The Cambridge First Certificate in English Examination

The Interview - Paper 5 (15 minutes)

By Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)

The FCE 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 (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.

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:

1. Describe picture 1. (In this picture there is/are.... / This is a picture of.... / On the left, there is....
2. Describe picture 2.
3. Talk about the issue which the pictures represent. (I think that these pictures show how/that....)
4. 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:

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.

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.

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.

FINALLY!

Relax! You have now finished the First Certificate in English Examination. Now all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and wait for the results which usually come out about four months after the exam.

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