In each level of the GEPT speaking exam students must quickly and fluently answer basic questions about themselves and this lesson can help students improve that skill.

The questions in this lesson are more basic in order to cater to every possible level of GEPT speaking students. If you’re teaching higher level students, you can give them harder questions, or personally I’ve just told my higher level students that I expect “better” answers from them, such as answers that include more difficult grammar or vocabulary.

Preparation:

The teacher should print the Independent Questions Worksheet before class, cut the questions into strips, and tape one question onto each desk in the classroom before students arrive.

Time: 45 minutes

This lesson will take at least 45 minutes to complete.

Step 1: Do a simple warm-up activity. (5 minutes)

Write, “What do you like to do during your free time?” on the board and call on students to answer the question.

Step 2: Provide students with vocabulary about likes and dislikes. (5 minutes)

Put these words onto the board.

• favorite
• prefer
• like
• love
• dislike
• hate

Favorite and prefer are typically unfamiliar to low-level students.

For higher level students you can add words such as…

• loathe
• adore
• despise
• not keen on
• very into

Elicit the meaning of the words and ask students if the know any more words that they can add to the list.

Note: Taiwanese students have a tendency to say “very like” instead of “love,” so make it clear that “love” should be used as the intense version of “like.”

Step 3: Explain independent questions for GEPT. (5 minutes)

Inform students that a big part of the GEPT speaking test is answering independent questions. Students will hear the each question repeated twice, and then they will need to give a full answer to the question in under 15 seconds. (The students should speak for 30 seconds for last five questions at the intermediate level and up.)

This is very difficult for many students!

A full question will always include because, especially for lower-level students. For example…

• “What’s your hobby?”
• “I like reading because it’s calming and it’s a good way to relax.“

Students do not need to speak for the full 15 seconds; however, they must answer the question completely in that time, and they should try to use complete sentences.

Step 4: Speak in pairs (15 minutes)

Have students sit in pairs at the desks. The teacher can set a 15 second timer. Students must tell their partner their answer to the question in that time.

Next have one student from each pair move to a new desk. Students can answer the questions again as the teacher times them for 15 seconds again. Then the student who sat still last time can move to a new desk and answer a new question. Repeat this process until students have changed partners several times and have answered all the questions.

Note: For higher level students, you can have them practice speaking about a few of the questions for 30 seconds to get them used to speaking long enough to answer the last five questions of the independent questions speaking section.

For this activity, it is best if the teacher doesn’t correct any grammar or speaking errors as students are talking. Instead, the teacher can write down any mistakes and go over the problems after students have finished speaking. (This is less threatening for students and encourages fluency, which is important for GEPT speaking.)

Step 5: Practice speaking in front of the class. (10 minutes)

The teacher will remove the questions from the students’ desks. Then the teacher will pick a student to answer a question out loud to the whole class. The student will blindly pick a question from the teacher’s hand, read it, and then the student will have 15 seconds to answer. Since the student has already seen the question, he/she should be able to answer in under 15 seconds.

The teacher should listen to students’ answers, but again, do not provide feedback at this time. If there are errors that the teacher feels should be corrected, the teacher can write them down to correct them later.

Step 6: Go over any mistakes as a class. (5-15 minutes)

The teacher can now write any grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation notes he or she has made on the board. The students can help the teacher correct the mistakes. Make sure to drill any pronunciation errors.