Role-play
A conversation on a card: five prompts set out in English, a question of your own to ask and one you cannot prepare for.
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Role-play, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how AQA's role-play works and is marked
With AQA the speaking test is Paper 2, worth 60 marks: 7 to 9 minutes at Foundation and 10 to 12 at Higher, after 12 minutes' supervised preparation. The role-play comes first, lasts about two minutes and is worth 15 marks. Your card sets the scene and five tasks in English, and the teacher plays the other person. Each task earns up to 2 marks for communication, 2 if the message is clear and 1 if only part of it comes across, and the whole role-play then earns up to 5 for your knowledge and use of Chinese.
Know how Pearson Edexcel's role-play works and is marked
With Pearson Edexcel the speaking test is Paper 2, worth 70 marks, at the same lengths and with the same 12 minutes' preparation. The role-play is Task 1, worth 10 marks: five prompts, each earning up to 2 for a clear message that suits the situation. It lasts 1 to 1.5 minutes at Foundation and 2 to 2.5 at Higher, and the teacher opens it and asks the first question. The card says whether the situation is formal or informal. Edexcel also offers the speaking test in Cantonese; this course practises Mandarin.
Spot the ? and the ! on the card
A ? means you must ask a question, and a ! means the teacher will ask something you haven't seen. An AQA card usually has one of each. An Edexcel card has one ! and asks you for one question at Foundation and two at Higher. Edexcel's Foundation role-play stays in the present, while at Higher one prompt asks about the past.
Prepare every task in the 12 minutes
The preparation time covers the role-play and the photo or picture task together. Plan a short answer with a verb for each task, covering both parts when a task asks for two things, and write the ? question out in full. With AQA your notes go on an extra sheet and stay with you until the conversation; Edexcel allows one side of A4 for both tasks. Keep notes to key words and talk to the teacher rather than reading sentences out.
Ask a real question, in Chinese order
A Chinese question keeps the order of a statement. Either add 吗 to the end, as in 你有弟弟吗？, or put the question word where the answer will go: 你几点去？ is answered 我八点去。 Never use both. Have 多少钱？, 在哪儿？, 什么时候？ and 几点？ ready, because a statement in place of the question can't earn its marks.
Fit your words to the person
An adult, such as a shop assistant or a teacher, gets 您 for you and 请问 to start a question. A friend gets 你 and a friendly tone. Edexcel marks whether each answer suits the situation, so read the card's setting before you plan.
Handle the ! question calmly
Catch the question word and the verb, then answer with the same verb: 你想喝什么？ 我想喝茶。 If you need to hear it again, say 对不起，我不明白。 and the teacher will repeat it. With AQA, asking for a repeat costs nothing when you then answer well.
Answer the past in the past
When the teacher asks about something that has happened, listen for 昨天, 上个 or 了, and answer the same way: 你上个周末做了什么？ 我上个周末去了公园。 For a plan, use 要 or 打算 with a time word: 我明天要去北京。
Role-play key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Role-play
- The first speaking task: a short scene from a card, with the teacher as the other person.
- Task or prompt
- One of the five things on the card to say or ask, each worth up to 2 marks for communication.
- The ? prompt
- A task marked with a question mark, telling you to ask the teacher a question.
- The ! prompt
- A task marked with an exclamation mark, where the teacher asks a question you haven't prepared.
- Register
- How formal your language is: polite for an adult you don't know, friendly for a friend.
- 您
- The polite word for you, for an adult such as a teacher, a customer or a shop assistant.
- 请问
- May I ask: a polite way to open a question to an adult.
- 我不明白
- I don't understand: the way to ask the teacher to say a question again.
Common mistakes in Role-play
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Adding 吗 to a question that already has a question word, as in 你去哪儿吗？
A question word already makes the question, as in 你去哪儿？. Use 吗 only to turn a statement into a yes-or-no question: 你去北京吗？ is the other kind.
Moving the question word to the front, as English does: 什么你喜欢？
Keep the order of a statement and put the question word where the answer goes. 我喜欢音乐。 answers 你喜欢什么？, word for word in the same places.
Saying something about yourself on the ? task instead of asking.
The marks for that task are for a question. Prepare it word for word, as in 电影几点开始？, and say it as a question.
Using 你 with a shop assistant or a teacher in a formal scene.
Use 您 with an adult in a formal setting, and open with 请问. With friends, 你 is right.
Answering only one half of a task that asks for two things.
If a task asks what you like and why, give both. With one half missing, the message only partly comes across and the task earns 1 mark instead of 2.