How to improve English oral under the new syllabus?

[mum2b]

Anyone?

[lee_yl]

mum2b,


How old is your dc? Not sure if my sharing is relevant to you.

My dd is in P3 and scored full marks for her SA1 English oral.
She said that the child must speak audibly, confidently and not go off topic.
Can talk about personal experiences. If there is no personal experiences to share, the child can also make up stories but must not go off topic.

For example, if the topic is about cycling, don’t get carried away and talk about cycling in the park where this park has plenty of flowers and birds chirping and BBQ pits. Don’t end up describing the park instead and not talking about cycling.

When teacher ask what is your favorite sport? Child must say, "I like cycling because cycling is a form of exercise and I find it fun." If the child only answers, "My favorite sport is cycling" and teacher needs to prompt why, then the child will probably lose half a mark. At the end, always have a proper conclusion/ending.

I think there are quite a number of enrichment centers that focus on doing well for oral. Going for a holiday program maybe useful to brush up the skill. You can take this opportunity to access if the center is worth signing up the long term or not.

[mum2b]

Thanks lee_yl

Will do some practice with dc.
Hmm … Wonder if dc is one of very few with this issue of not talking much & thus greatly affect oral test in sch?

[alng]

Hi,


My son used to be shy and quiet but he has improved a lot over the past year.

One of his weaknesses is the lack of content to speak. I told him to speak at least 8 sentences on the topic before pausing for the teacher’s prompt. The school uses mindmap to get the students to think about what to talk about.

On the topic of cycling, one can talk about:
1. Cycling is his favourite sport.
2. When he goes cycling
3. Where he goes cycling
4. Why cycling is his favourite sport
5. Advantages of cycling
6. Disadvantages of cycling
7. A unforgetable cycling experience
8. A cycling competition

[mum2b]

Alng, thanks for your sharing. It's comforting to know that there r others in the same boat before & can improve with practicing. Did ur son practice w/ u or did he attend tuition/enrichment?

In the ptm the teacher suggested using 5W1H. But even with it, seems like still very little to say.. As everything said is too to the point :slapshead:

[sharonkhoo]

I think that practising having conversations at home is the best way to improve oral skills. Encourage your son to talk about his interests, engage in family discussions etc and get him used to back and forth conversation, and it should lead to him being able to talk more without too many prompts. Also make sure he uses complete sentences and learns appropriate vocab in English - many kids speak in partial sentences, mix Chinese/Singlish/English, or are just not coherent. You can then focus on the exam format closer to exam time as he should already have the necessary skills.

[alng]

mum2b:

Alng, thanks for your sharing. It's comforting to know that there r others in the same boat before & can improve with practicing. Did ur son practice w/ u or did he attend tuition/enrichment?

In the ptm the teacher suggested using 5W1H. But even with it, seems like still very little to say.. As everything said is too to the point :slapshead:

The tutor and I only practise oral with him nearer to the oral exam. The school also uses 5W1H method to get the students to write out the questions using mindmap. It really helps in the content. Usually by thinking of the mindmap questions for each topic, my son just needs to think of 2 sentences for each question and he could come up with 8 sentences easily. Sometimes, after saying 8-10 sentences, the teacher will not give any prompt but asks him to go. In the recent SA1, he scores top band for conversation, better than the reading.

btw, he is in P4.

[mum2b]

thanks, slmkhoo, I'm working on it. dc is in student care, we have limited time & being not so chatty parents ourselves, it does requires effort :oops:


alng, pm u.

[OpenSchoolbag]

There are some good books for practising Oral at home. Parents should support your child in the practice process, \"pretending\" to be the examiner in exam condition. Look under Oral section for some assessment books we found:


https://www.openschoolbag.com.sg/blog/f ... -for-psle/