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Study Guide

Field 127: Mandarin CST
Presentational Speaking

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Directions for Presentational Speaking Assignment

For the Presentational Speaking section of the test, you will record a spoken response to an assignment presented on-screen.  start bold You must respond to the assignment in the target language. end bold 

The assignment will be displayed on the next screen and the screen timer will count down the allotted preparation time (refer to the upper right corner of the screen to monitor the preparation time remaining).   start bold You may take up to 12 minutes to review the assignment and prepare your response. end bold   Please note that you are not required to take the entire 12 minutes; however,  start bold if you choose to advance to the next screen to start your response before the preparation time is over, you will not be able to go back. end bold 

When the preparation time is complete, the screen will automatically advance, and you will record your response to the assignment.  Do NOT begin speaking until the screen advances and you see the recorder presented on-screen.  A tone will indicate when to begin speaking and the status on the recorder will show “Recording.”   start bold You may take up to 3 minutes to record your response. end bold   A sample of the recorder appears below.

recorder

 start bold You will have three minutes to record your response. end bold   Monitor your time by referring to the timer, which will count up from 00:01 to 03:00.  Bars will appear with the sound of your voice to indicate that recording is in progress.

When your recording time is over, the status will change to "Complete," indicating the conclusion of the assignment.

recorder showing the recording is complete

You will automatically be advanced to the next screen.  DO NOT click the  start bold Next end bold  button unless you have finished recording your response with time remaining and wish to move to the next screen.   start bold If you advance to the next screen with recording time remaining, you will not be able to go back. end bold 

Your response will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Your response will be evaluated on the criteria above, not on the position you take. In your response, you must use your own words. With the exception of appropriately identified quotations and paraphrases from the passage, the response must be your own.

You may use the erasable notebooklet provided to take notes; however, start bold you will be scored only on the response that is recorded in the exam. end bold You will have only start bold ONE end bold opportunity to record your response. Be sure that your microphone is in a downward position near your mouth before you begin speaking.

Select the  start bold Next end bold  button to continue.

Sample Presentational Speaking Assignment

Competency 0004 
Presentational Speaking

start italics [The examinee will see on screen and hear the following directions:] end italics

start bold You will have 12 minutes to review the assignment and the passage provided and to prepare your response. Then, the screen will automatically advance and recording will begin. The assignment and the passage will remain on the screen during recording. You may take up to 3 minutes to respond to the assignment. You will be told when the preparation time is over and the recording is about to begin. Begin reviewing the assignment and preparing your response now. end bold

start italics [The examinee will see on screen ONLY:] end italics

应该允许学生在学校用手机吗？
應該允許學生在學校用手機嗎？

Imagine that you are addressing an audience of educated adults. Speaking in Mandarin, respond to the question above. In your response, you must:

In your response, you must use your own words. With the exception of appropriately identified quotations and paraphrases from the passage, the response must be your own.

start italics [The examinee will see on screen ONLY:] end italics
start bold Passage from an article published on the website 《释文解字》: end bold

[Simplified]

这些年，手机是如此的流行。它让人们生活更加便利，可也让一些人十分为难。特别是那些家长们：让不让正在上小学的儿子，或者上中学的女儿用手机？这真是个问题。

不用我多说，手机方便了学生向家长报告平安，也方便了和同学交流学习，这是它好的一方面。不好的一方面是，有些学生自制力不如大人，不分时间地老想玩儿手机，十分不利于学习；更有个别学生在考场上玩儿手机：想得个好分数。此外学生们还小，没完全长成，老用手机对身心都不好。光从这几点看，学生最好不要用手机。[. . .]

目前，国家没有相关立法，没有几个学校像上海那个中学一样完全不让用手机，大多数学校都是有心无力。这么说，难道没路可走了？其实也不是。学校之外，家长也要做点什么，主要有两点：小学生，能不让用就不让用；中学生，什么时间和什么地方可以用。现在看来，这些做法有些不讲道理，但以后等他们长大就知道了，都是为了他们自己好。

[Traditional]

這些年，手機是如此的流行。它讓人們生活更加便利，可也讓一些人十分為難。特別是那些家長們：讓不讓正在上小學的兒子，或者上中學的女兒用手機？這真是個問題。

不用我多說，手機方便了學生向家長報告平安，也方便了和同學交流學習，這是它好的一方面。不好的一方面是，有些學生自制力不如大人，不分時間地老想玩兒手機，十分不利於學習；更有個別學生在考場上玩兒手機：想得個好分數。此外學生們還小，沒完全長成，老用手機對身心都不好。光從這幾點看，學生最好不要用手機。[. . .]

