How to prepare the Language B individual oral

The Language B oral at a glance

This is the internal assessment for Language B, first assessment 2020, the current published course. It is worth 25% at both SL and HL and is marked out of 30. Your teacher conducts it and the IB moderates recordings, so the recording is the work.

The five themes are identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. You must not see the stimuli or extracts beforehand. During preparation you may write up to ten bullet points. They are prompts, not a script, and you have no dictionary, class notes, phone or copy of the book beyond the extract you were given.

How the 30 marks are split

Four criteria are applied with a best-fit judgement. They are not four equal essays. Two of them never look at your presentation, and one of them never looks at the conversation.

A — Language (12)

This is the only criterion that covers every part of the oral. It listens for vocabulary that fits the task, a range of structures, accuracy that does not block meaning, and pronunciation a listener can follow. At SL the top band includes some idiomatic language used naturally. At HL it looks for vocabulary that sharpens the message, not rare words dropped in for effect. Errors in complex structures are expected. Errors that force the teacher to guess what you meant are the ones that cost marks.

B1 — Message, the presentation only (6)

At SL this asks whether the presentation stays relevant to the picture, uses both obvious and implied details, offers a personal interpretation, and makes a clear link to the target culture. A list of objects in the frame stays in the lower bands. At HL the same six marks ask whether you use the extract convincingly: observations and opinions developed and supported from the passage, not a general comment about the novel that could have been said without the page in front of you. Criterion B1 stops when the presentation stops. A brilliant conversation cannot repair a presentation that never engaged the stimulus.

B2 — Message, the conversations (6)

This covers the follow-up and the general discussion. The question is whether your answers are relevant, developed, and broad enough to include a personal interpretation or an attempt to interest the other person. One-line answers, even accurate ones, sit in the lower bands. A developed answer has a claim, a reason and a concrete detail. You do not need a second prepared speech. You do need to finish the thought the question opened.

C — Interactive skills (6)

This is also only the conversations. It is about whether you understand and keep the exchange going, in the target language, with some contributions that are yours rather than echoes of the question. If most questions have to be repeated, the mark stays low even when your presentation was fluent. Asking for a question to be repeated, in the target language, is better than guessing and answering something else. The top of the band is sustained participation, including moments where you add an idea the teacher did not hand you.

What to do with the stimulus you are given

Standard level: interpret, then locate it

Spend the first minute of preparation deciding which of the two images you can say something true about. Choose the one whose theme you can connect to a practice, place or debate you actually know in a target-language context. An image with more objects is not automatically better. An image you can only label is worse.

Imagine you are given a photograph of a neighbourhood repair workshop: three people around a bicycle, tools on a wall, a handwritten sign. A weak opening names the bicycle, the people and the tools, then says the theme is sharing the planet because sharing is good. That presentation is mostly description, and the cultural link is a slogan.

A stronger shape is short. Say what is happening, then what it implies — skill being passed on, or goods kept in use. Anchor that in one real practice you can discuss, such as a repair café you have studied, and give an opinion you can defend. A few sentences of description are enough. If you cannot name a real practice, do not invent one.

Higher level: stay on the page

The extract is up to about 300 words from one of the two works. In the presentation you should summarise it briefly, place it in the work in a sentence or two, and spend most of the time on the events, ideas and messages inside the extract. A book review of the whole novel, or a rehearsed talk on “the theme of identity in the novel”, misses the task even if the language is strong.

A usable plan is four moves. First, whose decision the extract shows. Second, one detail and what you think it reveals. Third, a second detail that complicates that reading. Fourth, one sentence on the wider work, then stop. Opinions need the extract as evidence.

How to use the three parts

1. Preparation. Choose quickly, then draft ten bullets that are cues: the interpretation, the cultural example, two opinions, and vocabulary you forget under pressure. Do not write full sentences you will be tempted to read.
2. Presentation, 3–4 minutes. At SL: brief description, the theme on the label, your interpretation, a clear cultural link, an opinion. At HL: a short summary, a brief link to the work, then developed comments on the extract. Stop yourself at four minutes. The teacher is expected to interrupt if you do not.
3. Follow-up, 4–5 minutes. This stays with the stimulus. Expect questions that ask you to explain, compare or judge something you already said. Answer in more than one sentence. If you are stuck, return to a detail in the image or the extract.
4. General discussion, 5–6 minutes. The teacher signals a change of theme. This is a conversation, not a second presentation. Have a simple opinion ready on each of the five themes so you are not silent when the new theme arrives, but do not deliver it as a script. Listen to the actual question.

How to keep a conversation going

Answer in three beats: a direct response, a reason or example, and a small extension. That extension is an independent contribution, not a second speech. If you do not understand, ask for the question again in the target language. Cultural links have to be specific enough to discuss. “In France everyone cares about food” is too broad, and often untrue. A detail you can be asked about — a market that closes one afternoon a week, and whether that protects family time or hurts small shops — is enough. One accurate example for each of the five themes is more useful than ten examples for your favourite theme, because you will not know which theme appears.

Common mistakes

• Describing every object in the image, or retelling the whole novel, and never offering an interpretation.
• Giving a rehearsed theme talk that would work for any stimulus. B1 is about the stimulus you were given.
• Mentioning the target culture only in a closing slogan, or inventing a fact you cannot explain when asked.
• Reading ten full sentences off the page. The limit is ten bullets, and they must not be a script.
• Answering the follow-up in single clauses, then running out of the general discussion because the presentation overran.
• Treating Criterion C as “be lively”. The criterion is comprehension, sustained participation and ideas that move the exchange forward.
• Confusing this oral with the Language A individual oral. Language A is a prepared talk on a global issue in two works or texts. Language B is an unseen stimulus or an unseen extract, followed by conversation. The Literature oral guide and the Language and Literature oral guide are different tasks.

Checklist before the recording

• I can describe a picture in a few sentences and then say what it implies.
• I have one accurate cultural example for each of the five themes, and I can be asked a follow-up on it.
• If I am HL, I can talk about a short extract without turning it into a book report, and I can support an opinion with a detail from the page.
• My notes are at most ten bullets. I have practised speaking from them without reading.
• A three-to-four-minute presentation is timed, so the follow-up and the second theme still happen.
• I can ask for clarification in the target language, and I can add a reason and an example after a direct answer.
• I know the oral is recorded, lasts 12–15 minutes, and is worth 25%.

Language B oral — frequently asked questions

Where to go next

When you are ready to plan a practice oral, open the Language B individual oral tool. The beginner oral is a different task: see the ab initio individual oral guide and its tool. For the prepared Language A orals, use the Literature and Language and Literature guides. Every subject guide is listed on the guides section of the homepage.

Guidance aligned to the Language B guide, first assessment 2020. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization.