Quick answer: For IB Language A: Language and Literature, the Individual Oral is a 10-minute prepared response followed by 5 minutes of teacher questions. You analyse one extract from a literary work and one from a non-literary body of work through a focused global issue, while connecting each extract to the wider work or body of work.
This guide is specifically for IB Language A: Language and Literature, including English A. Language A: Literature uses a different pairing of works, so confirm your registered course before selecting texts.
Individual Oral requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Language A: Language and Literature IO |
|---|---|
| Assessed material | One studied literary work and one studied non-literary body of work |
| Extracts | One continuous extract from each; normally no more than 40 lines where line count applies |
| Focus | How a focused global issue is presented through content and form |
| Prepared response | 10 minutes |
| Teacher questions | 5 minutes |
| Outline | Maximum 10 concise bullet points; not a script |
| Marks | 40 marks across four criteria |
| Weighting | 30% at SL and 20% at HL |
These requirements come from the current IB Language A: Language and Literature guide, first assessed in 2021.
What the IO is actually assessing
The global issue is the analytical lens, not a topic for a general speech. Your task is to explain how the literary work and non-literary body of work construct perspectives on that issue through specific authorial or creator choices.
A strong oral moves at two scales:
- Close analysis: what specific words, images, structures, sounds, visual features or formal choices do in the selected extract.
- Wider understanding: how the same concern is developed across the literary work or the non-literary body of work.
The extract gives you precise evidence. The wider work or body of work proves that you understand the choice in context rather than treating one isolated passage as the whole text.
Choosing a focused global issue
The IB guide identifies three essential properties. A global issue should:
- matter on a wide or large scale;
- cross national boundaries; and
- be experienced in everyday local contexts.
A field of inquiry such as “politics, power and justice” is not yet a global issue. Turn the field into a specific tension or pattern that both selected texts genuinely present.
Too broad
- inequality
- identity
- technology
- conflict
More focused
- how institutional language normalises unequal access to public services;
- how media representations shape the social exclusion of displaced people;
- how surveillance changes individuals' willingness to express dissent; or
- how inherited gender expectations restrict personal agency across generations.
These are planning examples, not prescribed IB topics. The best wording will emerge from the texts you actually studied and must remain broad enough to be global but narrow enough for ten minutes of textual analysis.
Selecting the literary work, body of work, and extracts
Choose material because it gives you analytical leverage, not merely because the global issue is mentioned.
For each possible selection, test four questions:
- Are there several precise choices you can analyse rather than only summarise?
- Does the extract represent a meaningful pattern in the wider work or body of work?
- Can you discuss both content and form in relation to the global issue?
- Can you explain why the creator's choices matter for the perspective being constructed?
For Language and Literature, the non-literary selection must belong to a studied body of work, not an unrelated collection assembled only for the oral. If the selected extract is itself a complete non-literary text, the wider discussion should still connect it to the creator's broader body of work.
The extracts brought into the assessment must be clean and unannotated. Confirm selection and submission procedures with your teacher because the school manages the assessment process.
A flexible 10-minute IO structure
The IB does not require one fixed minute-by-minute template. Examiners focus on knowledge, analysis, focus, organisation, and language. The following is a planning model, not an official mandatory structure.
| Approximate time | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 0:00–0:45 | State the focused global issue, identify both selections, and establish the central analytical claim |
| 0:45–4:45 | Analyse the first extract and connect its choices to the wider work or body of work |
| 4:45–8:45 | Analyse the second extract and connect its choices to the wider work or body of work |
| 8:45–10:00 | Draw together the implications of how the issue is presented and close the argument |
You may organise the response differently. An integrated or concept-led structure can work just as well when the listener always knows which text and scale you are discussing.
The task is not formally comparative. You do not need to force repeated similarities and differences. You do need balanced attention to both selections and a coherent global-issue lens that connects the oral.
The four assessment criteria
Each criterion is worth 10 marks, for a total of 40.
