When contemplating and planning for the Further Oral Activity, it is a good idea to refer back to the subject guide for guidance. While the guide is not always crystal clear, it will provide you with the basic framework and parameters you need in advance when figuring out how to tackle the Further Oral Activity.

The subject guide, on page 62, lists four headings or ways in which the FOA may be presented. They include structured group discussion, role play, dramatic presentation, and finally oral presentation.

The guide also states that “the further oral activity must be the work of the student and it may not be written out in full and read” (57). Several pages later, under dramatic presentation, the first example is “writing and performing a scene” (62).

These seem to directly contradict each other. How can a student write and perform a scene without writing out the scene in full?

And this is where your best judgment arises. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which a student reads from a script. It’s painful for everyone involved. Yet, some of the types of Further Oral Activities suggested necessitate a script being written beforehand (as evidenced in the dramatic presentation examples).

That does not mean students can or should bring in a script though when actually presenting. It would be akin to watching a play in which the actors have the lines in their hands as they are performing. Instead, in certain cases, it is just a tool to help shape the Further Oral Activity.

The advice one student gives other students is this: "We used it (the script) for us to know our main points. We elaborated on them in the actual FOA. This was just the base." His example is below. If used correctly, as a way to help students frame their thinking, a script can be helpful before - not during - the actual Further Oral Activity.

Contextual Information

Further Oral Activity Assessment Criteria

Student Example

Teacher Comments

It's important to remember that these comments are based on the actual FOA and not on the script itself. Although students created a script, they did not use it when delivering their assessment. It's also important to remember that each individual student receives a separate mark; they are not graded together.