IB Docs (2) Team
Are You a Berliner? An Audio FOA Sample
Further Oral Activities. FOA’s. F-O-A. It doesn’t matter what you call them or how you pronounce them, they are one tough cookie. Do students present something, debate something, perform something or discuss something?
All those options are on the table. As long as students stick to the parameters in the guide, and as long as what they do allows them to be successful, let them run free. Why? For one, it's internally assessed, and a recording is never sent to the IB. Of course, you do have to send your scores off, but the moderation is based on the IOC.
So this is the area for creativity to flourish. And we know that sometimes students produce wonderful, insightful presentations and sometimes they are a train wreck.
In an ideal world, FOAs would be conducted at the end of a unit of study or part of the course. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. Sometimes, you are just caught off guard. Sometimes you run out of time. And sometimes, you find yourself taking over a class and running out of time and at the end of a term/semester/year. What to do in those situations?
Remember that a FOA can be a straightforward analysis of a text. In the example below, a student conducts his about a famous political speech. You will find below the audio recording and the speech itself. Thanks to David White, a colleague, for graciously providing this recording to put on the website.
Sample Text (from John F.Kennedy)
Ich Bin Ein Berliner Speech“Ich Bin Ein Berliner” Speech by John F. Kennedy (June 26th, 1963)
I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.
Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."
I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!
There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.
What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
Sample audio recording of the FOA
Audio Recording of an Example FOATeacher Comments (my own, not the original teacher's):
Students can be given the assessment rubric (see below) to record their marks. Only then should they be given the opportunity to compare their own assessment with the teacher's assessment.
Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text(s) and subject matter or extract
To what extent does the activity show knowledge and understanding of the text(s) and subject chosen for the oral activity?
Has the student shown awareness and understanding of the meaning of the text(s) in relation to the subject?
9 out of 10 The student knows this speech well. He places it in the historical and social context of the time. He understands the multiple purposes of it. It connects to language and power implicitly. It is an overall excellent grasp of this famous speech.
Criterion B: Understanding of how language is used
To what extent does the activity show understanding of the way language is used to create meaning?
Has the student shown an appreciation of how language and style is used to particular effect in the text?
9 out of 10 The student appreciates, to an excellent standard, how language and style are used. He connects various literary and rhetorical features to the various purposes he introduces. He explains the effect of them on the audience. And he does this repeatedly and often.
Criterion C: Organization
How well organized is the commentary?
How coherent is the structure?
5 out out 5 The student very clearly provides his three main arguments about the speech. He then systematically goes through each. He uses clear markers or sign posts letting the listener when he is transitioning. It works well even if it's not very creative.
Criterion D: Language
How clear, varied and accurate is the language?
How appropriate is the choice of register and style? (“Register” refers, in this context, to the student’s use of elements such as vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and idiom appropriate to the further oral activity.)
4 out of 5 The student speaks clearly and fluently. While the register is strong, there is a lack of style. Yes, it's academic, but it lacks a sense power to what he is saying. I'm looking for more of a punch in how it is delivered. It is a nebulous point, perhaps, but one worth considering.
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