The memorised answer that collapses
A student preparing for the Level 2 spoken interaction assessment has memorised a 90-second monologue about their part-time job at a supermarket. They can say that they earn $22.50 an hour, work three evenings a week, are saving for a trip to New Caledonia, and want to study languages at university. In the 4-minute practice interaction, the teacher asks an unexpected question: 'Et si tu devais choisir entre ton travail et un stage en France l'année prochaine ?' The student pauses for six seconds, says 'je ne sais pas', then switches to English. The assessment requires the student to initiate and sustain the interaction, ask at least one question, justify opinions, and use past, present, and future language. The student's prepared phrases include 'à mon avis' and 'parce que', but no phrases for asking for clarification, paraphrasing, or buying time. With three weeks until the assessment, the student asks whether learning ten more memorised answers by heart is the best plan.
1. Diagnose the main problem and explain why memorising more answers will not fix it.
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The main problem is not a lack of vocabulary or a lack of prepared content; it is a lack of interactional strategies for unpredictable turns. The student can perform a rehearsed monologue, but the assessment is an interaction: it tests whether they can sustain a exchange, respond to a question they have not prepared, justify an opinion, and keep going when they do not understand. Memorising ten more answers only adds more monologues. The unexpected question 'Et si tu devais choisir...' is a hypothetical choice, so it requires a structure such as 'si je devais choisir, je...' and a reason. The student has no repair phrase, no way to ask for repetition, and no way to paraphrase. Switching to English shows that when the script runs out, the interaction stops. More memorisation would make the student more fluent in prepared moments and more fragile in unprepared ones. The fix is to practise using known language in unpredictable exchanges, not to add more scripted content.
2. Design a three-week practice plan with specific activities and success criteria.
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Week 1 - question and repair toolkit. Build a bank of eight functional phrases: 'Tu peux répéter, s'il te plaît ?', 'Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire par... ?', 'Comment dire... ?', 'Je veux dire que...', 'C'est une bonne question...', 'À mon avis...', 'Parce que...', 'Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?' Practise asking one follow-up question after every answer. Success criterion: in a 2-minute recorded exchange, use at least three repair or follow-up phrases without switching to English. Week 2 - unpredictable questions. In pairs, use prompt cards the speaker has not seen: 'Et si tu devais...?', 'Qu'est-ce que tu ferais si...?', 'Raconte-moi une fois où...'. The listener must answer for 45 seconds using at least one past or future structure and one justification. Success criterion: keep going for 45 seconds after a 5-second pause, using 'euh' or a repair phrase rather than English. Week 3 - mock interaction. Do two full 4-minute practices with a different teacher or older student. Record and self-assess against the criteria: initiates, asks a question, justifies, uses past/present/future. Success criterion: no English, at least two questions asked, at least two opinions justified with 'parce que' or 'car'.
3. Write two French utterances the student could use when stuck, and explain how each keeps the interaction going.
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Utterance 1: 'Désolé, je n'ai pas bien compris - tu peux répéter la question plus lentement, s'il te plaît ?' This keeps the interaction going because it names the problem and asks for a specific repair (repetition, slower speed). It is polite and appropriate for a teacher-student interaction, and it avoids the dead end of 'je ne sais pas' or switching to English. Utterance 2: 'Comment dire... euh, je veux dire que je préfère travailler le week-end parce que je gagne de l'argent pour mon voyage.' This buys time with 'comment dire' and then paraphrases rather than stopping. It also does what the assessment rewards: it states a preference and justifies it with 'parce que'. Both utterances are short enough to be automatic under pressure, and both keep the floor rather than handing it back with a one-word answer.