C1 ADVANCED COLLABORATIVE TASKS

The third part of the CAE exam is based on interaction with your partner. You need to focus on developing a simple, yet fluent conversation with your partner, in which, the examiner will assess your ability to “initiate and respond, develop a topic, negotiate an outcome”.

 

There are some simple things that you can do to make this part of the exam a lot easier:

1. Practice question formation and ask all types of questions (short, full, negative, question tags)
2. Context. If you give the situation a context it is much easier to discuss. Make the situation personal and act it out like a role-play.
3. Hypothetical tenses. Use hypothetical grammar forms (2nd and 3rd conditional, wish, if only) to help develop the content.
4. Make your points and give reasons for your answers. It is important to use examples like past experiences to reinforce your opinions.
5. Disagree! At the beginning, it is much easier if you purposely disagree with your partner. See phrases for agreement and disagreement (HERE)

 

This part of the exam is informal. You can interrupt and use colloquial forms to make your points. Try to relax and enjoy this part of the exam. If it seems like a natural conversation with a friend, it will get a much better grade. This part of the exam is not concerned with accuracy, but interaction and fluency. You want the examiner to think that you speak English on a daily basis and that you enjoy using it.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Interactive communication

Interacts with ease, linking contributions to those of other speakers. Widens the scope of the interaction and negotiates towards an outcome. This means that the candidate can both interact with their partner and the interlocutor with ease. All factors contribute to this part of the evaluation, including body language, eagerness to speak and attitude. You must make sure that you have practiced the exam format and that you complete each task to the required level.

Example speaking exercise:

Now, I’d like you to talk about something together for about two minutes.

I’d like you to imagine that you are talking about food. Here are some of the ideas you could be thinking about and a question for you to discuss. First you have some time to look at the task.

 

What do people not usually bear in mind when buying food?

• where it comes from
• the sell-by-date
• the value for money
• how healthy it is
• the ingredients and information about allergies

 

Now, talk to each other about what people should consider when buying food.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you. Now you have about a minute to decide which most people do not take into account when buying food.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you.

 

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Discuss the following questions, in order, as appropriate:

• Do you have the tendency to watch what you eat?
• What is the best way to stick to a balanced diet?
• Some people say that you don’t need to have a balanced diet as long as you do enough exercise. Do you agree?
• Do you take air miles into account when you do the food shopping?
• Is it easy to get value for money in supermarkets these days?

CHECK OUT OUR POST ON THE C1 ADVANCED SPEAKING EXAM (HERE)