AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
GCSE English Language
Unit 2: Speaking and Listening
Scheme of Work Overview
This scheme of work is designed to prepare students to complete the three Speaking and
Listening controlled assessment tasks.
Controlled Assessment Tasks for this Unit
Presenting: Contemporary Issues Talk
Discussing and Listening: ‘Some students destined to fail at school.’
Role Playing: News Interview – Phone Hacking
Duration
14 lessons of planning, preparation and rehearsal
6 lessons of performance / delivery
GCSE Specification Assessment Objectives
AO1 Speaking and Listening

Read and understand texts, selecting material appropriate to purpose, collating from
different sources and making comparisons and cross-references as appropriate.

Develop and sustain interpretations of writers’ ideas and perspectives.

Explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, grammatical, structural and
presentational features to achieve effects and engage and influence the reader.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Linked Functional Skills Standards
SL2.1 Consider complex information and give a relevant, cogent response in appropriate
language.
SL2.2 Present information and ideas clearly and persuasively to others.
SL2.3 Adapt contributions to suit audience, purpose and situation.
SL2.4 Make significant contributions to discussions, taking a range of roles and helping to
move discussion forward.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 1
Objective(s)
 To be able to identify what makes a successful speaker and listener.
 To establish rules for successful speaking and listening.
Starter

Teacher introduces the unit and its value overall in GCSE in terms of the
proportion of students’ grades.

Students complete the ‘What makes a good/bad speaker & listener’ sheet. The
aim is for students to identify the qualities of the different people.

Feedback via whiteboards.
Development

Students watch some clips from YouTube (as chosen by the teacher) which
show people speaking in different contexts.

Suggestions might be:
-
An exchange from the Jeremy Kyle show.
-
An interview with the Prime Minister.
-
A clip from a soap opera.

As they watch the clips, the students complete the ‘Evaluating Speakers &
Listeners’ grid.
Plenary / Homework

Students feedback from the previous activity.

They then work in pairs to come up with some rules for effective speaking and
listening and complete the ‘Rules for Speaking and Listening’ post ard.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 2
Objective(s)
 To be able to explain contemporary issues.
 To be able to identify different points of view in a text.
Starter

Teacher introduces the first Speaking and Listening task: Contemporary Issues
Talk. Students brainstorm what they think this might mean & feedback.

Students brainstorm a range of contemporary issues that they think might be
relevant topics for this task.

Feedback
Development

Students are put into male/female pairs and complete the ‘Contemporary
Issues Speed Dating’ activity in which they move round the classroom looking at
different materials on contemporary issues.

As they work in pairs, they complete the ‘Understanding Contemporary Issues’
grids to outline the key parts of the issue and then the different perspectives.

At the end of the session the students feedback via whiteboards & class
discussion.
Plenary / Homework

Students discuss which of the topics that they felt most energised by.

Students complete the plenary postcard.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 3 (ICT ACCESS ESSENTIAL)
Objective(s)
 To identify a contemporary issue for the presenting task.
Starter

Teacher explains to students that today’s lesson is going to be focused on using
research skills to identify an appropriate topic for their Contemporary Issues
talk.

As they work through the lesson, students will need the ‘Contemporary Issues
Talk: Research Tasks’ sheet. Each of the parts of the lesson are structured
around activities linked to this document.

Students use the ICT facilities to visit a range of news websites (BBC, Sky News
etc). They identify the major news stories of the day and key information about
them.
Development

Using their findings as a starting point, students complete the ‘Exploring
Possible Topics’ section in which they do a brief search of the internet for
information and material on three different topics of their choosing.

Students identify the material; evaluate its use; and think about whether it is
something that they want to choose for their talk.

Students move on to complete the ‘Topic in Focus’ section of the tasks in which
they focus primarily on a topic they wish to explore further.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘The Topic for My Contemporary Issues Talk’ post card
and return it to the teacher.

Homework – students collect research for their talk and bring it to the next
lesson ready to plan and structure their presentation.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 4
Objective(s)
 To be able to structure an effective Contemporary Issues Talk.
Starter

Students should have now decided on their chosen topics – on whiteboards
teacher checks that all students have a topic.

