*These samples illustrate how a particular stimulus and task can be used to illustrate achievement at more than one standard.
The work samples in this section form the Level 4 part of the assessment map for the Speaking and listening dimension of the English domain. Other parts of the assessment map can be accessed by using the menu on the right side of the screen.
The standard below describes what students should know and be able to do when they achieve the Level 4 standard in the Speaking and listening dimension.
At Level 4, students plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes. They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events. They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
When listening to spoken texts, students identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others. They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
The following work samples illustrate the kinds of responses that students typically produce:
Annotations identify for each sample on the assessment map attributes of the student responses that relate to specific elements of the standard.
This task has a listening and a speaking component.
Context for listening component
For the listening component of this task students listened to an Aboriginal Dreamtime story, The Clarence Gaulgun, on an audio tape. The story was unfamiliar to the students, included some complex details and was approximately 11 minutes long.
Students were given 20 minutes to answer a series of questions about the story. They were expected to work independently with no assistance from other students or their teacher. As this was not a reading exercise the questions were read aloud before the extract was played and could be repeated later, if this was considered necessary.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) when listening to spoken texts, … identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others.
They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Listening Stimulus
Listen to the story, The Clarence Gaulgun.
The audio tape is available on the CSF II English Annotated Work Samples CD-ROM and is included in the VELS section (Support Materials) of the Student Learning DVD. These resources are available in schools.
Samples
The following samples illustrate the kinds of responses that students typically produce when they have achieved the elements of the standard addressed by this task.
1. This story is called The Clarence Gaulgun. Who was the gaulgun?
the dog
the husband
the daughter
the old woman (correct answer)
2. What was the old woman being selfish about?
food
water (correct answer)
power
money
3. What difference would it make to the story if the daughter was NOT pregnant?
4. “I think the man in this story is a hero.”
Do you agree?
Yes
No
Explain your answer.
5. What is the moral of this story?
6. “This story is still relevant today.”
Do you agree?
Yes
No
Explain your answer.
7. The storyteller says, ‘... her nimbin, her gunyah, her mia, her little house...’
Why does she give a list of Aboriginal words that all mean the same thing?
Annotation
Speaking and listening – Level 4
Questions 1–2: The student recalls the main idea and central details of the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) when listening to spoken texts, … identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others.
Speaking and listening – Level 4
Question 3: The student makes a relevant response to a hypothetical change in the events of the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … propose other relevant viewpoints …
Speaking and listening – Level 4
Questions 3–7: The student shows some depth of understanding of the narrative and is able to interpret the story in ways that go beyond the story details. The student understands the larger purpose of story telling (Question 6).
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Speaking and listening – Level 4
Question 5: The student summarises an aspect of a story, such as the moral.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others.
Speaking and listening – Level 4
Question 7: The student recognises the emphasis the storyteller placed on the value of Aboriginal culture in the introduction to the story and how this has influenced word choice.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) identify opinions offered by others …
Context for speaking component
Following the listening activity students completed the speaking component of this task.
Students worked in small groups to prepare and rehearse an individual retelling of The Clarence Gaulgun story. A discussion guide prompted them to consider various aspects of the story and consider how to make their retelling of the story interesting.
Presentations were rehearsed and then given to the whole class without any notes or prompts from the teacher. The entire activity took place in a one-hour session.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes.
They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of … events.
They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone … and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
Stimulus
Discussion guide
The Clarence Gaulgun Discussion Guide
You are each going to retell the story of The Clarence Gaulgun in your own words. You will need to think about how to tell the story in a way that makes it interesting for your audience. You will each do your own retelling.
Follow these steps to help you prepare your retelling.
1. In a group, discuss what happened in the story. Help each other to remember the important details.
2. Share some ideas of how you might make small changes to the story to make it more interesting.
You don’t have to tell it exactly as it was told. You can leave some little things out or give a lot more detail about some other parts. Not every story of Little Red Riding Hood is told in exactly the same way, but it is still the same story.
3. In a group discuss how you tell a story in a way that makes it interesting. Share some ideas of what makes a good storyteller.
How do you start a story?
How might you tell a sad part of the story?
How might you tell the ending of the story?
4. On your own, think about how you want to tell the story.
Are there some parts you want to change a little bit? Practise telling the story to yourself. You might want to write some ideas down on paper to help you, but you will not have the paper with you when you tell your version of the story.
