Initial stage

Grade 2

Format

The candidate holds a conversation with the examiner. Time : 6 minutes.

There are four phases to the conversation:

Greetings The examiner says hello and tries to put the candidate at ease.

Instructions The examiner may give a few instructions for the candidate to carry out.

Questions The examiner asks questions related to the subject areas listed below.

Leave-taking The examiner brings the conversation to an end by wishing the candidate goodbye.

Candidate performance

The candidate is expected to

• understand short questions, requests and statements, and

respond with appropriate actions and short answers or statements

• contribute to the conversation using learnt phrases as necessary

• describe people, objects and places very simply

• indicate the positions of people and objects

• understand and respond to simple questions about current activities

• name the days of the week and the months

New grammatical items

• The simple present tense in questions, statements and negatives

• The use of there is/are and has/have got

• Question words— who , what , where , how many

• Possessive pronouns

• Prepositions of place

• Introduction of the present continuous tense (questions and answers)

—in addition to items listed for Grade 1

New subject areas for conversation

• Home

• Family members

• Friends

• Animals, pets

• Possessions

• Daily routine and activities

• Days of the week

• Months of the year

• Numbers up to 50

—in addition to items listed for Grade 1

Candidates should be able to make use of a range of vocabulary items relating to the above subject areas.

Maximum use will be made of objects in the examination room, as well as those that can be seen

through the window, and any pictures or objects that the examiner may have brought into the room.

 

Examiner and candidate language

The sample exchanges below show some ways in which examiners and candidates might express

themselves during the conversation. It is stressed that these are only examples.

Examiner Candidate

Hello! Where do you come from? Hello! I come from Granada.

Have you got any brothers and sisters? Yes, I’ve got one sister.

What’s her name? (Her name is) Elizabeth.

How old is she? She’s ….

Please look at this picture.

How many people are there in the picture? There are two people (in the picture).

Where are they? They’re in a house …

Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a dog and a cat.

Tell me about your dog. His name is …

What are these men wearing (in the picture)? They are wearing a white shirt and white trousers.

What’s that? A clock.

Put the red pen next to the clock. ( candidate puts the pen next to the clock )

Where is my pencil? (It’s) in your pocket.

What day of the week is it? It is Monday/Tuesday …


 

 


Last Updated: June 14, 2003