Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening: All Parts Teacher’s

Notes
Description
This activity covers all parts of the Entry 2 Speaking and Listening test, and may be done over a series of
lessons. Students are introduced to the instructions, helped to structure a talk, answer questions about
sample listening scripts, practise some functional language and have a short discussion.

Teacher’s Notes

Aims of the lesson
• to familiarise students with the different phases of the Skills
for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening test
• to familiarise students with the instructions used in the test
• to familiarise students with a useful way of structuring a talk
• to familiarise students with the nature of the Listening
scripts and questions on them
• to help students to identify coherence between questions
and answers, and to identify irrelevance
• to familiarise students with some functional aspects of
conversation

Time needed 50–60 minutes (teachers may want to split the activity over two or
more lessons, e.g. Steps 1–7; Steps 8–12; Steps 13–18)

Materials required • Student’s Worksheet 1– one per student

• Student’s Worksheet 2 – one per student
• Student’s Worksheet 3 – one per student
• Audio recording with this resource or downloaded from:
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-
qualifications/skills-for-life/how-to-prepare/
(Speaking and Listening mode, version 6)

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Procedure
1. Ask students what they already know about the Speaking and Listening test. Acknowledge whatever
they say, without commenting on whether it is accurate or not.
2. Explain that they are going to check the accuracy of what has been said by looking at the test in
more detail. Give out Student’s Worksheet 1. Allow a minute or two for them to read through the
summary of the test.
3. Explain that in Exercise 1 you are going to read out some instructions that the examiner will give
them in the test. They should listen and decide which part of the test each instruction comes from,
writing the appropriate letter next to the description of each phase. Ask them to work in pairs.
4. Teacher reads aloud:
A In this part of the test, you are going to listen to two recordings and answer some questions.
You can make notes if you want to. You hear two people talking about TV programmes. What
type of TV programme are the people talking about? Sport, the news or children’s TV?
B In this part of the test, you are each going to talk for about one minute. While you are talking
your partner will listen to you. Your partner will then ask you two questions about what you have
said. Maria, you are going to tell Walid about what you like about your course at college and
what you want to do after the course. Walid, you are going to tell Maria about your favourite time
of year and why you like it. You both have one minute to think about what you want to say. You
can make notes if you want to.
C Now you’re going to talk together about television and the kind of TV programmes you
watch.
D Where do you come from?
5. Check the answers together (see below). As you do so, ask these additional questions:
Phase 1a (answer D). Who asks the questions in this part? (the examiner)
How many questions will you have to answer? (a few)
Will they be difficult questions? (no)
Phase 1b (answer B). Who are Maria and Walid? (two candidates. The examiner uses the
candidates’ own names)
Do you have a choice of topic to talk about? (no)
Do you need to listen to the other candidate’s talk? (yes) Why? (you must
think of two questions to ask them when they’ve finished speaking)
Can you make notes before you talk, and about the other candidate’s talk?
(yes)
Phase 2a (answer A). Does the examiner ask you a question before you hear the recordings? (yes)
Should you answer the question before you hear the recordings? (no – you
could only guess what the speakers are going to say)
Explain that they will hear the recordings twice.
Phase 2b (answer C). Should you give your own opinions? (yes)
Should you ask the other candidate what they think? (yes)