5. If you like, you can practise telling your story, or part of your story to one other person in your group. You do not have to do this.
Offer helpful suggestions to each other.
Sample
The following sample illustrates the kind of response that students typically produce when they have achieved the elements of the standard addressed by this task.
Video presentation
View video presentation by nominated student.
Transcript of video presentation
Note: These videos require Windows Media Player 9 and above or Quicktime 6 and above to open.
Annotation
Speaking and listening – Level 4
The student listens to an unfamiliar story, workshops an oral presentation with a small group and presents to a whole class audience.
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes.
(Students) … provide succinct accounts of … events.
Speaking and listening – Level 4
The student shows awareness of an audience by giving a clear introduction that sets the scene and introduces the characters in the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience …
Speaking and listening – Level 4
The student organises subject matter appropriately.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
They sustain a point of view …
Speaking and listening – Level 4
The student responds to the audience by maintaining eye contact and smiling occasionally. She uses variations in pitch, volume and pace to indicate sentence breaks, which makes the story easier for the audience to follow, and she uses language appropriate for the task, such as ‘I’m going to be telling you the story’ and ‘once there was.’
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone … and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
This task has a listening and speaking component.
Context for listening component
For the listening component of this task students listened to an Aboriginal Dreamtime story, The Clarence Gaulgun, on an audio tape. The story was unfamiliar, included some complex details and was approximately 11 minutes long.
Students were given 20 minutes to answer a series of questions about the story. They were expected to work independently with no assistance from other students or their teacher. As this was not a reading exercise the questions were read aloud before the extract was played and could be repeated later, if this was considered necessary.
Answers to questions 1–4 and 8–9 were answered at the level. See Sample 4.0 for typical responses to these questions.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … identify the main idea and supporting details …
They identify opinions offered by others …
Listening Stimulus
Listen to the story, The Clarence Gaulgun.
This audio tape is available on the CSF II English Annotated Work Samples CD-ROM and is included in the VELS section (Suppport Materials) of the Student Learning DVD. These resources are available in schools.
Sample
The following sample illustrates the kinds of responses that students typically produce at 3.75 as they progress towards the Level 4 standard.
5. What is the moral of this story?
6. “This story is still relevant today.”
Do you agree?
Yes
No
Explain your answer.
7. The storyteller says, ‘... her nimbin, her gunyah, her mia, her little house..’
Why does she give a list of Aboriginal words that all mean the same thing?
Annotation
Speaking and listening – 3.75
Question 5: The student focuses on the narrative, but shows little understanding of the moral of the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) identify the main idea …
Speaking and listening – 3.75
Question 6: The student gives a literal explanation focusing on narrative detail.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) identify … supporting details …
Speaking and listening – 3.75
Question 7: The student shows little understanding of how word choice might be used to influence an audience, given the value the storyteller placed on Aboriginal culture in the introduction to the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) identify opinions offered by others …
Context for speaking component
Following the listening activity students completed the speaking component of this task.
Students worked in small groups to prepare and rehearse an individual retelling of The Clarence Gaulgun story. A discussion guide prompted them to consider various aspects of the story and consider how to make their retell interesting.
Presentations were rehearsed and then given to the whole class without any notes or prompts from the teacher. The entire activity took place in a one-hour session.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes.
They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of … events.
They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
Stimulus
Discussion guide
The Clarence Gaulgun Discussion Guide
You are each going to retell the story of The Clarence Gaulgun in your own words. You will need to think about how to tell the story in a way that makes it interesting for your audience. You will each do your own retelling.
Follow these steps to help you prepare your retelling.
1. In a group, discuss what happened in the story. Help each other to remember the important details.
2. Share some ideas of how you might make small changes to the story to make it more interesting.
You don’t have to tell it exactly as it was told. You can leave some little things out or give a lot more detail about some other parts. Not every story of Little Red Riding Hood is told in exactly the same way, but it is still the same story.
3. In a group discuss how you tell a story in a way that makes it interesting. Share some ideas of what makes a good storyteller.
How do you start a story?
How might you tell a sad part of the story?
How might you tell the ending of the story?
4. On your own, think about how you want to tell the story.
Are there some parts you want to change a little bit? Practise telling the story to yourself. You might want to write some ideas down on paper to help you, but you will not have the paper with you when you tell your version of the story.
