Business English Speaking Examination

The exam is designed to test the key skills which you have practiced during the business English course:

1. Small Talk and Developing Relationships

Your ability to engage in small talk will be assessed throughout the course of the speaking exam. It is particularly important at the beginning of the exam. It is particularly important at the beginning of the exam, and during the telephone role play, that you showcase your ability to small talk and build rapport.

2. Giving Opinions and Using Speaking Strategies

Task 2 of the exam consists of questions and answers, it is in 3 parts.

1. In part 1 you will be asked a series of questions, these are about: your hometown, your job, memorable events in your life, your hobbies and China.
2. A telephone role play. You will be given some information before the role play which you need to pass on to a foreign client. You have to make a telephone call to the foreign client and pass on the information.
3. Part 3 of section 2 is a test of your ability to use speaking strategies to answer questions.

3. Describing Graphs and Trends

Section 3 is ‘describing a graph’. Here you will have to identify trends in a graph and offer reasons why you think these trends are present.

4. Presentation Skills

The final task of the exam is to give a short presentation about a topic (I will give you on the day of the exam). In this task you will have to present information clearly and succinctly, using phrases you have learned during the course and paying attention to intonation. You will be given 10 minutes to prepare the presentation and given information which will help with the preparation.

It is expected the exam will take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete. You will be given 15 minutes before the start of the exam to prepare your presentation and to prepare for your telehone role play. You can bring any notes made during your preparation into the exam room. The exam will be carried out 1-1.

Section 2: Speaking Exam

Part 1: Answer questions about yourself (approximately 3-5 minutes for the section).

Work

• Can you describe your job to me?
• What do you do for a living?
• How long have you been doing it?

Your town

• Can you descrivbe your town or village to me?
• Tell me something about your hometown.
• Where are you from?

Free time

• What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• How much time do you have each week for doing these things?

Family

• Tell me about your family.
• So, let’s talk about your family.

China

• What is a good palce you have visited in  China?
• What is a godd palce to visit in China?

Education

• Tell me about your school or college.
• What did you study at university?

Part 2: Telephone Role Play

You will be given some information before the role play which you will need to pass on to a foreign client during the role play. You will have to make a telephone call to the foreign client and pass on the information. (approx 2 minutes)

It is important that you use correct telephone greetings and telephone manner. Remember to end the conversation in a professional way and to be clear and to the point when you are relaying information to the client.

Part 3: A test of your ability to use speaking strategies to answer questions (approx 3-5 minutes)

This section is specifically about answering questions using speaking strategies which we have practiced. I will ask you a number of questions from the speaking strategy topics.

Here you are supposed to respond using the correct strategy.

1). Expressing a Preference

• I prefer A to B because …
• If I have a choice, I will … (a real possibility)
• If I had a choice, I would … (not a real posibility, just wishing)
• For me, A is much more attractive/interesting/preferble than B because …
• I would much rather do/have/eat/listen to A than B … because …

2). General to Specific Speaking Strategy

‘General’ is a big topic which includes many things, for example, music. We use ‘especially’ when we want to refer to something more specific, such as Taiwanese pop music. We also can use ‘in particular’ to talk about something specific, not general.

• I really like to eat (general), but especially (specific)
• In particular, I enjoy (specific)
• Even though/For instance/For example … (describe specific tastes)

3). Narration-Story Telling

• Last year …
• One summers day …
• The other day …
• First …
• Then …
• on the thirteenth of September
• in July
• in (the) spring/summer/autumn/winter
• in the morning/afternoon/evening

Practice Questions

1). Preference

• Are you a cat or dog lover?
• Do you like hot weather or cold weather?
• Do you like cars produced in the West or in the East?

2). General to Specific

• What kind of food do you like to eat on special occasions?
• Which place in the world would you most like to visit?
• Describe the kind of books you like.
• What kind of music do you like?
• What kind of films do you like?

3). Telling a story-narration

• Describe a place you have visited that you have fond memories of.
• where this was
• why you went there
• How did you spend the May labour day holiday?
• what did you do? Who did you go with?

Section 3: Describing a Graph (approx 3 minutes)

• Carefully analyse the table or chart before you start speaking.
• What do the numbers and labels represent?
• Be clear about what you are describing: A number? A percentage? A price?
• Start by describing the overall situation.
• DO NOT describe every single detail. Find important trends. Select example that represent the whole picture
• Finish with a concluding sentence summarising what we learn from the char

For more tips, please refer to the learning materials provided in this post: 《横店大学口语课（Mar. 16, 2015）》.

Section 4: Presentation (approx 3-5 minutes)

Before the speaking exam begins I will give you a presentation topic and some information with which you need to prepare a short presentation. You will be given 10 minutes to prepare a presentation. You can take notes into the presentation but you must not just read the notes. The presentation should last a maximum of 5 minutes.

In this task you will have to present information clearly and succinctly, using a phreases you have learned during the course and paying attention to intonation.

For more tips, please refer to the learning materials provided in this post: 《横店大学口语课（date forgotten）》.

以上，

Yakima Teng, 2015年6月1日于浙江东阳横店。