Oral Assessment

These guidelines have been copied from the IEB NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE HANDBOOK: IMPLEMENTATION DATE: GRADE 12, 2017

MODERATION OF ORAL WORK

The IEB will arrange for moderators to visit schools from September to mid-October for the purpose of standardising the school assessments for oral work. Schools will be informed of the dates on which they will be visited. On his/her arrival, the moderator should be presented with:

• Individual candidates must hand their personal profile for oral moderation (D2) to the moderator. Candidates are encouraged to fill these profile sheets in meticulously.

The function of the moderator is to ensure that the prescriptions of the syllabus and Examination Requirements have been followed and that standards are similar across different schools. On the basis of the moderation conducted, the moderator will make recommendations to the IEB whether the marks for the school as a whole should be accepted as they are or adjusted in some systematic way.

GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSMENT

In assessing many aspects of the oral work, particularly that related to presentation of prepared or unprepared reading and speeches, the following key aspects need consideration:

• Was the content understood?

• Was the right atmosphere created?

• Was the group's attention engaged throughout the speaker's delivery?

• Was effective audience contact achieved

• Did the speaker reveal a genuine grasp of the subjects, and was he/she able to answer questions with confidence?

In addition, there are certain considerations related to each category of oral work that should be born in mind in assessing the learners' competence. These are indicated below.

READING

Prepared reading

• The passage chosen should be two-thirds to three-quarters of a page long and the level of language and thought should be mature and sophisticated.

• Reading aloud is for entertainment and/or persuasion. Communication with the audience is of the utmost importance.

• Learners should use a suitable tone, which shows understanding of the passage. Facial expression should enhance the quality of the overall reading.

• The reader should make full use of pause, variety in pace, as well as in pitch and volume.

• Eye contact is essential. The reader should look up to his or her audience on significant phrases and at the end of some sentences where there is natural pause.

• Readers should hold their texts up to facilitate eye contact and not read to the table.

• The learners must give an introduction of some kind before reading – indicating the source, some background detail, and the reason for choice of passage.

• A passage that includes dialogue is useful as it gives the learner more

opportunity to show reading skills.

• Learners should carefully consider their choice of passage to ensure that it gives them the best opportunity to demonstrate their reading skills.

Unprepared reading

• Unseen passages should be sufficiently demanding to present the candidates with problems of interpretation or simplification, e.g. dialogue, changing moods, an argument requiring careful phrasing.

• Unprepared reading is best evaluated in a group situation.

• Listening comprehension is one of the focal points of this assessment – to assess whether the learner understands as he or she reads.

• The unseen text should be read in such a way that it shows awareness of phrasing and sense units. A learner should be given a minute or two to read the passage silently before having to read it aloud.

• Subtleties of tone and expression are not being evaluated here because the text is unfamiliar.

PREPARED SPEAKING

• The guiding rule here is that learners should talk to their audience, not at them.

• Learners should choose a topic that is important to them. Sincere enthusiasm and personal conviction about the subject automatically aids the quality of the presentation. Stock or common topics should be avoided: to be successful, these need an individualised approach.

• The speech should not be a mere collection of facts gleaned from one source or other: it must present a point of view and be persuasive. Facts should be clearly integrated within the fabric of the speech.

• Ideas must be presented in a clearly structured way, with an effective introduction and a firm conclusion.

• Content should be enriched with sufficient information and ideas.

• Language should be sophisticated without being overly formal and\ should display a good vocabulary.

• The prepared speech should not be presented in a 'public speaking manner'. While the speech should be well rehearsed to ensure confidence, it should never be learned off by heart or read from full notes. A spontaneous manner and the confidence from knowing the topic well are what the audience appreciates most.

• Learners should use only cue cards with words/ phrases on them. A full text is distracting and causes learners to read. Reading from a written text should be heavily penalised.

• Learners should stand in a relaxed manner, and use natural gestures, body language and facial expression to convey their meaning.

• Voice needs to be varied in terms of pitch, speed, and volume.

• Pauses should be used between sections. Never rush - the audience needs time to absorb what is being said.

• Eye contact with the whole audience is essential.

• Power-point presentations can be included here, but should not replace the speaker. They are an aid to a talk and are not to be used instead of a talk.

• Learners will also prepare speeches for debates, panel discussions, chairing meetings, interviews etc.

UNPREPARED SPEAKING AND LISTENING

In all forms of unprepared speaking, the learner should show an ability to use the appropriate register, voice an opinion and develop an idea, and ask and answer questions using a variety of listening and speaking strategies.

