HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
DEC. 2015
ILR LEVEL 0+ OPI Tasks
ILR Level 0+
Description of Task
Tips
1. Lists of words
a. What are the names of each piece of the uniform you’re
wearing today?
b. In pairs, each member chooses one category: Enlisted
Ranks or Officer Ranks. Tell each other from memory as may
ranks as you can in your category. Check the textbook’s list
to see if you left any words out and try again. Switch
categories and repeat.
2. Memorized
phrases
a. Please state your name, rank, and serial number.
b. Students take turns calling out commands (common ones
e.g., “Stand up!” or military commands e.g., “Attention!”)
and the other class members obey.
3. Simple one or
two-word
answers to basic
questions
Which branch of the military are you in? What is your rank?
When did you join the military? What is your Unit? What is
your specialty?
4. Simple guided
conversation or
simple role play
a. Pass out pre-made military ID cards, one to each student,
using an equal number of TL and U.S. cards.
Each student creates
a speaking journal
using a web app to
record any tasks the
teacher requests.
Teachers listen and
comment on the
recorded speech.
Teachers may
demonstrate how
these commands are
given and obeyed in
the TL country.
Students answer
according to their
own U.S. experience.
Teachers may
demonstrate the
equivalent in the
target country.
Class discussion after
role play:
b. In a joint exercise with American and TL soldiers, in the
mess hall, introduce yourself to one soldier of the other
nationality.
c. With your new partner, approach another pair and
introduce your new friend using the TL.
d. Mix and mingle until everyone has had a chance to
introduce his or her friend to two people.
What was easy or
awkward in this
situation? What
other phrases would
be helpful to know?
How can you expand
this role play to learn
and give more
information? Learn
one or two more
phrases from the
teacher, and repeat
the role play.
HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
ILR Level
1/1+
1. Simple short
conversation
2. Basic survival
situation (role
play)
3. Ask 5
questions
Description of Task
a. Hold a simple conversation with the student about one of
his or her best friends in the military.
b. Do you have a family member with military experience or
who is a veteran? Tell me about this person.
a. You wake up too sick to attend class. How would you
report the situation to your instructor in the TL?
b. The student is assigned to a military base overseas. One
day, while driving a military vehicle off base, the student
witnesses a car go off the road and flip over. Call the local
police emergency number, report the accident, and answer
the questions the dispatcher asks about the accident, the
location, your identity and contact information. The teacher
plays the role of the dispatcher.
a. Ask your instructor five questions about military life in the
Target Country.
b. Work in pairs. Take turns asking each other about his or
her different uniforms. Example: What color or colors is (are)
your dress uniform? Your camouflage? Your PT outfit? When
do you wear each type of uniform? Where do you wear each
type of uniform? What activities do you perform in each
uniform? Which uniform do you like best? How do you take
care of your uniforms?
c. Interview your partner about their military service, for
example, when s/he joined the military, how did they
choose their branch of service, how long they have been in
the military, what do they like best about being in the
military, where did they do their basic training, etc.
DEC. 2015
Tips
Introduce 3 to 5
exchanges.
Role play scenarios
are always
introduced in English.
After the role play,
discuss what was
difficult for the
student to report.
Expand the student’s
vocabulary
When students ask
questions, encourage
them to form
different types of
questions using the
words who, what,
where, when, how,
how much/many,
which, and why.
Level 2 Challenge Tasks for students at ILR Speaking Levels 1/1+
It is recommended to use simple questions that require very basic Level 2 speaking skills to begin to lead
students into the next speaking level. Since students listening and reading skills are most likely half a
level ahead of their speaking abilities, they should have the vocabulary and grammar to understand
these tasks. Encourage students to expand their speaking abilities by answering the questions in a
simple manner, at Level 1+, and then give some strategies and vocabulary so they can try again and
expand their spoken responses.
On the next page are some Level 2 challenge tasks that can be given when students are speaking at
Level 1/1+.
HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
ILR Level 2
Challenge
Description of Task
DEC. 2015
Tips
These challenge questions are to help students stretch their language to reach toward Level 2. The tasks
may be simple to begin with and students may give answers of a few words or a sentence or two.
