GESE

Graded Examinations in Spoken English

Levels Descriptions

The syllabus is divided into four sections covering grammar, vocabulary, functions and skills. It includes sessions during which students studying towards Trinity exams will develop their skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Students will also be provided with pronunciation practice. Covering the points of the syllabus the teachers will help students improve their grammar, extend their vocabulary, practice fluency and do exam tasks.


Grade 1 students will learn how to exchange greetings, show understanding of simple instructions through appropriate actions, give very short, even single-word answers to simple questions and requests for information, give personal information (name, age), identify and name various items and take a leave.

Grade 2 students will be able to understand short, simple questions, requests and statements, respond with appropriate actions and positive and negative short form answers, contribute to the conversation using memorised phrases and short statements, use a basic range of words and simple phrases related to personal details and situations, ask for very basic personal information, e.g. about possessions, indicate the position of people and objects, describe people, animals, objects and places very simply, state simple facts, inform about possessions and ask very simple questions about personal details.

Grade 3 students will be able to show understanding by responding appropriately to simple questions and requests, use basic sentence patterns with memorised phrases to communicate limited information related to simple everyday situations, exchange basic personal information and descriptions of everyday life and activities, link groups of words in a very simple way, describe daily routines, events and weather, tell the time and give dates, express ability and inability, give very simple directions and locations, describe current activities of real people or those in pictures and describe states in the past.

Grade 4 students will learn how to give information about the prepared topic in a series of limited long turns under the four headings on the Topic form, answer questions on the prepared topic, and participate in informal discussion, during which the examiner might request more information, facts or details, ask the examiner questions about the topic area, communicate limited information in simple and direct exchanges on holidays, shops, work, hobbies/sports, food or weekend/seasonal activities, talk about past events, future plans and intentions, express simple comparisons, likes and dislikes and describe manner and frequency.

Grade 5 students will be able to show understanding of the examiner by responding appropriately to questions, give information about the prepared topic in a series of linked long turns under the five headings on the Topic form, answer questions on the prepared topic, and participate in informal discussion of the topic, during which the examiner might request more information , facts or details, respond to requests for clarification and give reasons for making particular statements, ask the examiner questions about the topic area, talk about festivals, cars and bicycles, special occasions, entertainment, music or recent personal events, talk about the future, express preferences, talk about events in the indefinite and recent past, give reasons, state the duration of events and quantify.

Grade 6 students will be able to show understanding of the examiner by responding appropriately to questions, give information and opinions about the prepared topic in a series of sustained turns under the six headings on the Topic form, make the sequence of events clear by referring back to previous events and forward to forthcoming events, answer questions on the prepared topic, and participate in informal discussion of the topic, responding to the examiner’s requests for more information, facts or details, ask the examiner questions about the topic area, talk about travel, money, fashion, rules and regulations, health and fitness or shopping, express and request impressions, intention and purpose, obligation and necessity, certainty and uncertainty.

Grade 7 students will learn to respond appropriately to the examiner, communicate a variety of facts, ideas and opinions, and account for these, about a chosen topic linked across a series of extended turns, engage the examiner in discussion of the topic, be prepared to ask and answer questions about the content of the topic, handle interruptions or requests for clarification throughout the discussion of the topic, initiate the discourse, maintain the discourse by asking for information, help the discussion along by inviting comment from the examiner, take and give up turns when appropriate to do so, talk about education, national customs, village and city life, national and local produce and products, early memories or pollution and recycling, give advice and highlight advantages and disadvantages, make suggestions, describe past habits, express possibility and uncertainty, express agreement and disagreement.

Grade 8 students will be able to show understanding of the examiner by responding appropriately, communicate facts, ideas, opinions, and explain viewpoints about chosen topic linked across a series of extended turns, maintain coherence and cohesion throughout the topic phase by organising the discourse, handle interruptions by using recovery strategies, engage the examiner in discussion of the topic, be prepared to ask and answer questions about the content of and views about the topic and respond to requests for further information, clarifications and further explanations, talk about society and living standards, personal values and ideals, the world of work, the supernatural, national environmental concerns or public figures, express feelings and emotions, express impossibility, report the conversation of others, speculate, persuade and discourage.

