IB Diploma Programme Language B – The Individual Oral Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – the IB holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or the IB store.

This practice set covers the individual oral of IB Diploma Programme Language B, at SL and HL. It follows the IB Language B subject brief for first assessment 2020, which remains the examined course until the new syllabus is first assessed in May 2029, so it applies to the 2026, 2027 and 2028 sessions. The tasks use the themes sharing the planet, identities and experiences. Texts are in English; say your answers aloud in your target language as well as writing them.

Learn the method first with the individual oral study guide and the revision notes. Course links: Language B hub · printable checklist.

Questions

1. Using the subject brief, state (a) the stimulus for the individual oral at SL, (b) the stimulus at HL, and (c) the oral’s weighting and mark total. [3]

Stimulus A — image described in words (original, written for Marlbridge)

A riverbank on a grey morning. Volunteers of different ages are sorting rubbish into sacks. At the front, a boy of about twelve holds up a plastic bottle towards a man in a suit, who is taking a photo with his phone. A hand-painted banner on a fence reads “Our river, our job”. Behind them, on the far bank, stands a factory with a tall chimney.

2. Name the prescribed theme Stimulus A is most clearly relevant to, and give two details from the image that make it relevant. [3]

Passage B — transcript of an SL practice oral on Stimulus A (original, written for Marlbridge)

STUDENT: Um, so in this picture there are some people. They are next to a river. There is a boy and he has a bottle. There is a man with a phone. There are bags. There is a banner. There is a factory. I think it is about the environment.

TEACHER: Why do you think the man is taking a photo?

STUDENT: For the newspaper.

TEACHER: Would you take part in something like this?

STUDENT: Yes.

TEACHER: The banner says “Our river, our job”. Whose job is it really?

STUDENT: I don’t know the word… the people who own the… the building that makes things. The factory. The factory must clean it. Or maybe also the government.

3. Identify three weaknesses in the student’s opening in Passage B. [3]

4. Rewrite the student’s opening (about 80 words, in English) using the five-move shape: frame, describe, interpret, connect, close. [4]

5. Rewrite the student’s answers “For the newspaper.” and “Yes.” so that each one extends the conversation. [4]

6. In the student’s last answer, name the repair strategy used, explain why it helps, and suggest one further move that would strengthen the answer. [3]

7. Choose one of the brief’s possible questions for sharing the planet and explain how it could work as a lens for Stimulus A. [2]

Passage C — extract standing in for an HL literary work (original text written for Marlbridge)

The well at the end of the village had been dry since spring. Every morning Tomas walked past it with two plastic cans, down to the road where the water lorry stopped. The driver never looked at anyone. He filled the cans, took the coins, and wrote a number in a notebook that nobody else was allowed to read.

“It will rain in October,” Tomas’s grandfather said each evening, as he had said for sixty years.

In October it did not rain. The lorry came twice a week, then once. The price in the notebook changed, and nobody asked why. Tomas began to leave earlier, before the sun reached the square, so that no one would see how light his cans were on the way home.

8. (HL) Identify two prescribed themes Passage C could be linked to, and support each with a quotation. [4]

9. (HL) Identify two literary features of Passage C and explain the effect of each, with a quotation. [4]

10. (SL) Plan a full presentation on Stimulus A, then write two questions your teacher might ask and a note on how you would answer each. [8]

11. (HL) Treat Passage C as an excerpt from one of your literary works. Plan your presentation using the four questions: where, what, how, why. [8]

12. (SL) In the conversation on Stimulus A, your teacher asks: “Can one person really make a difference to the environment?” Write a model answer of about 60 words (in English). [5]

Answers

The real oral is marked holistically against criteria your teacher will share. The [1] points below are indicative; any valid equivalent earns the point.

1. (a) A visual image clearly relevant to one (or more) of the themes. [1] (b) An excerpt from one of the two literary works studied. [1] (c) 25% of the final grade, 30 marks. [1] Examiner insight: Rehearsing the other level’s task (plot summary at SL, image description at HL) means practising the wrong oral.

2. Sharing the planet (the environment). [1] Detail 1: volunteers “sorting rubbish into sacks” beside a river. [1] Detail 2: the factory chimney on the far bank, suggesting a source of pollution. [1] (The banner “Our river, our job” is also acceptable.) Examiner insight: The theme mark depends on the details; “it is about nature” with no reference to the image does not show why the stimulus is relevant.

3. Any three: it is a list of “there is/are” with no point [1]; the theme link comes only at the end and is vague (“about the environment”) [1]; there is no interpretation of details such as the banner or the man in a suit [1]; no cultural connection; no signposting or structure; a filler (“Um, so”) opens it. Examiner insight: Strong openings make a claim in the first sentence.

