Academic English 2 Speaking Midterm 1. You will do the speaking midterm on January 6 following the written midterm. 2. You will use questions to start discussions with other students, just as you have been doing in every class. That is, you should do much more than just answer the question— you should also ask follow-up questions of your partners, and elaborate on your ideas. Your instructor will be evaluating students and will not take part in the discussion. 3. The questions used to start discussions are all based on questions and topics from Units 1–5 of Q: Skills for Success 3, Listening and Speaking. They will be chosen randomly. 4. You should NOT prepare a script. Discussions that sound spontaneous and unscripted are likely to score higher. 5. You will do this speaking test in a randomly chosen group of three or four members. However, grading will be done individually. It is worth 10% of your final mark, and is based on the following criteria:  Delivery  flow  clarity  natural use of stress and intonation  correct pronunciation of words  Language Use  communicative effectiveness of grammar  communicative effectiveness of vocabulary  range of vocabulary  using English only  Topic Development  development of ideas  asking and answering follow-up questions  encouraging others to participate

6. This test will take about twenty minutes. You will be assigned a specific time in advance, and it is essential that you not be late for your test time.

Score

Delivery

Language Use

Topic Development

Generally well-paced flow (fluid expression). Speech is clear. It may include minor lapses, or minor difficulties with pronunciation or intonation patterns, which do not affect overall intelligibility.

Responses demonstrate effective use of grammar and vocabulary. They exhibit a fairly high degree of automaticity with good control of basic and complex grammatical structures (as appropriate). Some minor errors are noticeable, but do not obscure meaning.

Response is sustained and sufficient to the task. It is generally well developed and coherent; relationships between ideas are clear (or clear progression of ideas).

Speech is generally clear, with some fluidity of expressions, though minor difficulties with pronunciation, intonation or pacing are noticeable and may require listener effort at times. (Though overall intelligibility is not significantly affected.)

The response demonstrates fairly automatic and effective use of grammar and vocabulary, and fairly coherent expression of relevant ideas. Response may exhibit some imprecise or inaccurate use of vocabulary or grammatical structures or be somewhat limited in range of structures used. This may affect overall fluency, but it does not seriously interfere with the communication of the message.

Response is mostly coherent and sustained and conveys relevant ideas/information. Overall development is somewhat limited, usually lacks elaboration or specificity. Relationships between ideas may at times not be immediately clear.

Speech is basically intelligible, though listener effort is needed because of unclear articulation, awkward intonation, or choppy rhythm/pace; meaning may be obscured in places.

The response demonstrates limited range and control of grammar and vocabulary. These limitations often prevent full expression of ideas. For the most part, only basic sentence structures are used successfully and spoken with fluidity. Structures and vocabulary may express mainly simple (short) and/or unclear connections made among them (serial listing, conjunction, juxtaposition).

The response is connected to the task, though the number of ideas presented or the development of ideas is limited. Mostly basic ideas are expressed with limited elaboration (details and support). At times relevant substance may be vaguely expressed or repetitious. Connections of ideas may be unclear.

2

Consistent pronunciation, stress, and intonation difficulties cause considerable listener effort; delivery is choppy, fragmented, or telegraphic; frequent pauses and hesitations.

Range and control of grammar and vocabulary severely limits (or prevents) expression of ideas and connections among ideas. Some low-level responses may rely heavily on practiced or formulaic expressions.

Limited relevant content is expressed. The response generally lacks substance beyond expression of very basic ideas. Speaker may be unable to sustain speech to complete task and may rely heavily on repetition of the prompt.

1

Severe problems in pronunciation are evident. English speaking consists mostly of pauses.

Student is unable to give more than one- or two-word utterances. Vocabulary severely limited.

Showed practically no development in ideas. Unable to demonstrate any preparation for the exam.

5

4

3