M2023 Group 2
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
MANDARIN AB INITIO - PROCEDURE for SBCs
*Please note that the following guidance reflects the most recent changes made by the IB
to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic*
1. Internal Oral Assessment (IOA) Components
Internal Oral Assessment: 25%.
The IOA will be internally assessed by the teacher. Criteria marks and teacher marking
comments will be submitted to the IB. A sample of IOAs will then be externally
moderated by the IB.
If your student has accommodations that will be applied to their IOA, please ensure that
these have been approved by the IB and shared with School Services via
courses@pamojaeducation.com. This should be done by the end of January.
2. Individual Oral Assessment Details
Approximately 30 minutes
The individual oral must be scheduled during the final year of the course.
It will consist of one recorded conference per student:
- Supervised preparation (15 minutes): the student receives two visual stimuli,
each relating to a different theme from the course, and selects one of the images.
The student prepares a presentation on this and can make brief notes using
bullet points.
- Part one (approximately 1-2 minutes): the student describes the visual
stimulus and relates it to the relevant theme.
- Part two (approximately 3-4 minutes): follow-up discussion between teacher
and student expanding on the information provided in the presentation. All
related to the same theme.
- Part three (approximately 3-4 minutes): a general conversation between the
teacher and student on at least one additional theme taken from the five themes
around which the course is based.
The individual oral must be a spontaneous conversation and it must not be rehearsed.
3. Individual Oral Assessment Procedure
Important Note - The individual oral assessment must follow strict IB regulations and
Pamoja usually asks the SBC or another member of school staff to proctor the exam.
However, in light of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the IB has issued extra guidance
allowing the IOA to be conducted without a proctor. Pamoja has therefore adopted the
following procedure:
• If the school is open during the Internal Assessment window, the oral
assessment must be completed as normal in the presence of the SBC or a
school-appointed member of staff.
• If the school is closed, the IOA can be conducted between the teacher and student
with no proctor. The student must ensure that they have their camera
switched on for the whole duration of the exam. They will be asked to use
their camera to show that they have no unauthorised material in the room/on
their desk etc. If the teacher suspects any malpractice, the IOA will be stopped.
a. The Internal Assessments will be conducted during Pamoja Weeks 51-54 (1st
Feb- 28th February 2023).Students must sign-up on the sheet provided by each
course teacher in Sharepoint. If none of the possible times are suitable, the
student should contact the teacher ASAP to ask to make other arrangements
before the end of the sign-up period.
Teachers will set the conference in the platform (Zoom) for each student. If using schoolmanaged computers, SBCs should check that there are no restrictions on accessing the
Zoom software. If required, this must be checked with IT support in advance of the IOA.
On the day of the assessment, connect to Zoom Conference IOA OFFICIAL five
minutes before the assigned time. If being conducted in school, both the student
and SBC must be present during the entire assessment.
b. If proctoring, SBCs are responsible for ensuring examination conditions are met
and should sit near the student. Provide the students with a headset with a
microphone, a pen with some blank paper. Make sure the location being used for
the assessment is quiet to ensure a good quality recording.
If not being proctored, students are responsible for ensuring that they are in a quiet
location and that they have checked their webcam and microphone are working in
advance of the exam.
c. Video must be turned on throughout the assessment for the students.
4. Detail on the Individual Oral Assessment
At the beginning of the exam, students will be asked to say a disclaimer, authorizing their
recording to be shared for assessment purposes- please make sure students know their
candidate number.
We recommend printing this disclaimer out for the student to read:
I “candidate 123abc” confirm that I am aware that this session is being recorded and that I
give permission for this to be stored, transmitted and used for the purposes of assessment as
needed for me to fulfil my requirements of the course.
For the IOA Preparation time (15 minutes)
a. Students should only have blank paper and a pen. Notes, dictionaries, books,
access to the computer (online translator or other sites) or any devices or other
material are not allowed.
b. The student will be shown two pictures from two different themes and should
select one to describe.
c. The 15 minutes should be used to take brief notes on what will be said about the
picture (reminder- brief notes up to a maximum of 10 bullet points). These notes
should be used as reference only and should not be read aloud during the
recording.
For the IOA OFFICIAL
a. When the 15 minutes’ preparation is up, the teacher will ask the student to hold
up their notes so that they can be checked and the teacher will take a screenshot
of them. The teacher will then prompt the student to start the description of
their chosen picture.
b. The student has 1-2 minutes to describe the picture.
c. The teacher will then ask questions about the picture and related theme for
about 3-4 minutes.
d. The teacher will then move onto a general conversation for 3-4 minutes on at
least one other theme.
• The questions are designed in such way that the student must use different verb
tenses, in particular present, past, future, present progressive, conditional etc.
• The student must make sure to answer to the best of his/her ability in complete
sentences and always justify his/her answers by demonstrating their speaking
skills in the language.
To end the recording, the teacher will tell the student that they have finished!
e. If in school, the SBC should scan and email the bullet point notes to their Pamoja
teacher. If not being proctored, students are responsible for sending their notes
to their teacher immediately upon completion of their exam.
See instructions on how to find a Pamoja teacher’s email address:
https://help.pamojaeducation.com/hc/en-us/articles/4414446900493-SBC-Support-Finding-aTeacher-s-Email-Addres