Conversation
Students should:
- be prepared to communicate on a variety of topics relating to their personal world
- elaborate and provide relevant details to address the questions in a way that engages with the examiner
- express ideas and opinions to justify their point of view by providing depth and insight in their responses rather than only giving short pre-prepared responses
- elaborate using a variety of vocabulary, phrases and expressions suitable to the question asked
- use a range of tenses and be prepared to reflect on the past, present and future
- manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
- avoid the repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases, expressions and grammatical structures
- be prepared to be interrupted by the examiner
- use Russian to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.
In better responses, students were able to:
- speak with clear pronunciation, word stress, syntax, register and intonation
- answer questions with minimal hesitation, allowing the conversation to flow at a natural pace
- respond to questions with relevant, in-depth information, for example, communicating feelings, providing opinions and justifying their responses
- elaborate on their responses without extra prompts from the examiner providing more details and references to the texts
- respond in full sentences, using compound and complex sentences
- use language structures and features such as grammatical cases, verb aspect, tenses and correct register effectively to enhance their responses, for example, Я планирую связать свою жизнь с…
- demonstrate knowledge of a wide repertoire of vocabulary, for example, Физико-математический факультет, моделирование
- accurately use tenses as required by the question
- use authentic and idiomatic expressions appropriately, for example, взять себя в руки, на одном дыхании.
Areas for students to improve include:
- revising gender of nouns and pronoun-noun agreement
- using correct case forms of nouns, adjectives and pronouns
- using wider vocabulary rather than repeating the words used in the question
- avoiding anglicisms
- responding to questions by expressing an opinion or justification
- avoiding single word responses and long pauses.
Discussion
In preparation for the Discussion
Students should:
- choose a topic with good quality reference texts and sources available
- prepare for the discussion by referring to at least three texts in their research
- ensure one of the texts used in their research is a literary source.
Students should:
- support their discussion with evidence from the texts sourced
- express and justify opinions and points of view on the in-depth study topic
- reflect on their research findings to help them express opinions or develop new perceptions about their in-depth topic
- manipulate language to respond in a coherent and logical way to the questions asked
- use a variety of relevant vocabulary, grammar, sentence structures and expressions
- address the question rather than responding with pre-prepared responses
- avoid relying on general knowledge about the topic of in-depth study.
In better responses, students were able to:
- ensure chosen sources were relevant to the topic of in-depth study
- compare the validity and reliability of their texts
- refer to their sources and comment on how each source contributes to their understanding of the in-depth topic
- discuss how their research impacts on their views and helps them gain a better understanding of the in-depth topic
- develop an analytical approach to texts studied rather than memorising information from the texts
- provide logical and well-structured responses to questions
- develop insightful conclusions regarding issues raised in their research
- use specific vocabulary and expressions relating to the topic
- use complex sentences and suitable idiomatic expressions to strengthen and support their opinions
- respond using grammatical accuracy, sophisticated vocabulary and expressions
- manipulate the language effectively to support their ideas and justify their point of view.
Areas for students to improve include:
- responding to the question asked rather than recounting information irrespective of the question
- creating information rather than just listing facts
- choosing texts relevant to the topic
- presenting their opinions about the issues raised in their research.
