Mediation. Oral & Written

 MEDIATION

Linguistic mediation is a type of interaction that takes place among people that are unable to communicate, when speakers do not speak the same language, or when speakers do speak the same language, but one of them has wider or more specific knowledge of the common language. According to this differentiation, mediation tasks can be bilingual (cross-linguistic or interlinguistic mediation)or monolingual (intralinguistic mediation) , which is the one that will be applied in the Valencian Community Certificate exams.

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) states that linguistic mediation activities take up an important place in our societies, and describes mediation activities as either oral or written, specifying different tasks that can be developed as mediation practice, such as translation, interpretation, paraphrasing, summarizing and note-taking (CEFR 2002: 14-15).

You have been mediating all your life, at home with your parents and your children, when you go out with your friends and also at the school when:

• you are told to do those exercises in which you have to read something and tell your partners what you have read in your own words (written / oral)
• you interview a new partner to get to know him/ her and then you have to introduce him /her to the rest of the class (oral / oral)
• book or film reviews are wanted, etc.. etc…

Maybe the only difference between what you did in the past and what you have to do now is that it will be assessed separately and not as an integrated skill (oral / written)

EXAMPLE 1

TOP ENTERTAINMENT

A friend of yours needs your help for a class project they are preparing about TOP ENTERTAINMENT choice among people at different ages. Look at the following information about it and write a summary of the most important facts for your friend (70 to 90 words). Remember your text needs to be about the information below, not about your personal opinion.

 

EXAMPLE 2

The World Meteorological Association has issued this graph to show how global temperature has been consistently rising for the last century. Write a short summary (70-90  words) to explain the data in the graphic.

EXAMPLE 3

AIRBNB versus HOTELS

A friend of yours needs your help for a class project they are preparing about the price per night between Airbnb and Hotel rooms in different cities all over the world. Look at the following information about it and write a summary of the most important facts for your friend (70 to 90 words). Remember your text needs to be about the information below, not about your personal opinion.

EXAMPLE 4

BESTSELLERS BY GENRE

A friend of yours needs your help for a class project they are preparing about best-selling genres. Look at the following information about it and write a summary of the most important facts for your friend (70 to 90 words). Remember your text needs to be about the information below, not about your personal opinion.