Sample speaking items and responses

To familiarize yourself with some speaking items and how responses are scored, see the sample speaking items below.

Example of speaking item #2

You teach at a school in a large Canadian city, and the student population is multicultural, with many students who have only recently moved to Canada. Your principal knows that you are a recent immigrant to Canada and has asked you to speak at a staff meeting about your experiences in moving to Canada. The principal specifically asked you to speak about the positive aspects of moving to Canada, the challenges of moving to Canada, and the many changes and adjustments that children need to make when they enter Canadian schools. Give a two- to three-minute speech addressing these topics.

Example of a poor response

Score (2 points total)

Criterion 1 (1 point). The response is very short, but it does identify one or two challenges associated with moving to Canada. However, no positive aspects are expressed, and the experiences of students or children are never mentioned.

Criterion 2 (1 point). The response is intelligible and pronunciation is good, but there are a few errors even in this short response. “Get” in the third sentence is not conjugated correctly, and there is no “do” after “how” in the fourth sentence.

Criterion 3 (0 points). The tone is too informal for a staff meeting and comes across as unprofessional. Canadian staff members would likely take offence at a response that focuses only on the negative aspects of moving to Canada.

Example of a middling response

Score (5 points total)

Criterion 1 (2 points). The response is short, but it identifies specific challenges associated with moving to Canada and discusses the experiences of immigrant students. However, there is little that is positive, and more detail could be provided.

Criterion 2 (1 point). The response is intelligible and pronunciation is good, but the speech is halting at times, which makes it awkward for the listener. There is a conjugation error (“come” instead of “came”), but most of the speech is error-free. However, sentence structures are simple, and transitions between sentences can be sudden or jarring.

Criterion 3 (2 points). The tone is respectful, but overly formal. Some teachers would mistake “honoured principal” as being sarcastic or ironic. The phrase “travel the city” is not what a native English speaker would use, but listeners will understand the meaning. Toward the end of the response, it is not clear who “we” refers to, and this could cause listeners some confusion. This is especially true because students are generally referred to as “they” in this response.

Example of a strong response

Score (8 points total)

Criterion 1 (3 points). The response addresses all of the task requirements. Challenges and benefits are mentioned, and the student perspective is included.

Criterion 2 (2 points). The response is intelligible, but pronunciation is problematic at times. The speech sometimes feels too slow and other times too fast, but this is not so severe as to cause the listener to disengage. Sentence structures range from simple to medium complexity, but some transitions between ideas are sudden.

Criterion 3 (3 points). The tone is casual but respectful and professional. The content of the response makes the speaker seem sincere, and this allows the audience to interpret difficulties as personal challenges and not as insults to Canada.