Want to make sure your Christmas speaking activities have value for your students? By using an exam style activity, you can add some festive spirit to your lesson AND your students can practice their exam skills. The following Christmas speaking activities have been designed to look like Cambridge First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) Speaking Parts 3 and 4, but with a festive twist.
Contents
First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) Speaking Part 3 and 4
In the First and Advanced exams, Speaking Part 3 and 4 are very similar. Part 3 examines students’ ability to converse with one another. Whilst discussing the question, students should listen to their partner, as well as ask them questions. Students have 2 minutes, followed by a question from the examiner which usually asks students to decide which option is the best (or some variation of this). Students have 1 minute to make this decision with their partner.
Part 4 tests students’ ability to discuss their opinions, as well as give reasons for these opinions. You still need to listen to your partner, and you can also ask your partner questions. The questions for Part 4 are linked to the topic of Part 3.
The Materials
These First and Advanced Christmas speaking activities require students to discuss gifts, presents and shopping. Even though a festive question is unlikely to come up in a real Cambridge exam, students will be practicing the techniques and skills they need.
Part 3 asks students to discuss different gift options for a young person, and then decide which one is the best option, whilst Part 4 has a variety of questions asking students to engage with the commercial aspect of gift-giving and Christmas.
Use these Christmas speaking activities to get your students (and yourself!) into the Christmas spirit. Don’t forget to check out our Christmas songs listening and Preliminary (PET) Christmas reading activities too. If you want to extend the speaking from here, why not try this Christmas Find Someone Who activity.
EXAM PART: Speaking Parts 3 and 4
EXAM SKILLS: Sustaining interaction, suggesting, expressing and justifying opinions, reaching a decision through negotiation
TIME: 20 minutes
PREPARATION: One copy of the worksheet per student or projected onto the board or screen
Procedure
- Warm up by asking students to discuss what presents they would like for Christmas this year. Tell them your own present wish list and then invite them to share their ideal gifts with a partner.
- Encourage more conversation by asking students to discuss these questions and feedback as a class.
- How many presents do you usually receive and give at Christmas?
- What is the best gift you have ever received?
- What is the worst gift you have ever received?
- Have you ever received or given a home-made gift?
- Tell students you are going to do Christmas speaking activities in the style of the exam Speaking Parts 3 and 4. Elicit what they need to do in this part of the exam and how long they have.
- Elicit useful phrases for this part of the exam that you have covered in previous classes or introduce some new ones. Here are some examples:
- Agreeing/Disagreeing
- I couldn’t (dis)agree with you more.
- I’m not sure I agree with you.
- That’s an interesting point, however…
- Asking for partners opinion
- What’s your opinion on…?
- Do you have any thoughts about…?
- Do you have anything to add?
- Agreeing/Disagreeing
- In pairs, ask students to complete Speaking Part 3. Monitor and offer error correction when finished.
- Students discuss Part 4 questions in pairs. Feedback to class and discuss together as needed.
- Extension: If you wish to extend this activity, have students create their own Speaking Part 3, with the same question (Would a young person like to receive these gifts?) but different gift options. Or change “young person” for another group of people such as “a new mother”, “children”, “someone famous”.
