Higher Speaking

Speaking is worth 25% of your overall Higher result. You will have to carry out a speaking assessment around the start of March (date still to be confirmed): this assessment will consist of a presentation by you, with a follow-up discussion with your teacher. The assessment has to be recorded and may be sent off to SQA for assessment/moderation. This Speaking assessment will also count as the Speaking assessment for the Language Unit (NAB). You can choose any topic area in the course.

Presentation

The presentation must last for up to two minutes and is worth 10 marks. You will be allowed to use notes consisting of 5 headings of up to 8 words each.

You will be able to prepare this topic well in advance and learn it so that you can be absolutely sure of what you want to say. Your French should be accurate and you should use a variety of tenses and structures. You must be sure to go beyond the ideas, structures and vocabulary expected at Standard Grade, as discussed in class. There should be a clear beginning, middle and end. Expressing your opinions is essential, and you should also include reasons for some of these opinions.

Your talk: Dos and Don'ts

Choose a topic you feel comfortable with but one that allows you to show off what you know. Make sure that it allows you to express a range of opinions and language. You may want to base your talk on a small area of a topic, allowing you to expand on this and talk about this topic in a wider context in the discussion. For example, if you chose education, you could talk about the the importance of learning a foreign language and how you could promote this in school. This could naturally lead on to topics like careers, future plans and travel in the conversation.

As you can have up to five headings, (5 cue cards?), one way might be to structure your talk in to three to five parts. If you get mixed up in one part, your cue cards could help you get back on track. Once your talk is planned and structured, focus on your language. You should be sure that you:

• understand everything you intend to say.
• use previous classwork to help you. This is all at the appropriate level for you.
• include a variety of structures and ideas. Useful phrases have been brought to your attention throughout the course and you should have collected these in your vocab section.
• vary tenses and include complex phrases (again, using your vocab section) but make sure you are comfortable with this language.
• record the corrected version/final redraft well in advance.

There are also things you need to avoid, most of which you should know about already. For example:

• don't leave everything until the last minute. If you do, you make life more difficult for yourself and also for others.
• don't stick to 'safe' language. Simple may be easier but it will not get a good grade. Pick out phrases from your vocabulary.
• don't make lists or repeat language excessively.

Follow-up discussion

This is worth 15 marks and usually lasts around 5 minutes. While this is NOT prepared in advance, you will have some element of control over how the conversation proceeds. It should be like any other spontaneous conversation (except in French!). Questions could begin by picking up a point raised in your presentation but the remainder will go far beyond this.

You can and should remain in control throughout e.g. by giving detailed answers to your questions, that naturally to a further question or even by asking a question of your own. Short answers will prompt even more questions, and also give you less of a chance to 'show off' and get a good grade.

Again, try to vary your language and not simply stick to familiar structures and vocabulary.

Please note that this is a discussion, e.g. a conversation! It should flow and not be entirely one-sided. If you do get stuck, you can ask for help in French (asking your teacher to repeat, for instance) without it counting against you. Have a few useful phrases in mind just in case!