Test section – Speaking Part 2

Using PPF (past, present,

future) strategy
Activities
1. Question making and pair work (warmer)
2. Analysing tense use
Aims
• to help students develop their response in the long turn by referring to different
times
• to help students develop their grammatical range

Learning outcomes
• Students will have practised developing and extending their long turn.
• Students will have practised a range of verb tenses in answers to ‘typical’ Part 2
topics.

Information about this section of IELTS

Part 2 tests the ability to talk about a topic, develop ideas about a topic, and the use of
relevant vocabulary and grammar. The examiner will give the test taker a 'task card' with
written prompts and will ask them to talk about the topic for one to two minutes including
the bullet points on the card. The test taker will have one minute to prepare for the talk and
will be given a piece of paper and a pencil to make notes. These notes can be referred to
during the talk. The examiner will tell the test taker when to begin speaking and when to
stop. At the end of the talk, the examiner will ask one or two very brief follow-up questions.
This part lasts 3-4 minutes.

Time 45 minutes
Level B1-B2
Class Suitable for groups / large classes; 1:1,
F2F / Online
Interaction Pair or group work
Materials Worksheet attached

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Activity 1: Warmer
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure:
• introduce the focus of the lesson: Speaking Part 2 (The Long Turn).
• copy the Part 2 task card onto the board.

Describe a memorable trip you’ve had.

You should say

• when you went on the trip

• where you went
• what you did on the trip

and say why it was memorable.

• tell students to work alone and transform all four prompts into questions.

Answers
When did you go on the trip?
Where did you go?
What did you do on the trip?
Why was it memorable?

• put students into pairs to ask and answer the 4 questions.

• get class feedback.
• you could also do a class survey of who travelled furthest, who least far, or which
trip sounds the most exciting / frightening etc.

Activity 2
Material: Worksheet
Time: 20 minutes
Procedure:
• photocopy the worksheet, double-sided, for each student.
• tell students to read the task card and the partial responses and to try to guess what
PPF stands for (Past, Present, Future) (Ex 1).

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 • get them to write Past, Present, Future on the left of the worksheet.
• tell them to read the third extract and to underline different ways of talking about the
future (Ex 2).

Answers
“Actually, I’m planning to take my girlfriend there next year but we’re going to stay
at a beach resort this time because I’ve heard there are some lovely places by the
sea. We’ll probably just take day trips to cities and temples. I can’t wait!”

• you may wish to brainstorm other ways of talking about the future (present
continuous / present simple).
• point out that using PPF will help them to develop longer answers and show the
examiner that they can use a range of grammatical structures.

• tell students to work alone and to make notes on things they can say about their
memorable trip using past, present and future forms (Ex 3).
• put students into pairs to talk for 2 minutes about their trip (Ex 4).
• go around and monitor the use of different verb tenses.

• tell students to look at the second topic (Ex 5).

• put students in pairs to write possible questions about the topic.
• remind them to write questions that use past, present and future forms.
• Whole class feedback.
• write the list of questions on the board.

Possible answers
How long have you had it?
When did you get it?
How did you get it?
What do you do with it?
Who was it from?
Why is it important?
Where do you keep it?
How long will you keep it?

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 • students work alone and make 1- or 2-word notes in answers to the questions. Give
them 60 seconds.
• copy the task card onto the board.

Describe something you own which is very important

to you.
You should say
• where you got it
• how long you have had it
• what you use it for

and explain why it is important to you.

• put students into pairs to take turns to speak about their possession for two
minutes.
• go around and monitor and make notes on tense use.
• get each student to report briefly back to the class on their partner’s object.

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Extra information

• You may wish to download the Band Descriptors for the Speaking section or tell
your students to do so.
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/ielts-web-static/production/Guides/ielts-
speaking-band-descriptors.pdf
• You can then point out the important differences in the Grammatical range and
accuracy criterion for the levels appropriate to your class.

Grammatical range and accuracy

Band 7 • A range of structures flexibly used. Error-free sentences are frequent.
• Both simple and complex sentences are used effectively despite some
errors. A few basic errors persist.

Band 6 • Produces a mix of short and complex sentence forms and a variety of
structures with limited flexibility.
• Though errors frequently occur in complex structures, these rarely
impede communication.

Band 5 • Basic sentence forms are fairly well controlled for accuracy.
• Complex structures are attempted but these are limited in range,
nearly always contain errors and may lead to the need for
reformulation.

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Speaking Part 2 Worksheet

What is PPF?

1 Look at the task card below and some extracts from how a candidate answered the
question. Work in pairs. Discuss what PPF stands for. Use the underlined words and
phrases to help you.

Describe a memorable trip you’ve had.

You should say
• When you went on the trip
• Where you went
• What you did on the trip

And say why it was memorable.

P “It was definitely far more exciting than any holiday I’d been on before.
I’d only been to Europe, so Asia was a completely different
experience for me…”

P “I’ve got some photos from the trip on my computer. They come
up as screensavers after my computer hasn’t been used for a
while, so I look at them and start dreaming about going back
there…”

F “Actually, I’m planning to take my girlfriend there next year but

we’re going to stay at a beach resort this time because I’ve heard
there are some lovely places by the sea. We’ll probably just take
day trips to cities and temples. I can’t wait!”

2 Underline the different ways of talking about the future used in the third extract.

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 3 Work alone. Think about the trip you answered questions about before, and make
notes about what you could say in the past, present and future.

Past _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

Present _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Future _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

4 Work in pairs. Take turns to talk for 2 minutes about your trip.
Use your notes to help you.

5 Brainstorm possible questions which may appear on the task card.

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