Section outline
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High level response
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- Whole test - click to listen
Transcript and commentary
Example candidate response – high
Role play card 4
[The teacher/examiner starts with a greeting.]
Teacher/examiner: 你好！
Candidate: 你好！
[The candidate responds confidently.]
Teacher/examiner: 你好吗？
[The teacher/examiner continues with a simple warm up question.]
Candidate: 我很好。
[The candidate responds confidently.]
Teacher/examiner: 第一部分，我们现在开始口试。第一部分是角色扮演。你是你自己，老师是你的朋友，你和你的朋友打算去上海。你们在火车站买票。
[The teacher/examiner clearly indicates the start of the test and introduces the first part, Role Play. She introduces the scenario and what role she is playing. This helps set the scene for the candidate.]
Teacher/examiner: 我们买几点的火车票？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first question.]
Candidate: 两点的火车票。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 火车票多少钱一张？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second question.]
Candidate: 三百块。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 好。在上海，你想做什么？
[The teacher/examiner asks the third question.]
Candidate: 我想买新衣服。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 好。你上一次坐火车去了什么地方？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first part of the fourth question.]
Candidate: 西安。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 你觉得怎么样？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second part of the fourth question.]
Candidate: 特别快，很便宜。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 你更喜欢坐飞机还是坐火车？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first part of the fifth question.]
Candidate: 坐火车。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 为什么？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second part of the fifth question.]
Candidate: 我觉得坐飞机非常可怕。
[Communication achieved.]
Teacher/examiner: 好。角色扮演我们就做完了。我们现在开始主题对话。主题对话一是饮食。
[The teacher/examiner clearly indicates that the first part of the test, Role Play has finished and that she is moving on to the second part. She introduces Topic Conversation 1.]
Topic conversation 1 (Topic 2)
Teacher/examiner: 你晚饭一般吃什么？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first question.]
Candidate: 我晚饭一般吃西红柿炒鸡蛋因为是我最喜欢的食品。我的妈妈喜欢做饭所以她常常做饭。但是我的爸爸也喜欢做饭。我的爸爸做很好吃的饭。我最喜欢的饭也是面条因为我觉得面条很好吃 .
[The candidate responds very well with relevant information and justifications.]
Teacher/examiner: 睡觉以前，你喜欢喝什么？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second question.]
Candidate: 我很喜欢喝水因为我觉得喝多水对身体很好。但是我也喜欢喝牛奶因为我觉得牛奶很好喝。
[The candidate responds very well.]
Teacher/examiner: 你觉得我们应该吃肉吗？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first part of the third question.]
Candidate: 我觉得吃肉对你的身体很好，但是我们不应该吃太多肉，因为养太多牛对环境很不好。
[The candidate responds very well. The teacher/examiner did not need to ask the second part of the question (why?) as the candidate had already answered it in her first response.]
Teacher/examiner: 好，谈谈你小时候的生活习惯 .
[The teacher/examiner asks the fourth question.]
Candidate: 我很喜欢打篮球。我跟我的朋友们一起去运动中心打篮球。但是上个周末我跟我的妈妈一起打网球因为我的妈妈更喜欢打网球。
[The candidate responds with an answer in a present time frame rather than explaining her lifestyle habits when she was young.)
Teacher/examiner: 你小的时候， 说说你小的时候的生活习惯 .
[The teacher/examiner asks the fourth question a second time to give the candidate a chance to correct herself.]
Candidate: 我小的时候，我跟朋友们在街上一起玩儿游戏但是我没有太多朋友所以我常常玩儿游戏自己。
[The candidate responds well with a relevant answer using the correct time frame.)
Teacher/examiner: 好，将来你会自己在家里做饭吗？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first part of the fifth question.]
Candidate: 我觉得会做饭很严重因为我最大的时候。。。我更大的时候，我得做饭所以现在我的妈妈教我怎么做饭 。
[The candidate responds well despite possibly mixing up 严重 with 重要. The teacher/examiner did not need to ask the second part of the question (why?) as the candidate had already answered it in her first response. ]
Teacher/examiner: 好，主题对话一我们就做完了。我们现在来做主题对话二。主题对话二是生活环境。
[The teacher/examiner clearly indicates that Topic Conversation 1 has finished and that she is moving on to Topic Conversation 2. She introduces the topic on living environment.]
Topic conversation 2 (Topic 7)
Teacher/examiner: 你住在哪里？
[The teacher/examiner asks the first question.]
Candidate: 我住在柴郡。我的房子不大也不小但是我很喜欢。我住在郊区所以我有很多邻居但是他们不很热闹。
[The candidate responds very well with opinions and justifications.]
Teacher/examiner: 在那里有什么公共设施？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second question.]
Candidate: 我住的地方有运动中心也有很多时尚店。我跟朋友常常去时尚店因为我的朋友很喜欢买衣服。
[The candidate responds very well.]
Teacher/examiner: 你觉得怎么样？不，下一个问题。。。说一说你上一次去海边的经历。
[The teacher unintentionally asks the second part of question 3 but corrects herself and moves on to the first part of question 3.]
Candidate: 上个周末我跟同学一起去了海边因为我学地理。我觉得很好玩儿因为我们一起吃了野餐。
[The candidate responds well. The teacher/examiner did not need to ask the second part of the question (how did you feel about it?) as the candidate had already answered it in her first response.]
Teacher/examiner: 好，为了让环境更好，我们应该怎么做？
[The teacher/examiner mistakenly jumps to question 5.]
