Cambridge PET Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking

Following the big success of my last year’s post on FCE Halloween speaking, I decided to prepare something similar, this time focusing on the B1 level. If you still haven’t prepared anything for your spooky lessons, then look no further. I present you with a no-prep PET speaking exam – Halloween edition.

On my blog, the majority of my posts are dedicated to 31st October – Halloween. It’s hard to say why that is, but my best guess is that it’s the beginning of the academic year, and I’m still full of energy and motivation to prepare engaging lessons. If you like this no-prep lesson idea, then give it a go and see if you enjoy some other of my Halloween lessons.

If you are currently working with your Cambridge exam students and find yourself in a situation in which you have to deliver a themed lesson, then you may want to keep scrolling. This is a fun way of explaining the rules of the PET speaking exam while keeping the spooky atmosphere around. At the end of this post, you can find the printable examiner’s speaking guide (all speaking prompts included!). The speaking guide was written using the original B1 exam speaking script. In case you teach online or don’t want to print anything out, you can also find all the prompts as a PDF presentation.

Some honorable mentions, in case you are interested in other speaking mock exams are:

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Warmer: Halloween Vocabulary

Before you start this lesson, you may want to explain briefly speaking assessment criteria. This will ensure that students are aware of what you want from them. You can also ask them to listen to each other and write all the positive and negative things they’ve observed during this exercise. At the end of this class, provide students with speaking feedback and also ask them to give feedback to each other.

Part 1: Halloween Questions

I thought that instead of jumping headfirst into the exam, it’d be a good idea to warm them up with some Halloween vocabulary. Present students with eight short definitions and ask them to name these Halloween-related words. With weaker groups, you can use the presentation which has definitions supported by pictures. I usually skip phase 1 of speaking Part 1 as it is very repetitive, and I can’t wait to get into the fun part – asking personal Halloween questions. Some of them include, How do people in your country celebrate Halloween? or Did you go trick-or-treating as a child? There are eight questions in this part.

Part 2: Describe a Halloween Picture

In Part 2, students talk individually about a picture for about one minute. This usually requires a short picture description and some speculations about the situation. To keep it a bit more interesting, I’ve prepared four different pictures: children trick-or-treating, a woman doing Halloween make-up, children celebrating Halloween and a spiritual seance. Put one minute on the clock and let your students have a go at this task.

Part 3: Pair Speaking

Now it’s time for the collaborative part of the exam. Students are given a Halloween scenario: a witch is thinking about getting a new pet. They have several animal options to consider and need to talk together about the possibilities before deciding which one would be the best choice for her. The task gives students a chance to practise making suggestions, agreeing and disagreeing, giving reasons and reaching a decision.

If you want to give students another version of Part 3, there is also an optional task. Students imagine that their friends have invited them to a last-minute Halloween party, but they don’t have a costume. They are given several costume ideas and need to choose one that would be easy to make while still being impressive. For both parts, students have 15 seconds to look at the task and then around 2 minutes to discuss it.

Part 4: Halloween Opinions

Finally, students move on to the opinion-based questions. This is where the lesson becomes a little more open-ended, giving students the opportunity to explain what they think and justify their answers. The questions cover topics such as whether we should celebrate Halloween, the safety of trick-or-treating, how old is too old to go trick-or-treating, Ouija boards, accepting sweets from strangers, cultural representation in costumes and whether Halloween costumes have to be scary. There are no single correct answers here, so encourage students to explain their opinions and give examples rather than worrying about finding the right answer.

Feedback: Making Exam Practice Useful

Although this is a Halloween lesson, I still want students to come away with useful exam feedback. Before starting, you can remind students what you are listening for and ask them to pay attention to their classmates’ performances. At the end of the lesson, give students feedback on their speaking and, if you’re working in a group, let them share some positive observations with each other too.

I like using themed speaking exams because they show students that exam preparation doesn’t always have to feel serious and repetitive. They can practise describing pictures, answering questions, discussing ideas and reaching decisions while talking about something completely different from their usual exam topics. So, if you’re teaching B1 exam preparation around 31st October (Halloween), why not turn your next speaking practice into something a little more spooky?

What would your perfect Halloween night look like?

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