Students now need to think about the structure of their talk and the type of
information that they will include in their talk.

Students, in pairs, brainstorm a series of section headings that they could use to
structure their talk.

Feedback & the class agree a structure that will be used by all students to
structure their information.
Development

Students complete the ‘Structuring the Presentation’ card sort in which they
take a range of different information and re-organise it into an appropriate
sequence.

Feedback and explanations.

Students then use their own research to complete the ‘Structuring my
Presentation’ task sheet.

Students share their ideas and check that they fit the structure that the
students agreed.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘Overview Plan’ post card and return it to the teacher
who can then assess the effectiveness of the structuring.

Homework – students draft their speeches.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 5
Objective(s)
 Students understand how to achieve their target grade on this task.
Starter

Teacher introduces the mark scheme for this task to the students and they
highlight and annotate it looking to show that they understand the key
descriptors in each band.

The teacher shows students the approximate grade breakdowns for the task.

Teacher needs to explicitly make the point that using notes is not acceptable
and will severely limit the grade a student can achieve.
Development

Teacher delivers two versions of the same talk to the class. The class use the
mark scheme to mark the teacher’s performance.

The class then form into groups of four to discuss what they have seen; agree
strengths/weaknesses; and to decide upon a mark.

Each group then appoints a spokesman who relays the findings of the group
back to the teacher.

The class agree a mark, which the teacher verifies.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘How do I Achieve my Target Grade on the Presenting
Task’ postcard.
Lessons 6 -7
Students deliver their presentations to the class.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 8
Objective(s)
 To understand the requirements of the ‘Discussing and Listening’ task.
 To be able to extract relevant information from media texts.
Starter

The teacher introduces the discussing and listening task to students and
explains that it will be based on the topic ‘Are some students destined to fail at
school?’

Students brainstorm what they think the implications of this title are. For
example, meaning of the word ‘destined’ and ‘fail’? What do these words mean
and imply?

Feedback & teacher explains the format the task will take.
Development

Students need the ‘Jamie’s Dream School’ task sheet. Students watch episode
one of ‘Dream School’ and complete the tasks as they watch it.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the plenary postcard based on what they have gleaned from
the documentary.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 9
Objective(s)
 To be able to identify attitudes and perspectives.
 To be able to extract, deduce and infer information from texts.
Starter

Students complete the ‘Dream School: Case Studies’ starter in which they look
at some of the people featured in the documentary and try to identify their
attitudes to education.

Feedback from the group.
Development

Students use the Internet to research the issue of school achievement & failure.

Students then complete the ‘Constructing My Own Opinion’ task sheet, which
asks them to carefully build up their own view on the topic.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the plenary postcard, which asks them to identify their own
perspective about the topic.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 10
Objective(s)
 To understand the principles of debate.
 To be able to identify good practice in debate situations.
Starter

Teacher introduces the concept of ‘debate’ to students. Students work in pairs
to brainstorm what the term means and what some of the rules of debate
might be. ‘Students can use the: ‘Key Features of an Effective Debate’
worksheet.

Feedback to the class.
Development

Students need the ‘What makes a successful debate’ task sheet.

They watch an extended clip from Question Time – a suggested clip is from the
episode where Nick Griffin appears – and they complete the task sheet as they
watch the programme.

Students work in pairs to discuss their findings and then feedback to the class.

Students review the ‘Key Features of an Effective Debate’ worksheet.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete plenary postcard.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 11
Objective(s)
 To be able to convincingly adopt the role of someone other than yourself.
Starter

Students move into groups of 5.

Students draw pieces of paper from an envelope / container which have on
them the role that they will adopt for the debate.

Once they have their assigned role, students then complete the ‘What would
they think?’ activity in which they brainstorm what position they think their
character would take on the issue.
Development

Students look back at the information that they explored in lesson nine of the
sequence.

They scan and skim the information looking for things that would be relevant to
their position in the debate.

