How to Test Speaking Skills in Japan

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Chapter 8: Random-Partner Conversation

If you end up for some reason with a quite mismatched pair ability-wise, take this fact into account when marking You can ad just scores a bit up or down depending on the situation With care ful planning, hopefully this won’t occur too often Variation Ideas To increase the level of difficulty, there are a few things you can do First, increase the amount of speaking time Since a lot of students prepare by memorizing a few key Q&A patterns, this will force them out of their comfort zones, enabling you to see how they fare in totally unrehearsed circumstances Another idea is to have students perform a task-based roleplay, such as: You’re meeting your partner for the first time. Talk about your hobbies and free time interests, then make a date for lunch next Tuesday This approach will help bring out their imagination and creativity as they think quickly on their feet Similarly, you could have your students create some character cards containing basic information on them Pass them out ran domly and require each student to act out an interaction in charac ter (Talandis, Jr & Vannieu, 2015) If you try this variation out, be sure to practice it a lot in non-test situations so that students will get accustomed to improvising free-conversation

Howdy! I’m Tanaka Kenta. Call me “Ken.”

Hi! I’m Vivian Joachim. You can call me “Vivian.”

7 From: Budapest, Hungary Lives in: Brussels, Belgium Major: fashion design Year: freshman Club: Japanese tea ceremony Part-time job: clothes shop (sales clerk) Student-made character cards can be used to facilitate role-play. From: Nagoya Lives in: Yokohama Major: science Year: 4th year Club: baseball Part-time job: Mos Burger (cook)

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Hi! I’m Adam Green. You can call me “Adam.”

Hello! I’m Sophie Dumont. Please call me “Sophie.”