Feedback: Level 4 Group 2
Saturday 9th June, 9am GMT
Students have been assessed on four separate criteria: grammar, fluency, pronunciation and vocabulary.
1. Ahmad Reza Salahi
Perhaps Ahmad was a little nervous, as his answers were hesitant and he lacked fluency. He frequently stumbled over words and repeated himself. He would benefit from taking a moment to think about his answer before starting his sentence. He voiced his opinion well in Question 11, beginning his sentence with I prefer to… However, his answer sounded more like a list (I go swimming, I go… I do…) rather than a sentence. Try to vary your sentences a little more.
2. Hadi Jafari
Hadi seemed calm and confident throughout. He formed sentences correctly and thoughtfully. His answers to Questions 8, 10 and 14 were particularly eloquent and detailed. I particularly liked his use of adverbs of frequency – We almost always go to… But take care with superlatives/comparatives – it’s most comfortable than… - remember it’s either it’s more comfortable than or it’s most comfortable.
3. Amir Abas Mosaei
Amir was confident and chatty and spoke with a natural manner. His vocabulary was especially good, as demonstrated in Questions 1 and 12 in particular. His adverbs of frequency were also good, as demonstrated in Question 5. Take care with Question 13, which asks for possible problems you might have on vacation. “Someone stole my wallet”, makes it sound as though it has actually happened. “Someone might steal my wallet” or “Someone could steal my wallet” would have been better answers.
4. Pedram Azadi
Pedram did very well, speaking fluently and eloquently throughout. His opening sentence to Question 1 (“No, not at all!”) sounded very natural and conversational, although he did require me to ask for a reason why not. His answer to Question 5 was very good – he spoke about his daily routine well and added nice details such as “…I go to work, and on the way I listen to music. I’m crazy about music”. Well done.
5. Hamed Aghaei
Hamed did very well in parts and used some good vocabulary and spoke quite fluently, but he didn’t always understand the question or answer questions correctly. For example, Question 4 asks what he does to stay healthy, but his answer included household chores such as cleaning the sofa and doing the laundry, which is perhaps not quite relevant. In Question 5, he told me about his full day rather than just about his morning, as asked. In Question 11, he talked about travelling by aeroplane rather than what type of vacation he likes (he could have said ‘an adventure holiday’, ‘a relaxing holiday’, ‘a beach holiday’, etc.) Take a moment to really think about the question being asked before you answer.
6. Hosein Samedani
Hosein spoke fluently and provided some good details in his answers. Question 1 was particularly detailed and he offered good reasons why he doesn’t think he is a couch potato. Be careful with Question 2, which asks about people in general, not about you personally. Hosein also needs to take care to listen to questions properly, as he told me about his full day rather than just his morning in Question 5, and he told me what he does at work in Question 8, although the question was about his clothes. His answers about vacations were good, however, and I liked his use of the phrase ‘dream vacation’ and the way he gave me a personal account (“last year…”) for Question 13.
7. Ayatolah Dehghan
Ayatolah generally performed well, and used some good vocabulary. His pronunciation was also good. However, he needs to develop his listening skills more to demonstrate he understands the questions properly. In Question 2, for example, he replied that he plays basketball and chess, even though the question asks why people exercise. Questions 5 and 8 had to be rephrased, but once he understood, he was able to answer both questions fluently.
8. Leila Kazemi – ABSENT
9. Marziyeh Hajipoor
Marziyeh had a chatty and approachable manner which made her responses sound natural and conversational. Question 3 had to be repeated several times before she understood it, but once she did she offered a very eloquent and full response. Similarly with Question 5, she did not seem to understand the word typical, but once I had rephrased it, she gave me a good answer. I tested her with the word typical again in Question 6, and she was able to understand and answer me straight away, demonstrating her ability to listen. I am confident she will remember what typical means next time! Marziyeh also demonstrated the ability to correct herself. In Question 8 she began her answer with “I dress…” but corrected herself to “I wear…” She also made good use of the conditional tense in Question 12 (“If I went to…”).
10. Mayram Hardan
Maryam generally spoke well throughout. However, her tenses were often confused (e.g. “I get up at… and I’m studying… and I eat breakfast” – continuous –ing endings are generally not used when speaking about routines and habits. “I didn’t work, but at university I wear…” – past tense is unnecessary here). Her answer to Question 14 was also quite bitty – she used individual words such as ‘historical’, ‘shops’ and ‘sea’, all of which demonstrated good vocabulary, but did not form a full sentence. Focus on your tenses a little more and avoid switching tenses mid-sentence.
11. Saeed Karam Nejad
Saeed did very well! His answers were very eloquent and detailed and often well-pronounced. He provided interesting additional information in Question 1, such as “I am a member of a team, and I exercise… times a week”, and in Question 8 - “I am a lawyer, so I have to wear formal clothes, like…” He answered questions 5 and 6 about his daily routines very well and also gave me a very intelligent answer about Iranian dress code. One small thing – the activity you enjoy on vacation is sightseeing, not see-sighting!
12. Masoud Nazari
Masoud spoke fluently and provided good detail in his answers. In Question 1, he gave me good reasons for why he is not a couch potato, using adverbs of frequency effectively to tell me how often he exercises and plays sports. Take note that Question 2 is not about you personally but about people generally. Questions 5 and 6 were both good – he had no problem talking about daily routines. There was some confusion over Question 10 – he told me “I like casual clothes”, when the question asked about dress code in Iran. Possibly the confusion lay in the use of the word like which has more than one meaning. Question 11 was excellent – Masoud told me an interesting story about his last holiday.
