CELPIP Tips: Speaking Task 4 – Making Predictions
Task #4 requires test-takers to look at the same picture that they described in the previous task, however, this time you’ll be making predictions of what you imagine will happen next!
While Task #3 asked candidates to use present continuous tense to describe what is happening in the picture, Task #4 will ask you to use future tenses as well as your imagination to predict what will happen next.
First, let’s look at some examples of the 4 future verb tenses. You will be primarily using future simple tense in this task, but there will be opportunities to use a combination of the other future verbs tenses as well.
Future simple: “The boy in the bright green shirt will close his book and turn around.”
Future continuous: “The boy in the bright green shirt will be closing his book when the teacher walks back into the classroom.”
Future perfect: “The boy in the bright green shirt will have closed his book by the time the teacher has entered the classroom.”
Future continuous tense: “The boy in the bright green shirt will have been closing his book while the teacher is walking into the classroom.”
You may also use modal verbs such as might and could to express degrees of possibilities or to express different possibilities.
For example, “If the teacher walks into the class, the boy might ask her a question about the book he is reading, or she could also ask him a question.”
Now, we’ll look at a sample answer for Task #4 using the same picture we looked at for Task #3!
Speaking Task 4: Making Predictions
In this picture, what do you think will probably happen next?
Preparation: 30 seconds
Recording: 60 seconds
”After the teacher is done speaking with the principal at the door, she will walk back into the classroom. The two boys standing in front of the the chalkboard will have solved the math equation by then and they will be walking back to their desks.
The boy with the brown hair who is wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt will have thrown the paper airplane that is in his hand. The girl in the green shirt who is sticking her tongue out could get hit with the paper airplane. She might start crying or maybe she’ll be laughing.
The two students who are sitting at the top right side of the class will tell the teacher that the noise from the other students is bothering them and that they can’t focus on what they’re reading.
The teacher will tell the students to lower their voices and work on their assignments. Then, she will tell the three boys in the bottom left corner to put away their toys and snacks and to take out their books, and the two girls in the bottom right of the picture will stop talking with each other and they will also do their schoolwork”