5. If you like, you can practise telling your story, or part of your story to one other person in your group. You do not have to do this.
Offer helpful suggestions to each other.
Sample
The following sample illustrates the kind of response that students typically produce at 3.75 as they progress towards the Level 4 standard.
Video presentation
View video presentation by nominated student.
Transcript of video presentation
Note: These videos require Windows Media Player 9 and above or Quicktime 6 and above to open.
Annotation
Speaking and listening – 3.75
While the content of the story is accurate, with some detail and a logical sequence, the student gives little emphasis to the main ideas.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) sustain a point of view …
Speaking and listening – 3.75
In the introduction to the story the student omits the main idea of a drought which makes it difficult for the audience to appreciate the significance of the old lady’s secret water hole.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) provide succinct accounts of … events.
Speaking and listening – 3.75
The student provides little evidence of a verbal style that suits the retell of a story; there is minimal use of storytelling language and the structure of the presentation is one of long running sentences joined by and, so and then.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes.
Speaking and listening – 3.75
The student uses variations in pitch, volume and pace to separate phrases rather than to indicate sentence breaks or to emphasise the meaning of aspects of the story.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
Speaking and listening – 3.75
While the student mainly speaks clearly, she also talks softly at times and has difficulty maintaining an appropriate pace.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience …
This task has a speaking component only.
Context
Students viewed a short video extract from a children’s science program which demonstrates the making of candy glass, a type of ‘glass’ made from sugar, for use in movie stunts.
After a brief class discussion, students worked in pairs to prepare individual presentations about something special they had made. Each pair was given a discussion guide that prompted them to think about the various stages involved in making their product. They were also expected to draw a picture of their product on an overhead transparency to be displayed as they gave their presentation. Presentations were rehearsed and then given to the whole class without any notes or prompts from the teacher. The entire activity took place in a one-hour session.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events.
They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience …
Stimulus
Discussion guide
Candy Glass – Question sheet
Sample
The following sample illustrates the kind of response that students typically produce at 3.5 as they progress towards the Level 4 standard.
Video presentation
View video presentation by nominated student.
Transcript of video presentation
Note: These videos require Windows Media Player 9 and above or Quicktime 6 and above to open.
Annotation
Speaking and listening – 3.5
The student gives a detailed explanation of several aspects of the process of making a mould.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events.
Speaking and listening – 3.5
The student shows considered understanding of the needs of the audience by establishing the setting in a clear introduction. He does not, however, actively incorporate the overhead into the presentation.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience …
Speaking and listening – 3.5
The student gives an evaluation of his product in concluding his presentation.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) sustain a point of view …
This task has a listening component only.
Context
Students listened to a short video extract from a children’s science program which demonstrates the making of candy glass, a type of ‘glass’ made from sugar, for use in movie stunts.
Students were given 20 minutes to answer a series of questions about the video. They were expected to work independently with no assistance from other students or their teacher. As this was not a reading exercise the questions were read aloud before the extract was played and could be repeated later, if this was considered necessary.
The key elements of the standard addressed by this task are:
Key elements of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … take account of context, purpose and audience …
(Students) … identify the main idea … and summarise them for others.
(Students) … extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Stimulus
View video presentation of Candy Glass
The audio tape is available on the CSF II English Annotated Work Samples CD-ROM and is included in the VELS section (Support Materials) of the Student Learning DVD. These resources are available in schools.
Sample
Answers to questions 1–6 were answered at Level 3 standard. See the sample at Level 3 for the kind of responses to questions 1–6 that students typically produce when they have achieved elements of the standard addressed by this task.
The responses to questions 7, 8 and 9 illustrate the kinds of responses that students typically produce at 3.25 as they progress towards the Level 4 standard.
7. Write a question about candy glass that was NOT answered in this video.
8. What must you do to the baking tray before you pour in the mixture?
9. How can you tell this video is made for children?
Annotation
Speaking and listening – 3.25
Question 7: The student formulates a new question.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Speaking and listening – 3.25
Question 8: The student recalls two clearly different ideas that were linked in the video.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … identify the main idea … and summarises them for others.
Speaking and listening – 3.25
Question 9: The student understands the characteristics of the video that identifies intended audience, clearly distinguishing it as a children’s show.
Key element of Speaking and listening Level 4
(Students) … take account of context, audience and purpose …
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