13. Mehrdad Karimi
Mehrdad was very good at providing good reasons, examples and opinions throughout. He answered Questions 5 and 6 well, fluently talking about his daily routine using adverbs of frequency correctly. He needs to work on his grammar though, as it sometime became confused – e.g. I not eat junk food… for be in shape (Question 1).
14. Paryaneh Rosta – ABSENT
15. Behyar Zaeridost
Sound quality was poor for Behyar, but he still did remarkably well. He had a chatty, approachable manner and spoke with natural fluency. He gave a full answer to Question 1 (“Actually, I am. I don’t have time to exercise, and I watch TV everyday”), which was very good, although he later contradicted himself by saying he exercises everyday in answer to Question 3. He gave good examples in Question 8, although he seemed to misinterpret the word like in Question 10, because he told me about clothes he likes (comfortable but modest). Question 13 is asking about possible problems you might have on vacation, so “Someone might steal my bag” is a better answer than “Sometimes stole to my bag”, which is a bit of a grammatically confused answer.
16. Ali Zare
Ali spoke fluently and demonstrated a good knowledge of vocabulary. He answered Questions 1 and 3 very well, with phrases such as “I work all day, every day” and “I generally try to…” which enhanced his answers. In Question 7, he told me what kind of exercise he does, but neglected to tell me how often, so he needs to pay careful attention to the question being asked. His answer to Question 14 was good, as he specified he likes ‘hotels by the sea’, rather than the more general answer given by other students.
17. Negin Motafef
Negin was perhaps a little nervous at the beginning, because her answer to Question 1 seemed a little confused. However, she improved as we progressed and answered all other questions well. In Questions 5 and 6 she correctly used adverbs of frequency to tell me about her daily routine, and she delivered a detailed response to Question 7, telling me exactly what different kinds of exercises she does and how often she does each one. In Questions 11 and 12 she was able to demonstrate her good knowledge of vocabulary, using adjectives such as exciting, unusual and relaxing to describe her preferred vacation, and telling me a variety of activities she likes to do.
18. Mohamad Reza Khorsand
Mohamad generally did well and his pronunciation in particular was quite natural. Take care to listen to questions carefully. Question 3 is asked about what he does to stay healthy, but his answer included things such as ‘watch TV’, ‘play soccer on computer’, ‘watch movie’, ‘take a shower’, none of which is a suitable answer. Remember the use the correct verbs when describing daily routine – e.g. brush teeth, not wash, get dressed, not wear clothes. Question 8 was very good, as he offered good examples of the kind of clothes he wears. Mohamad could have improved his answer to Question 10 by using the word should – i.e. In Iran men should not… Take care with Question 13, which asks for possible problems you might have on vacation. “Sometimes the weather was raining”, makes it sound as though it has actually happened. “The weather might be bad” or “It might rain” would have been better answers.
19. Nazanin Ghasempoor
Nazanin seemed a little nervous and struggled to understand many of the questions, which seemed to increase her anxiety and affected her performance negatively. The expected answer to Question 3 would include things such as regular exercise and eating moderately, rather than washing hands and taking a shower, though of course, personal hygiene is also important for health. Questions 5 and 6 were answered well, demonstrating a good knowledge of vocabulary relating to daily routines. However, the answer was more like a list of things than a full sentence, so try to work on forming fuller sentences and give extra details if you can. This will enhance your marks.
20. Mojdeh Esfandiari
Mojdeh seemed a little nervous, perhaps because the sound quality was poor and she struggled to hear me well. However, she answered questions quite fluently. Question 1, for example, was particularly good, as she gave me some additional information to support her answer (“No, I’m not a couch potato. I’m crazy about basketball”). She also gave an intelligent answer to Question 10. Mojdeh was a little hesitant with her answers, however, so could improve on her fluency a little more by practicing speaking with her friends and classmates.
21. Raziyeh Khodaparast
Raziyeh displayed a good knowledge of vocabulary throughout. However, her fluency really let her down as many of her answers were rather disjointed (e.g. Question 1: “No, I don’t like. Bad for body and healthy”). She also failed to understand Question 8, as she told me that she likes relaxing vacations, when I had actually asked about what clothes she wears to work. Take care to listen more carefully! Also, try not to finish every answer with “that’s it”. When your sentence comes to a natural stop, the examiner will know you are ready to move onto the next question.
22. Mehzad Sakiani
Mehzad showed good understanding of many of the questions and also demonstrated an adequate knowledge of relevant vocabulary. She was particularly good at telling me about various activities she does (Questions 3, 5, 9 and 12). However, most of these activities were given in list form rather than as a full sentence, so she needs to practice forming fuller sentences. Take care with Question 13, which asks for possible problems you might have on vacation. “Cancel my flight and accident and someone stole my bag” is a good list of things, but would sound better if you said “My flight could get cancelled, I might have an accident, and someone might steal my bag”.
23. Noshin Khodadadi
Noshin answered most questions fluently and with good detail. She answered Questions 2 and 3 very well, telling me she avoids sweets and junk food to stay healthy. Be careful with word order in Question 4 – I get up early, not I early get up. Noshin gave some good examples of clothing in Question 8, and demonstrated the ability to correct herself in Question 9, when she initially began her sentence with “I go to…” before changing it to “When I go to… I wear…” Her answers to Question 10, 11 and 12 were excellent – I particularly liked the way she formulated her answer to Question 10, using the word should correctly and effectively (“Women should wear…. Men should wear…).
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Most students struggled with Question 13. Many simply listed a few common problems experienced on vacation, and most used the past tense, such as “the weather was bad” or “my bag was stolen”. Such answers are misleading, as it suggests it has actually happened to them. When talking about possibilities or something that might happen, it is better to say “the weather could be bad” or “my bag might be stolen”.