European Common Framework Tested: B2

Target: Demonstrates an ability to deliver announcements on most general topics with a

degree of clarity, fluency, and spontaneity, which causes no strain or inconvenience to the
listener (Council of Europe, 2007, p.60).
Directions: Pretend you are the principal of the school and need to address the school for
todays morning announcement on the intercom, just like the ones that you hear every day.
You will be given a of example list of items that you may include in your announcement which
should be no longer than two minutes long. You must greet the school first and say todays date
and close the announcement by wishing everyone a good day. Other than the opening and
closing, you may create your own announcements just so long as they are appropriate.
Your secretary has prepared a list of things you must mention in the announcement for the
school to run effectively. You will have about 2 minutes to prepare your announcement and
then present it to the proctor who will record it. Your score will not be affected by the order,
unless otherwise mentioned, in any way. It is okay to be spontaneous.
You will be assessed on your grammatical ability, how fluently you deliver the announcement,
how appropriate your vocabulary is to the task, your pronunciation, and if you mention all of
the required items.
Content Chart
Order Specific (Required)
Greet the students and tell them
todays date, November 20, 2014.
o Must be done first!
Close the announcement and wish
everyone a good day.
o Must be done last!

Examples
Congratulate Junior Saya Nishitani for
winning a scholarship to visit America
this summer.
Remind everyone of the upcoming
multicultural Christmas Concert on
December 5th, 2014 at 6:00 pm in the
auditorium.
Remind people to clean their rooms
and pick up trash before they leave
school.
Thank Ms. Rousseau for volunteering
to help students practice French after
school for an upcoming competition.
Communicate that todays lunch is
spaghetti with meatballs, Caesar
salad, and an orange for dessert with
milk to drink.

Structure of the Assessment:

Prepare announcement (2 minutes)

Deliver the announcement (Up to 3 minutes)
Total: 5 minutes

Scoring:
Instructions: The proctor will score the announcement twice, once during the assessment and
once at home using a recording of the student talking. The proctors score is the average of the
first score during the assessment and the second scoring at home.
Another English instructor at the school, who was not present for the assessment, will also
score the assessment using the same rubric and recording at home. The second scorer will
receive the recording from an administrator and is not allowed to discuss the score with anyone
else.
The following day, the proctor and the second scorer will give the scores to the administrator.
The administrator determines the final score by taking the averages in each category from the
two scorers and summing the five categories. See the administrators worksheet for further
clarification.

Rubric on the next page.x

Rubric for scoring:

4

Grammar

Grammatical forms
used in the speech
are fully consistent
with accepted
patterns of speech
in the English
language. No major
errors in syntax.

Grammatical forms
used in the speech
are usually
consistent with
accepted patterns
of speech in the
English language.
Few errors in
syntax.

Grammatical patterns
are partially consistent
with accepted patterns
of speech in the
English language.
Several very noticeable
syntactical errors are
present.

Grammatical
patterns are rarely
or not consistent
with accepted
patterns of speech
in the English
language. Many,
highly noticeable
syntactical errors
are present.

Fluency

The speaker
delivers the
announcement
clearly with no
unnatural pauses.
Transitions
between
announcement
points are clear.
There is a natural
flow to the speech.

The speaker
delivers the
announcement
clearly with a few
unnatural pauses.
Transitions
between
announcement
points are generally
clear, but there
may be one or two
errors. There is a
natural flow to the
speech most of the
time.

The speaker delivers

the announcement with
several unnatural
pauses, but it is
understandable.
Transitions between
announcement points
are partially clear, but it
may not be obvious to
the listener. There is
occasionally a natural
flow to the speech.

The arguments the

speaker makes
are barely
understandable or
incomprehensible.
There are many
logical gaps in
speech and/or
most of the
transitions
between points are
choppy.

Pronunciation

It easily to
distinguish the
beginnings and
endings of words
and the beginning
and endings of
sentences. Every
single word is
pronounced clearly
and
understandably.
Pronunciation of the
words is on par with
a native speaker
from an
Anglophone
country.

It is generally easily
to distinguish the
beginnings and
endings of words
and the beginning
and endings of
sentences. Most
words are
pronounced clearly
and
understandably.
Pronunciation of
the words is close
with a native
speaker from an
Anglophone
country, but small
differences are
noticeable.

It is difficult to
distinguish the
beginnings and endings
of words and the
beginning and endings
of sentences. The
listener must use
noticeable effort to do
so. Some words are
pronounced clearly and
understandably, but
mistakes are
noticeable.
Pronunciation of the
words is partially
consistent with a native
speaker from an
Anglophone country,
but differences are
immediately obvious

It is very difficult
and nearly
impossible to
distinguish the
beginnings and
endings of words
and the beginning
and endings of
sentences. The
listener must use
extraordinary effort
to do so. Few to
no words are
pronounced clearly
and
understandably
and mistakes are
highly noticeable.
Pronunciation of
the words is not
consistent with a
native speaker
from an

Anglophone
country.

Vocabulary

The word choice for

the announcement
is appropriate and
reflects normal
diction in an
Anglophone
country. The
idioms and words
used are correct in
the context of the
speech.

The word choice for

the announcement
is generally
appropriate and
usually reflects
normal diction in an
Anglophone
country with a few
exceptions. The
idioms and words
are mostly used
correctly in the
context of the
speech.

The word choice for the

announcement is
partially appropriate
and occasionally
reflects normal diction
in an Anglophone
country with a several
noticeable issues. The
idioms and words are
occasionally used
correctly in the context
of the speech.

The word choice

for the
announcement is
not appropriate
and does not
reflect normal
diction in an
Anglophone
country. The
idioms and words
are rarely used
correctly in the
context of the
speech or not at
all.

Completeness The announcement

covers all of the
required material.
Student followed
the instructions
have been followed
correctly with
regard to content.

The announcement
covers most of the
required material,
but there may be
one error. Student
followed the
instructions
correctly with
regard to content
with one exception.

The announcement
covers some of the
required material, but
there are several
errors. Student followed
a few of the instructions
correctly with regard to
content.

The
announcement
covers none of the
required material,
Student followed
none of the
instructions
correctly with
regard to content.

Worksheet for Proctor

Score One
(during
assessment)

Score Two
(postassessment)

Average

Grammar

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+ 2

Fluency

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+ 2

Pronunciation

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+ 2
2

=
Vocabulary/Diction

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+ 2
2

=
Completeness

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+ 2
2

Worksheet for Second Scorer

Score One
(during assessment)
Grammar

_____/ 4

Fluency

_____/ 4

Pronunciation

_____/ 4

Vocabulary/Diction

_____/ 4

Completeness

_____/ 4

Worksheet for Administrator

Scorer One
Score

Scorer Two Score

Average

Grammar

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+2

Fluency

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+2

Pronunciation

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+2

Vocabulary/Diction

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+2

Completeness

_____/ 4

_____/ 4

1+2

Total

N/A

N/A

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