Interview Feedback
Level 3G4
19/02/12
1.) Ali Mohamadi
Ali Started very well by giving a detailed introduction of himself and his family. Although a little rehearsed, his introduction included mostly accurate subject verb agreements and was done with good pronunciation. As the interview continued and Ali had to respond to my questions rather than be in control of what was being said, he became a lot more nervous and subsequently, struggled to answer in more than a couple of words, if at all. Going forward, Ali should certainly look to work on his listening skills as they held him back on this occasion and prevented him from supplying more detailed responses.
2.) Maryam Hordan
Maryam’s pronunciation and range of vocabulary are fine for this level and she included some good linking words to expand her answers. She also provided some accurate comparatives when discussing family sizes, which was good. In order for Maryam to understand what I was asking, it was necessary for me to speak very slowly and her answers often seemed quite rehearsed. Maryam should consider spending some time on listening practice to try and get used to a slightly faster pace of speech and could try to respond more naturally to questions, although this is a difficult thing to manage at this level.
3.) Mohamad Ali Golrokhiyan
Mohamad Ali understood my questions without difficulty and responded with nice, full answers. He included some good verbs and self-corrected from past simple to present simple when necessary which shows a promising attention to detail. He did however, more than once, make the mistake of using the present continuous rather than present simple when discussing what he does in his free time e.g., ‘I am playing...’ rather than ‘I play...’. From here he should look to focus on his grammar to bring it up to the same level as his other skills.
4.) ForoghSeyedAfghahi
Forogh included some good expressions in her interview including ‘when I’m in the mood’ and showed off her knowledge of when, and when not to use the infinitive with ‘to’ when talking about hobbies. Her subject verb agreements were also good but she needs to be careful not to overuse the verb ‘to be’ in order to produce a little more variety. Forogh has a fair understanding of the English language and as a result, should attempt to provide fuller answers to questions in a speaking situation and try to rely less on practised phrases and responses.
5.) Zahra Mokhtari
Zahra was held back from really performing in this interview through her weakness in listening which had an effect throughout our conversation. I had to speak very slowly and repeat and rephrase questions continually and she often provided the answer to a different question in response. In order to progress, Zahra would find it very helpful to obtain more vocabulary which would immediately help her to understand what was being asked and would make her feel more confident in replying. She should also try to practise her listening skills in order to get used to being spoken to at a slightly faster pace.
6.) MiladZamani
Milad’s pronunciation is good, as is his range of vocabulary. He included some nice prepositions of location in describing the whereabouts of his house and took time to listen carefully and answer questions as accurately as possible, requiring only a couple of repetitions. He also included a conditional structure: ‘If I have enough time...’ which is fantastic to see at this level. In order to continue to improve, Milad could look to try and include some more advanced structures in his speaking; perhaps a simple future form and further expand his vocabulary bank.
7.) ArmanSaadat
Arman’s listening skills are excellent and he understood most of my questions without any difficulty, and subsequently, provided suitable answers. Unfortunately however, Arman’s answers were very short and no real attempt was made to expand them, even with my encouragement. Instead, he preferred to answer quickly which may be through a lack of confidence in speaking but it made it difficult for me to judge his level of grammatical or vocabulary knowledge. With his listening skills being at such a good level he should really be trying to show assessors how good his other skills are too and he would then allow himself the chance to receive higher marks.
8.) Ahmad SayadNiya
Ahmad spoke confidently and naturally throughout his interview, providing detailed answers without encouragement. He understood all of my questions without difficulty and presented some accurately-used language features such as superlatives and ordinals, with confidence. He did also self-correct on occasion showing a positive attention to detail. Although Ahmad’s speaking level is of a high standard, he must make sure he does not continue to make simple mistakes such as forgetting the inclusion of articles and the unnecessary inclusion of the verb ‘to be’. Ensuring these mistakes do not happen in the future should be his main focus at this stage.
9.) Mina Barzegar
Mina’s pronunciation is very good and she provided some accurate ordinals confidently when detailing the ages of her siblings. She also attempted to discuss future plans using ‘will’, which is great to see. Although she generally understood my questions without problems, there were a few occasions when it was necessary for me to repeat the question more than once; listening practice should be a focus of hers going forward. Mina also regularly forgot to include articles before her nouns which will need to be remedied before she can look to progress.
