Feedback: Level 4 Groups 5 & 6
Students have been assessed on four separate criteria: grammar, fluency, pronunciation and vocabulary.
1. Solmaz Askari
Solmaz spoke articulately and delivered good answers to most questions. Her answer to Question 3 was more appropriate for Question 5, because she told me about her day rather than what she does to stay healthy. Her grammar was a little weak, as she often mixed up her tenses – especially present perfect and continuous. However, she showed good knowledge of vocabulary, particularly in Questions 10 and 11.
2. Hoda Mohamad Pour
Hoda spoke very eloquently and fluently, and provided good examples to strengthen her answers and to show off her vocabulary. She often gave full answers – e.g. “I drink at least eight glasses of water each day”. Her attempt at Question 13 was good – she used the word ‘might’, showing that she understood the question. However, she needs to remember that when she uses ‘might’ the verb should be in the present tense – e.g I might lose my bag, not “I might lost my bag”.
3. Amin Oji
Amin seemed a little nervous, as he frequently repeated things and kept starting and re-starting sentences. This affected his performance and brought down the marks for his fluency. He often confused his tenses. Take care when talking about sport (Question 3) – I play soccer, I go dancing – and other activities (Question 12) – I go to museums, I go to the jungle (not, I go to museum, I am go to jungle). However, his answer to Question 5 was excellent: he used several adverbs of frequency, such as ‘always’, ‘usually’, and ‘often’, which enriched his answer.
4. Hosnieh Saberi
Hosnieh spoke fluently and eloquently. She answered all questions very well and often gave lots of examples to enhance her answers. She was particularly good at giving examples in Question 1, when she gave me several reasons why she is not a couch potato, and Question 12, when she listed several activities. She made good use of adverbs of frequency in Questions 5 and 6. She made a good attempt in Question 13. However, take note that the question specifically asks for what problems you might have.
5. Mohamad Mehdi Meysam Zadeh
Mohamad could improve his score by giving more detail in his answers, as his answers were often quite short. For example in Question 1, instead of just saying “No, I’m not a couch potato,” he could have given reasons why he thinks so. The same was the case with Questions 5, 6 and 7, where his answers were correct and good, but would have been better with more detail. Remember that ‘et cetera’ is more common in written English than in spoken English – “I go walking and et cetera” sounds unnatural. Good effort over all. Mohamad’s answer to Question 10 was particularly good, as he was able to provide examples of dress code in Iran when asked.
6. Omid Manochehrian
Omid seemed very confident and delivered his answers with incredible fluency. He needs to take care not to speak so quickly though, as his answers often seemed a little rushed. His vocabulary and pronunciation was excellent, and he answered all questions very well, often providing good examples to support his answers. His answer to Question 8 was particularly good – “Mostly, I wear casual clothes because I dislike formal clothes, for example…” Take care with Question 13 – People might steal, instead of “People might stole”.
7. Zahra Manochehri
Zahra answered her questions calmly and eloquently. Her pronunciation was particularly good, and her answers were often full of relevant detail. Her answers to Questions 5 and 6 were particularly fluent, and she provided many examples of activities for Question 12. Take care not to mix tenses in Question 13, such as ‘lose my money’, ‘the weather is so hot’.
8. Roya Bojar
Roya did brilliantly. She answered all questions very fluently and confidently, offering a good amount of detail and examples to support and enhance her answers. She confused her tenses in Question 13, when she spoke in the past tense (“they cancelled my flight”) when speaking about possibilities, but otherwise she did very well. She answered questions precisely, yet naturally, and it felt like we were having a real conversation. Keep up the good work!
9. Elham Salarian
Elham answered all questions fluently and with confidence. She always gave full answers with good sentence structure – e.g. “I try to eat healthy foods. I try to avoid…” (Question 3), “Because my country is conservative and my office is a formal place…” (Question 8). These were particularly good answers. Be careful with Question 13, which asks for some possible problems you might have on vacation. If you use ‘maybe’, you usually also have to use ‘will’ – e.g. Maybe someone will steal my bag, Maybe they will cancel my flight. The other option is to use ‘could’ – e.g. Someone could steal my bag.
10. Elnaz Ebrahimi
Elnaz answered all questions precisely and confidently. Her answer to Questions 3 and 12 were particularly good and detailed. However, some of the other questions seemed a little too short and could have been enhanced with some extra information, just to add fluency and interest. This will also give her opportunity to use more vocabulary. Take care not to use the past tense in Question 13, which asks about possibilities.
11. Hasan Sharifi
The biggest problem with Hasan was his attitude. Very little effort was made to answer the questions well. Most answers seemed confused and sometimes incoherent. He did, however, answer some questions well. He was able to provide some good examples for Question 8, for instance. Hasan needs to be more attentive and learn to articulate his words better in future.