4. Model opening: “This image shows a river clean-up, and I think it asks who is responsible for pollution. Volunteers of all ages sort rubbish while a man in a suit photographs a boy holding up a bottle. What interests me is the contrast: the banner says ‘Our river, our job’, yet the factory behind them is untouched. This reminds me of a river campaign we studied from [target-language country]. So I want to ask: is clean-up work a solution, or a distraction?” Indicative points: a frame with a main idea [1]; brief description [1]; an interpretation of a specific detail [1]; a connection and a closing question [1]. Examiner insight: Description should be the shortest part of the opening, not half of it.

5. “For the newspaper”: “Probably for a local newspaper or a company website. I think he wants to be seen supporting the clean-up — maybe he even works for the factory.” An answer [1] plus a reason or interpretation. [1] “Yes”: “Yes, I think I would, because it shows the problem is real. Last spring my class picked litter in a park near school, and people stopped to ask what we were doing.” An answer [1] plus a reason and example. [1] Examiner insight: An extended answer gives the teacher something to build on; a one-word answer forces a fresh question.

6. Strategy: paraphrase / circumlocution (“the building that makes things”). [1] It keeps the conversation in the target language when a word is missing. [1] Further move: give a reason (“because the factory is on the river, it should pay for the damage”) or qualify (“the government should make rules, and the factory should follow them”). [1] Examiner insight: Paraphrasing is a strength; switching to your own language, or stopping, breaks the exchange.

7. “What environmental and social issues present challenges to the world, and how can these challenges be overcome?” [1] Stimulus A shows one challenge (river pollution) and one response (volunteers), so the lens lets you ask whether volunteering is enough or whether the factory must change. [1] (“What challenges and benefits does globalization bring?” is acceptable if linked to the factory and trade.) Examiner insight: A possible question helps only when applied to the stimulus.

8. Sharing the planet (environment, or equality) [1]: “The well at the end of the village had been dry since spring”. [1] Experiences (life stories, or customs and traditions) [1]: “as he had said for sixty years” shows the grandfather’s lifelong expectation being broken. [1] (Identities is acceptable: Tomas hiding “how light his cans were”.) Examiner insight: The quotation must prove the theme link, not just retell an action.

9. Feature 1: contrast between prediction and outcome: “It will rain in October” against “In October it did not rain” [1], which shows that old certainties no longer hold. [1] Feature 2: the notebook as a symbol of power: “a notebook that nobody else was allowed to read” [1], which shows the driver controls price and information. [1] (Also acceptable: the light cans showing shame.) Examiner insight: Naming a feature is only half the point; the effect must say what it shows about the characters or the theme.

10. Model plan:

Frame     clean-up image: who is responsible for pollution?
Describe  volunteers, boy with bottle, man in suit, banner, factory
Interpret 1) banner vs untouched factory  2) photo = publicity?
Connect   a target-language campaign or law studied in class
Close     is volunteering a solution or a distraction?

Indicative points: frame [1]; brief description [1]; first interpretation [1]; second interpretation [1]; cultural connection [1]; closing question [1]. Likely questions with answer notes: “Should factories pay for clean-ups?” (position, reason, example) [1]; a move to identities, “What does volunteering say about young people?” [1] Examiner insight: Strong candidates prepare moves, not scripts; a memorised paragraph per heading sounds read and cannot adapt.

11. Model plan:

Where  [your work: what comes just before / after]
What   drought; Tomas buys water; prices rise; he hides
How    contrast (rain prediction); notebook symbol; light cans
Why    theme: sharing the planet / experiences; link to whole work

Indicative points: places the extract in the work [1]; states the key change [1]; first feature with quotation [1] and effect [1]; second feature with quotation [1] and effect [1]; links to a prescribed theme [1]; links to the whole work [1]. Examiner insight: Retelling the extract line by line leaves no time for how it is written; choose two or three features and go deep.

12. Model answer: “On their own, not very much, because much pollution comes from industry and transport. But that doesn’t mean giving up. One person can start something bigger: the clean-up in the image probably began with a few neighbours. So one person makes a small difference directly, and a bigger one by persuading others.” Indicative points: position [1]; reason [1]; qualification [1]; example [1]; conclusion returning to the question [1]. Examiner insight: Weak answers stop at “yes” or “no”; strong ones show a position that develops under questioning.

Where marks are usually lost

• Listing items in an image instead of making a claim about them.
• Leaving the theme link until the end, or making it vague.
• Retelling the plot of an HL extract instead of analysing features.
• Quoting a feature without explaining its effect.
• One-word answers that close the conversation.
• Switching language when a word is missing, instead of paraphrasing.
• General comments about a culture with no specific example.

Next steps

• Individual oral revision notes
• Individual oral study guide
• Theme practice: Sharing the planet, Identities, Experiences
• Language B course hub
• Printable Language B checklist
• All free 10-minute diagnostics
• Book a free trial class

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language B, first assessment 2020 (2018). Facts about the oral and the possible questions come from its assessment model and content outline; Stimulus A, Passage B and Passage C are original texts written for Marlbridge.