Aptis Speaking Exam – Final Preparation

1 – Refresh your memory

You are going to try out a real Aptis exam on the internet which will be very similar to your final exam. Before you do, let’s prepare you for it so that you can get the most out of it.

Quick quiz – in pairs

1) What is the total time for the Aptis speaking exam?

2) How many sections are there?

3) How many questions in each section?

4) Can you pause the clock during the exam if you need time to think?

5) What are the 4 areas on which your exam performance will be evaluated?

The answers are at the end of this booklet.

2 – Most Common Reasons for Losing Marks

In the Aptis exam, there are several common reasons why people lose marks. Look at the list of 7 reasons in the table below and discuss in pairs:

1) Which of these are technical issues?

2) Which are likely to be caused by a lack of practice?

3) Which may be caused by nerves?

4) Which are probably caused by the candidate’s level of English?

a) not doing a proper sound check

b) not speaking clearly

c) not answering the questions

d) giving under-length answers – not using the full amount of time to speak

e) overusing words such as ‘and’ and ‘so’

f) speaking in simple sentence lists

g) not using a variety of sentence structures

Source - Aptis Candidate Guide Online Version:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/aptis-candidate-guide-web.pdf

The answers are at the end of this booklet. Check them and then complete the following sentence:

Successful Aptis candidates…

Compare what you’ve written with colleagues. Remember this advice today

and on the day of your exam!

3 - The Sound Check

Take time to do a proper sound check before you begin. Poor sound quality is one of the most common reasons for candidates losing marks. Note the following from the Aptis Candidate Guide:

Make sure your test is taken in a quiet room. When you click to start the speaking test, screen A appears. This allows you to check the sound recording system on your computer. When you have recorded a sample of speech, screen B opens. Replay the sound. If you can hear it properly click on Yes (take me to the exam), if not click on No (let me try recording again). During the microphone check, make sure you say a whole sentence and not just one or two words. Assessing the quality of the microphone needs more than a few words.

The recording bar should look like this:

If the line takes up all the space, then there is a loud noise (usually a technical issue)

and we are not able to hear the recording. You should alert the invigilator if the

recording bar looks like this:

If the recording is a flat line then the recording is not loud enough. The microphone may

be too far from the mouth. A complete flat line means there is no recording, which is

usually a technical issue. You should alert the invigilator if the recording looks like this:

4 - Do the Aptis Website Practice Speaking Exam

Work in groups of 3 or 4. Each member of your group will do a full Aptis speaking exam, using real past exams on the internet, with the other two listening, performing specific roles and providing feedback afterwards. Here’s how you’ll do it:

Stage	Time from start of activity (time per stage in brackets)	Teacher A	Teacher B	Teacher C	Teacher D
1	0:00-0:15 (15 mins)	Candidate	Invigilator	Evaluator	Evaluator
2	0:15-0:25 (10 mins)	Receives feedback	Provide feedback	Provide feedback	Provide feedback
3	0:25-0:40 (15 mins)	Evaluator	Candidate	Invigilator	Invigilator
4	0:40-0:50 (10 mins)	Provide feedback	Receives feedback	Provide feedback	Provide feedback
5	0:50-1:05 (15 mins)	Invigilator	Evaluator	Candidate	Evaluator
6	1:05-1:15 (10 mins)	Provide feedback	Provide feedback	Receives feedback	Provide feedback
7	1:15-1:30 (15 mins)	Invigilator	Evaluator	Evaluator	Candidate
8	1:30-1:40 (10 mins)	Provide feedback	Provide feedback	Provide feedback	Receives feedback

The roles

Candidate

You are the one taking the exam. Choose one of the following exams on the internet:

1) Aptis practice exam from Aptis website - just like the real exam. This exam is automatically timed, so there’s no need to use a stopwatch:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/aptis-practice-tests/AptisSpeakingPractice/

2) Aptis simulation exams from the Pro ELT Aptis Practice website – the page layout is slightly different to the real exam. Use these if you don’t want to repeat an exam that one of you colleagues has done or if you want to use the Vocaroo voice recorder that is provided:

http://proelt.byethost7.com/speaking_exam_1/part_1.htm

http://proelt.byethost7.com/speaking_exam_2/part_1.htm

Invigilator

You are in charge of the following:

1) Record the performance of the candidate. You could use a mobile phone, Sound Recorder on a PC or Vocaroo. You will need to share the recording with the teacher doing the exam (either via email, memory stick or other means).

2) If the candidate is not doing the exam from the Aptis website, it’s also your job to time the candidate for each question in the exam. Make sure the candidate can see how much time they have left for each task!

3) While the candidate is doing the exam, answer the following questions. If you tick ‘No’, note why you ticked ‘No’:

1) Did s/he speak for the full time allowed? c Yes c No Notes: ______________________

2) Did s/he begin speaking straight after the time started? c Yes c No Notes: ______________________

3) Did s/he answer each question appropriately? c Yes c No Notes: ______________________

(Evaluator role on next page)

Evaluator

You are in charge of the following:

Evaluate the candidate’s performance in the following areas:

1) Range and accuracy – Does s/he use appropriate vocabulary and grammar and make few errors?

