Part 1: Introduction and interview (4/5 minutes)

Good morning/afternoon. My name is _____________. Can you tell me your full name

please? Thank you.

Can I see your identification, please? Thank you, that’s fine

First of all, I’d like to ask you some questions about yourself.

(Now, choose 1 compulsory frame and 2 optional frames)

(Compulsory Frames)

Let’s talk about your home town or village

What kind of place is it?

What’s the most interesting part of your home area?

What kind of jobs do the people in your town/village do?

Would you say it is a good place to live? Why?

OR

Let’s talk about your home town or village

What kind of place is it?

What’s the most interesting part of your home area?

What kind of jobs do the people in your town/village do?

Would you say it is a good place to live? Why?

Let’s talk about what you do. Do you work or are you a student?

(Work)

What’s your job? Why did you choose that kind of work?

How long have you been doing it?

Are there things your job that you don’t like? What are they?

(Study)

What subjects are you studying?

Why did you choose those subjects?

How long have you been studying them?

Do you enjoy them? Why?

WEEK 9: GENERAL

(Optional Frames, Introduce each frame by saying: 'Let's talk about ______ (topic) now.')

Hometown

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your hometown or city.

1. What type of place is it?

2. What was it like growing up there?

3. Has it changed much since you were a child?

Studies

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your studies.

1. What are you studying?

2. Why did you choose that particular course?

3. What job would you like when you have completed all your studies?

Work

I’d just like to ask you some questions about your work.

1. What work do you do?

2. What do you enjoy most about your work?

3. What are your main duties?

4. Is there any other work you would like to do in the future?

Free Time

I’d like to move on and ask you some questions about your free time

1. What type of activities do you like to do in your free time?

2. How long have you been interested in these activities?

3. Do you like to do theses activities alone or with other people? (Why)?

4. Do you think people have enough free time? (Why/why not)?

Family

I’d like to move on and ask you some questions about your family.

1. How many people are there in your family?

2. Do you all live in the same house? (Why/why not)?

3. What things do you like doing together?

4. Who is your favourite family member?

Timing

Let’s move on and talk about being on time for appointments.

1. Is being late acceptable in your culture? (Why/why not)?

2. Are you ever late for appointments? (Why/why not)?

3. What type of excuses do you think are alright for lateness?

4. How do you feel when someone is late for an appointment with you?

Neighbours

Let’s change the topic and talk about your neighbours

1. Do you know the people who live next door to you?

2. How often do you see each other?

3. What kind of relationship do you have?

4. How can neighbours be helpful?

5. What kind of problems can people have with their neighbours in a big city?

Food

Moving to a new topic, I’d like to discuss cooking and meals with you.

1. Do you enjoy cooking? (Why/why not)?

2. What type of things can you cook? (Why)?

3. What kinds of food are popular in your country?

4. Is it an important part of your culture to have dinner parties? (Why)?

5. Do you prefer to eat with other people or on your own? (Why)?

Dreams

I’d now like to discuss your night time dreams with you.

1. Do you dream much at night?

2. Do you often remember your dreams?

3. Do you think we can learn anything from dreams? (Why)?

4. Do people in your country talk about their dreams? (Why)?

5. Do you think that dreams can come true?

Magazines and Newspapers

Okay, let’s move to a different topic and discuss magazines and newspapers.

1. Which do you prefer reading, newspapers or magazines? (Why)?

2. What type of stories do you like to read about? (Why)?

3. Do you think reading a magazine or a newspaper can help you learn a language? (Why)?

4. Why do you think some people prefer magazines to newspapers?

Humour

Let’s change the topic and talk about comedy and humour.

1. What type of programmes do you find funny on TV?

2. Which types of programmes are most popular in your country? (Why)?

3. What kind of things make you laugh? (Why)?

4. Do you like to make people laugh? (How)?

5. Do you think it is important to have a sense of humour? (Why)?

Food and cooking1. What kinds of food do you like to eat?2. What kind of new food would you like to try? [Why?]3. Do you like cooking? [Why/Why not?] What was the last meal you cooked?4. Do you prefer home-cooked food or food from restaurants? [Why?]

Leisure1. Do you have any hobbies or interests? [What are they?]2. How did you become interested in (whatever hobby/interest the candidate

mentions)?3. What is there to do in your free time in (candidate’s hometown/village)?4. How do you usually spend your holidays?5. Is there anywhere you would particularly like to visit? [Why?]

Your favourite place1. What place do you most like to visit?2. How often do you visit this place? Why do you like it so much?3. Is it popular with many other people?4. Has it changed very much since you first went there? [In what way?]

Part 2: Individual long turn (3/4 minutes)

(Introduce this part by saying: Now I’m going to give you a topic and I’d like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you will have one minute to think about what you are going to say and you can make some notes if you wish. Do you understand?

Here is some paper and a pencil, and here is your topic. I'd like you to (topic card prompt) ____ e.g. describe something that you do for your health.

(Give the student 1 minute (exactly) preparation time.)

Alright? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. Can you start speaking now please? (Give them two minutes exactly)

Talk about an important year in your life.You should say:how old you werewhat important things you remember from that yearwhere these things happenedand say why you think that year was important.