Having highlighted the material, they then complete the ‘Debate Notes’ sheet,
which asks them to identify the material and the reason why.
Plenary / Homework

In their groups, students discuss the information that they intend to use and
offer suggestions to one another about how they can add / amend things.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 12
Objective(s)
 Students understand how to achieve their target grade on this task.
Starter

Teacher introduces the mark scheme for this task to the students and they
highlight and annotate it looking to show that they understand the key
descriptors in each band.

The teacher shows students the approximate grade breakdowns for the task.

Teacher needs to explicitly make the point that using notes is not acceptable
and will severely limit the grade a student can achieve.
Development

Students watch some examples of ‘Discussing and Listening’ tasks from the AQA
standardising DVD. The class use the mark scheme to mark the teacher’s
performance.

The class then form into groups of four to discuss what they have seen; agree
strengths / weaknesses; and to decide upon a mark.

Each group then appoints a spokesman who relays the findings of the group
back to the teacher.

The class agree a mark, which the teacher verifies.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘How do I Achieve my Target Grade on the Presenting
Task’ postcard.
Lessons 13 -14
Students perform their discussions.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 15
Objective(s)
 To understand the requirements of the ‘Discussing and Listening’ task.
 To be able to extract relevant information from media texts.
Starter

Teacher introduces students to the ‘Drama-based’ task explaining that they are
going to work in pairs, and role-play a media interview on the topic of phone
hacking.

Students complete the ‘What is Phone Hacking’ starter activity in which they
test what they think they already know about it and its moral implications.

Feedback to the group.
Development

Students use the Internet to research phone hacking.

The teacher then shows a range of individually selected YouTube clips of news
coverage, political responses, etc, to the issue.

Students take any notes which will illuminate their understanding.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘What do I know about Phone Hacking’ plenary quiz.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 16
Objective(s)
 To understand the principles of effective interview practice.
Starter

Teacher introduces the concept of the ‘media interview’ to students. Students
work in pairs to brainstorm what the term means and what some of the rules of
interview might be. Students use the: ‘Key Features of an Effective Interview’
worksheet.

Feedback to the class.
Development

Students need the ‘What makes a successful interview’ task sheet.

They watch an extended clip from current affairs programmes. Some examples
might be Newsnight with Jeremy Paxman; post-match football interview, etc.
They complete the task sheet as they watch the programme.

Students work in pairs to discuss their findings and then feedback to the class.

Students review the ‘Key Features of an Effective Interview’ worksheet.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete plenary postcard.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 17
Objective(s)
 To be able to develop and sustain a role.
Starter

Students work in their pairs to divide up the roles that they will undertake –
where there is dispute the teacher might make this a random activity.

Students then discuss with each other, using the material from the Media Pack,
how they think the interview will work.
Development

Students work together to draft a script for the interview.

Having completed their script, they then rehearse their interview.

As they rehearse, students need to keep their minds focused clearly on the
emphasis on sustaining their role.
Plenary / Homework

Students perform to another pair who provide feedback on their delivery.
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AQA GCSE English Language, Unit 2 – Speaking and Listening: Scheme of Work
Lesson 18
Objective(s)
 Students understand how to achieve their target grade on this task.
Starter

Teacher introduces the mark scheme for this task to the students and they
highlight and annotate it looking to show that they understand the key
descriptors in each band.

The teacher shows students the approximate grade breakdowns for the task.

Teacher needs to explicitly make the point that using notes is not acceptable
and will severely limit the grade a student can achieve.
Development

Students watch some examples of ‘Drama Based’ tasks from the AQA
standardising DVD. The class use the mark scheme to mark the teacher’s
performance.

The class then form into groups of four to discuss what they have seen; agree
strengths/weaknesses; and to decide upon a mark.

Each group then appoints a spokesman who relays the findings of the group
back to the teacher.

The class agree a mark, which the teacher verifies.
Plenary / Homework

Students complete the ‘How do I Achieve my Target Grade on the ‘Drama-based
Task’ postcard.
Lesson 19 – 20

Students perform their interviews.
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