Like everything in this course, further oral activities require skills that can be developed and perfected with time and practice. There are a few tips and tricks that you can find here to help you approach this form of assessment.

1. Conduct a lot of further oral activities under different circumstances. As a minimum requirement, you must do two FOAs; one on Part 1 and one on Part 2. But the advantage to doing more is that there are more opportunities to learn from mistakes. Try doing one with minimal preparation, or 'off the cuff', early in the course. Then, later in the course, after reflecting on previous attempts, take more time to prepare and plan. Remember best one counts. You can afford to learn from mistakes.

2. Start with the learning outcomes from Part 1 and Part 2 and plan back from there. Ask yourself: 'How will my activity show that I have met this particular learning outcome?' Unpack a learning outcome like you would an exam question or written task 2 question, using mind maps or spider diagrams. For example, for the third learning outcome from Part 1, which reads 'Demonstrate an awareness of how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context,' you can create a presentation of 10 different McDonald's ads from around the world, commenting on how this multinational corporation has shown cultural sensitivity to sell their product world-wide. 

3. Although you may do a range of activities from presentations to debates, from interviews to theatrical plays, notice that the assessment criteria do not test your creativity. Instead they test your understanding and knowledge of one or more texts in relation to the topics studied in Parts 1 and 2. Criterion B even asks to demonstrate how language is used to create meaning. In other words, if there is no reference to the language of a primary or secondary source, the activity will fail.

4. Conduct the further oral activities in a classroom setting for all classmates to see. This creates an opportunity for peer assessment and interaction. Students can ask questions and learn from each other.

5. Record further oral activities. Although this is not a requirement, you can learn a lot by reviewing your work. A recording makes this possible. If video recording is too intimidating, an audio recording should suffice.

6. If you are going to use PowerPoint, use it correctly. Using PowerPoint is a skill that does not come naturally to everyone. 

7. Listen to sample further oral activities and assess them according to the assessment criteria. This will make you more familiar with the nature of the task and make your own activity more focused and relevant.