1. Present Tense Have a conversation with the teacher or a fellow student
How can you expand
Narration
asking and answering questions about life in the military. For the responses in this
(challenge to the example, ask and answer questions about what is an army,
task? Do students
next level)
what do soldiers (airmen, sailors, or marines) do, what kind
need help forming
of jobs they can have, and what is their duty to the country.
complete sentences?
What new vocabulary
Try to use at least 5 present tense verbs in your responses.
would be helpful?
Practice again using
more vocabulary.
2. Past Tense
Briefly tell about an unpleasant experience you had in the
After the role play,
Narration
military. What happened? How did it make you feel? What
discuss what was
(challenge to the did you do about it? Did you find a solution?
difficult for the
next level)
student. Expand the
Try to use at least 5 past tense verbs in your story.
student’s vocabulary
or explain a needed
grammatical
structure and repeat
the task.
3. Instructions
In pairs, or with the instructor, choose one of these tasks, or When giving
or Directions
a different military-themed task that uses familiar
instructions, use
(challenge to the vocabulary:
transitional words to
next level)
order the steps, such
a. Give instructions on how to clean and check a rifle.
as first, second, next,
Or,
then, finally, or
b. Give instructions on how to clean and prepare a dress
spatial words, such as
uniform.
the top, the middle,
Or, give directions:
the bottom, on the
Can you tell me what time Belas Hall opens for lunch? How
left, on the right, etc.
do I walk there from here?
HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
DEC. 2015
ILR Level 2
Description of Task
Tips
1. Present Tense
Narration
You are just starting your military service. On a phone call
home, you speak with a younger sister or brother (played by
a partner or the instructor) who asks you questions about
what you usually do each day and on weekends.
Your responses
should use present
tense verbs – for
example, every day I
exercise for..., usually
I eat at..., I always
get up at ..., on
Sundays I often go
to..., etc.
How can you expand
the responses in this
task? Do students
need help forming
complete sentences?
What new vocabulary
would be helpful?
Practice again using
more vocabulary.
Try to use at least 5 present tense verbs in your responses.
2. Past Tense
Narration
Try to use at least 5 past tense verbs in these tasks.
a. With the instructor or a partner, talk about your
experiences in basic training.
3. Future Tense
Narration
b. In pairs or with the instructor: You are interviewing a
Target Nationality applicant who is seeking a civilian support
job as a language teacher on a U.S. military base. Ask several
questions about past employment, education, and other
relevant experiences to the job. Then, switch roles and be
interviewed for an interpreter’s job.
a. It is your 18th birthday and you have decided to join the
military. Announce your plans at your birthday party. Your
friend (played by the teacher or a partner) asks you several
questions about what you will do or plan to do in the
military and in the future.
b. When is your next leave? Tell me at least 5 things you will
do when you take leave next time.
(Be specific – don’t say what you usually do on leave, but say
specifically what you will do or are planning to do on your
next leave.)
4. Description
Describe in some detail what a typical living quarters looks
like in a military barracks.
5. Role Play of a
Survival
Situation with
One
Complication
a. You are organizing a visit to DLI of a Target Nationality
officer who doesn’t speak English well. The translator
(played by the teacher or another student) phones the night
before to say s/he has come down with the flu. Find a
solution.
b. You are applying for a job as a security systems consultant
in the Target Country. The manager of the company (the
instructor or a partner) asks you a few questions about your
education, training, and experience, and then offers you a
salary 30% less than expected. Resolve the situation so that
both parties are somewhat satisfied.
Use at least 5 future
tense verbs in your
questions and replies
to say what you will
do. Try to include
other transitional or
time words, such as,
the first thing, then,
after that, next week,
next month, in a year
or so, later, in the
future, etc.
Use at least 5
descriptive words in
your response.
Role play scenarios
are introduced in
English. After the role
play, discuss what
was difficult for the
student. Expand the
student’s vocabulary
or explain a needed
grammatical
structure and repeat
the task.
HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
6. Instructions
or Directions
a. Directions:
Give driving directions to a visiting Target National officer on
how to get from the Presidio of Monterey to Fort Ord’s
General Stillwell Center.
b. Instructions:
Give me step-by-step instructions on how to make a bed
military style.
