The
Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English Examination
The
Interview - Paper 5 (15 minutes)
By
Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)
The CAE Interview is in four parts and there are normally two candidates
and two examiners. One of the examiners will talk to the candidates, the other
one will only observe the interview.
BEFORE
THE TEST
Before the interview, make sure that you are able to make 'small talk',
this means talking about the weather, the traffic, where you live, where you
study English etc.
Listen to the taped practice interviews which you have done in the past
and evaluate the positive and negative points.
SPECIFIC
AREAS OF YOUR NOTEBOOK TO REVISE:
1. Metalanguage. 5.
All vocabulary groups in your notebook.
2. Pronunciation - words and silent letters. 6. Viv's describing position on a page worksheet.
3. Pronunciation 'ed', 's', 'r', 'h' and 'y'. 7. Viv's functions worksheet.
4. Word stress. 8.
Listen to your recorded course exercises.
THE TEST
Part 1 - Interview (3
minutes)
In this first part you may have to give personal information, talk
about the present, past experience or future plans.
Part 2 - Individual long
turn (3 - 4 minutes)
You will have to talk for four minutes on some sort of visual stimulus
(pictures or texts). You will be expected to give information and express you
opinions through comparing and contrasting. The second candidate will be asked
to give their opinion as well.
Part 3 - Two-way
collaborative task (3 minutes)
Here you will have to interact with the other person taking the test.
You will be given a task and based on this task you may have to exchange
information and opinions, agree and/or disagree, make suggestions or
speculations.
Part 4 - Three-way
discussion (4 minutes)
The last part of the test will be a discussion of the topics introduced
in part three. Again, you will have to be able to give you opinion and justify
it, and use natural structures for agreeing and disagreeing.
EXAMINATION
TECHNIQUES:
1.
Speak clearly and audibly at all times. (Don't forget the structures
for 'giving yourself time to think')
2.
Don't be afraid to ask for clarification if you haven't understood.
3.
Keep speaking as much as possible - no marks are gained by keeping
silent. However, you mustn't dominate the interview and should give the other
candidate the opportunity to speak. You will be assessed on your individual
performance, not on your performance in relation to the other candidate.
4.
At the interview, you will probably be given two pictures and be asked
to comment on them. The pictures will be connected to a common theme (eg.
pollution, poverty, city v country, unemployment, keeping fit, recycling etc.).
This is what you can do:
A.
Describe picture 1. (In this picture there is/are.... / This is a
picture of.... / On the left, there is....
B.
Describe picture 2.
C.
Talk about the issue which the pictures represent. (I think that these
pictures show how/that....)
D.
Say what your opinion is on the issue. (See functions worksheet -
Giving your opinion and giving yourself time to think.
You will be assessed on the following areas:
Grammar & Vocabulary (accuracy and appropriacy)
You will be expected to know enough grammar and vocabulary to produce
accurate and appropriate language without continual pauses to search for words
or structures.
Discourse Management (range, coherence and extent)
You must be able
to convey information and express or justify opinions coherently and fluently.
Pronunciation (Individual sounds, intonation and stress)
This refers to the ability to speak clearly and with appropriate word
and sentence stress and intonation. You will not lose marks for speaking with a
Brazilian accent.
Interactive Communication (Turn-taking, initiating and responding)
Here you will need to use communication functions and strategies (see
functions worksheet), and to speak at an adequate speed and rhythm to fulfill the tasks.
This
may be the first test you'll do, so keep on revising for the other exams.