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Study Guide

Field 179: Bilingual Education Assessment—Polish
Presentational Speaking: English Sample Assignments

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This study guide includes three sections for the Presentational Speaking section of the test:

In this study guide, two sample assignments are provided to assist an examinee in preparing for the actual test. On the actual test, there will be one Presentational Speaking: English assignment to which the examinee will have to provide a response.

Competency 0007  
Presentational Speaking: English

Presentational Speaking: English
Sample Assignment 1

[The examinee will see on screen the following directions:]

You may take up to 5 minutes to review the assignment below and to prepare your response. Then, the screen will automatically advance and recording will automatically begin. The assignment will remain on the screen during recording. You may take up to 3 minutes to respond to the assignment. Begin reviewing the assignment and preparing your response now.

[The prompt will be presented on screen ONLY, such as the sample prompt below:]

In your opinion, can a parent or caregiver do something to support their child's literacy development in English and Polish?

Imagine that you are addressing an audience of educators, parents, and caregivers. Speaking in English, respond to the question above. In your response, you must:

Your response must be in your own words.

DO NOT click the Next button unless you are ready to record your response.

[If the examinee clicks "Next" before the preparation time has ended, the following warning appears in a pop-up: "You have chosen to begin speaking before your 5 minutes of preparation time has ended. If you click "Yes" below, the screen will automatically advance, and recording will automatically begin. Are you sure you want to begin speaking now?"]

[The prompt will be presented on screen ONLY, such as the sample prompt below:]

Begin to respond in English at the sound of the tone. You may take up to 3 minutes to complete your response.

In your opinion, can a parent or caregiver do something to support their child's literacy development in English and Polish?

Imagine that you are addressing an audience of educators, parents, and caregivers. Speaking in English, respond to the question above. In your response, you must:

Your response must be in your own words.

A sample of the recorder box shows a record button that indicates recording is in progress. The progress bar shows that the recording is at the 5 second mark and a total of 3 minutes of recording is allowed.

DO NOT click the Next button unless you have finished recording your response.

[After 3 minutes of recording, the recorder box will change to "Complete," and the examinee is automatically advanced to the next screen.]

Presentational Speaking: English
Sample Strong Response to Sample Assignment 1

Having trouble with the audio player? Right-click and download the .mp3 .

Enter to expand or collapse transcript. Transcript expanded

I can answer this question by sharing some ways I support my children’s …..bilingual literacy at home. I enjoy listening to my daughter read in English to me. She loves to ask me to guess what might happen next by describing to me the next picture….then …..she adds that she loves guessing in class what will happen next in the story . . . because this makes her feel creative. She also reads for me in Polish….and I help with the correct pronounciation when she asks me. This creates a special bonding that we both treasure.

My daughter’s teacher shared with me that when my daughter reads to me at home she reinforces new vocabulary ….and that this will help her comprehend more difficult…more advanced books in the future. This is because …children’s literacy in their first language will transfer to the learning of other languages.

My family also sends an email, letter or card to relatives in Poland. We each contribute… write a few lines …..or pictures to keep our relatives on the loop about what we’re doing in the United States. My children enjoy seeing me using Polish in a real life situation.

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 English. Please see the rationale below for more details.

Presentational Speaking: English
Rationale for Sample Strong Response to Sample Assignment 1

The response effectively communicates clear and logically sequenced ideas delivered with a consistent flow of speech, few pauses, intelligible pronunciation and appropriate intonation. Minor errors and pauses do not interfere with comprehensibility. Examples of such errors include some inconsistency in the flow of speech and a few pauses.

The candidate establishes a clear position on the issue presented in the question and effectively supports the established position with two of the candidate’s own relevant ideas and examples based on personal experience. For example, listening to her daughter read in English and in the target language at home helps the child reinforce new vocabulary in English and get the correct pronunciation in the Target Language. There is also an anecdotal reference to communication with relatives in the Target Language country.

The response effectively uses language, style and sociolinguistic conventions appropriate for the intended audience. The candidate effectively uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames and sentence structures. Minor errors do not interfere with comprehensibility.

Presentational Speaking: English
Sample Assignment 2

[The examinee will see on screen the following directions:]

You may take up to 5 minutes to review the assignment below and to prepare your response. Then, the screen will automatically advance and recording will automatically begin. The assignment will remain on the screen during recording. You may take up to 3 minutes to respond to the assignment. Begin reviewing the assignment and preparing your response now.

[The prompt will be presented on screen ONLY, such as the sample prompt below:]

In your opinion, can parents' and caregivers' involvement in school activities promote students' academic success?

Imagine that you are addressing an audience of educators, parents, and caregivers. Speaking in English, respond to the question above. In your response, you must:

Your response must be in your own words.

DO NOT click the Next button unless you are ready to record your response.

[If the examinee clicks "Next" before the preparation time has ended, the following warning appears in a pop-up: "You have chosen to begin speaking before your 5 minutes of preparation time has ended. If you click "Yes" below, the screen will automatically advance, and recording will automatically begin. Are you sure you want to begin speaking now?"]

[The prompt will be presented on screen ONLY, such as the sample prompt below:]

Begin to respond in English at the sound of the tone. You may take up to 3 minutes to complete your response.

In your opinion, can parents' and caregivers' involvement in school activities promote students' academic success?

Imagine that you are addressing an audience of educators, parents, and caregivers. Speaking in English, respond to the question above. In your response, you must:

Your response must be in your own words.

A sample of the recorder box shows a record button that indicates recording is in progress. The progress bar shows that the recording is at the 5 second mark and a total of 3 minutes of recording is allowed.

DO NOT click the Next button unless you have finished recording your response.

[After 3 minutes of recording, the recorder box will change to "Complete," and the examinee is automatically advanced to the next screen.]

Presentational Speaking: English
Sample Strong Response to Sample Assignment 2

Having trouble with the audio player? Right-click and download the .mp3 .

Enter to expand or collapse transcript. Transcript expanded

Yes…. I believe that parents and caregivers’ involvement in the school life of their children can promote academic success. This requires clear communication between the school and the families. As we know, ……the school offers many ways to tell families information of school activities,. . . such as sending newsletters to families in their home language,. . . as well as offering translators for meetings, parent/teacher conferences, . . . phone calls, and home visits. Once parents and caregivers understand what school activities are available, then they can decide how they can participate ….either in-person, online ….or simply by staying in the know about their children’s academic progress.

If parents are not able to attend school activities or meetings in person, they can show their interest in their children’s academic success by asking them…. what their favorite class is and why. For example, if their favorite class is science, parents can ask children to describe details of a project they are participating in. Children might describing …describe content…the learning activities …such as observing a plant grow after planting a seed in the classroom…. and telling their parents how it grows into a flower… or retelling about a video they watched . . .maybe explaining the stages of a caterpillar….. into a butterfly. These conversations reinforce what the children learn in school and can promote success in learning.

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 English. Please see the rationale below for more details.

Presentational Speaking: English
Rationale for Sample Strong Response to Sample Assignment 2

The response effectively communicates clear and logically sequenced ideas delivered with a consistent flow of speech, few pauses, intelligible pronunciation and appropriate intonation. Minor errors and pauses do not interfere with comprehensibility. Examples of such errors include some inconsistency in the flow of speech and a few pauses.

The candidate establishes a clear position on the issue presented in the question and effectively supports the established position with two of the candidate’s own relevant ideas and examples. These are based on parents and caregivers understanding of school activities and family conversations to reinforce what students learned at school.

The response effectively uses language, style and sociolinguistic conventions appropriate for the intended audience. The candidate effectively uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames and sentence structures. Minor errors do not interfere with comprehensibility.