GCAS 24 問題解決：確固たる意見

Woman with boxing gloves

Be strong

Image Credit
David Suarez via Unsplash

確固たる意見を出すことに取り組みます。

Introduction

Answer this question with a strong opinion.

Do you think cultural training is important for global business?

In Part 3, The GCAS allows 90 seconds of thinking time, so if your student needs to think, let them.

The GCAS also offers a sheet with ideas and solutions for part 3, so if your student struggles, briefly suggest an idea.

Example: 

Cultural training is absolutely essential for global business. Without it, we can't communicate effectively.

Warm Up
  1. How strong was your opinion?
  2. How do you think you can make it stronger?

1. How strong was your opinion?

You might also ask:

  • Do you often give strong opinions?
  • Do you like giving strong opinions?

2. How do you think you can make it stronger?

Let the student answer as they wish. The Language section will fill this in. 

Why use strong opinions?

You don't always have to give strong opinions, but you should be able to do it here.

  • The GCAS is an assessment of your best English.
    • Strong language means more word stress, stronger vocabulary, etc.
  • Your clients must trust you.
    • You don't have to go overboard with the intonation or word choice. Be yourself, but don't be tentative. Be firm.
  • Giving strong opinions is a good style in English.
Language

There are two ingredients for a strong opinion.

1. What you say

Add or change words to make these opinions stronger. Use words and phrases you already know.

  1. I guess cultural training is good.
  2. We should increase sales. 
  3. I think there is a problem.
  4. We could start now.

2. How you say it

Use the strong opinions you made in section A. Say them with the word stress and intonation you learned in GCAS Strategies 9.

1. What you say

Let your student use their own language. If they have none, then teach the minimum. This section is not about understanding strong language. The focus is output. 

Write the strong opinions you make together. 

  1. I guess cultural training is good.
    • E.g.: Cultural training is absolutely vital.
  2. We should increase sales. 
    • E.g.: We have to increase sales.
  3. I think there is a problem.
    • E.g.: We have a serious problem.
  4. We could start now.
    • E.g.: Let's start immediately.

Language to add: 

  • Adverbs:
    • definitely/absolutely/totally/really; immediately; clearly 
  • Verbs:
    • I'm sure; we have to; we must 
  • Adjectives:
    • important; imperative; serious (problem) 

2. How you say it

[Building on ideas from GCAS Strategies 8 Smooth speech and GCAS Strategies 9 Fluency hacks.]

To review:

There are 3 ways to stress a word: 

  1. Pitch (higher, lower)
  2. Length (longer, shorter)
  3. Volume (louder, quieter)

Use pitch and length, rather than volume (please don't yell at your examiner).

Four steps

(Stop when it gets difficult. No need to overwhelm your student.)

  1. Tone: Rise-fall. 
    • "Culture training is ↗absol↘utely ↗vit↘al."
  2. Length: Find the peak vowel and stretch it.
    • "We haaaave to increase sales." 
  3. Combine rise-fall tone and length.
    • "There is a ↗hUUU↘ge problem."
  4. Make your tone fall further down.
    • Let's start immeee↘diate↘ly.
Practice

Your teacher will give you a business issue and an information sheet. Take 90 seconds to prepare, then deliver your ideas. Be sure to use strong opinions.