Questions - fundamental to the new GCSE

 Starting to have time to think about planning for the new GCSE. Details of publishers' resources are being released, and we're looking to see what the 2 years of study, progress and exam preparation would look like.

One thing that I think I could improve on and which is going to be central to the new GCSE is pupils coping with a range of unprepared and unexpected questions in the Speaking exam.

In the current GCSE speaking exam, there is one unexpected question in the role play. Most pupils pick up on a couple of words and say something, hoping there's a chance it fits whatever question was being asked. So it's very hit and miss, but it's only worth a couple of marks. For the current photo card, there are 2 unknown questions, but these are generally framed to be a platform for the pupils to show what they can say. Not to catch them out. And that principle applies in the current GCSE conversation too. My questions are not trying to catch the pupils out. I want them to show they can give opinions, reasons, examples in past and future and tell stories.

So in the current Conversation, I will often start with a very open question asking for an opinion. "Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre ?" Then my follow up questions will depend on the answer the pupil gives. Often in fact, they won't be questions but prompts. Pourquoi ? Et alors... ? Par exemple... ?

So the conversation can evolve spontaneously with natural interaction, tick the examiner's boxes, and work for pupils of all levels:

Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre ?

    J'aime jouer au foot.

Pourquoi ?

    Parce que je peux jouer avec mes amis.

Par exemple ?

    Par exemple samedi je suis allé(e) au parc avec mes amis.

Et alors le week-end prochain ?

    Alors je vais jouer au tennis si je peux.

Or at a higher level:

Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre ?

    Alors, si j'ai le temps, j'aime bien aller en ville avec mes amis surtout s'il fait beau.

Pourquoi?

    Parce que j'adore faire les magasins, même si je n'achète pas grand chose parce que je n'ai pas beaucoup d'argent et je dois payer pour prendre l'autobus pour y aller.

Par exemple ?

    Le week-end il faisait beau alors j'ai dit à mon ami que je voulais aller en ville et il a dit que je pourrais aller avec lui et ses parents dans la voiture. 

Et alors ?

Alors on est allés à Norwich mais j'aurais préféré y aller juste avec lui parce que ses parents parlent trop.

The new GCSE will still give a platform for this kind of conversation in the questions that follow the Photocard. (I am looking at AQA, but the specifications are broadly similar, although with some important differences.) The Role Play does away with the unexpected question. But there are 4 unprepared questions which follow the Reading Aloud task.

The questions that follow the Reading Aloud task are not seen by the pupils in the preparation time. They are scripted in the teacher booklet and must be read to the pupils exactly as they are printed. So these are marked for the answer the pupil gives (requiring full answers with some development), but also testing comprehension of the question being fired at them.

Here is an example:

From AQA Sample Assessment Materials

You can see that the first one is an open platform for the pupils to give an opinion and some detail. "Tell me about...." The others are much more specific in what aspect they are asking about. Question 2 is open in form ("What do you think about...") but asking them to instantly come up with an answer on a very specific question. In fact, all of these questions leave me wide-eyed and scratching my head. To instantly think up something to say in French to give a full answer to these questions. I have no idea what I would say for Question 2 or Question 4 here. And most pupils I know don't watch films. And would give an answer to Question 3 that was just the name of a celebrity.

This section of the exam is going to need a lot of working on in class. And it can't be done at the end of the course as exam technique. Responding to random unexpected questions with a full answer, is going to have to be a central part of the course.

Here's one thing I intend to try.

I am going to work a lot on using target language questions with texts. I know that in the Reading and Listening exams, there are no longer questions and answers in the target language. But this is practice for the Speaking exam. And it is so that we can use texts as a scaffold for speaking in class.

Here's an example text from the OUP French textbook which is out already for no obligation sample copies to be sent to you. Contact your area rep! Pearson are also bringing out a book for AQA as well as for Edexcel and I quite like the look of that one too, but I haven't got a copy of it yet. I think I am signed up for an electronic sample.

OUP AQA GCSE French Higher textbook

So in class, I am going to use a text like this one as a scaffold for responding to questions. I fire questions at the pupils and they locate the appropriate answer in the text and read it to me.

As-tu une passion ? Nager est ma passion.

Qu'est-ce que tu ferais pour réussir ?     

Que ferais-tu si tu étais célèbre ?

Que ferais-tu si tu étais riche ?

The focus is on understanding the question. The answer is given in the text.

It could be with the text in front of them (as a reading aloud!) or from memory once we have read the text.

I could do this with questions in the order of the text, or out of order, or re-phrased (Quelle est ta passion ? / Est-ce que c'est important de gagner beaucoup d'argent ? / Quels sont les avantages d'être riche ?) or repeated questioning as a high paced catch you out game. 

And then I would allow pupils to vary their answer, adapting or replacing the answer given by the text or developing an answer given by another pupil. So they are responding to the same questions but giving a personal answer. 

Quelle est ta passion ? J'adore la musique surtout écouter du jazz.

Quelle est ta passion ? J'adore la musique mais je n'aime pas le jazz. Je préfère écouter Taylor Swift.

This would be spread over several lessons, giving opportunity to revisit the grammar and vocabulary content of the reading. This would recycle recycle, recycle: moving from an initial reading of the text, examination of the grammar, response to target language questioning with increasing speed and fluency, to independent answers.

Or perhaps we could do it backwards, with pupils answering questions first, to construct a version of the text before reading it. So first answer these questions imagining you are a swimmer:

As-tu une passion ?    J'adore nager.

Qu'est-ce que tu fais pour réussir ?   Je m'entraîne tous les jours.

Que ferais-tu si tu étais célèbre ?     Je gagnerais beaucoup de concours et je voyagerais à l'étranger.

Que ferais-tu si tu étais riche ?    Je donnerais beaucoup d'argent à ma famille.

Then when they come to the text, they will be able to read it easily and focus on the high frequency words and structures like encore plus or même which will be important in getting the marks for the Reading and Listening questions.

And as I mention in this post, I will be creating parallel versions of texts from the textbook so that we can go over them again and again, seeing the grammar and vocabulary in different contexts. Again, using these as a vehicle for increasingly confident response to quick fire target language questions.

Looking at the textbooks, this is the sort of thing we are going to have to come up with in order to exploit the texts, create a lesson that works in the classroom, recycle content, develop fluency, and tackle the requirements of the exam. Lots of work to do!