Students should complete this assessment when they are ready. In order to be actively engaged during the interaction, it is recommended that students converse with a peer. 

On the day of the assessment: 

• the student’s partner should be drawn from a hat or selected by the teacher to ensure an unscripted and unrehearsed interaction 
• there should be no opportunity for the student to practise the exact interaction with their partner 
• ensure each student is easily identifiable in the recording. Encourage them to say each other’s name. 
• the individual contribution across the interaction will be 2-3 minutes. This means, as there are two students, the length of the interaction will be 4-6 minutes. 

Entirely rote-learned or scripted role plays will not meet the requirements of this Achievement Standard. However, students may practise the language that is necessary to complete an Assessment Activity successfully. 

The skills required for the interaction should be explicitly taught and practised as part of the teaching and learning programme. Prior to the assessment, students will benefit from multiple opportunities to interact with each other in te reo Māori, as this will enhance their confidence in expressing themselves in the language. Students should practise interactions with a range of partners.  

Ways to enable students to fully understand the nature of the assessment, and what the expectations are, may include opportunities to practise: 

• discussing the topic areas with stimulus materials, for example, images or card prompts 
• interactive strategies to initiate and sustain an interaction 
• providing supporting information, ideas, and opinions with explanations and examples. 

Students need to produce enough evidence to express their ideas using language appropriate to Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum (see the Grammar Progression Guides for more guidance). However, using a range of language is more important than the length of submission. Sufficient language may be observed in a single interaction to meet the requirements of the Achievement Standard. Evidence should be assessed holistically. 

Teachers may provide general feedback to students during the teaching and learning. 

Below are recommendations to be considered while preparing for the interaction opportunity. 

1. Prior to the assessment, ensure that the teaching and learning programme covers the language that will be required for the Assessment Activity. Students must know how to independently use resources, for example, vocabulary lists and class notes, to prepare for the Assessment Activity. 
2. During the assessment, ensure students independently prepare for the task. Students can do things such as working out possible questions and responses. This must be done independently. 
3. During practice and leading up to the recording, students can practise activities such as Speed Dating and Conversation Doughnut and apply the communicative strategies and language that they will use in the task. Students should only practise activities that allow them to move from person to another person in a timely manner (short bursts). 
4. If pairing students up, ensure students are comfortable working with their partner. Give a timeframe for students to finish the recording, such as 15 minutes during class time. 
5. Ensure each student is easily identifiable in the recording. Encourage them to say each other’s name. The recording should be about 4-6 minutes so there is enough evidence for each student.