Needs Analysis and Aptis Speaking Part One Practice

Needs analysis and Aptis speaking part one practice

Interview your partner and write what you find out in the boxes given below. Fill in as much info as you can, but just write key words (not full sentences). Your teacher will take in these forms later to learn more about the students in your group. Your partner will then interview you, using a fresh form. To make sure that you listen to their questions, don’t look at the forms while you are answering your partner’s questions.

Use the words and phrases below to ask more questions about your partner and tell your partner more about your job. You don’t have to wait for questions and you can both work on your forms at the same time, but you should still fill in the information about your partner (not about yourself).

Ask about anything in the lists of useful language that you couldn’t ask about and/ or couldn’t use to talk about your own job and language learning.

Do activities from below, first on the topic of work and then on the topic of English.

 

Aptis long speaking challenge

Ask your partner about a topic from below. They will answer for as long as they can. When they have finished, ask questions to find out more details. You get one point for each question that gets information which your partner didn’t say in their long answers. They will then do the same thing with the same topic a second time, trying to include all the info which you asked them about last time. You also get one point for each question that they didn’t answer at that stage. Then switch roles and do the same again.

 

Aptis longer and longer speaking game

Ask your partner about one topic over and over. They should start with a short answer and make it longer and longer each time, e.g. twenty seconds the first time, thirty five seconds the second time, etc. Time them and write down the time each time. Stop them when the next answer wasn’t longer than the previous one. Discuss which answer is best in Aptis and which is best in real life conversations (which are probably different), then switch roles and do the same. If you are playing for points, the person with the highest number of longer attempts during the game (e.g. seven longer versions without getting shorter) wins.

 

Aptis-length answers game

Take turns asking about the same single Aptis topic, trying to answer in as close to 30 seconds as possible. Time the other person, but don’t let them see their time. Stop when someone answers in exactly 30 seconds or when the times don’t seem to be getting closer to the target time. Discuss good topics and language for answers to that topic, then do the same for other topics from the second page of the needs analysis form. 

Brainstorm lists of suitable language and topics for at least two of the topics on the second page of the needs analysis form, making lists like the ones on work and English below.

 

Real-life speaking practice

Roleplay a small talk conversation with a variety of topics from below, trying to make your answers the right length and trying to move smoothly from topic to topic.

Ask your partner questions and write key words/ key information below, filling as much of the box as possible.

Interviewee’s name

Work

English (use of at work, use of in free time, studies of, etc)

 

Other personal information (accommodation/ house or flat, character/ personality, childhood, family and friends, favourites/ likes and dislikes, arts and media, foreign languages, free time, future plans/ ambitions, health and fitness/ sports, hometown, local area/ neighbourhood, skills/ strengths and weaknesses, technology, travel and tourism, typical day/ routine, studies, etc)

Example questions

“(Please/ Can you) tell me about/ describe…(?)”/ “What is… like?”

“How do you spell…?”

Useful language for describing your company and job

• ambitions/ career plan (transfer/ sent abroad, promotion, retirement, etc)
• attend
• based
• best things/ good points
• business trips
• career (first job, etc)
• challenges/ difficulties/ problems
• checking (quality/ progress/…)/ chasing up/ following up
• company history (founded/ established, expansion, etc)
• competitors
• conferences/ trade fairs/ trade shows/ booths
• contribute to/ participate in/ take part in/ involved in
• CSR (green policies, equal opportunities, etc)
• data/ figures (employees, revenue/ sales, premises, market share, etc)
• dealing with complaints/ enquiries/ claims/ visitors/ new recruits/…
• deciding
• dress code
• duties/ responsibilities/ in charge of
• famous/ well known (marketing, sponsorship, products, events)
• have to
• headquarters/ head office/ HQ
• hot desking – own desk/ own office
• lead/ leader
• location/ locations (building, floor, office, local area, transport connections)
• (middle/ line) manager/ (direct/ top) boss/ head of…
• market (niche)/ market leader in…
• (face-to-face) meetings/ negotiations
• meeting people (for the first time/ again) (clients, vendors, partners, colleagues, etc)
• occasionally/ sometimes/ often/ usually/ almost always
• own business/ own boss/ self-employed
• parent company/ holding company – subsidiaries – joint venture
• (PowerPoint) presentations
• (current/ present/ next) projects (length, progress, etc)
• reading (emails, reports, contracts, etc)
• routine/ typical day
• skills/ training
• socialising/ business entertaining (networking, drinking, etc)
• team/ section/ department/ division/ branch/ region
• teleconferences/ video conferences
• telephoning
• used to
• want to/ would like to
• will (probably)
• work for/ on/ with…
• workplace (office, etc)
• writing (emails, reports, etc)

Useful language for describing how you learn and use English

• aims/ goals/ targets/ priorities
• American English – British English
• apps/ software
• at work
• business English – general English
• club/ society
• conversation exchange
• copying/ repeating…
• (English-English/ electronic) dictionary
• errors/ mistakes – correction
• flashcards
• free time
• friends/ neighbours/ acquaintances
• functional language (requests, invitations, etc)
• grammar
• language exams (TOEIC, BULATS, IELTS, Eiken, Aptis, etc)
• lessons (cram school, conversation school/ language school, kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, college/ university, etc)
• listening (radio, podcasts, songs, graded readers with CDs or mp3 files)
• meeting people (for the first time/ again)
• memorising/ learning by heart
• reading (for pleasure/ graded readers/ easy readers/ children’s books/ comics/ news/ social media/ freebie magazines/…)
• recording (your own voice, etc)
• review/ revision
• self-study (books/ worksheets)
• shadow reading
• singing (karaoke)
• Skype lessons
• socialising/ entertaining (English pub, Irish pub, international parties, etc)
• speaking (fluency, accent, pronunciation, free con, etc)
• strong points – weak points
• technology (smart speaker, Siri, etc)
• textbooks
• translation
• travel English (phrasebook, etc)
• travel overseas/ travel abroad (homestays, etc)
• used to
• vocabulary
• volunteering
• want to/ would like to
• watching (movies/ TV/ TED.com/ animation) (with English subtitles/ with… subtitles)
• websites/ online chat/ online games/ online…
• will (probably)
• writing (emails, reports, etc)

 

Table for longer and longer speaking game times

Write your partner’s times below, taking time off for silence (but not for thinking aloud). Use the blank spaces below for more than five attempts or for later rounds of the game.

Try number	Length of try	Length of try	Length of try	Length of try	Length of try	Length of try	Length of try
First try
2nd try
3rd try
4th try
5th try