Pet: feedback from the oral exams. Very important!!!!

Hi year 6 pet students.

Here are some important observations from the teachers who examined you today and yesterday. Take note and try and correct these problems.

1) In general, a lot of students lacked fluency and paused a lot. This is understadable to a certain extent, because you are nervous, but you MUST practise speaking to yourself, family, friends in English to overcome this problem.

2) In part 2, (discussing an option) a lot of students spent too long discussing the different options and didn't come to a decision quickly enough. Discuss each option more briefly and then come to a decision before the end of the time. You can always continue discussing the options afterwards but you must make a decision before the end of the time limit. You must use conditionals in this part of the exam: we could.... we should...

You can also use language like this:



3) In part 3  some of you used very basic language. For example:
'I can see a brother and a sister.'
This is what you were saying in year three. Instead you could say 'I can see a brother and a sister, the brother looks older than the sister...
'The flowers are beautiful'. 'Beautiful is a bit like 'nice', it's overused. Think of a synonym: the flowers are very colourful and attractive.

Some of you used too much repetition...remember to use the different ideas that I gave you in class or in your notebook.

To  overcome these problems, revise all the vocabulary we have studied and practise with the pictures I have put on my blog or look for some more in google images. Look for typical pictures like: A family having lunch, school-friends in the park, friends at a restaurant etc. If there is any vocabulary you don't know, look it up in a dictionary and learn it.

4) A LOT of you made very basic grammar mistakes. He have, she like, ....many of you used the present to speak in the past. If you know you make these mistakes practise the correct version from now until the exam. For example, if you know you say 'he have ten years' practice saying a lot of sentences with the structure he/she is .... years old. Write a list of your common mistakes and practise correcting them this way. You can look back through your notebook to find mistakes you commonly make.

5) In part 4 a lot of you didn't interact with each other enough. You need to talk to each other more, ask each other questions more often, rather than speak for a long time on your own. If you see your partner is having difficulties saying something, you can help them by saying 'do you mean...?'

6) In part 4 you are usually asked about two things, and some of you only spoke about one. For example: 'talk together about what you do on your own at home and what you do with other people. Make sure you remember to speak about both.

7) Some of you didn't speak loud enough, or your hair was in the way of your face or annoying you, or you fidgeted too much. Make sure you speak loud and clear, that the examiner can see your face and that you sit fairly still, looking at the examiner or your partner. EYE CONTACT!!!

Here is a webpage from Jenny that you will find useful:

http://es.slideshare.net/jenniferwilson22/pet-for-shcools

And the link to Englishaula which is also good practice:

http://www.englishaula.com/en/pet-exam-speaking-cambridge-preliminary-english-test-video-lessons-practice-tests-exercises.php


Practise, practise, study, study, we are nearly there!