For the past 4 weeks, my pupils have been preparing steadily for their oral exams, most of which should be starting either this week or next. I realised that unless there is adequate and right practice, it is almost impossible for them to have the confidence to handle this component. Of all the components of the English paper, the Oral examination, apart from Listening Comprehension, is the easiest to score. So long as pupils are able to maintain fluency in reading, discuss a picture not just in description but in depth, giving personal opinions and insights, and able to hold a conversation for 2-3 minutes, they would be well on their way to at least a 20/30 score for Oral.
How then to practice for Oral Reading? Get yourself prepared with a voice recorder to record your voice into it while reading. Then, using a critical point of view as listener, pick out areas that was well read and areas of improvement. Go through the passage again silently. Re-record the reading and compare the differences with the first reading. Your second reading should be better than the first.
Recording and critiquing one's reading can be time consuming yet it reaps much benefits. Not only do you get to listen to your very own honest feedback on reading, you know best on the mistakes you have made. Having a tutor beside to listen and give feedback is important too and she will guide you on the nuances of pronunciation as well as loopholes in reading pertaining to pitch, expression and even some non-verbal actions that are deemed unnecessary (for example, using fingers to point at every word being read or holding the passage too close to the face till pronunciation gets muffled).
How about Picture Discussion? Note that this section is no longer called 'picture description' but 'discussion', meaning that you need to focus not only on breadth but depth of reading into the picture. Strategies such as DIE and DCP have been used in some schools to frame a structure for pupils to follow such that their discussion becomes more balanced and insightful.
Finally, the third component of oral consists of the Conversation section, and there is no trick to this except to be honest in your sharing. In the case where the question posed does not apply to you, do let the examiner know and attempt to share a similar experience that you have gone through. This would show flexibility in handling the question as well as an effort to engage with the examiner. Never give one-word answers and wait for the examiner to further prompt you as this reflects a lack of initiative on your part.
Above all, be at peace with yourself before and during the examination. Be assured that you have had adequate practice and give your best 5 minute shot. Confidence can work wonders!
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
Eleanor Roosevelt
For more information on how to excel in oral, especially that of using DIE and DCP in picture discussion, feel free to drop me an email. Lessons on oral are available as well and you will be able to see significant results in putting these strategies into practice right from the first lesson!! :)
~ Learning, like teaching, is a work of heart ~
No comments:
Post a Comment