Task 2: Talking about Personal Experience

Instructions:

The test-taker will be asked to talk about something that happened to them:

 

• This task tests the speaker’s ability to tell a story in the past tense
• The story can be a real or imaginary event, exciting or boring, but it should be

realistic in description (true to life), as it would be more effective.

• This task usually involves a general description of a series of events so that a listener can understand what happened (a party, a sporting event, an exciting time, a time of lost expectation etc.)
• The test taker has 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to respond

 

Procedure: (30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to respond)

1. Choose an event from your life (quickly) that matches the question prompt

(the prompt is usually quite general, so it is easy to choose an event(s)

2. Write down some of the events (3 or 4) or occurrences that help explain the event

Tip: at least 3 events to explain in the past tense – 2 events will lower your score here

When you start to speak, follow a paragraph outline:

–          Topic sentence to introduce the event

–          Support sentences and detail x 3

–          Short conclusion (i.e., “and that is how (subject here) happened”)

Example 1: Describe an exciting sporting event you witnessed. (verbs underlined)

Topic sentence: I once saw a hockey game where one team scored 4 goals in 3 minutes to win a game in regulation time.

Support and detail: Boston beat Toronto in a playoff game 4 – 3, but it was a bizarre game. Toronto scored 1^st period, 2^nd period, and 3rd-period goals and had taken a 3 – 0 lead with only 5 minutes left in the game. Everybody thought the game was over, but then Boston scored 1 goal with 4 minutes left and then another with 3 minutes left, but then everyone sighed when Boston got a penalty, but then they scored a short-handed goal to tie the game with 1:30 seconds left. We all wanted the game to go to overtime, but as Boston tried to ice the puck, one of their players caught up to it at the blue and scored with 12 seconds left. It was unbelievable but I saw it happen – I still can’t believe they lost!

Statistics: 157 words spoken at a moderate speed at 58 seconds.

Marker’s score = 11

Content/Coherence: The content was organized and relayed in an appropriate order, so it was coherent. The references were clear.

 

Vocabulary: is accurate to the question prompt as many of the words relate to hockey – appropriate phrases and collocations as they relate to hockey.

 

*Listenability: If spoken at an even tempo, which can allow for some tonal excitement as it was an exciting game, then it would score well – considering pronunciation and intonation. There are several compound and complex sentences, and the verb tenses were used appropriately throughout the response.

 

Task Fulfillment: The answer is what the question prompt asked. The answer (we hope) was completed in under 60 seconds with 3 interesting points of reference (goals, the final score, its believability).

 

Example 2: Describe a birthday party or any party that was a fun time. (ideas/support underlined)

 

I went to my friend’s birthday party when I was 11 years old. Mark turned 12 that day, but I had never been to one of his parties. His parents were nature lovers, so we ended up driving a van with 10 of us up into the Gatineau hills. Then we started hiking up a mountain. I thought I would never make it to the top but after 2 hours we made it. I remember thinking this is no birthday party because I was tired and wanted a drink of water. Then Mark said, ‘my mom is at the bottom of the hill barbequing hamburgers, and there is a lot of Coca-Cola on ice, too. You had never seen so many boys and girls run down a mountain so fast that day. The hamburgers and coke were delicious.

Statistics: 137 words spoken at a moderate pace in 52 seconds.

Marker’s score = 10

Content/Coherence: The speaker describes what he or she did on the day of the party. The question prompt was answered in an organized way from the type of party to what they did to expectations and a sort of surprise ending; thus, it is a coherent answer.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary is sufficient for the task as the words used are related to the question prompt. Again, appropriate phrases and collocations as they relate to the day’s activity of hiking and a barbeque.

Listenability:  This depends upon the speaker’s ability to speak with the specific criterion of rhythm, pronunciation, intonation, pauses, interjections, and self-correction.

However, the grammar is spoken correctly throughout, and there are a variety of sentence types used.

Task Fulfillment: the speaker answered to all of the criteria – less than 60 seconds (word count); the answer was relevant in that everything mentioned related to a birthday party context, the tone was consistent, and it was complete in that the food and drink were good after a long hike – though there was no mention of birthday presents, but we can assume the speaker had fun.