7. Report Facts
Tell your partner the most important facts of a recent
current event that you heard on a military topic. It can be
something you heard at work or from the news.
ILR Level 3
Challenge
Description of Task
DEC. 2015
When giving
directions, use
transitional words to
order the steps, such
as first, second, next,
then, finally. You can
also mention
landmarks.
When reporting facts,
relate as many EEI’s
as you can that give
information about
who, what, where,
when, which, how,
how many, how
much, and why
regarding the event.
Tips
These challenge questions are to help students stretch their language to reach toward Level 2+ and 3.
The tasks may be simple to begin with and students may give answers of a few sentences; however,
their consistent attempts at expanding their proficiency will lead to more sophisticated speech.
1. Support an
a. With the rash of mass shootings, school shootings, and
Give reasons,
Opinion
terrorist shootings in recent years, many people want tighter examples, and
(challenge to the gun controls, especially on automatic weapons. Other
statistics, or use any
next level)
people want to retain as much freedom to buy and carry
other facts or
weapons as possible. What is your opinion on this topic and
arguments to support
why?
your opinion.
To move toward level
b. When Leon Panetta was Secretary of Defense, he
2+/3, using examples
announced one of the biggest reforms of the American
of others or reasons
military in decades by lifting the ban on women fighting on
outside of your
the front line in future wards. The new ruling reinforces the
fact that military women have been putting their lives at risk personal experience
is preferable.
for many years. Approximately 237,000 positions became
available for women that were previously off limits to them.
However, another Army spokesperson, Anthony Lemaitre,
warned the public to be prepared to handle seeing women
troops come home in body bags or with lost limbs, and
added, “It’s harder to see a mother or a daughter dead.”
What is your opinion? Do you think women should engage in
combat? Why or why not?
HANDOUT
SAMPLE PRACTICE SPEAKING TASKS: MILITARY LIFE
2. Hypothesize
a. If you could have any job at the DLI, what would it be and
(challenge to the why would you want it?
next level)
b. If you are deployed as a Target Language linguist or
interpreter after graduating from DLI, what job would you
want most NOT to be assigned to and why? Which job would
you prefer and why?
c. U.S. military and intelligence are accused by some people
of meddling in the affairs of other nations, and other people
criticize them for failing to wield their power and influence
to eradicate terrorist organizations. How might the situation
in Iraq be different today if U.S. troops had not been
withdrawn in such large numbers?
3. Role Play an
a. At Language Day at the DLI, you meet an 18-year old
Unfamiliar
American, who has grown up overseas in the Target Country.
Situation
Using your new language skills, try to interest the teenage
(challenge to the (played by a partner or the instructor) into joining a U.S.
next level)
military branch that most interests him.
b. Your Target Nationality friend in the U.S. (played by the
instructor) has just told you that she wants to join the U.S.
military so she can become a naturalized citizen quickly.
You’re not sure she’s ready for such a step, so you tell her
about life in the military for women. Based on her reaction,
give her advice on what you think she should do.
4. Discuss an
a. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages that a military
Abstract Topic
draft has on the quality and quantity of a nation’s armed
(challenge to the forces.
next level)
b. In recent past years, the Veterans Administration and the
DoD have been hammered by veterans over issues of Agent
Orange and other toxins, support for post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) and budget cuts. Many venerans have deep
animosity for the military, the V.A. and the U.S. government,
although the great majority of them are proud of their
military service. On the other hand, veterans are supplied
with many types of benefits as needed, including healthcare,
disability, education, job assistance, housing guarantees to
lenders, and burial benefits. Discuss both sides of this issue
of the treatment of U.S. veterans of war.
DEC. 2015
Use at least 5
conditional forms or
expressions in your
response, i.e., could,
couldn’t, would,
wouldn’t, might,
might not, if...then, if
not...then, perhaps,
maybe, I imagine,
etc.
Role play scenarios
are always
introduced in English.
Center your response
on the requested
concepts, and base
the discussion on
ideas, examples and
lessons from history,
society, politics, and
economics rather
than your personal
experience.