Silence is the problem: making the paired speaking task work
Two candidates, Mia and Tom, take the paired speaking test. In the second part the examiner gives them a card with five pictures - museum, beach, zoo, park, cinema - and says: 'Here are some places for your class trip. Talk together about which place is best.'
Tom: 'Museum.' Mia: 'Yes. Museum.' (Silence for about fifteen seconds.) Examiner: 'Is there another place you like?' Mia: 'Beach. I like beach.' Tom: 'Museum is more interesting.' Mia: nods.
A week later a different pair, Sara and Leo, get the same card. Sara says: 'What do you think about the zoo? I think it's fun, but maybe expensive.' Leo answers: 'Yes, maybe. The park is free - but what about rain?'
Both pairs have roughly the same vocabulary.
1. Why does the second pair score higher when their vocabulary is no better? Name the specific behaviours being rewarded.
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Because this part of the test assesses interactive communication, not vocabulary size. The descriptors look for initiating, responding and sustaining - and Sara and Leo do all three in eight seconds.
What the second pair does that the first pair does not:
- Asks a real question: What do you think about the zoo? Mia never asks Tom anything.
- Gives a reason: it's fun, but maybe expensive; the park is free. Tom offers an opinion (more interesting) with no support.
- Keeps the turn alive: Leo answers, then hands the topic back with but what about rain? - that is turn-taking.
- Uses a contrast linker: but shows they are weighing options, which is exactly what 'talk together about which is best' asks for.
Mia and Tom produce isolated labels. The examiner's question - Is there another place you like? - is a rescue, and a rescue earns nothing; it exists so the candidate is not left in silence.
The lesson: at this level, a two-word answer plus a question beats a five-word answer with none.
2. Mia wants to say 'aquarium' but does not know the word. What should she do in the exam, and what should she not do?
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She should talk her way around the gap.
Useful moves:
- Describe it: a place with fish and water, you walk and look at them.
- Use a general word plus detail: a special museum for sea animals.
- Ask her partner: Do you know the word? It's like a zoo, but for fish.
- Keep the sentence moving: I don't know the English word, but it's a place with big fish.
What she must not do:
- Switch to her own language. The examiner cannot credit what they cannot assess.
- Stop and wait. Silence is the one thing that scores zero in every category.
- Apologise at length. One short phrase - I don't know the word - then continue.
Communication strategies like paraphrasing are a legitimate part of speaking at A2, and a candidate who describes the idea successfully has communicated. The gap is only fatal if it produces silence.
3. Tom wants the museum, Mia prefers the beach. Show how a candidate disagrees politely and still completes the task - and say whether they must reach a decision.
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Disagreeing is not a problem; disagreeing badly, or not at all, is.
A workable exchange:
- Mia: I see, the museum is good, but I think the beach is better because we can run and it's cheap.
- Tom: Maybe, but it's a long way. The museum is near the school.
- Mia: That's true. OK, what about the museum in the morning and the beach after lunch?
What makes this work:
- Acknowledge first (I see / That's true) before disagreeing - this keeps the partner talking instead of closing them down.
- Support the opinion with 'because' - an opinion without a reason is a label, not an argument.
- Offer an alternative or a compromise to keep the interaction moving.
Do they have to agree on one place? No. The task is to talk together, and the assessment is of the talking. A pair who disagree politely with reasons score well; a pair who agree instantly with three words each do not. Reaching a decision is a natural end, not a requirement.