Impromptu speech

This assessment focuses mainly on the learner's ability to 'think on his/her feet' and to express himself/ herself fluently with very little preparation. While learners will be expected to speak spontaneously during an oral moderation, he/she will not be required to deliver an impromptu speech.

Class discussions

These provide various opportunities to assess an individual learner's ability to express a point of view, justify an argument, formulate questions and structure a response to a question.

Break down of the oral mark:

Reduced to a mark of

Prepared Oral (First draft in Form 4) 10

Cat Oral 10

Listening Comp 1 10

Listening Comp 2 10

Prepared Reading 10

Unprepared Reading 10

Current Affairs Discussion 10

7 Books Discussion 10

Film Discussion 10

Teacher's Own Choice Discussion 10

Total: 100

Include in your oral portfolio:

· Your personal profile

· A synopsis of your seven books

· All your speech topic sheets and rubrics

· A copy of your prepared reading

· Cue cards for each oral (x2) (The library type cards that are suitable for use as cue cards are on sale at the school shop.)

7 Books for discussion – write a brief synopsis on each.

· If you are going to deviate from the following categories (because you have already read a selection of books), you need to discuss your book choices with your teacher.

· Additional credit will be given to students who adhere to at least four of the categories below.

· One of the seven books should be your prize book that you know really well and enjoyed reading. It should not be the shortest book you can find but something that is a worthwhile read.

· You should be able to motivate your choice of books.

· Do not choose books which have been made into movies recently. The oral moderator travels to several schools and it is very obvious when the movie has been watched instead of the novel having been read (e.g. The Great Gatsby). The novels often differ from the movies (e.g. The Hobbit) and it is thus easy to check whether candidates have actually read the novel or not.

Category 1 [We suggest that you choose 2 or 3 from this section]

Adult fiction

Suggested authors:

1. Deon Meyer

2. Lee Child

3. Michael Connolly

4. Wilbur Smith Paulo Coelho

5. Robert Harris

6. Con Iggulden

7. Tony Park

8. Bernard Cornwell

9. CJ Sansom

10. Clive Cussler

11. Michael Crichton

12. John Grisham

13. Jeffery Deaver

14. Tom Clancy (a bit long-winded but still popular)

15. Ken Follett (especially The pillars of the earth although it’s pretty long)

16. Frederick Forsyth

17. Dick Francis (a bit dated but many titles are still intriguing and gripping..and short! (ish))

18. Stephen King (lots to offer here-horror, obviously, but also the fantasy novels)

19. Terry Pratchett (an acquired taste, but still brilliant and popular)

20. Martin Cruz Smith (a personal favourite of Mr Van Zyl…but Arkady Renko is such a hero. Gorky Park was written ages ago, but the subsequent books have just gotten better).

21. John le Carre (rather more demanding than the other authors, but for boys who love history and espionage his books could be a hit).

22. Malcolm Gladwell

Category 2

Classic Literature

Suggestions:

Short, powerful (and easy to read) classics

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell

2. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

3. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Category 3

Autobiography (consult Ma'am Gundu or your English teacher for recommendations)

Category 4

A Play (they’re short and easy to read)

Suggestions:

1. Boesman and Lena by Athol Fugard

2. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

3. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

4. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Category 5

Science-Fiction/Speculative Fiction/Fantasy

Suggestions:

1. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

2. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

3. Dune by Frank Herbert

4. 1984 by George Orwell

5. The Maddaddam Trilogy (Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and Maddaddam) by Margaret Atwood

6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

7. Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

Category 6

African literature classics

Suggestions:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangeremga (Zimbabwe)

When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head (Botswana)

Category 7

New African Literature

Suggestions:

1. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwe)

2. 13 cents by Sello K. Duiker (South Africa)

3. Coconut

4. The Quiet Violence of Dreams by Sello K. Duiker (South Africa)

Category 8

Young Adult

Suggested authors:

1. John Green

2. Laurie Anderson

3. Lauren Beukes

Category 9

Easy reads (only one from this category)

1. Spud John van der Riet

2. Harry Potter J.K. Rowling

3. Percy Jackson Rick Riordan

4. The Hunger Games

Category 10

Short stories

A selection of four or five short stories which ar based on a similar thee or are by a particular author e.g.

1. Herman Charles Bosman

2. Richard Reeve

3. Roald Dahl (adult stories)