The Fluent but Off-Task Response
In a paired speaking task, students discuss the prompt 'Should school students be allowed to use mobile phones during breaks?' The examiner scores four criteria: task fulfilment, fluency, vocabulary, and grammar. Student A speaks for 90 seconds with almost no hesitation, rich vocabulary ('ubiquitous', 'distraction', 'self-regulation'), and complex structures. However, she never states a position, never addresses the question of breaks specifically, and spends 60 of her 90 seconds describing her own phone. Student B hesitates often, self-corrects, uses simple vocabulary, but answers both sides of the question and gives two reasons. A colleague argues A should score higher because 'fluency and range are what the exam rewards'.
1. Resolve the disagreement using the four criteria, and say which student should score higher overall.
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The colleague is treating the criteria as independent when they are not. Task fulfilment is not a bonus category - it gates the others. A response that does not address the prompt cannot earn high marks for vocabulary or grammar in service of the task, because there is no task content for that language to express.
- Student A: high fluency, high range, high accuracy - but low task fulfilment (no position, wrong focus, self-centred content). Her language is impressive but not deployed.
- Student B: lower fluency and range, but complete task fulfilment, clear structure, and relevant reasons.
Judgement: B should score higher overall. A's fluency and vocabulary cannot compensate for failing the prompt. In practice, A should be told her language is strong and her content planning is what is losing marks - a far more actionable message than 'be less fluent'.
2. Give Student A a concrete 30-second planning routine she can use in the exam, and explain why it addresses her specific failure.
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The routine - 'Position, Two Reasons, One Example' (PTE):
- P - state a position in one sentence ('I think phones should be allowed, with limits').
- T - two reasons, one sentence each.
- E - one brief example or concession.
Thirty seconds is enough to jot P-T-E as three words on the note paper.
Why it fits her failure: her problem is not language, it is that she speaks fluently without a plan, so her fluency carries her into her favourite topic (her own phone). A fixed three-slot frame forces her to allocate her 90 seconds to the prompt. Because her fluency and range are already strong, the frame costs her almost nothing and converts her existing ability into task-fulfilling content.