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Home > Arabic > Continuers Course > How to approach the examination > Advice > How to approach the exam

Preparing for the examination
In the examination
What the markers are looking for

 

Preparing for the Examination

The speaking or oral examination is worth 20 marks.

The examination will take approximately ten minutes.

The speaking examination is designed to assess your knowledge and skill in using Modern Standard Arabic.

The speaking examination will take the form of a general, unrehearsed conversation in Arabic between yourself and an examiner. The examiner will not be your own teacher.

The questions asked by the examiner will cover a range of topics about your personal world, e.g. your life, family and friends, school, interests and aspirations for the future.

The best way to prepare for the examination is to listen to and speak Arabic as much as possible. You have had lots of practice in class, speaking to both your teacher and your fellow students.

You should also get into the habit of taping your conversations under examination conditions. When you replay the tape you will be able to identify which aspects of your speaking skills require further attention, e.g. intonation, sentence structure or variety of vocabulary etc.

To assist in your preparation for the examination make a summary of key words and phrases for each syllabus topic and sub-topic. Revise these lists regularly and try to incorporate some of the words and phrases into your responses. You may wish to use the speaking tasks on this web site to practise. For practice you may wish to listen to the questions asked and respond to them before viewing the scripts.

Remember that in this examination you must exchange information and opinions in response to the questions asked by the examiner. Because this is a two-way process you will need to understand the questions asked by the examiner. The best way to prepare yourself for this is to listen to Arabic as much as possible.

 

In the Examination

Remember that the speaking skills examination is your opportunity to display your full range of vocabulary and knowledge of Arabic language structures and your ability to adapt this knowledge to different situations. The conversation will be about your personal world, for example, your life, family and friends, interests and aspirations. Remember the examination is conducted in Modern Standard Arabic not colloquial.

This is the only chance the examiners have to assess how well you speak. You can certainly learn from past performances and past errors, but you must demonstrate the full extent of your knowledge and understanding in this section of the examination.

Keep in mind the following points:

If you do not understand something said by the examiner you may ask for clarification. It is better to ask in Modern Standard Arabic.

You cannot use a dictionary in the speaking examination.

You cannot make any written notes in the speaking examination.

It is important to expand on your answers.

Don't spend time worrying over mistakes. It will tend to interrupt the flow of your answer. However if you do realise a mistake you can easily correct yourself.

Communication is the main purpose. There are many ways of expressing the same idea. However, if you say nothing, no communication is achieved.

Make your delivery sound convincing. Use appropriate intonation, emphasis and correct pronunciation.

Make sure that your responses are appropriate to the questions asked.

Do not memorise slabs of information on some topics and recite them regardless of the question. Try not to use any English words in your response, if you don’t know the word in Modern Standard, use colloquial Arabic.

Remember, the examiner does not need to know who your teacher is or where you study Arabic.

 

What the Markers are Looking For

• Understanding of the questions asked by the examiner.
• Ability to respond and use a range of strategies to maintain communication in Modern Standard Arabic.
• Ability to respond with a high level of grammatical accuracy, breadth and sophistication of vocabulary and sentence structure.
• Fluency, ability to maintain a good language flow. Try to maintain a consistent pace without pausing for too long.
• Ability to use an appropriate level of language for context, purpose and audience.
• Accuracy of pronunciation and intonation.
• Ability to structure, sequence and develop ideas and opinions.