Speaking Exam: Role-play, Photo Card and Conversation

Paper 2 is your Speaking test, worth 50 marks. It is a non-exam assessment: your teacher conducts and records it, and an AQA examiner marks the recording. Before the test you get 15 minutes of supervised preparation to plan the role-play and photo card and to read the aloud-reading text.

Part	Marks	What happens
1. Role-play	10	Respond to five prompts on a stimulus card
2. Reading aloud + conversation	15	Read a text aloud, then answer four questions
3. Photo card discussion	25	Describe two photos, then an unprepared conversation

The whole test runs up to about 9 minutes at Foundation and 12 minutes at Higher. Timings for each part are recommended rather than fixed; it is the total time that is controlled. Throughout, you may address the teacher informally (tú) or formally (usted) with equal credit.

The role-play is prepared during your 15 minutes. You are given a short situation, such as talking to a Spanish-speaking friend, and the teacher speaks first using a set introduction. There are five tasks, each worth 2 marks, for a maximum of 10.

The card tells you exactly what to do at each task, for example:

• Say where you go with your friends. (give one detail)
• Say what you think of swimming. (give one opinion)
• Ask your friend a question about free time. (marked with a ?)

One task always carries the ? symbol: here you must ask the teacher a question, not answer one. A useful stock question is ¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre? (What do you do in your free time?).

Each task is scored simply: 2 marks if the message is conveyed without ambiguity, 1 mark if it is partly conveyed, 0 if nothing gets across.

To reach full marks you must include a conjugated verb in each response. Voy al cine con mis amigos scores; cine con amigos does not.

Part 2 has two elements worth 15 marks in total. The first is reading aloud (5 marks). You read a short Spanish text out loud: at least 35 words at Foundation and 50 at Higher. This is marked purely on pronunciation, so it directly tests the sound-symbol rules. If you self-correct a word, the examiner marks your final version.

The pronunciation traps that count as major errors include:

Spelling	Correct Spanish sound	Common English-speaker error
gente, gimnasio	g before e/i sounds like a throaty h	saying a hard "g"
cinco, cielo	c before e/i is soft (th/s)	saying a hard "c"
queso, quince	qu sounds like "k"	saying "kw"
pollo	ll sounds like "y"	saying "pollo" as "polo"
año	ñ sounds like "ny"	saying "n"

During your 15 minutes of preparation, read the text through under your breath and mark any words with these letter combinations so the pronunciation is fresh when you perform it.

The second element of Part 2 is worth 10 marks. After you have read the text aloud, the teacher asks four compulsory questions on the topic in a short unprepared conversation. The questions stay on the theme of the text, so the vocabulary you have just read is a useful springboard.

Marks reward how clearly you answer and how far you develop each response:

• a clear answer conveys its message even with minor slips of gender or agreement
• a developed answer adds a second clause, such as a reason
• the top level needs at least two extended answers across the four questions

So do not stop at a bare reply. If asked ¿Qué haces los fines de semana?, answer Los fines de semana voy al cine con mis amigos porque me encantan las películas rather than just Voy al cine. A reason or an opinion turns a one-mark habit into a top-level response.

Part 3 is the largest part, worth 25 marks, and it also splits in two.

Describing the photos (5 marks). Your card has two photos from one theme, prepared in advance. When the teacher says Tell me about the photos, you describe both. You must say at least one thing about each photo; talking about only one photo costs you a mark. Simple, clear sentences work well: En la primera foto hay una familia que cena en un restaurante.

The unprepared conversation (20 marks). The teacher then leads a conversation on the theme, marked for both communication of ideas (AO1, 15 marks) and range and accuracy of language (AO3, 5 marks). This is where longer, richer answers earn the top levels:

• Limited — answers the question only: Estudio diez asignaturas.
• Developed — adds information: Estudio diez asignaturas y mi favorita es el español.
• Extended — three clauses: Voy al cine con mis amigos y vemos películas de acción porque me encantan.

Use different tenses (a past holiday, a future plan), connectives such as aunque and sin embargo, and opinion phrases beyond me gusta to show variety.

1. Answering the ? task instead of asking

The task marked ? requires you to pose a question to the teacher. Prepare one question in your 15 minutes so you are not caught out.

2. Leaving out the verb

A response without a conjugated verb caps a role-play task at 1 mark. En casa jugamos a videojuegos works; a list of nouns does not.

3. Anglicising Spanish sounds when reading aloud

Pronouncing gente with a hard g, or queso as "kweso", counts as a major error. Rehearse the g/c/qu/j/ll/ñ rules on your text during preparation.

4. Describing only one photo

The photo card shows two photos and you must cover both; speaking about just one loses a mark. Plan a sentence for each before you start.

5. Giving one-word answers in the conversation

Bare replies stay in the lower levels. Add a reason, an opinion or a second clause so each answer is developed or extended.