Describe an interesting historic place.You should say:what it iswhere it is locatedwhat you can see there nowand explain why this place is interesting.

Describe a city you have visited which has impressed you.You should say:where it is locatedwhy you visited itwhat is there to seeand what you liked about it.

Talk about your favourite writer (author).Talk about:who he/she iswhat he/she usually writes aboutwhat his or her best work isand why you like this author.

Describe a TV commercial you like very much.You should talk about:which business or organisation sponsors itwhat it is aboutwhether it has been successfuland why you like it very much.

Describe a festival that is important in your country.You should say:when the festival occurswhat you did during itwhat you like or dislike about itand explain why this festival is important.

Describe a memory of your childhood.You should say:

when it happenedwhat exactly happenedwhether you remember it as a pleasant or unpleasant memoryand explain how it affected your later life.

Talk about a favourite shop or store.You should say:where it is and what it looks likewhat it sellswhat you like to buy thereand say why you like the shop so much.

Talk about your favourite holiday resort.You should say:where it iswhen you last visited therewhat you can do thereand explain why you like this place very much.

Describe a friend whom you admire very much.Talk about:how long you have known him or herwhether your parents like him or her toowhat you do togetherand explain what is very admirable about him or her.

(Finish off this part by asking one or two follow-up questions related to the topic the student just spoke about during the long turn e.g. Did you friends like the film as well?)

Part 3: Two-way discussion (4/5 minutes)

(Introduce section by saying: 'We’ve been talking health issue in your country and now I’d like to ask you one or two more general questions related to this. First of all, let's consider _______ (topic)…)

(Choose 2 of the following areas. Remember to ask off-script follow-up questions after each main question such as: 'Can you give me a specific example of that?’ or, if the student is speaking about the topic from a personal perspective only, you can ask: 'That's what you think, what about people in general in Vietnam?')

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: History1. How do people in your country feel about protecting historic buildings?

2. Do you think an area can benefit from having an interesting historic place locally? In what way?

3. What do you think will happen to historic places or buildings in the future? Why?4. How were you taught history when you were at school?5. Are there other ways people can learn about history, apart from at school? How?6. Do you think history will still be a school subject in the future? Why?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Cities1. What are the main facilities in a large modern city?2. How do you compare a modern city with a small town?3. Do you prefer to live in a large modern city? Why?4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in large cities?5. Why, in your opinion, do people migrate from small towns to large cities?6. How stressful is life in large cities nowadays? Has this always been this way?7. How do you think cities will change in the future?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Books1. How interested are people in reading where you live?2. How have the reading habits of people in your society changed in the past 20 years?3. Do you think writers should be allowed to express their ideas in any way they desire?4. Are people nowadays reading more books than they did before?5. What kind of books do people mostly read in their free time in your country?6. Does people’s interest in books change as they get older? How?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Adverstising1. To what extent do you think people’s decisions are affected by advertisement through the

mass media?2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising?3. What should people do in order not to be deceived by misleading advertisements?4. What kind of advertisement is the most popular where you live?5. In your opinion, is enough attention paid to marketing in your country?6. What are the most important marketing strategies in your country?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Festivals1. Why do you think festivals are important events in the working year?2. Would you agree that the original significance of festivals is often lost today? Is it good or

bad, do you think?3. Do you think that new festivals will be introduced in the future? What kind?4. What role do the media play in festivals, do you think?5. Do you think it’s good or bad to watch festivals on TV? Why?6. How may globalisation affect different festivals around the world?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Memories1. What kinds of memories are more pleasant for people?2. Are pleasant memories linked to anything special in people’s lives? How?3. Does our interpretation of certain memories (such as incidents at school) change as we grow

older?4. How do memories affect our choices in our lives?5. What kinds of memories can you remember more clearly? Is it the same for other people

you know?6. Why do people talk about their memories for others?7. What kinds of memories do people tend to share with others? Why?

8. Are there any special events in your country where people talk about their memories for others? How?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Shopping1. How do people decide on where to shop from in your country?2. How popular are department stores and malls in your country?3. Why do people tend to shop from malls and supermarkets in large cities?4. Are large supermarkets a threat to smaller shops? How?5. What are the advantages of shopping from large department stores? Are there any

disadvantages?In what ways can shops improve their service quality?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Tourism1. What sorts of holidaymakers tend to visit your country?2. What are some of the major tourist attractions in your country?3. What is the attitude of people in your country towards tourism and visitors from other

countries?4. How has the attitude of people in your country changed towards tourism in the past 20

years?5. What are some of the advantages of tourism for local people? Are there any disadvantages?6. How do you think international tourism can affect globalisation?7. What are some of the consequences of travelling for foreign visitors to other countries?8. What financial consequences do foreign visitors have on local economies?

Part 3 (Discussion) Questions: Friendship1. What do you think are the most important qualities for friends to have?2. Which are more important to people, their family or their friends? Why?3. What do you think causes friendship to break up?4. What other types of relationship, apart from friends or family, are important in people’s

lives today?5. Have relationships with neighbours where you live changed in recent years? How?6. How important do you think it is for a person to spend some time alone? Why/Why not?

( 'Thank you. That is the end of the speaking test.')