LEVEL B2

From Level B2, users are found able to demonstrate the ability to understand spoken and written form of the language in different situations and express themselves adequately in language which is sociolinguistically appropriate to the situations. The main objective is to find the candidate's ability to respond appropriately in a foreign language context / in foreign language situations.

Oral communication:

The candidate must demonstrate the ability to communicate in different situations and express him/herself personal attitude to complex topics.

Situations:

As in A and B1 plus:

  1. expressing and respond to feelings such as wonder, contemplation, resignation, worries, wishes, expectations and disappointments

  2. making suggestions, giving detailed instructions

  3. complain, argue, make compliments

  4. summarize, oppose, evaluate, clarify, explain, make conclusions, confirm and modify information

  5. to provide third parties with complex information (in direct and indirect speech)

  6. future plans and intentions

Oral communication tests topics:

1. The individual

  • behavioural patterns
  • fashion/clothing/cosmetics

2. Partnership

  • making friends (in person, on the net, etc.)
  • roles in the family
  • contacts at work / at school

3. Family

  • family/bringing up children
  • relationship of generations / living together
  • marriage/forms of partnership

4. Place of living

  • rental/property/lodgings
  • buying a flat/buying on credit /renovation
  • way of living in a town and in a village

5. Travelling/transport

  • driving/highway codes
  • walking, riding the bike
  • reasons/forms of travelling abroad

6. Shopping/shops

  • shopping habits / commercials, ads
  • chains / shopping by mail
  • retail shops versus shopping centres

7. Communication/keeping in contact

  • reasons of the popularity of mobiles
  • the role of language knowledge in communication
  • the increasing dominance of the English language

8. Services

  • car rental / travel agencies
  • repairs / guarantees

9. Culture/entertainment

  • books versus Internet
  • cinema, theatre versus TV, video, DVD
  • he Internet and the social networking sites

10. Time/weather

  • role and accurateness of forecasts
  • relationship of climate and flora / fauna

11. Health/illnesses

  • outpatient department / hospital / specialists
  • nature cure – medicines
  • prevention / screening
  • healthy diet

12. Sport

  • doing sports – healthy lifestyle –dangerous/extreme sports
  • ball games / team sports / rules
  • water sports/winter sports
  • Olympic Games

13. Media

  • features of newspapers, their columns
  • sensation and news

14. Hobby

  • pursuing amateur arts
  • clubs (sport, cultural, professional)
  • hobby and work
  • modern / peculiar hobbies

15. Studying/work

  • language knowledge / skills / career
  • equal chances in education / finding a workplace
  • unemployment
  • exchange programs / scholarships abroad / professional development
  • new forms of studying

16. European Union

  • work in the EU
  • language teaching / language knowledge / work opportunities in the EU

17. Culture and civilisation The home country and the target language country

  • population / ethnic minorities
  • historic traditions / monuments / cultural values
  • artistic / ethnographic characteristics

18. Public life

  • public institutions / personal documents
  • public safety
  • national holidays

19. Environmental protection

  • pollution (air, water, soil, et)
  • selective waste management
  • recycling
  • alternative sources of energy

20. Current topics/events

  • public life / politics / NGOs
  • economy
  • arts
  • sports

Syntax:

  1. Passive sentences. Passive voice
  2. Reflexive passive verb forms
  3. Type of sentence “Matematika sa mi študovala dobre”.
  4. Type of A one-element sentence: “Prší”. “Zranilo ho”.
  5. Type of A one-element sentence: “V sobotu sa nepracuje”.
  6. Type of A one-element sentence: “Sedí sa mi dobre”.
  7. Type of A one-element sentence “Čkalo sa mu”.

Morphology:

  1. Reflexive pronouns.
  2. Reflexive verbs, the ending – sa.
  3. Reflexive verbs, the ending – si.
  4. Participles (active and passive).
  5. Transgressive.
  6. Nonfinite verbs.
  7. Gerund.

Lexis: a wider range of equivalents including vocabulary covering current social, political and cultural issues; vocabulary needed to handle communication tasks (see III.)

It is assessed:

  1. language, pronunciation at normal speed
  2. reading more complex text structures
  3. frequent use of idiomatic expressions
  4. use of standard dialect in an informal sentences

Exam description:

Oral communication: duration: 20 minutes. Points allocated: 25

Form: a conversation between the two candidates

  1. introduction
  2. guided conversation based on given topics
  3. expressing an opinion based on visual stimuli