candidate: Ich fahren Auto zwei, nein fϋnf am Woche, weil zu Hause ist sehr far away.

      Teacher/examiner: Wann willst du Autofahren lernen?

      Candidate: Meine Mutter fahre Auto mit …manchmal.

      Teacher/examiner: Was sind die Vor- und Nachteile vom Autofahren?

      Candidate: Entschuldigung?

      Teacher/examiner: Was sind die Vor- und Nachteile vom Autofahren?  [Repeats question.]

      Candidate: Ich weiß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Was ist gut oder schlecht an Autos? [Uses alternative question. These are provided in questions 3-5 in case they are needed.]

      Candidate: Gut, weil sehr quick und bequem [Unclear pronunciation of bequem], weil ich hasse walk, und ja, Auto ist sehr bequem.

      Teacher/examiner: Erz ä hl mir von einer Autofahrt, auf der es ein Problem gab.

      Candidate: Auto ist sehr expensive, weil der Gas.

      Teacher/examiner: Du bist mit dem Auto gefahren und es gab ein Problem. Kannst du das beschreiben? [Uses alternative question again, as candidate’s answer shows that the original question was misunderstood.] 

      Candidate: Er ist kein Space fϋr Auto.

      Teacher/examiner: Wohin möchtest du in der Zukunft reisen und womit? 

      Candidate: Was? 

      Teacher/examiner: Wohin mö chtest du in der Zukunft reisen und womit? [Repeats, then uses first alternative question.] Welche L änder möchtest du in Zukunft besuchen?

      Candidate: Oh, ich werde France.

      Teacher/examiner: Wie willst du dorthin kommen? [Second part of alternative question.]

      Candidate: Ich komme aus Luxemburg.

      Teacher/examiner: Gibt es deutsche Städte, die du gerne besuchen möchtest? [Extension question, not scripted.] 

      Candidate: Ich wei ß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Gibt es noch deutsche St ä dte, die du gerne besuchen m ö chtest?  [Repeats extension question.]

      Candidate: Ich wei ß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Hast du Pl äne fϋr deine nächste Reise? [Further extension question.]

      Candidate: Ja. Nächste Woche during Easter holiday, ich werde zu Denmark.

      Teacher/examiner: Gut. Wir sprechen jetzt ϋber ein anderes Thema. [Clear conclusion to first topic conversation.]

       

      Topic conversation 6 transcript

      Teacher/examiner: Wir werden ϋber das Thema Umgebung und Gebäude sprechen. Welche Gebäude sieht man oft in einer Stadt?

      Candidate: Ah, in meiner Stadt der Wurf [?] ist sehr gut und der Bildung ist sehr schön.

      Teacher/examiner: Was gibt es in deiner Stadt Interessantes fϋr junge Leute?

      Candidate: Ah, die Essen ist sehr interessant fϋr junge, weil sehr trendy und taste gut. [Attempts a justification.]

      Teacher/examiner: Kannst du die Einkaufsmöglichkeiten in einer Großstadt beschreiben?

      Candidate: Ja, ich lebe in Großstadt.

      Teacher/examiner: Kannst du die Einkaufsmöglichkeiten in einer Großstadt beschreiben? [Repeats question.]

      Candidate: Ah, ich weiß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Kann man in einer Großstadt gut einkaufen? [Uses alternative question.]

      Candidate: Ja.

      Teacher/examiner: Warum? [Uses second part of alternative question.]

      Candidate: Weil sehr bequem und fest. 

      Teacher/examiner: Erzähl mir von einem Tag, als du in der Stadt warst.

      Candidate: Entschuldigung?

      Teacher/examiner: Erzähl mir von einem Tag, als du in der Stadt warst. [Repeats question.]

      Candidate: Ich wei ß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Was hast du neulich in der Stadt gemacht? [Uses alternative question.] Was hast du neulich in der Stadt gemacht? Mit wem warst du dort und wann? [Repeats question and adds second part.]

      Candidate: Und wann, weil es ist im everywhere, und ja, ist sehr bequem. 

      Teacher/examiner: Möchtest du in der Zukunft in einer Großstadt leben?

      Candidate: Ja.

      Teacher/examiner: Warum?

      Candidate: Weil… ich wohne im Großstadt und ich liebe das, also ..ich, ja. [Justification.]

      Teacher/examiner: Kannst du die Sportmöglichkeiten in einer Großstadt beschreiben? [Extension question, unscripted.]

      Candidate: Ja, ich .. weil..