目前，國家沒有相關立法，沒有幾個學校像上海那個中學一樣完全不讓用手機，大多數學校都是有心無力。這麼說，難道沒路可走了？其實也不是。學校之外，家長也要做點什麼，主要有兩點：小學生，能不讓用就不讓用；中學生，什麼時間和什麼地方可以用。現在看來，這些做法有些不講道理，但以後等他們長大就知道了，都是為了他們自己好。

Hsu, Joanna. "Cell Phones in the Classroom" Chinese Voices Project. http://clavisinca.com/voices.html. Copyright Clavis Sinica.

start italics [After 12 minutes of silence, the examinee will hear:
"Your preparation time is now over. At the conclusion of these directions, the screen will automatically advance and recording will begin. Begin speaking when you see the recorder presented on the next screen. Prepare to begin speaking now."] end italics

start italics [If examinee clicks "Next" before the preparation time is over, the following warning appears in a pop-up:
"You have chosen to begin speaking before your 12 minutes of preparation time has ended. If you click "Yes" below, the screen will advance and recording will automatically begin. Are you sure you want to begin speaking now?"] end italics

recorder

start bold  start uppercase DO NOT end uppercase  click the Next button unless you have finished recording your response. end bold

start italics [After 3 minutes of recording, the status on the recorder will change to "Complete" and the examinee is automatically advanced to the next screen.] end italics

Sample Strong Response to Presentational Speaking Assignment

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Enter to expand or collapse transcript. Transcript expanded

[Note: In the transcripts below, there are two-dot and/or three-dot ellipses. Two dots indicate that the speaker paused. Three dots indicate that the speaker omitted text when quoting from the article.]

[Simplified]

现在很多学生都有手机，手机确实 .. 可以给我们带来很多很多的方便，例如： 学生有事可以用手机和家长及时联系，学习上有问题了可以和同学交流，向老师请教，也能和以前的同学经常联系，保持友谊。

但是，学生带手机进学校，就会有很多问题：比如，上课时有的同学手机没有关，电话铃响影响大家；考试时有的同学用手机作弊；有的同学喜欢打手机游戏影响学习，影响休息。手机对人体有辐射，对学生的身体影响更大。

因为学生在学校使用手机的确存在许 .. 多问题，所以应该尽量限制。电视报纸要多做公益广告，引导学生正确使用手机；学校要积极引导学生避免手机的负面影响，集中精力学习；家长要帮助孩子提高判断力。学生要培养自己的行为习惯，认真学习，对于影响学习的东西，要理性对待。

[Traditional]

現在很多學生都有手機，手機確實 .. 可以給我們帶來很多很多的方便，例如： 學生有事可以用手機和家長及時聯繫，學習上有問題了可以和同學交流，向老師請教，也能和以前的同學經常聯繫，保持友誼。

但是，學生帶手機帶進學校，就會有很多問題：比如，上課時有的同學手機沒有關，電話鈴響影響大家；考試時有的同學用手機作弊；有的同學喜歡打手機遊戲影響學習，影響休息。手機對人體有輻射，對學生的身體影響更大。

因為學生在學校使用手機的確存在許 .. 多問題，所以應該盡量限 制。電視報紙要多做公益廣告，引導學生正確使用手機；學校要積極引導學生避免手機的負面影響，集中精力學習；家長要幫助孩子提高判斷力。學生要培養自己的行為習慣，認真學習，對於影響學習的東西，要理性對待。

Note: The sample strong response for the presentational speaking assignment is an example of a response that a candidate might record. While the sample response demonstrates effective presentational speaking skills, it could contain typical errors that candidates may produce when speaking in the target language. Please see the rationale below for more details.

Rationale for Sample Strong Response to Presentational Speaking Assignment

The response communicates clear and logically sequenced ideas, delivered with a good flow of speech, few pauses, and largely intelligible pronunciation and appropriate intonation. The candidate establishes a clear position on the issue presented in the question and largely supports the established position with relevant information from the passage, as well as his or her own relevant ideas and examples. Overall, the response demonstrates a good level of engagement with the passage.

The response largely uses the candidate's own words and uses a range of vocabulary and idiomatic language, as well as a style and sociolinguistic conventions that are largely appropriate for the assignment. The candidate uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames, and sentence structures. Errors are minor and do not interfere with overall comprehensibility. Examples of such errors include incorrect pronunciation (例如), and the occasional use of incorrect tones (也能, 以前, 考试 / 考試, 打手机 / 打手機, 报纸 / 報紙), as well as the use of an awkward structure (学生带手机进学校 / 學生帶手機進學校) instead of the more appropriate "ba" structure (学生把手机带进学校 / 學生把手機帶進學校).

Performance Characteristics for Presentational Speaking Assignment

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the Presentational Speaking assignment.

APPROPRIATENESS The extent to which the response uses the candidate's own words, demonstrates engagement with the provided passage, establishes a position on the issue presented in the question, and uses language, style, and sociolinguistic conventions appropriate for the assignment (task, context, and specified audience)
SUPPORT The extent to which the response supports the established position with information (appropriately cited details, quotations, and paraphrases) from the provided passage and the candidate's own ideas or examples
FLUENCY The extent to which the response communicates clear and logically sequenced ideas delivered with a consistent flow of speech, intelligible pronunciation, and appropriate intonation
GRAMMAR The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames, and sentence structures
VOCABULARY The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate vocabulary and idiomatic language

Score Scale for Presentational Speaking Assignment

A score will be assigned to each response to the Presentational Speaking assignment according to the following score scale.

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response demonstrates effective presentational speaking skills.
3 The "3" response demonstrates generally effective presentational speaking skills.
2 The "2" response demonstrates partially effective presentational speaking skills.
1 The "1" response demonstrates ineffective presentational speaking skills.
U The response is unscorable because it is inaudible or unintelligible, merely a repetition of the assignment, not related to the assignment, not primarily in the target language, or not of sufficient length to score.
B There is no response to the assignment.