1. AQA Specifications

2.  Environment Pollution, energy, protecting the planet  The multicultural society Immigration, integration, racism  Contemporary social issues Wealth and poverty, law and order, impact of technical and scientific progress  Cultural topics Como Agua Para Chocolate Films from Almódovar

3.  Stimulus card discussion: 5 minutes  Conversation: 10 minutes  Preparation Time: 20 min

4. Stimulus card: 1 Sub-Topic chosen by candidate out of a choice of two. Discussion: Discussion of Como Agua Para Chocolate Discussion of Laberinto del Fauno

5.  Last 5 minutes.  Candidate chooses 1 of the 2 points of view during the 20 mns preparation & may make unlimited notes during the preparation for use in the test.  Candidate informs the examiner at the start of the test which point of view she has chosen.  The examiner will focus solely on the sub-topic of the Stimulus Card; e.g. if the sub-topic is "La integración“, the examiner cannot ask questions about immigration or racism.

6. First Part: candidate presents her viewpoint  Lasts 1 minute.  The candidate informs the examiner at the start of the test which point of view she has chosen.  Then brief, uninterrupted presentation of the candidate‘s viewpoint lasting no more than one minute.  5 marks* (out of the 15 allocated for the Stimulus Card) are allocated for the 1st minute of presentation of the candidate‘s viewpoint.

7. First part - 5 marks overall 5 marks: Student develops a wide range of relevant points. 4 marks: develops a number of relevant points 3 marks: some relevant points made but little development 2 marks: Responses brief and lacking in development 0-1 mark: No or very little meaningful response.

8. Second Part: Challenging the candidate  Lasts 4 minutes  The candidate is required to develop, defend, and justify her views.  The examiner will listen to the candidate‘s ideas & opinions in order to challenge the candidate & play "Devil‘s advocate“  Examiner will give the candidate opportunities to defend & justify their opinion.  10 marks* (out of the 15 allocated for the Stimulus Card) are allocated for how the candidate responds to challenging questions & defends their viewpoint.

9. Second part - 10 marks overall 9-10 marks: Sustains meaningful exchange with very little prompting. Responds well to regular opportunities to react spontaneously. Can develop ideas & counter views. 7-8 marks: Responds reasonably well with some evidence of spontaneity. Reacts infrequently to opportunities to develop ideas & counter views. 5-6 marks:Tends to react rather than initiate. Limited evidence of spontaneity in developing response to questions seeking views & opinions. More comfortable with factual information 3-4 marks:Generally dependent on the examiner‘s prompting which elicits only occasional attempts to give additional information. 0-2 marks: Minimal reaction with little or no development of responses independent of any prompting.

10.  The discussion covers the two Cultural Topics studied: The book Como Agua Para Chocolate & the film Laberinto del Fauno  Lasts 10 minutes (approx. 5 minutes on each topic).  The candidate is required to develop ideas and counter views to gain the highest marks.  Factual knowledge alone limits the interaction mark to a maximum of 6 (out of 10). For a higher mark the candidate must show evidence of analysis & developing opinions.  Examiner must respond & react to what the candidate says & challenge the candidate‘s response where appropriate.  Fewer than 4 minutes on any topic will reduce the candidate‘s mark by one band.

11.  Explain and exemplify  Describe and define  Compare and contrast  Give opinions directly  Questions that probe further candidate‘s responses  Questions that challenge candidate‘s responses  Implications, consequences, other viewpoints  What about? What if? questions  Hypothetical mode: ¿Qué harías si tuvieras....?  Evaluating another stand-point

12.  Fluency - 5 marks  Pronunciation and Intonation - 5 marks  Interaction - 10 marks  Knowledge of Grammar - 15 marks (awarded across both parts of the exam.)

13.  develop, make notes of ideas and examples on all sub-topics,  have lots of opinions and reasons for them,  think about how to steer the conversation to topics you want to talk about,  know advanced phrases for giving, defending, contradicting opinions,  know phrases for giving examples and details,  Practise as much as possible with Isabel and in class!