Copyright 1996

Interviewer's responses 23-31 
23. Yes, well we decided to er to have these camps some years ago because we 
think it's a good way for students to get to know each other in an informal 
way before their courses start so er it's a sort of getting to know you type 
camp. 
24. Er the camp is at a beach about 50 kilometres away from the University. It's 
sort of south of the University, along the coast. 
25. Yeah yeah near a seaside. 
26. Well er there'll be a bus which will pick up er students from the University 
and return people to the same spot at the end of the camp so there's no 
problem with transport. 
27. Yeah well it's a comfortable bus, a University bus. 
28. I think so. 
29. I'm afraid there is a cost yeah though it's not too bad. It's $65 for the whole 
er stay and that includes all meals and all transport so er it's on a long 
weekend Friday till Monday and er all meals are included so that's that's 
very cheap. 
30. So are you interested in going? 
31. 1 hope you do. 
c 
Listen to Phase 3. Write down Maria's questions and compare them with the ones 
you wrote. 
Maria's questions: 
• _______________________________________________ _ _
• 
_
_ __ __
• 
• 
• 
Do you think any of her questions are poorly constructed or follow the words on 
the card too closely? Which ones? Rewrite the ones you want to change. 

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Phase 4 
In this phase Maria is being asked further questions about her career plans. 
A 
Look at questions 32-45. How are these questions different from those in Phase 
2? 
Choose the expressions which you think best describe the differences. 
• longer • 
more 
specialised 
• more demanding 
• simpler 
• more varied 
• more interesting 
• asking for more opinions 
Discuss your choices with a partner if you can. 
Questions 32-45 
OK. Let's er let's get back to thinking a little bit about er your future er we 
know that you want to er to study Medicine but er 
32. have you any thoughts about what sort of Medicine you're going to 
specialise in at the end of your studies? 
33. Do you agree with that? 
34. What sort of pressure do you imagine er er it would involve? 
35. Yeah well I was going to say that er er in some ways one could argue that 
maybe it's er more suited to er a woman than a man? Many women are 
midwives in other countries. 
36. Do you have midwives in Malaysia? 
37. And and do they deliver many of the babies? Or is it mainly doctors in 
hospitals? 
38. Right. Is there any any reason for that particularly? 
39. So they don't have a long training? 
40. So do you agree with that view? Do you think er doctors do know more 
about...? 
41. It's difficult to generalise, isn't it? 
42. So do you think there's a a big need for er doctors who are specialists in 
infant care or delivering babies in Malaysia? Is is that a growing area of 
need? 
43. Is there a fast growing population in Malaysia? 
44. So it could be a very important area for your country if you choose that? 
45. Well, perhaps at the end of your studies you'll be more confident because 
you'll have learnt so much more? Is that a possibility? 

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B 
Listen to Phase 4 of the interview. Circle 'yes' Y or' no' N below. 
Compared to Phase 2: 
does Maria develop her answers more? 
Y 
N 
does she use a wider vocabulary? 
Y 
N 
does she express more opinions? 
Y 
N 
are her answers more interesting? 
Y 
N 
is she speaking more confidently? 
Y 
N 
C 
Look back at Question 32. How would you respond to it for your field of 
study? 
What other questions could be asked about your country in this section? Think 
about your country and your life in five years' time. 
Write about five questions on these topics. If you can, practise with another 
student. Have a conversation about each other's country and field of study. If 
possible, record yourselves. 
Phase 5 
This is the final phase of the interview. 
A 
Below are the interviewer's concluding remarks. What could Maria say here in 
response to the interviewer? Write down some possible responses. 
46. Well, er I'd like to thank you Maria for er taking part in the interview and 
I 
wish you the best of luck with your studies. 
47. It was nice to talk to you. 
B 
Now listen to Phase 5. Are Maria's responses friendly? Does the interview end in 
a 

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Assessing Maria's Band Score 
The assessment for the Speaking tests is made on a scale from 1-9. 
The candidate
The candidate
can't say very 
much in English
uses English like 
a native speaker
1 — 2 —
3— 4— 5— 6 — 7— 8— 9
Using this scale, circle a number to show what you think Maria's score would be. 
It you can, find another student who has done the same exercise and compare 
your ratings of Maria's interview. Discuss your reasons for the score you gave. 
Interviewer's comments. 
Read what the interviewer says about Maria. Were your impressions similar to 
those of the interviewer? 
Maria would probably just gain a in the speaking test. She had no difficulty 
understanding all sorts of questions and in the final stage she was able to use 
more extensive vocabulary and develop some areas of questioning reasonably 
well. She was generally fluent in her use of the language; there were no long 
pauses or laboured constructions of sentences. In Phase 3 she was able to 
converse more formally and ask questions with reasonable ease. Maria's 
weaknesses were caused primarily by her youth and her lack of experience and 
knowledge. She was unable to develop some responses because of lack of 
knowledge, for example, of the hospital system in Malaysia. Her pronunciation 
was sometimes a little unclear particularly her stress patterns and she had one or 
two areas of grammatical error which are typical of the Malaysian variety of 
English. The interviewer asked a lot of questions to keep her contributing to the 
conversation, but natural shyness kept many of her responses short. The 
shortness of Maria's responses was mirrored in the tendency of the interviewer to 
ask short questions. 

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Recorded Speaking Test 2 
The second interview is with Pehr. Pehr is 25 years old and is from Sweden. He's 
a marketing manager who is in Australia for three months studying English. Here 
are some details about Pehr. 
PERSONAL DETAILS  
Family name
Other name
Nationality First language :
Occupation
Work experience 
How did you learn. English?
What are you personal interests?
What are your future plans?
Why are you taking this test? '

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Pehr