1. The oral exposition : strategies BEFORE (while reading text)  Just read the text and try and guess the meaning of any words you don´t understand  Identify the type of text and the kind of person who may have written it  Try and formulate what the text is basically about in just one or two sentences  Try and see a structure in the text (e.g introduction /point 1 & example(s)/point 2 & example(s)/conclusion etc.)  Now try and summarize the text in your own words.  Now prepare your commentary according to the instructions at the top of the page  Try and do the last two steps as if you were performing in front of the other students. Rehearse in your head.

2. The oral exposition : strategies While you are performing  Direct your performance to the other members of the group, not to the examiners  Keep it simple. Don´t get lost in the details.  Try and time yourself. Not too much, not too little. 3 minutes in total.  Don´t be afraid to correct yourself if you slip up. At the same time, try and be fluent.  Try and finish up with some kind of conclusion. For the summary, the one or two sentences you formulated ; for the commentary, a conclusion.

3. The oral exposition : what to include You could include the following points : - The kind of text and who it was written by : e.g. ‘My text seems to be an excerpt from a travel guide in which the author recounts his personal experiences when travelling abroad in the Far East.’ e.g. ‘This piece of writing is an article taken from the Times newspaper three or four years ago.’

4. The oral exposition : what to include You could include the following points : - The author´s purpose : e.g. ‘The author sets out to analyse the causes of the high rate of academic failure in British universities’ e.g. ‘The main purpose of this piece of journalism would seem to be the criticism of political manipulation by private TV networks’

5. The oral exposition : what to include - The basic structure of the text :  Introduction : e.g. ‘The text starts off by stating the latest figures related to train accidents in the States’ e.g. ‘In the first paragraph the author presents a graphic example of his main theme which is homelessness’

6. The oral exposition : what to include The basic structure of the text :  Main points : Firstly,……../Secondly,……… Moreover,…./Furthermore,…… Another way of looking at the problem, according to the author, would be… As well as the problem of…., he presents another…..

7. The oral exposition : what to include The basic structure of the text :  Conclusion : He finishes up by saying……….. He concludes his argument by stating…. The narrative comes to a close when…..