12. Sorosh Sarvghad
Sorosh scored consistently well across all four marking criteria. His answers were fluent and confidently delivered, and at times he showed the ability to correct himself when he noticed a mistake. His answers to Questions 5 and 6 were solid, and he gave some good examples in Question 12. Take care to avoid using the past tense in Question 13 and try to use sentences such as “maybe the weather will be bad” or “the weather could be bad”, instead of “the weather was bad”.
13. Hamid Shiri
What he lacked in fluency, Hamid made up for with his vocabulary and grammar. He answered questions accurately and with intelligence and often offered good examples and details, which strengthened his answers. His vocabulary in Question 3 was particularly impressive (regular check-ups, medical advice). His answer to Question 8 was also good, but I think he meant ‘mechanic’ when he said his occupation was ‘automechanical’. Hamid spoke very animatedly about vacations, which added vibrancy to his answer. I was also impressed with his choice of problems in Question 13, flat tire and break down, which were clearly informed by his job!
14. Ali Boshehrian
Ali spoke very calmly and confidently. His casual and easygoing attitude made this feel like a real conversation rather than a test. His answers were often full of good examples to add interest to his answers. I particularly liked his answer to Question 6, which began “Usually, after a busy day…,” which added variety to his sentence structures. His answer to Question 12 was also excellent, as he suggested different activities depending on the season and location. Remember the word ‘nutritious’ – I think he said ‘nutritive food’.
15. Esmail Karamiazad
Esmail has the potential to achieve higher marks if he provides more information. His answers were often too brief and hardly offered any detail, which is a shame because he showed a good understanding of the questions and his language was generally good. Esmail should try to develop and elaborate on his answers a little more.
16. Mohamad Ahmadi - ABSENT
17. Mohsen Tafakori
Mohsen was a confident speaker and offered some good detail in his answers. He did particularly well when discussing clothing in Questions 8~10. I was also impressed with his answer to Question 11, in which he expressed an interest in historical places and a desire to visit Egypt someday. Take care not to use the past tense when answering Question 13. Instead of saying “my car was broken,” try something like “my car might break down”.
18. Solmaz Shahnazar
Solmaz did very well. She spoke fluently and elaborated on her answers where necessary. She provided a good amount of detail, and spoke very naturally. I particularly liked her answer to Question 3 because as well as being well-delivered, it also sounded very honest (“I try to eat healthy food and avoid fatty food and junk food, but I eat sweets in moderation”). There was a lot of relevant detail in Questions 5 and 6, and she did very well in Question 13, which many students often struggle with.
19. Sajad Ghadirain
Sajad’s answers were often very concise and could have done with a little more detail, especially for Questions 1 and 2. However, he was able to provide more detail in Questions 5 and 6, which were very good. His vocabulary and pronunciation were consistently good. His answer to Question 14 was different from most other students, as he said he likes to stay in a tent if the weather is good. This added personality and made him stand out from others.
20. Mohamad Reza Najaf Pour
Mohamad did brilliantly. He answered all questions fluently and with good detail. His answers to Questions 3-6 in particular were very full, and he showed a good knowledge of vocabulary throughout. His language was very conversational and he showed good understanding of the difficult Question 13, which he was able to answer using the correct tense. Well done.
21. Shahram Karimi
Shahram spoke fluently and showed a good knowledge of vocabulary. He gave an honest answer to Question 3 – “I don’t have enough time to exercise, but…” – which I liked, especially as he proceeded to give other examples of how he stays healthy. His answer to Question 10 seemed a little contradictory, as he seemed to imply that Iran’s attitude to clothing was both liberal and conservative at the same time. Try to be more specific in Question 13 – “they maybe steal my something” sounds vague and is grammatically incorrect. Instead, try the passive form “my …… might be stolen”.
22. Zahra Zamani
Zahra answered all questions fluently and with confidence. She spoke with a natural ease, which made her speech sound conversational. Most answers were very full and she elaborated well with relevant details. There was some confusion with Questions 5 and 6, as she seemed to be talking about what she likes to do in the morning and evening rather than describing her typical day. However, she did very well otherwise. Well done.
23. Ahmad Reza Salahi
Ahmad answered most questions well and showed a good level of vocabulary. Some of his answers were a little hesitant and he stumbled through some sentences, which lowered his marks in fluency a little. He elaborated very well in Question 6, and gave an original answer to Questions 11 and 12. He sometimes volunteered extra information. Ahmad confused his tenses in Question 13, and used a mix of present and past tenses – try to be more consistent in future.
24. Mohamad Hosien Amidi
Mohamad gave impressive answers to some of the questions. In Question 1, he defined what a couch potato is before giving reasons why he is not a couch potato. Questions 5 and 6 were very well formulated, with answers such as “If time is available, I will go running for half an hour” and “Every evening, I go to the gym to exercise for two hours”. The sentence structures were good in both cases, as was his grammar. He also managed to include a conditional tense in Question 12 – “If the weather is good…” His answer to Question 13 was given as a personal experience of something that had happened to him in the past, rather than a possible problem, but it was well-structured and well-delivered – “I remember one time, my wallet was stolen when I was on vacation”. Well done.