(Scroll to the bottom if you're here for the first topic discussion)
I grew up in a Chinese speaking environment. As a child, I did not have confidence in speaking English. My student however, speak really good English. (Way better than the 7-year-old me)
Yet not all of them do well for oral examinations, especially in the Stimulus-based conversation segment.
"Speak in proper English sentences, answer in this format, share your experiences and opinions."
Yes, I'm pretty sure students understand these fully. So what's lacking?
Content - what should I say? What happens if I have never experienced it or I don't know or don't have any example?
There is no standard answer when it comes to having a conversation.
So what can you do to improve?
Here's some tips that might help primary school students (as a parent) or you (if you're an independent learner) perform better in oral examinations:
1. Discuss the topic
Having discussions with others encourages others to share their views and examples. It helps to broaden the student's perspectives as well.
2. Read widely - Make use of the Internet
Watch videos on Youtube and/or read about articles on CNA, Straits Times, etc. There are commentaries and articles about the topic and gives student's ideas on what to say or use as examples/opinions
3. Use others' examples as your own example
Example: Theme Park
If the student has not been to a theme park, he could watch this video on Youtube to see what people experience or hear of what others experienced and use it as his own reasons.
4. Predict the questions that might be asked.
And then.. think about what possible answers you could have for those questions.
Next, apply these tips to any topic discussion!
Today's Topic Discussion: Littering
I've consolidated the points discussed and created a mind map on Littering.
I've also attached links to articles that students can read to further understand where some of our points came from.
(Special thanks to my student, ZH for co-creating this mind map with me)
Here are some links to the points we discussed:
Do explore beyond what we've found! Just search some keywords such as litter, marine litter, beach clean up and find out more information about them.
More topic discussions will be posted as time goes by. Stay tuned!
Hope this helps!
Comments