Score	c 5	c 4	3 c	2 c	1 c	0 c
Descriptor	Yes, all the time	Nearly all the time	Most of the time	Some of the time	Rarely	Never

Notes/examples of good range/accuracy and poor range/accuracy:

2) Pronunciation – Does s/he speak loud and clear so that you can easily hear and understand him/her.

Score	c 5	c 4	3 c	2 c	1 c	0 c
Descriptor	Yes, all the time	Nearly all the time	Most of the time	Some of the time	Rarely	Never

Notes/examples of words that were difficult/easy to understand:

3) Fluency – Does s/he speak without too many long pauses or without speaking too slowly?

Score	c 5	c 4	3 c	2 c	1 c	0 c
Descriptor	Yes, all the time	Nearly all the time	Most of the time	Some of the time	Rarely	Never

Notes:

4) Structure – Do her/his answers have a clear beginning, middle and end as well as some useful cohesive devices (e.g. discourse markers, conjunctions, etc.)

Score	c 5	c 4	3 c	2 c	1 c	0 c
Descriptor	Yes, all the time	Nearly all the time	Most of the time	Some of the time	Rarely	Never

Notes/examples of good structure or poor structure:

At the end, invigilators should make sure the candidate they invigilated can listen to the recording they made. If necessary, email / transfer the recordings to your candidate’s computer.

5 – Listen back to your Performance

Now listen back to your performance and self-evaluate it. Use the pause button whenever you want to make notes. If you are not sure about something (e.g. errors), ask your trainer for help:

Part 1

What I liked:

Any difficulties?:

Any obvious errors?:

Part 2

What I liked:

Any difficulties?:

Any obvious errors?:

Part 3

What I liked:

Any difficulties?:

Any obvious errors?:

Part 4

What I liked:

Any difficulties?:

Any obvious errors?:

6 – My Self-recommendations

Based on the feedback from your invigilator, evaluator and also your self-evaluation, write some ‘self-recommendations’ below:

(e.g. ‘I will practise using present continuous to describe photographs.’ / ‘I will practise making quick notes in 1 minute for part 4 of the exam.’, etc.)

1) I will…

2) I will…

3) I will…

Tell a colleague how you self-evaluated and what recommendations you made to yourself.

7 – Further Self-study Ideas

Here are some ideas for how you can keep learning between now and the speaking exam.

1) Use the exams on the Pro-ELT Aptis Practice website: http://proelt.byethost7.com/

2) Practice comparing and contrasting photographs using practice materials for the Cambridge FCE speaking exam. Google ‘FCE speaking exam part 2 practice’ and use the photos you find to help you prepare.

3) Improve your accuracy and range by writing your answers to the exam questions. Here’s how you do it:

Find an Aptis practice exam (you can use the Pro-ELT Aptis Practice website given above if you like)
Instead of speaking your answers, type them up in a Microsoft Word document. Write quickly giving yourself twice as much time for each task (e.g. if the time for the spoken task is 45 seconds, give yourself 90 seconds).
Don’t edit your text until you’ve finished.
When you’ve finished, read your text. Edit it by correcting errors (you can use Track Changes in the Review pane if you like) and also by looking up words in a dictionary that you didn’t know or couldn’t remember when you were typing your initial answer.

4) Meet together with each other to practise doing the exam and provide feedback (see Our Speaking Practice Timetable below).

8 – Our Speaking Practice Timetable

Today you proved that you can work together in a team to prepare effectively for the speaking exam. You can meet up together between now and the exam to get further practice and provide each other with useful help. Check your diaries / timetables for the period between now and the exam and choose at least 3 occasions when you will meet up to practice the exam. If possible, the final occasion should be a day or two before the exam:

Meeting 1 - Date:	Time (allow 2 hours):	Location:
Meeting 1 - Date:	Time (allow 2 hours):	Location:
Meeting 1 - Date:	Time (allow 2 hours):	Location:

Quick Quiz Answers

1. What is the total time for the Aptis speaking exam?	12 mins
2. How many sections are there?	4. 1 – Personal information-giving; 2 – Describe and compare (concrete topic); 3 – Describe, compare and speculate; 4 – Discuss an abstract topic.
3. How many questions in each section?	Part 1 – 3; Part 2 – 3; Part 3 – 3; Part 4 (1 task with 3 questions)
4. Can you pause the clock during the exam if you need time to think?	No. If there is a technical problem you can inform the invigilator. But you can’t pause to think of ideas.
5. What are the 4 areas on which your exam performance will be evaluated?	1) Grammatical and lexical range and accuracy 2) Clarity of pronunciation and intonation 3) Fluency 4) Structure of speech and use of cohesive devices

Source - Aptis candidate guide: http://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/documents/aptis-candidate-guide-web.pdf

Most Common Reasons for Losing Marks - Answers

1) Which of these are technical issues?	a
2) Which are likely to be caused by a lack of practice?	a, b, c, d
3) Which may be caused by nerves?	all of them, but especially e and f
4) Which are probably caused by the candidate’s level of English?	g (and possibly f)