Listening and Speaking
KS3LA-KS3-D001
Listening to and understanding spoken language from a variety of sources and speakers, including different regional varieties and accents; initiating and developing conversations with increasing fluency and confidence; speaking with accurate pronunciation and intonation.
National Curriculum context
Listening and speaking at KS3 demand a substantial leap beyond the KS2 foundation. Pupils encounter spoken language as it is actually used - with variation in accent, dialect, speed and register - rather than only in carefully controlled classroom settings. This exposure to authentic spoken language develops the listening stamina and processing flexibility that genuine communicative competence requires. Speaking expectations at KS3 require pupils to initiate and develop conversations, moving beyond responding to prompts to generating and sustaining exchanges autonomously. Accurate pronunciation and intonation are specifically required because these are the features of speech that mark a speaker as comprehensible to native speakers. The ability to narrate, explain and express opinions orally develops the kind of extended, purposeful speaking that characterises mature language use.
1
Concepts
1
Clusters
2
Prerequisites
1
With difficulty levels
Lesson Clusters
Develop extended oral communication in the target language
practice CuratedExtended oral communication is the sole concept in the KS3 Listening and Speaking domain. It encompasses the ability to initiate and sustain conversations beyond simple exchanges, developing the fluency and spontaneity that characterise communicative competence at secondary level.
Prerequisites
Concepts from other domains that pupils should know before this domain.
Concepts (1)
Extended Oral Communication
skill AI FacilitatedLA-KS3-C002
Extended oral communication at KS3 encompasses the ability to initiate and sustain conversations beyond simple question-and-answer exchanges, cope with unexpected responses and unfamiliar language, express and develop ideas at length, and use appropriate social conventions including formal registers where required. This represents a qualitative leap from the more controlled conversational exchanges of KS2, requiring pupils to develop real communicative flexibility and resilience. The ability to cope with unfamiliar language - to use inferencing, circumlocution and clarification strategies when communication breaks down - is a mark of genuine communicative competence as distinct from the ability to perform scripted exchanges. Accurate pronunciation and intonation are integral to extended oral communication because they determine whether speech is comprehensible to native speakers.
Teaching guidance
Develop conversational resilience through unpredictable role-play and open-ended discussion tasks where pupils cannot simply recall memorised answers. Teach and practise repair strategies explicitly: how do you ask someone to repeat, speak more slowly, or clarify? Teach formal modes of address in languages where these are grammatically marked (vous/tu, usted/tu, Sie/du) and the social contexts that determine their use. Use recordings of authentic spoken language to develop listening to real-world speed and variation. Develop extended speaking through structured discussion tasks where pupils must justify opinions, not merely state them. Provide regular opportunities for low-stakes speaking to build confidence.
Common misconceptions
Pupils often believe they need to understand every word to follow a spoken text; developing tolerance for ambiguity and the use of context to infer meaning challenges this assumption. The distinction between formal and informal register is sometimes treated as merely a vocabulary difference; in languages where it is grammaticalised (affecting verb forms and pronouns), it is a systematic grammatical distinction requiring explicit teaching. Pupils may believe accurate pronunciation is optional or cosmetic; understanding that mispronunciation can affect comprehensibility (and listener relationships) motivates more careful attention to phonological accuracy.
Difficulty levels
Can respond to simple, predictable questions in the target language using short memorised phrases, but struggles to initiate conversation or cope with unexpected responses.
Example task
Your partner asks: 'Comment t'appelles-tu?' and 'Quel age as-tu?' Answer both questions in the target language.
Model response: Je m'appelle Sophie. J'ai treize ans.
Can sustain a short conversation by asking and answering questions, uses some repair strategies when communication breaks down, and shows awareness of formal register.
Example task
You are ordering food in a restaurant in France. The waiter says something you do not understand. What do you say? Then order a main course and a drink politely.
Model response: If I do not understand, I say: 'Excusez-moi, pourriez-vous repeter, s'il vous plait?' (Excuse me, could you repeat that, please?) — using the formal 'vous' because the waiter is a stranger in a professional context. To order: 'Je voudrais le poulet roti avec des frites, s'il vous plait. Et comme boisson, je prendrai une eau minerale.' (I would like the roast chicken with chips, please. And to drink, I will have a mineral water.)
Initiates and develops conversations beyond simple question-and-answer exchanges, expresses and justifies opinions, copes with unfamiliar language using inferencing and circumlocution, and speaks with accurate pronunciation and intonation.
Example task
Have a conversation about your favourite subject at school. Give your opinion, justify it with two reasons, and ask your partner for their opinion.
Model response: Ma matiere preferee, c'est les sciences parce que j'adore faire des experiences au laboratoire — c'est beaucoup plus interessant que de lire un livre. De plus, je trouve que la science est utile dans la vie quotidienne; par exemple, comprendre comment le corps fonctionne m'aide a faire de meilleurs choix pour ma sante. Cependant, je dois admettre que les controles sont parfois difficiles! Et toi, quelle est ta matiere preferee et pourquoi?
Engages in extended, nuanced discussion on abstract topics, uses a full range of communication strategies, adapts register confidently between formal and informal contexts, and speaks with near-native pronunciation and intonation.
Example task
Discuss whether technology improves or harms young people's lives. Present arguments on both sides, use at least two connectives of contrast, and conclude with your own reasoned opinion.
Model response: D'un cote, la technologie offre des avantages considerables aux jeunes: l'acces immediat a l'information facilite les etudes, les reseaux sociaux permettent de maintenir des amities malgre la distance, et les applications educatives rendent l'apprentissage plus interactif. Neanmoins, il existe des inconvenients serieux. Bien que les reseaux sociaux connectent les gens, ils peuvent aussi provoquer de l'anxiete et du harcelement. En outre, le temps passe devant les ecrans reduit l'activite physique et perturbe le sommeil. En fin de compte, je crois que la technologie est un outil — ni bon ni mauvais en soi. Ce qui compte, c'est la maniere dont on l'utilise. Si les jeunes apprennent a gerer leur temps d'ecran et a evaluer les informations de maniere critique, la technologie peut enrichir leur vie plutot que la diminuer.
Delivery rationale
Languages speaking concept — AI provides prompts and models; facilitator or speech recognition supports oral practice.