 

Example 3: Describe your first day of high school. (detail is underlined)

 

On my first day of high school, I felt excited and awkward. It was a big leap to go from a small Grade 8 graduating class of 18 students to a high school that had approximately 1900 students, so it was exciting. The first day I wore a brown vest over a white shirt and had brown corduroy pants on. I thought I was ‘looking good’, but when I got to the school, many of the students in my homeroom class wore jeans and a t-shirt. I thought then that I looked silly. Four years later when I graduated, one of the girls reminded me ‘I looked so cute’ on the first day. That’s when I knew the clothes I wore were assuredly impractical. It was a lesson in expectation and perceptions, I guess.

 

Statistics: 132 words spoken at a moderate pace in 54 seconds.

 

Marker’s score = 11

Content/Coherence: The test-taker answers the question prompt and responds to ‘a first day of school’. The response is organized as before going to high school is mentioned, the speaker’s personal expectation is mentioned (exciting), and the conclusion that answers to the awkwardness again after several years.

Vocabulary: accurate descriptions of clothes and a phrase were appropriate. Several collocations were used, like ‘looking good’, looked so cute, and looked silly’, that imparted a familiarity with the language as you could ‘look’ in several different ways.

Also, synonyms were accurately used – clothes that ‘looked silly’ to clothes that were impractical. Higher forms of words and understanding were used – impractical, perceptions, and expectations.

*Listenability: depends upon the speaker’s ability to speak with the specific criterion of rhythm, pronunciation, intonation, pauses, interjections, and self-correction. However, the grammar is correct throughout at there is a variety of sentence types.

Task Fulfillment: If the speaker has spoken their response in almost 60 seconds (45 – 60 seconds), then the response is relevant. It remains relevant because the test-taker answered the question prompt and no idea was too outlandish or remained outside the question prompt. The tone was consistent even though the earlier expectation was made ridiculous (looking good to a knowledge of silly/impractical). The answer was complete as there was an appropriate ‘wise’ ending to the difference in expectations and perceptions.

Example 4: Describe how excited you were when you received a special gift.

 

I received gift from my brother. He gave me a Tyson vacuum on my birthday 2 years ago, so I was happy. Uh we needed it because we have a dog and there is a lot of hair around the house. Also, we have a lot of traffic in our house from friends and friends of our children, and uh we need to clean often. It is helpful to have good one, too. This is the best vacuum on the market, they say. It can really pull up dirt and dust. I can clean the vacuum, too, because I can uh take apart and put together again. Finally, it is a great gift because it was so expensive, but my brother shows he loves me by bought me the best vacuum.

Statistics: 131 words spoken in approximately 51 seconds.

Marker’s score = Level 7

Content/Coherence: The speaker spoke in the past tense and used the present tense well as we can assume the speaker is still using the vacuum. The speaker gave reasons as to why the gift was important and added some detail. Although there was some hesitation, it did not affect the meaning of what was said.

 

Vocabulary: The level of vocabulary was informal, but the words used did not impede the meaning of what the speaker was saying. There were some grammatical inaccuracies but the appropriate phrases and words were used for this question prompt.

*Listenability: The speaker’s pronunciation was clear, and her sentence structure was for the most part accurate, so they had little impact on the listener’s ability to understand what was said.

Task Fulfillment: The speaker addressed all parts of the task as she worked through why she enjoyed her birthday present. She could have chosen a different type of present to elaborate on, but we have to accept that this is an important gift to her, so the answer is complete.

 

 

The best way to practice for Task 2 is to write out your answers and record your response. Then listen to your response and assess your response against the criteria mentioned (16 criterion).

–          Also, listen to conversations in movies, tv shows, and online because you have to respond to questions AS IF YOU ARE TALKING TO A REAL PERSON (role play), though it is recorded into a microphone

–          Finally, make it interesting as if you yourself are in the situation, role play, as this will help score much higher than if you were just answering a question.

** Note: you can use a real event from your life BUT you do not have to be truthful as you can use your imagination and keep it realistic (do not make up unbelievable (ridiculous) happenings as this will lower your score – i.e., men from outer space, invisible people, billion-dollar winners, etc.).

Practice:

Attempt Example 5, and 6 on your own (send me a recording if you would like me to assess your response: tutor@mjgeducation.com

 

Example 5: Describe a time where your expectations were high but then nothing happened.

Example 6: Choose one of your own experiences to describe.