“It’s bound to be a little scary”, say high school students facing the challenge of the great oral

This is the second year that this element of the new baccalaureate, reformed by Jean-Michel Blanquer, is taking place. The objective is to assess young people on their ability to express themselves in front of a jury and to argue. The first part of the test concerns a question prepared by the student, on a theme that he has chosen in one of his two specialties; then he must describe his orientation project.

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The exercise requires a lot of preparation for the students. At the Lycée Rodin in Paris, six young people volunteered to train one last time for this great oral. Enzo lends himself to the game: “After the baccalaureate, I will focus on a film license. I was never told that I was going to finish in general high school, but I hung on and I got there. I always go after what I want”, he argues when asked what his strengths are. But talking about oneself is far from easy for these teenagers.

Opposite them is Sylvie Langlois, a freelancer who usually works in business. She voluntarily accompanies, on two afternoons, the young people of this school and gives them advice, especially on form. Young French people are not necessarily very trained in speaking. According to Sylvie Langlois, we should create more opportunities during schooling and prefer encouragement to judgement:
“We are too much in the negative. When a student gives a presentation and we say to him: you forgot such a thing, you lost your means at such a time, well he does not want to go a second time. And then he says to himself: I suck. And if we say that, we don’t dare. If we don’t dare, we don’t progress.” But she recognizes that the National Education has made progress on this subject in recent years.

Sophia feels almost ready for her big oral: “It’s obviously a little scary, because we find ourselves in front of people we don’t know and who judge us, recognizes the schoolgirl. But we still prepared quite well for this event. What we learned is that you shouldn’t move too much, stay on your feet, don’t make big gestures…”

“Of course we are more used to written tests than oral ones. But I don’t mind going to the oral.”

Sophia, high school student in Paris

at franceinfo

The result of this great oral is not taken into account in the applications on Parcoursup, but counts for one tenth of the final mark of the general baccalaureate.