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Further Oral Activities
Weighting: 15% The further oral activities are intended to address the relationship between language, meaning and context. Students are required to engage in at least two further oral activities, one based on part 1 and one on part 2 of the course. The mark of the best activity is submitted for final assessment; the marks of the other activities must be recorded and kept by the school. These activities are an opportunity to explore some of the topics and learning outcomes in parts 1 and 2 of the course. Underpinning these is the issue of intercultural understanding. Through the examination of the cultural context of a text, including the way and the medium through which it is communicated, students will be able to engage with the process of intercultural understanding and thereby reflect on their own cultural practices. A wide variety of activities can be undertaken and these may be individual presentations or interactive in nature, integrating both listening and speaking skills. Students are expected to choose their activity in consultation with the teacher and link it to one (or more) specific learning outcome(s). Following the completion of the activity students are required to complete a reflective statement on the oral, commenting on their performance and the progress they made in achieving the aims they had set Language A: language and literature guide 61

Internal assessment

themselves. This must be retained by the school and may be required by the IB’s assessment operations department. An example of the form can be found in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme. There must be a clear link between the activity and the texts that have been studied in a particular part of the course. A recording is not required or sent for external moderation. The maximum mark for the assessed further oral activity is 30.


 * YOUR FOA MUST: **


 * 1) Show understanding of the content of the text or topic they are presenting.
 * 2) Show an understanding of the way language is used to create meaning and an appreciation of how language and style are used for effect in a text or surrounding a topic. This includes showing understanding of the medium through which communication takes place.
 * 3) Show intercultural understanding: an awareness of the interrelationship between language, meaning and cultural context(s) of their topic [and the contexts of production and reception of their texts].

Assessment


 * Knowledge and Understanding: Students are required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of texts studied in parts 1 and 2 and the implications of the language used.
 * Application and Analysis: Students are required to analyse texts, exploring the ways in which the circumstances of production and reception affect the meaning of texts.
 * Synthesis and Evaluation: Students are required to analyse texts in a way that evaluates conflicting viewpoints within and about a text.
 * Selection and use of appropriate presentation and language skills: Students are required to choose a style and a register that are appropriate to the task. There should be a clear sense of structure.

The following is a list of possible activities. This list is neither exhaustive nor compulsory. Structured group discussion > Role play > Dramatic presentation > Oral presentation
 * Examples of further oral activities **
 * Discussion arising from materials prepared by a small group of students, for example, identifying the social, cultural and economic position taken by a particular text
 * Class discussion where two or three students have been given special responsibilities (advance preparation, particular topics, a short report, a provocative position)—the whole class may participate, but only those two or three students should be assessed independently
 * The presentation of material lending itself to discussion within the class, for example, the offering of two opposing readings of a text
 * Formal debate
 * A dialogue between two public figures with a follow-up discussion highlighting the way meaning is constructed
 * A public figure interviewed by the student as him/herself, or in another role (for example, a fellow politician)
 * Advertising or public relations figures using language in a meeting to shape the view of a product, brand or public figure
 * Writing and performing a scene concerning an issue encountered in the study of part 1 or part 2 of the course
 * Re-enacting a particular cultural or historical moment with a different focus or interpretation in mind
 * A formal speech based on an aspect studied in part 1 or part 2 of the course
 * A report related to an aspect of part 1 or part 2 of the course, for example, comparing two newspaper articles on the same topic and identifying the stance taken by the newspapers
 * An introduction to a particular topic, for example, the social and cultural contexts of a text
 * The examination of a particular interpretation of a text or event
 * The setting of a particular writer’s text against another body of material, for example, details on social background or political views
 * A commentary on the use of a particular image, idea or symbol in a text or texts studied
 * A comparison of two texts in part 1 or part 2 of the course
 * An account of a student’s developing response to a text
 * A presentation on image as text
 * A presentation highlighting the codes used in a particular visual text