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 6. Explain that in Exercise 2 they are going to look at a few simple phrases for structuring their talk in
Phase 1, second part. (These sentences relate to the sample topic ‘your favourite time of year’, but
can easily be adapted to other topics to give students further practice.) Students should put the
sentences into the best order, numbering them 1–6. The first one has been done for them.
7. Check the answers. (See Key to Student’s Worksheet 1.)
8. Explain that you are now going to look at the listening part of the test (Phase 2, first part). Explain
that in the test they are shown three photographs to help them prepare for the recording. Give out
Student’s Worksheet 2 and refer students to Exercise 1. Ask them to cover Exercise 2 with a book
or piece of paper, as you are going to look at that in a moment.
9. Explain that you will read/play the tapescript once, and they should choose their answer to the
question ‘What type of TV programme is the person talking about? Sport, the news or children’s
TV?’ Read tapescript 1, or play the recording from the website (see above):
‘I like to know what’s happening in the world and I don’t really have time to read the papers, so I try
to watch it every evening. We’re busy cooking the dinner and playing with the children at 6 o’clock. I
like to watch at 10 when they’re in bed and the house is quiet. I’m interested in politics and
information about other countries but, I must say, I don’t really like to hear about famous people.
They’re boring.’
10. Check the answer (the news). Now ask students to look at the questions in Exercise 2 that they had
covered up. Working in pairs, they should predict possible answers to questions 2 and 3 for Speaker
1. Feed back their ideas briefly (2: a time in the evening, e.g. 6 p.m., 9.30 p.m., 20:15; 3: something
to do with TV programmes, e.g. nature programmes, series). Ask students to write short answers to
questions 2–3 as they listen again. Complete sentences aren’t required. If necessary, read the script
more than once so students can get the answers. (See Key to Student’s Worksheet 2.)
11. (Optional) Repeat steps 8, 9 and 10 with tapescript 2. (Predictions for questions 5 and 6: 5: a time,
e.g. at the weekend, or after dinner; 6: probably a room in the home, e.g. bedroom, living room).
Tapescript 2:
‘I think it’s great that there’s so much of it on TV. It’s better and cheaper than going there and buying
a ticket. I sit and watch with my children, especially on a Saturday afternoon. They love watching
their favourite teams and hearing about the players. It’s a pity but my wife isn’t interested at all. I
tried to put a TV in the kitchen but she says she doesn’t want to hear David Beckham at breakfast
time! (See Key to Student’s Worksheet 2.)
12. Point out that in the test, the two candidates always hear two recordings and need to answer
questions like these about each recording. They will hear the recordings twice only.
13. Explain that you are now going to look at the second part of Phase 2, the discussion task. Remind
students that the topic is linked to the listening phase, so in this case they are going to think about
TV programmes. Ask what happens if you are having a conversation and you just say what you
think, but don’t ask any questions (the conversation dies, either because the other person gets
bored or because they don’t say anything).
14. Give out Student’s Worksheet 3. Focus attention on Exercise 1. Check students understand the
functions listed on the left. Working in pairs, they must match the functions on the left with the
appropriate phrases on the right. Feed back answers. (See Key to Student’s Worksheet 3.)
15. Ask students:
What TV programmes do you like? Why?
What programmes don’t you like? Why?

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 Elicit a few types of programmes, e.g. soaps (originally ‘soap operas’), nature programmes, reality
shows, entertainment shows, documentaries, costume dramas (adaptations of novels or plays
written a century or more ago), etc.
16. Explain that in Exercise 2 they are going to look at some questions and answers they might use in
Phase 2, second part, when the topic is TV programmes. In pairs, they should match each question
with a suitable answer, and decide which question isn’t relevant to the topic. Check the answers.
(See Key to Student’s Worksheet 3.)
17. Write the following on the board: Talk together about television and the kind of TV programmes
you watch. Working in pairs, ask students to have a conversation about this topic from the test.
Remind them that they should ask each other questions, answer, and comment on each other’s
answers, for example, by using the phrases in Exercises 1 and 2. Give them three minutes for this.
Go round and monitor them, and note any particularly effective questions or pieces of interaction, to
praise afterwards.
18. Ask if they feel more confident about the test, and which parts they would like more practice in. Ask
how they can improve their speaking and listening. (See Key to Procedure step 18.)

Additional information
• In all phases of the Entry 2 test, the topics and questions are of a straightforward and factual nature.
Students may also be asked to talk about personal experiences or give opinions. It’s expected that
the examiner will be required to intervene in discussions in order to keep the interaction going. For
more information on assessment, see the Skills for Life Handbook.

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Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening: All Parts Answer Keys
Key to Procedure step 18
Ideas for improving speaking skills: joining a club or going to places where British people meet and
socialise; starting at least one conversation a day, e.g. in a shop or at college; setting a time when they talk
to each other in English for a fixed period, e.g. 30 minutes.
Ideas for improving listening skills: watching TV (including short programmes, such as children’s
programmes) and films (with and without subtitles in students’ own language), listening to the radio and/or
music in English, sitting on buses and listening to people talking to each other, lectures and seminars at
college. Encourage them to predict what they’re going to hear in a particular situation from the context, e.g.
at a bus stop, people often complain that the bus is late or talk about the weather.

Key to Student’s Worksheet 1

Exercise 2

A. 6 B. 4 C. 1 D. 5 E. 3 F. 2

Key to Student’s Worksheet 2

Exercise 1

1. the news. Parts of the script which show that the speaker is talking about the news: ‘I like to
know what’s happening in the world’, and also ‘the papers’, ‘I’m interested in politics and
information about other countries’.
Note reference to playing, which could lead some people to think he/she is talking about sport.
Note reference to children, which could lead some people to think he/she is talking about
children’s TV.
2. at 10
3. famous people
4. sport. Parts of the script which show that the speaker is talking about sport: ‘They love watching
their favourite teams and hearing about the players’, and mentions ‘buying a ticket’, ’David
Beckham’ (footballer), and ‘Saturday afternoon’ (when a lot of sports events take place in the
UK).
Note references to children and possibly breakfast time, which could lead some people to think
he/she is talking about children’s TV.
5. Saturday afternoon
6. in the kitchen

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Key to Student’s Worksheet 3

Exercise 1

1. Agree: I think so too.

2. Disagree: I don’t really agree.
3. Ask a question: What do you think of reality shows?
4. Give your opinion: I think some advertisements are very funny.
5. Ask for clarification: What do you mean?
6. Encourage the speaker: Yeah!

