Nature, aims, assessment criteria of the Oral exam

The information presented in this page is a summary of the information on the Internal assessment (Oral exam) included in the Language ab-initio Guide, First assessment 2020, IB Publishing Ltd, The Hague, February 2018. 

We invite the reader to always refer to the Language ab-initio Guide and the information material included in the Language ab-initio page of the Programme Resource Centre.

 

Aims of the assessment

Measure the student’s ability to understand and produce communication in the target language and to use it for successful interaction.

 

Structure of the Individual Oral

Duration: 7–10 minutes

Weighting: 25%

Punctuation: 30 marks

The individual oral assessment is based on the 5-course themes: Identities, Experiences, Human Ingenuity, Social Organization and Sharing the Planet

It is divided into three parts, preceded by a timed period of supervised preparation.

 

Supervised preparation time (15 minutes)

Phase	Content	Durantion
Preparation time	2 visual stimuli for each student	15 minutes
Part 1: Presentation	Students describe the visual stimulus. The description is connected to the relevant theme and to the target culture (s).	1-2 minutes
Part 2: Discussion about the presentation based on the visual stimulus	Discussion between the teacher and the student on the theme that was addressed. The discussion starts off from the content of the student´s presentation.	3-4 minutes
Part 3: General discussion	General discussion about at least one other theme (chosen from the five themes the course is based on)	3-4 minutes

• Each of the 2 visual stimuli that are presented to the student belong to a different theme from the course syllabus
• Each visual stimulus is labeled in the target language with the theme to which it relates
• The student chooses one of the visual stimuli and prepares a presentation on it
• During this time, the student is allowed to make brief working notes
• The student must describe the visual stimulus and relate it to the relevant theme and the target culture(s)
• The teacher engages the student in a conversation on the theme that was presented, expanding on what the student has provided in the presentation
• The teacher and student have a general discussion on at least one additional theme taken from the five course themes 

 

Conduct of the individual oral assessment

Preparation

A “visual stimulus” = a photo, a poster, an illustration or an advertisement.

If the image displays some language, this should be minimal and must be in the target language. 

The same five stimuli can be used for up to ten students sitting the examination. With more than ten students, two visual stimuli from each theme must be prepared.

1. Supervision time (15 minutes)

a. Present the student with clean copies of each of the two stimuli (from two different themes). The student will choose one.  

b. Once the student has chosen his/her stimulus the timing of the 15-minute preparation period begins.

Instructions

Students are allowed to write brief working notes (a maximum of 10 bullet points on a blank piece of paper).

They are provided with a blank piece of paper for making notes.

These notes may be used for reference only and must not be read aloud as a prepared speech.

During the preparation time, the student must be supervised.

Visual stimulus and any notes made by the students in the 15 minutes of preparation time are to be collected by the teacher at the end of the oral exam.

 

2. Presentation of the visual stimulus (1-2 minutes)

 During the presentation, the student:

• should provide a brief description of the visual stimulus
• should relate the visual stimulus to the relevant theme from the course
• must avoid using their names or any other identifying information

The presentation must be spontaneous and relate specifically to the content of the visual stimulus provided.

Pre-learned presentations on generic aspects of a course theme that do not directly focus on the features of the visual stimulus provided will not score high marks.

The teacher should:

• signal the changes between the respective parts through the use of an appropriate phrase
• avoid interrupting the student, unless it is clear that guidance is needed

The teacher is expected to interrupt the presentation and make the transition to the second part of the oral assessment For the transition use a phrase such as: “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to move on now”. 

 

3. Follow-up discussion based on the visual stimulus (3-4 minutes)

Following the student’s presentation, the teacher initiates a discussion by asking questions about the theme represented by the visual stimulus. This session should offer the student the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to engage in authentic discussion on a topic.

These questions should:

• seek clarification or extension of observations made by the student in the presentation
• invite the student to respond to ideas presented by both the visual stimulus and the teacher
• encourage connections and comparisons with the student’s other cultural experiences
• provide the student with opportunities to demonstrate his or her understanding and appreciation of the target language culture(s)
• encourage the student to engage in authentic conversation to the best of his or her ability

 

4. General discussion (3-4 minutes)

The teacher should signal that they are moving to the final section of the individual oral assessment in order to prepare the student for the change of theme. The teacher may use a phrase such as: “Let’s move on to the final section of the exam. First of all, I’d like to talk with you about [theme/topic]”.

Teacher should:

• introduce at least one additional theme
• seek clarification or extension of observations made by the student in relation to the additional theme(s) broached
• invite the student to respond to ideas that arise in the general discussion
• encourage connections and comparisons with the student’s other cultural experiences
• provide the student with opportunities to demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of the target language culture(s)
• encourage the student to engage in authentic conversation to the best of his or her ability
• allow an assessment of the student’s interactive skills

 

Administration of the individual oral assessment

• The minimum duration for the individual oral is 7 minutes, the maximum duration is 10 minutes. Examiners will be instructed to stop listening after 10 minutes.
• The individual oral assessment must be scheduled during the final year of the course.
• Students must be given adequate notice of when the individual oral assessment is to take place.
• It may take place in or out of the classroom but care should be taken to ensure that students are not disturbed by external distractions such as school bells and announcements, people entering the room, or any audible or visual distractions from outside the room.
• Students must not take mobile phones and other IT equipment into the examination room.
• Audio recordings of the individual oral assessment will be required for external moderation. However, the samples selected for moderation will not be identified until the teacher’s marks are entered into IBIS; therefore, it is vital that all students are recorded and that the recordings are of high quality.
• Under no circumstances should a recording be stopped or modified in any way.
• Timings for the individual oral assessment are approximate but should be adhered to as much as possible without disturbing the student. It is imperative that all three sections are adequately addressed.
• The teacher is encouraged to interact with the student to facilitate an authentic discussion but must avoid dominating the exchange.

 

(Language ab-initio Guide, First assessment 2020, IB Publishing Ltd, The Hague, February 2018)