Grade 9 students will learn how to show understanding of the examiner by responding appropriately, communicate facts, ideas, opinions and attitudes about a chosen topic sustained across a series of extended turns, maintain coherence and cohesion throughout the topic phase by organising the discourse, highlight significant points, handle interruptions by recapping and recovering, engage the examiner in the discussion of the topic, initiate the discourse during the interactive task phase, maintain the discourse by asking for information and elaborating on the responses obtained, develop the discussion by encouraging comment and opinion from the examiner, take, keep, give up and offer turns when appropriate to do so, talk about dreams and nightmares, crime and punishment, technology, habits and obsessions, global environmental issues or design, express abstract ideas, regrets, wishes, and hopes, assumptions, paraphrase, evaluate options, hypothesise and evaluate past actions or course of events.

Grade 10 students will be able to give a formal presentation, informative in nature, on a chosen subject, with an identifiable structure and sequence, using discourse connectors and cohesive devices, introduce the presentation, develop particular points, give supporting reasons and examples and conclude, invite questions and comments from the examiner about the content of the presentation, engage the examiner in a discussion of some of the points made, respond to the examiner’s requests for clarification or elaboration, defend a point of view and develop an argument further, take responsibility for the direction and maintenance of the interaction, utilise turn-taking conventions to ensure that the interaction flows and develops naturally, relate their own contributions closely to those of the examiner, understand a range of spoken texts and recognise implicit meaning, use contextual, grammatical and lexical cues to identify attitude, mood and intentions and anticipate what follows during the listening phase, use knowledge of grammar, lexis and register to identify context and participants from a piece of discourse, talk about roles in the family, bullying, the school curriculum, youth behaviour, use of the internet, designer goods or international events, equal opportunities, social issues, the future of the planet, scientific developments, stress management, develop an argument, defend a point of view, express beliefs, express opinions tentatively, summarise information, ideas and arguments and deduce.

Grade 11 students will be able to give a formal presentation, discursive in nature, on a chosen subject, with an identifiable structure, using discourse connectors and cohesive devices and showing controlled use of organisational patterns, introduce the presentation, develop particular points, expand and support points of view at some length with subsidiary points, integrate sub-themes and conclude, justify the ideas and opinions given in the presentations, encourage the examiner to comment and give his/her opinion on the ideas provided in the presentation, respond to challenges made by the examiner, take full responsibility for maintaining the flow of the conversation by changing the direction of the conversation when a particular line of questions dries up, negotiate towards a successful conclusion to the interaction, understand inferences and pick up on phonological clues during the listening phase, demonstrate the ability to recognise a range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, talk about independence, ambitions, stereotypes, role models, competitiveness and young people’s rights or the media, advertising, lifestyles, the arts, the rights of the individual and economic issues, soften and downplay propositions, express caution, challenge arguments and opinions, evaluate different standpoints and express reservations.

Grade 12 students will be able to present a complex topic with a high degree of formality to the examiner, who will probably be unfamiliar with it, structure and adapt the talk flexibility to meet the examiner’s needs, present a clear argument with an effective logical structure which helps the examiner to notice and remember significant points, deal effectively with the examiner’s input by responding to a variety of conversational gambits and handle difficult questioning, actively seek ways in which to engage the examiner in meaningful discussion, control and sustain the discussion at all time during the interactive task phase, actively encourage the examiner’s collaboration in the task, direct the interaction towards a successful conclusion, understand texts on abstract and complex topics which may be of a specialist nature beyond their own field, understand virtually everything heard even when delivered at natural native speaker speed, identify implicit meaning during the listening phase, hold a discussion unconstrained by linguistic limitations, without showing signs of having to restrict what they want to say.

There are no subject areas stated for this grade. Students should be able to make use of a wide range of vocabulary items relating to all previous subject areas.