Candidate: 我们应该回收塑料袋，也塑料瓶。我们也应该少用水，少用电。我觉得如果我们都少吃牛我们 对环境很好。
[The candidate responds very well.]
Teacher/examiner: 你住的地方有哪些环境问题？
[The teacher/examiner returns to question 4, the first part.]
Candidate: 我住的地方有太多环境问题因为河的水很污染所以我们都应该干净那个河。
[The candidate responds well.]
Teacher/examiner: 你觉得怎么样？
[The teacher/examiner asks the second part of question 4 (what do you feel about it?).
Candidate: 我觉得是很重要也很可怕。
[The candidate responds well.]
Teacher/examiner: 你做过什么保护环境的事？
[The teacher/examiner asks a further question. If the topic conversation lasts 3.5 minutes or less, teacher/examiners must ask up to two further questions on the same topic so that the conversation lasts 4 minutes.]
Candidate: 我 跟朋友们喜欢种树。我们去了森林种树因为种树对环境很好。
[The candidate responds very well.]
Teacher/examiner: 好，你每天怎么上学？
[The teacher/examiner asks a second further question.]
Candidate: 我每天都喜欢走路去学校但是下雨的时候我的妈妈开车送我到学校，但是我知道开车上班，上学对环境不好，所以将来我觉得我应该不开车。
[The candidate responds very well with multiple pieces of information and developing ideas.]
Teacher/examiner: 好，我们的考试就此结束。
[The teacher/examiner signals the examination has finished.]
- Whole test - click to listen
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Moderator comments - Role play
Role play card 4
Conduct of the testThe role play was conducted well by the teacher/examiner. She had clearly carefully read the Paper 3 (Speaking) Instructions for Teachers/Examiners and understood the need to adhere precisely to the teacher/examiner script. The teacher/examiner read the scenario for the role play as instructed in Chinese. This is important to set the scene for candidates.
The teacher/examiner asked the questions clearly, at a good pace and gave the candidate sufficient time to respond.
Candidate response
The candidate responded well and achieved full communication, without the need for repetition of any task. The candidate answered with brief answers. It is important to remember that in the role play, 2 marks can be awarded for a one word/brief answer provided it is correct and appropriate.
Mark awarded for task 1 = 2 out of 2
Mark awarded for task 2 = 2 out of 2
Mark awarded for task 3 = 2 out of 2
Mark awarded for task 4 = 2 out of 2
Mark awarded for task 5 = 2 out of 2
Total mark awarded = 10 out of 10
Moderator comments - Topic conversationsTopic 2: Self, family and friendsTopic 7: Communication and technology
Conduct of the test
The teacher/examiner was well prepared for the test, and this was further evidenced in the topic conversations. She clearly indicated the transition from the role play to the topic conversations and indicated the name of the topic conversation at the start to give the candidate some context. The teacher/examiner asked each question exactly as it was printed, in a clear and well-paced manner. She gave the candidate a good amount of time to answer without interrupting too soon and more or less kept within the recommended 4-minute time slot for each topic conversation. In the second topic conversation, she made use of two further questions in accordance with the advice on page 3 of the Paper 3 (Speaking) Instructions for Teachers/Examiners which states that if the topic conversation lasts 3.5 minutes or less, teacher/examiners must ask up to two further questions on the same topic so that the conversation lasts approximately 4 minutes. The teacher/examiner did not make use of the extension questions as the candidate took the initiative to develop her opinions. She repeated one question to give the candidate the opportunity to demonstrate the requisite past time frame.
Candidate response
The candidate was very well prepared for the test. She responded confidently to all questions, communicating information, which was consistently relevant to the questions. She frequently developed her ideas and opinions and justified her answers on her own initiative. Her overall performance places her at the top of the Very Good band for Communication. The descriptor in this band allows for a phrase to be repeated once and if this prompts a correct and relevant answer then candidates can still achieve highly.
For Quality of Language the candidate is placed at the top of the Very Good band. She demonstrated an accurate use of a wide range of vocabulary and structures with occasional errors. She showed very good pronunciation, fluency, intonation and expression with occasional mistakes or hesitation. The candidate gave a consistently strong performance across the two topic conversations.
Mark awarded for Communication = 15 out of 15
Mark awarded for Quality of Language = 14 out of 15
Total mark awarded = 39 out of 40
Moderator comments - Whole testHow the teacher/examiner performance could improve
The teacher/examiner conducted the test very well, fully in accordance with the Paper 3 (Speaking) Instructions for Teachers/Examiners. Although there was only a minor error in topic conversation 2 which did not affect the candidate’s performance, the teacher/examiner could be mindful of making sure she asks the questions in the order stated. In this test, the teacher/examiner did not make use of the extension questions as the candidate developed all her answers on her own initiative. The teacher/examiner could perhaps have used an extension question (你能多说一点吗？) in topic conversation 2, Question 3 to find out some more information about the candidate’s trip to the seaside or Question 4.
How the candidate performance could improve
This candidate had prepared extremely well and demonstrated strong speaking skills at GCSE Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language. She gave natural responses only with occasional slips. To improve further, she could have used more accurate vocabulary, such as 重要 instead of 严重，长大 instead of 更大；more accurate use of the structures, for example, 自己玩游戏 instead of 玩游戏自己，还有塑料瓶instead of 也塑料瓶. The candidate could have extended herself further with more structures, for example, a comparative grammar structure 比，跟。。一样, etc.
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