The right approach to the first part of Cambridge Proficiency Speaking can help students relax and enjoy themselves while they also start to show the fluency and range of language that will be more obvious in the rest of the Speaking test. In addition, suitable preparation can help improve their English and ability to speak outside class more generally too. This article gives some tips on how to prepare students for this part of the test. For over 350 pages of photocopiable CPE materials, including lots of Speaking Part 1 activities, see https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/teaching-c2-proficiency/
What students need to know about CPE Speaking Part One
Before the (two or sometimes three) candidates starting speaking to each other in CPE Speaking Part Two, the examiner asks each of the candidates some questions on their studies/ job, where they are from, and other personal topics like free time and families. This is designed to only have three questions per candidate and only last two minutes (between two candidates), so is much shorter than the other Cambridge tests and than CPE Speaking Part One before the changes in 2013.
Although all parts of the Speaking test contribute to the final score, there is no particular score for each part, meaning that any good or bad performance in Speaking Part One is unlikely to affect the final score very much. It is therefore usually best for students to think about Part One as a warm-up for the rest of the Speaking test, but one in which they should try to make a good start with useful exam tactics like trying to show off their range of language, and showing they are listening by commenting on what the other person said (in the rare cases when it is possible).
If you go back through all the old Cambridge official CPE tests, you can find the 75 different Speaking Part One question stems which are listed at the end of this article. Most of these question stems can be used to make personal questions on any topic in your textbook/ syllabus. For example, “Are you …ing at the moment?” can be used for the topics of exercise, study, holidays plans, etc. Patterns which it is worth including in such questions include:
- some questions starting with “Can/ Could you tell us…?”
- questions that students will need to avoid answering with too short an answer such as yes/ no questions
- “How + adjective” questions that will need strong and weak answers like “virtually impossible”, “not too great”, “a total cinch” and “absolutely critical”
- questions about the past, the present, the future, and theoretical possibilities (“If you could…,…?”, etc)
Topics in Speaking Part One of the official practice tests include:
- Arts and media
- Character/ Personality
- English/ Language learning/ Foreign languages
- Family and friends
- Festivals and celebrations
- Food and drink
- Free time
- Future
- Hometown
- Neighbourhood/ Local area
- News/ Current affairs
- Possessions/ Purchases
- Sports and exercise
- Studies
- Technology
- Transport and travel
- Work
As the questions in Speaking Part 1 will be mostly or entirely personal questions, students should be able to prepare suitable vocabulary to describe their own work, favourite and least favourite technology, etc.
Classroom activities for C2 Proficiency Speaking Part 1
Given what is written above about how simple, short and difficult to improve on this part of the test is, it is thinking about whether Cambridge Proficiency Speaking Part One is worth much classroom time. However, I would say that it is still worth covering in a first lesson and/ or as a warmer for other lessons. This is because:
- doing well on this part of the test should boost students’ confidence and fluency
- the right approach to this part could spread to other more important parts of CPE Speaking
- this part covers the kinds of questions they are likely to be asked during small talk outside class
- work on this part is a good way for students to get to know each other and so to improve classroom dynamics.
When students have answered questions like those described above, they should be able to make their own questions with the same question stems. You can make this into more of a game and make them think more carefully about their questions with the activity Speaking Part One Truth and Dare, in which they can choose to have their own question back or to see what question their partner comes up with, while not being allowed to skip either one once it is asked.
Some of the topics and question stems above can be combined with needs analysis in pairs, usually in a first class. For example, students could interview each other on their (past, present and future) work, studies and use of English, use CPE question stems to make more questions, and/ or ask some suggested questions made from those question stems. In the next stage, they can move onto making and asking each other similar questions on other typical Speaking Part One topics like hometown and travel. This is also a good chance to naturally use useful checking/ clarifying phrases for the test like “Sorry, do you want to know… (or…)?”
Needs analysis is also a good opportunity to get them using phrases to comment on what other people say such as “(Un)like…, I…”, as these phrases are sometimes possible in Speaking Part One and are vital to show they are listening in the Speaking test more generally.
Reaction phrases that are comparisons like “… is something we have in common” can be combined with useful words and phrases for Speaking Part One by getting groups of students to find things in common using language that could be in their answers like “not so keen on” and “never had the chance to”. They can then share some of those comparisons with the whole class to see who else shares that fact.
For more fun practice, you can use a coin (for example to decide if they have to answer their own question or can ask it to someone else) and/ or a dice (e.g. to decide on the topic and/ or time of the next question).
Ways of integrating Speaking Part One with other parts of the exam include:
- gapped Part One questions and/ or model answers with typical Use of English Part Two words taken out
- Part One model answers with four options to choose the one correct one from (like Use of English Part Two)
- moving onto Speaking Part Three questions on the same topic for more general and trickier discussion
Cambridge Proficiency Speaking Part One question stems
- … in… years’ time?
- … when you’re a retired person?
- Are there any… that you are good at (…)?
- Are you …ing (…) (or…) at the moment?
- Can you tell us about the things that make you…?
- Can you tell us about the things that you…?
- Can you tell us something about your…?
- Could you tell us how you like to spend…?
- Could you tell us if there’s a particular… you especially like?
- Could you tell us something about (your taste in)…?
- Could you tell us something about the way you…?
- Could you tell use how you like spending your free time?
- Did you have a favourite… when…?
- Do you enjoy (your)…?
- Do you feel optimistic about your (future)…?
- Do you have any plans for…?
- Do you have much opportunity to…?
- Do you keep up with…?
- Do you know what … you’d like to… in… years’ time?
- Do you live…?
- Do you see yourself… (in the future/ in the near future/ someday)?
- Do you spend more time… or…?
- Do you think your… was good preparation for…?
- Do you use… much (for…)?
- Does it take you long to…?
- Have you always…?
- Have you ever…?
- How difficult would it be for you to…?
- How do you imagine you’ll spend your time when…?
- How do you prefer to…?
- How do you think your… will change in the future?
- How easy is it for you to…?
- How easy is it to… your…?
- How good are you at…?
- How good are… in your…?
- How important is… in your country?
- How important is/ are … to you/ in your life?
- How interested are you in…?
- How much interest do you take in…?
- How much longer do you think you’ll…?
- How much (of your) time do you spend…?
- How representative is your…?
- How typical is your…?
- How well can you…?
- How… a person are you?
- If you could afford to, would you…?
- If you could change one thing about…, what would it be?
- If you could… any…, which would it be?
- If you could…, what would…?
- If you…, what kind of… do you prefer?
- Is it easy to… in your…?
- Is there a… which you particularly like?
- Is there anything that makes you proud about…?
- What advice would you give someone who was thinking of… your…?
- What advice would you give someone who…?
- What are your main…?
- What do you (most) hope to achieve…?
- What do you enjoy (most) about…?
- What do you like (best/ most) about…?
- What do you look forward to most (when)…?
- What do you particularly like or dislike about…?
- What do you think you’ll be doing…?
- What is the most interesting aspect of… for you?
- What is/ are… like in your neighbourhood?
- What kind of… do you prefer?
- What kind of… would you like to… (in the future)?
- What language(s)…?
- What opportunities are there for… in your area?
- What sort of… did you…?
- What would your dream… be?
- What, if anything, would you like to change about…?
- What’s the best thing about…?
- What… might be useful to you (…)?
- When do you expect to…?
- Which… (has) made the biggest impression on you?
- Will … play an important role in your…?