B2 First collaborative task: Speaking Part 3 practice

• Interactive communication: taking turns, responding and inviting your partner to speak.
• Making and justifying suggestions rather than listing the prompts.
• Agreeing and disagreeing politely, and adding reasons.
• Developing a partner's idea instead of changing the subject.
• Speculating about the prompts with modal language: it might, it could well, it would probably.
• Negotiating towards a decision in the second part of the task.
• Managing time so that several prompts are discussed rather than one exhausted.
• Repairing communication when you do not know a word.
• Using discourse markers to structure a spoken turn.
• Speaking at a natural pace with appropriate hesitation, not memorised speeches.

1. Step 1: 1

   Read the question in the middle, not just the prompts

   The prompts hang off a question, and answers that ignore it turn into descriptions. Say the question aloud to your partner as an opening move if you need a second to think.

2. Step 2: 2

   Open by inviting, not by announcing

   ‘Shall we start with this one? What do you think about ...’ Opening with a question puts interaction on the record in the first ten seconds.

3. Step 3: 3

   Cover several prompts, not all of them

   You are not required to discuss every prompt. Three discussed properly is better than five listed, and the task instructions do not ask for complete coverage.

4. Step 4: 4

   Give a reason with every opinion

   ‘I think the first one would work well, because most people already have the equipment.’ An unjustified opinion is a short turn that gives your partner nothing to respond to.

5. Step 5: 5

   Respond before you add

   React to what your partner said, then extend it: ‘That is a good point, and it would also save money.’ This is the single clearest marker of interactive communication.

6. Step 6: 6

   Disagree politely and with a reason

   ‘I see what you mean, but I am not sure it would work for older visitors.’ Disagreement is welcome; blunt contradiction is not.

7. Step 7: 7

   Bring your partner in if they go quiet

   ‘What would you choose?’ costs you three words and is credited. A dominant candidate loses marks even when their English is strong.

8. Step 8: 8

   Watch the shift to the decision question

   The second stage asks you to decide something. Answer it directly, negotiate briefly and agree, rather than restarting the whole discussion.

9. Step 9: 9

   Do not panic about agreeing

   You may reach a decision or agree to differ. What matters is that you negotiated towards it together and said so.

10. Step 10: 10

    Paraphrase when a word escapes you

    ‘The thing you use to ... the small machine that ...’. Stopping to search for a word costs more than describing your way around it.

• Not thisTaking each prompt in turn and describing it without comment.

  ThisChoosing a prompt, giving an opinion with a reason and asking your partner.

  The task is a discussion, not a labelling exercise. Description with no evaluation gives the examiner nothing to credit on interaction.

• Not thisPreparing a speech and delivering it regardless of what your partner says.

  ThisListening and responding to what your partner actually said.

  Interactive communication is one of the assessment areas, and a memorised turn is audible and does not fit the conversation.

• Not this‘No, that is wrong.’

  This‘I am not sure about that, because the cost would be high.’

  Blunt contradiction sounds rude in English and misses the chance to show the language of polite disagreement.

• Not thisSpending the whole time on the first prompt.

  ThisMoving on after a good exchange: ‘Shall we look at another one?’

  The task rewards range across the prompts, and the examiner is listening for discussion management as well as language.

• Not thisStaying silent because your partner is more fluent.

  ThisTaking a turn of your own and asking a question back.

  You are assessed individually. A quiet candidate cannot demonstrate range, however good their comprehension is.

• Not thisEnding with no decision at all.

  This‘Shall we agree on the second one, then?’ ‘Yes, let us go with that.’

  The second stage asks for a decision. Naming it explicitly takes five seconds and completes the task.

shall we start with

opens the discussion and invites the partner

what do you think about

invites your partner's opinion

that is a good point

acknowledges before adding

I see what you mean, but

polite disagreement

I am not sure about that

soft disagreement

it might be worth

tentative suggestion

on the other hand

introduces the other side

would you agree

checks your partner's view

shall we move on to

manages the discussion

so are we saying that

summarises before deciding

let us go with

proposes a final decision

to be fair

concedes a point to your partner

the thing you use to

paraphrase when a word escapes you

I had not thought of that

shows you are listening and responding

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