Strategy Insights: Harry Styles–Inspired C1 Speaking Mock
- Main Concept: Exam-relevant, cognitively demanding speaking practice
- Key Framework: Full C1 Speaking Mock Structure (Parts 1–4)
- Teacher Value: A professional, time-saving structure that maintains academic rigor while integrating modern cultural content.
- Practical Application: Narrative-style visuals and structured examiner prompts are used to elicit advanced performance features such as inversion, mixed conditionals, and effective interaction strategies.
Unlock C1 Speaking Skills with Harry’s New Hit Song
If you’re preparing C1 students for the Cambridge exam, you already know how difficult it is to find speaking material that is both exam-relevant and cognitively demanding. This C1 Cambridge Speaking mock, built around themes from Harry Styles’ song “Aperture,” was designed to fill that gap.
This resource provides a structured, exam-focused framework that helps learners develop the vocabulary control and abstract reasoning required at C1 level. The materials allow you to run a professional practice session while keeping full control over timing, groupings, and assessment decisions.
Below is a clear overview of what’s included.
What’s Inside This Resource
Thematic Focus
The discussion themes are drawn from the lyrics and chosen specifically to prompt the kind of abstract thinking C1 candidates need to demonstrate:
- Perception & Transparency — what we know versus what we don’t
- Belonging & Safe Spaces — ideas of security, identity, and community
- Temporal Pressure & Urban Isolation — the impact of fast-paced modern life
These topics naturally lead to higher-level language use rather than surface description.
Visual Anchors
The resource includes a set of narrative-style images for the Long Turn. These prompts are intended to encourage hypothesis building, comparison, and perspective-taking — all core C1 speaking skills.
Examiner Script & Questions
A complete script is provided for a full C1 mock, covering all four parts of the speaking exam:
- Part 1: Interview questions on environment and personal comfort
- Part 2: Long Turn prompts centered on gaining perspective
- Parts 3 & 4: Collaborative and discussion tasks focusing on urban life and social cohesion
The prompts are designed to bring out evidence of lexical range, grammatical control, and interactive competence rather than rehearsed responses.
Teacher Cheat Sheet
The guide supports teachers in tracking advanced performance indicators during the session:
- Vocabulary markers such as contentious issue, far-reaching consequences, and detrimental effect
- Grammar control, including inversion and mixed conditionals
- Interaction signals, showing how effectively learners manage and develop discussion
Why Teachers Find This Useful
- Saves preparation time without lowering academic depth
- Keeps speaking practice aligned with C1 performance expectations
- Uses contemporary material while maintaining exam seriousness
- Can be used as a full mock or as targeted speaking practice
This resource is designed as a practical tool for teachers who want modern input without compromising exam standards.
[Download the Resource Here]
The package includes:
- Candidate visual sets
- Examiner script and prompts
- Cheat sheet with vocabulary and grammar markers
Author Bio:
About the Author:Márcia Bonfim is an ESL/EFL teacher and creator of the Song Activity Factory. She helps educators create engaging lessons using her signature BEAT+ Method, which features the MUSIC+ Framework. You can discover her complete methodology summary here.
Song Activity Factory 