This document provides guidance and examples for conducting stimulus-based conversations in English exams. It outlines the format, marking scheme, and expectations for both examiners and students. Examiners are expected to lead students into conversational topics through additional prompts rather than monologues. Their role is to test students' ability to converse in English rather than how much they know. Four student examples are provided and assessed and range from 5-10 marks based on personal response, clarity of expression, and engagement. The best student provided developed personal responses without prompting.

1. Stimulus-Based
Conversation
Prepared by Miss Pearl Ang

2. Format
•Stimulus
•Prompts

3. Mark Scheme
• Mark Range: 1 – 10 mark
• 3 Criteria for assessment
1. Personal Response
• Content
2. Clarity of Expression
• Sentence Structure
• Grammar & Vocabulary
3. Engagement in Conversation

4. Example 1
Let’s listen to Jackson

5. Examiner’s Comments (Jackson)
• Able to answer all questions but was unclear at times
• “Had not go to the animal wonderland show of the animal show”
• “…how they are doing in on when in the animal show…”
• “… I have nothing else ask thing…”
• Answers in incomplete sentences
• Begins sentence with “Because…”
• Incorrect structures
• “Haven’t go”, “had went”
• Unclear pronunciation
• “cave”, “aquarium”, “whales”, “(did)neh not”
• Uses topic-specific vocabulary
Mark Band: 5 – 6

6. Example 2
Let’s listen to
Jeremy

7. Examiner’s Comments (Jeremy)
• Student is able to respond to most prompts given
• One word “yes” , “not”
• Ends off with “don’t know” twice
• Requires much encouragement and prompting but is able to
respond to the questions some times
• Response to the second prompt is not clear
• “you can’t di sure it flee”
• Gave some personal responses
• “can look the animal dancing”
• “animal is very nice to look”
• “snake because snake is very long”
• Long and awkward pause
Mark Band: 3 – 4

8. Example 3
Let’s listen to
Yi Shen

9. Examiner’s Comments (Yi Shen)
• Generally clear expression with correct pronunciation
• Able to give personal responses
• “animals… cute and adorable”
• “I like the animals’ fur because it is very soft”
• “I like to have a dog… Bishan Park… bring dog to jog…”
• “dog show… nice and interesting”
• Incorrect sentence structures at times
• “have went”
• “Animals is”
• “Every time I went…”
• Able to answer all the prompts with some development
Mark Band: 7 - 8

10. Example 4
Let’s listen to
Shawaree

11. Examiner’s Comments (Shawaree)
• Student gave personal responses that are developed without
further prompting
• “I prefer going to animal shows cause I have stress… reduce my
stress”
• “Nowadays, people have a lot of work to do… links to family
bonding”
• Able to express herself clearly with confidence
• Her concluding statement
• “I encourage….”
• Uses topic specific vocabulary and grammatically correct
structures
Mark Band: 9 - 10

12. Changing roles of Examiners
• No longer a test of description but a test of ability to converse
• Not a test about how much they know but how proficient
they are in speaking English
• Students are only able to do well if examiners ask questions
that lead them into conversation

13. Guidelines for examiners
• Must say the initial prompt
• Avoid monologues (by the
students)
• Give additional prompts to
lead the students into
conversational topic
• Give the students time to
think through their
responses
• Do not penalize if students
require more questions to
move the conversation
along

15. Guidelines for Students
1. Have eye contact with the examiner(s).
• Do not look at the stimulus
• Smile and show interest
2. Listen carefully to the questions asked.
3. Respond relevantly and appropriately.
4. Speak in complete sentences.
5. Do not use slang/ singlish.
6. Do not stop at “Yes” or “No” in your answers.
7. Elaborate with personal views/ real-life examples.