      Teacher/examiner: Kann man in einer Groß stadt gut Sport machen?  [Extension question, alternative (easier) version.] 

      Candidate: Sport? Nein, weil…

      Teacher/examiner: Warum nicht?

      Candidate: Es ist sehr small und es ist sehr busy in Großstadt. [Justification attempted, but vocabulary insufficient.]

      Teacher/examiner: Was sind die Vorteile des Lebens auf dem Dorf? [An additional extension question, as conversation is still not of the required length.]

      Candidate: Dorf?

      Teacher/examiner: Ja. Was sind die Vorteile des Lebens auf dem Dorf? [Repeats additional extension question.]

      Candidate: Ah, ich weiß nicht.

      Teacher/examiner: Gut.



    • Moderator comments - Role play

      Role play card 6 

      Conduct of the test

      The teacher/examiner offers positive comments and reactions throughout and keeps the role play moving at a good pace, despite the fact that many of the candidate’s responses are inappropriate or incorrect. This is good practice: weaker candidates should still have a positive experience in performing a role play, and there is no mechanism anyway by which a teacher/examiner may legitimately help them. It might have been possible, and certainly acceptable, to repeat the questions that the candidate had not answered correctly, but this teacher/examiner is clearly aware of the candidate’s abilities and feels it would be counter-productive to do so. Question 4 should really have been repeated though, as the candidate has clearly not heard the word Party, which would have been easy to emphasise when repeating the question.


      Candidate response

      As mentioned above, most of the responses are totally inappropriate, as the candidate clearly lacks the vocabulary to understand the questions, so the tecaher/examiner does not repeat them. For example, the candidate gives her own birthdate in response to the question as to how she celebrated her birthday last time. The potentially hardest question, number 5, is answered sufficiently well to achieve one of the two marks. The infinitive is incorrect, as is the pronunciation of Freund, but a future tense is offered with a correct use of ich werde.

      Mark awarded for task 1 = 0 out of 2 

      Mark awarded for task 2 = 0 out of 2

      Mark awarded for task 3 = 0 out of 2  

      Mark awarded for task 4 = 0 out of 2 

      Mark awarded for task 5 = 1 out of 2 

      Total mark awarded = 1 out of 10


      Moderator comments - Topic conversations

      Topic 3: Reisen und Verkehrsmittel

      Topic 6: Umgebung und Gebäude


      Conduct of the test

      The teacher/examiner conducts this part of the examination very patiently and efficiently. It becomes clear that the candidate does not understand the main thrust of any of the questions, so the teacher/examiner repeats each question once, as required, and uses the alternative questions provided for questions 3–5, for use when the original question proves too difficult. She also provides additional questions to ensure that the conversations last the full four minutes. This cannot quite be achieved for the second conversation, however. The important thing is that the conversations both proceed at a good pace and the candidate appears to be enjoying a positive experience and to be participating to the best of her ability.


      Candidate response

      The candidate lacks the vocabulary to understand or respond to relatively straightforward questions at this level. She frequently has to resort to English, and most of her responses are therefore not valid. Even with a patient teacher/examiner giving her every chance to respond, as detailed above, not many marks can be awarded, either for Communication or Quality of Language. Her most successful response is to the fifth question of Topic 6, concerning her possible future life in a big city, where some credit is clearly due. As far as the mark scheme goes, both her marks should come from the level labelled 'Poor', although her willingness to communicate puts that mark slightly higher than that for Quality of Language, and indeed almost into the box above, as she always attempts an answer, even if it is not often appropriate.

      Mark awarded for Communication = 3 out of 15

      Mark awarded for Quality of Language = 2 out of 15


      Total mark awarded = 6 out of 40


      Moderator comments (Whole test)

      How the teacher/examiner performance could improve

      This performance is a model of how to conduct a speaking test with a weaker candidate, due to the points already made, but especially to the teacher/examiner’s positivity and patience throughout. This performance cannot really be improved upon. It is noteworthy how this teacher/examiner follows the requirements of the test, especially in regard to the instructions as to repeating questions or using alternative questions and the timings required for the various sections of the test.


      How the candidate performance could improve

      Clearly, although quite weak at this level, the candidate is willing to participate actively in a foreign language discussion, as there are no pauses, silences or refusal to respond. This is commendable and should continue into the future. As far as the German language is concerned, improvement needs to be made on vocabulary and grammar and on listening carefully to questions. The use of English to cover gaps in vocabulary is not to be recommended, even though superficially it may help to keep some conversations moving.

◄Topic 4
►Topic 6