Exercise 2

1. A

2. D

3. C

4. B

5. E

Question 3 isn’t relevant, because it’s about television sets, not programmes.

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Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening: All Parts
Student’s Worksheet 1

Exercise 1

Listen to your teacher. Match the instructions to one part of the test (1–4).

The parts of the test

1 Phase 1, first part: the examiner asks you and the other candidate a few simple questions. ……
2 Phase 1, second part: the examiner asks each candidate to talk for a minute about an everyday topic.
Each topic is different. You have some time to think about it before you need to speak. ……
3 Phase 2, first part: you listen to one or two short recordings and answer questions about them. ……
4 Phase 2, second part: you and the other candidate speak together on a topic related to the listening
task. ……

Exercise 2

Here is an example of a topic from Phase 1, second part:

your favourite time of the year and why you like it

Put these sentences in the right order, numbering them 1–6. The first has been done for you.

A. …… I hope you understand now why I like this season so much.

B. …… Another reason is the countryside. Everything is very green, there are lots of flowers and leaves
on the trees, and I think it is very beautiful. I can swim in the lakes and rivers too.
C. ..1.. I’m going to tell you about my favourite time of the year, which is the summer.
D. …… Finally, I like this time of the year because that’s when I have my holidays from college, so I have
more free time to have fun!
E. …… The first is to do with the weather. I love the sun and I enjoy being outside when it’s sunny and
warm.
F. …… There are three main reasons why I especially like this season, and I’ll talk a little bit about them.

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Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening: All Parts
Student’s Worksheet 2

Exercise 1
Phase 2, Part 1: Listening
You will hear some people talking about TV programmes. First, think about possible answers. Then answer
the questions as you hear the scripts.

What type of TV programme is the person talking about? Sport, the news or children’s TV?

sport the news children’s TV

Exercise 2
First speaker
1 What type of TV programme is the first speaker talking about? Sport, the news or children’s TV?
……………………………………………
2 What time does the speaker watch the news in the evenings? …………………
3 What is the speaker not interested in? ……………………………………………

Second speaker
4 What type of TV programme is the second speaker talking about? Sport, the news or children’s TV?
……………………………………………
5 When does the speaker usually watch TV with his children? …………………………
6 Where did he want to have another TV? ……………………………………………

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Skills for Life Entry 2 Speaking and Listening: All Parts
Student’s Worksheet 3
Exercise 1

Draw a line between each language function (1–6) and the right example.

1 Agree What do you think of reality shows?

2 Disagree I think some advertisements are very funny.
3 Ask a question Yeah!
4 Give your opinion What do you mean?
5 Ask for clarification I think so too.
6 Encourage the speaker I don’t really agree.

Exercise 2
Here are some questions that candidates might ask each other in the second part of Phase 2 when the
topic is television programmes. Match each question, 1–5, with the best answer A–E. There is one question
which isn’t about the topic. Which one is it?

Questions
1 Are there any TV programmes you watch every day or every week?
2 What’s your favourite programme and why do you like it?
3 Do you think televisions are too expensive?
4 Do you think watching TV helps you to learn English?
5 Is TV a good thing for children or a bad thing?
Answers
A There’s a soap that’s very popular in my country, which is on five times a week. I always watch it if I’m
at home, and I usually record it if I know I’m going to miss it.
B Yes, I’m sure it does. I sometimes watch English-language programmes and read the subtitles in my
own language. And if I get the chance, I watch them again, this time without the subtitles. I can
usually understand much more the second time I watch.
C I think the very big screens are too expensive – I’d love to buy one, but I can’t afford it. But the smaller
screens don’t seem expensive.
D I really enjoy nature programmes, and the one I like most of all is a series about birds. I’ve learned a
lot from it about how birds behave, and it shows lots of places that I’ve never visited, like the Antarctic
and Siberia.
E I think some programmes are very educational – you can learn about different places and topics, and
about how people behave. That’s very good for children. But if children spend too long watching, they
don’t play with other children, or do any exercise, which isn’t good for them.
Which question isn’t relevant to the topic? ……

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