10.) LailaFatehi
Laila appeared to find this interview particularly difficult and seemed very nervous and unsure throughout. Unfortunately for Laila, she was unable to understand the majority of my questions which made her even more unsettled and obviously unable to provide an answer. Her confidence would improve immediately by the acquirement of more vocabulary and through practicing her listening whenever possible, perhaps by trying to listen to English speaking radio or watching English or American TV shows.
11.) Maryam Hoseni
Maryam’s interview was interrupted twice by bad connections but she remained confident and focussed in spite of this. She listened to my questions in a very relaxed manner, understood exactly what was being asked and responded confidently. She included some good possessive pronouns in her speaking and self-corrected after initially forgetting the verb ‘to be’ in ‘I am married’, showing her attention to detail. She made a couple of repeated mistakes when discussing what she enjoys doing in her free time by forgetting ‘to’ before the verb ‘go’ in her sentence: ‘I like (to) go to the movies’. Although this is a common mistake, it does affect her fluency so should be addressed by Maryam in the near future.
12.) Aida Zafarkhah
Aida’s pronunciation is fine and she appeared to understand most of my questions. She tried hard during the interview but she is short of vocabulary and awareness of grammatical structure and so relies heavily upon fixed phrases and answers, which is not uncommon at this stage but causes her problems when she is asked to construct her own answer. Aida should look to first increase her bank of vocabulary, including the use of articles with her nouns and then spend some time on some of the basics, such as the use of the verb ‘to be’.
13.) FarimahAsadi
Farimah is a confident speaker and listener in English and has a well-developed bank of vocabulary which made her responses to my questions seem very natural and allowed her to express her own ideas and opinions rather than relying on fixed phrases she had previously learned. She included accurate examples of both the past and present simple and even a conditional structure which is fantastic to see at this level. Going forward, Farimah should continue to practise her speaking and listening whenever possible, ensure she is constantly adding to her vocabulary and look to start to include some more complex grammatical structures into her speaking.
14.) FatemehTaslimZaraei
Fatemeh seemed to understand my questions quite well and took time to check she understood before presenting a suitable answer. Her pronunciation is fine for this level, as is her vocabulary, and she included correct examples of both the past and present simple. She got slightly confused over her object pronouns; ‘both us them’ when she meant ‘both of us’ but it is good to see her trying more complex structures. Going forward, Fatemeh should spend some time practising the use of prepositions which are difficult and numerous but their correct use would help the fluency of her speaking. She must also start to pay attention to the use of infinitives with ‘to’ when discussing activities.
15.) EshaghAkbari
Eshagh seems very relaxed in both his speaking and listening. He fully understood all of my questions, even when I challenged him and did not use full question construction, and provided detailed, well-developed answers in a very natural manner. In order to further improve Eshagh’s English, he must focus on bringing his grammatical ability up to the same level as his speaking and listening; at present he is making small mistakes such as confusing prepositions e.g., ‘on my free time’ and including the verb ‘to be’ where it is not necessary. This would further compliment his fluency.
16.) MarziyehRafizadeh
Marziyeh is a very natural listener and speaker of English and clearly feels confident and at ease with language learning. Her understanding of my questions was without fault and her answers were equally suitable, interesting and well-delivered. She provided an excellent sentence when asked about her thoughts on big families, which she clearly constructed on the spot and included a modal and a comparative. Although her confidence in speaking in certainly a good thing, going forward she must make sure she doesn’t continue to make the same, fairly basic mistakes such as missing out personal pronouns and articles which, at present, are affecting the fluency of her speech.
17.) AtosaAmiri
Atosa gave a detailed but naturally flowing introduction about himself and understood my subsequent questions without any difficulty. In an attempt to test Atosa, I did ask him some more casually constructed questions but he was completely unaffected and answered them with ease. He is also showed off a wide range of vocabulary and consistently accurate subject verb agreements and examples of the past and present simple. With his listening, speaking and vocabulary levels being as high as they are, I would now recommend Atosa look to introduce some more complex grammatical structures into his speech such as conditional forms.
18.) ElaheMoshiri
Elahe’s pronunciation is fine and her range of vocabulary is fairly good for this level. She listened carefully to my questions, understanding them without problems and was able to provide interesting, well-developed answers as a result. She also included a nice variety of expressions of frequency. One way for Elahe to improve from here would be to focus on her grammar and try to bring it up to the same level as her speaking and listening.