Learning is a life-long journey.

The Pedagogy Domain aims to become a sphere of influence in the practice of education.

Follow us as we share snippets of our PSLE English Preparatory Classes here!

Stimulus-based Conversation





While we spend the bulk of our time on practising for our Papers 1 & 2, let's not forget that we also have 2 other papers to practise on! 

 Today, we are going to revise Paper 4, Oral Communication

Oral Communication takes up 15% weightage in your PSLE English examination. Today, we are going recap on how to speak well for your Stimulus-Based Conversation section.

 Look at the poster below:

Imagine that you are given this poster to prepare for during your PSLE Oral Examination. How should you make use of your 2.5-minute preparation time (half of the 5 minutes given, as the other 2.5 minutes should be allocated to Reading Aloud) to prepare for the Stimulus-Based Conversation?

Remember to follow the 5-step rule to prepare for your Stimulus-Based Conversation:
  1. Read the details 
  2. Identify the theme
  3. Anticipate the first question 
  4. Prepare the opening response
  5. Brainstorm for possible questions

 Read the details

After reading the details, you should be able to identify the following points:
  • This poster is about a race.
  • The race is organized to celebrate Mothers' Day.
  • This is a charity race (because all proceeds will go to a cancer survivor and recovery program).

Identify the theme

If you apply the 'connection framework' that we have practised in class, you will be able to identify that this conversation may go in 3 different directions: 

  • Mothers' Day
  • Sports 
  • Charity

Anticipate the first question

Whenever we are shown posters of activities, the first question that we would expect would be:
Look at this poster. Would you be interested to take part in this activity? Why/Why not?
Prepare for the opening response

Once you have an idea of how the conversation will go, it is time to prepare for your answer to the first question.

There are two possible replies - yes or no. Either way you choose, you need to give a reason. As a rule of thumb, you should give a response that is at least 3 sentences long for your first answer without much prompt.

Remember, 'a good start is half the battle'! So keep calm and carry on talking!
Brainstorm for possible questions and answers

Depending on your answer to this first question, the examiners may ask you other questions to continue the conversation. We need to predict these questions and think of how we want to answer them so that we can have a meaningful conversation.

From Step 2, we have identified that this conversation can have 3 possible themes: Mothers' Day, sports or charity. 

Brainstorm the 3 most possible questions that may be asked under these themes and prepare for them. You can use the points we have used previously during our practices to help you.

Your 'question flowchart' should look like this:

About the Writer

  
Ms Vivien Wu is the founder of The Pedagogy Domain, a provider of small-group home-based language workshop for young learners. As an experienced teacher, trainer and facilitator, she is dedicated to improve learners' command of language through interactive, practical and fun workshops. Read more about her here. 





If you are keen to join our PSLE English Preparatory Class, registration is open now. See here for details!