Criterion A: Knowledge, understanding and interpretation
Show accurate understanding of both extracts and their wider work or body of work. Support claims with relevant references and use that knowledge to draw conclusions about the global issue.
Criterion B: Analysis and evaluation
Explain how authorial and creator choices present the global issue. Naming a device is only the beginning; analyse what the choice does, how it works with other choices, and why the resulting perspective matters.
Criterion C: Focus and organisation
Keep the global issue as the backbone of the response. Balance the two selections, signpost movement between extract and wider work, and build a sequence of ideas rather than a list of observations.
Criterion D: Language
Use clear, accurate and varied language appropriate to an academic oral. Aim for precise expression and an individual speaking voice rather than memorised prose that sounds read aloud.
Build analysis that moves from detail to implication
A repeatable analytical chain is:
evidence → choice → immediate effect → perspective on the global issue → significance in the wider work or body of work
For example, do not stop at “the advertisement uses contrast.” Identify what is contrasted, how the visual hierarchy directs attention, which audience assumption it activates, and how that constructs a perspective relevant to the global issue. Then connect that pattern to another studied text from the same body of work.
How to use the 10-point outline
The outline should be a navigation tool, not compressed prose. Use short prompts for:
- the global issue and thesis;
- the order of the two selections;
- exact evidence locations;
- the choices you will analyse;
- the wider-work connections; and
- the final implication.
Avoid writing complete sentences that encourage you to read or recite. The official guide permits feedback on the outline but does not permit the teacher to rehearse the actual assessed oral with the student. Practise the skills using different texts and issues, then keep the final response authentic.
Preparing for the five minutes of questions
Teacher questions allow you to expand, clarify, or deepen the response. Prepare by testing your own analysis:
- What evidence from the wider work or body of work supports this claim?
- Why is this a global issue rather than only a theme in the extract?
- How does form or medium change the perspective presented?
- Is there a reasonable alternative interpretation?
- Which claim in the oral needs more qualification?
Listen to the precise question, pause briefly, answer it directly, and then support the answer. Do not simply repeat a memorised paragraph from the ten-minute response.
A practical preparation sequence
- Confirm that your registered course is Language A: Language and Literature.
- List several global issues that emerge from studied material, then apply the three-part global test.
- Test possible literary and non-literary selections for analytical depth and wider-work connections.
- Build an evidence map before deciding the final order.
- Draft a concise 10-point outline and practise from prompts rather than prose.
- Record a timed attempt, then diagnose balance, focus, evidence, analysis, organisation, and language.
- Practise answering unpredictable follow-up questions with evidence.
Related StudyIB resources
- Browse the IB English A: Language and Literature HL course guide.
- Browse the IB English A: Language and Literature SL course guide.
- Practise through the English LangLit HL question bank or English LangLit SL question bank.
- Review the IB command terms guide when planning analytical responses.
StudyIB is an independent learning platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization. Confirm your selections, deadlines, and assessment procedures with your teacher and the current official course guide.
IB English Individual Oral FAQs
How long is the IB English Language and Literature Individual Oral?
The assessed Individual Oral lasts 15 minutes: a prepared 10-minute response followed by 5 minutes of questions from the teacher.
What texts are used in the IB English Language and Literature IO?
Students use one extract from a studied literary work and one extract from a studied non-literary body of work. The analysis must also connect each extract to the wider work or body of work.
How much is the Individual Oral worth in IB English Language and Literature?
In the current course first assessed in 2021, the Individual Oral contributes 30% of the SL result and 20% of the HL result. It is marked out of 40 using four criteria worth 10 marks each.
What makes an issue global for the IB English IO?
The IB guide says a global issue has significance on a wide scale, is transnational, and has an impact in everyday local contexts. It should be focused enough to support precise analysis of both selected texts.
Does the IB English IO have to compare the two texts?
The task does not require a formal compare-and-contrast structure. The response should use the global issue as a sustained lens and give balanced attention to both extracts and their wider work or body of work.
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