Coming back from maternity leave, I was assigned to support the eighth grade teachers in practicing speaking strategies for their upcoming exams. The eighth graders must take a written exam that could effect their entrance as well as their scholarship in high school, and the high school English department requires a speaking exam as well.
In the speaking exam, the students are given a situation card - a question or prompt with follow up questions or prompts to guide their topic development. They are also given a photo that they have to look at and develop a second topic in relation to the photo. The examiner listens and evaluates his or her fluency. The high school teachers evaluate the students, and if the student receives less than 70 percent, he or she be required to take one year of high school prep classes.
The exam is problematic for a whole bunch of reasons - one being the middle school expectations and the high school expectations are NOT the same. Not even close. I say this on the simple fact that in middle school all our texts are English as a Second Language textbooks, whereas an eleventh grader is expected to be dissecting a 10th grade literature book. It's a big jump.
So I say this to my eighth grade classes in my prepared sermon: First off, the test isn't fair. (Students nod in satisfied agreement). It's not fair because we all know that speaking on a topic under pressure is hard, and speaking on a topic in a second language is stressful - and speaking in a second language when stressed will cause you to forget to easiest of words, the simplest of sentences - it is impossible to speak your best English in a speaking exam.
So why do we do it? Because we have university students here that can read and write in excellent English - but can't speak. We are doing this because speaking English is very much a part of learning English. You have to do it - if not for this exam - for life. It is our job to create these chances for you to exercise your English, and tell you how you're doing.
So when it comes to stress, I want to tell you three things. It's NORMAL. You know it. I know it. Your examiners know it - this is a stressful event, and mistakes will happen mostly due to stress. One example - my husband is Turkish, as you know, and he can speak English very well. But, put him under stress and he has a lot of trouble. Our wedding day - a stressful event - he simply had to repeat the words of marriage: I will love you in sickness and in health, and he said "in hatefulness". In hatefulness! Ahhhhh! But no one said "His English is terrible" - instead everyone laughed and understood the mistake was due to stress. Two - when you get stuck, don't give up - think of a different way to say it - because you will get stuck on the simplest of words. Another example - my husband came to my school one day and the principal asked him to tell the students what his job was - his job! He's a geologist - it's almost the same in English and Turkish, but he got nervous and replied: I work underground. Underground? Like a mole? Okay, so it wasn't the exact word, but he was brave, he didn't give up - and he gave the best answer he could in the moment. Which brings me to a third strategy: Explain it to me like I'm five - your English is not as strong as your Turkish so don't expect yourself to speak the same way - but be brave! Don't give up! You have to work to communicate your meaning - and as a native English speaker - that is all I'm listening for - can you explain yourself to me? Are you willing to stick with it so I can understand you? Because I'm listening! Even in your worst English is better than not trying at all.
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