first for schools handbook

8/13/2019 First for Schools Handbook

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1CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH FIRST FOR SCHOOLS HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS

CONTENTS

Preface

This handbook is for teachers who are preparing candidates for Cambridge English: First for Schools, also known as First Certicate in English (FCE) for Schools. The introduction gives an overview of the exam and its place within Cambridge ESOL. This is followed by a focus on each paper andincludes content, advice on preparation and example papers.

If you need further copies of this handbook, please email [email protected]

About Cambridge ESOL

The world’s most valuable range of English qualifications

Key features of Cambridge English exams

Proven quality

Introduction to Cambridge English First for Schools

Who is the exam for? Who recognises the exam?

What level is the exam?

Exam content and processing

A thorough test of all areas of language ability

International English

Marks and results

Certificates

Exam support

Support for teachers

Support for candidates

Paper Reading General description

Structure and tasks

The three parts of the Reading paper

Preparation

Sample paper

Answer key

Candidate answer sheet

Paper Writing General description

Structure and tasks

The two parts of the Writing paper

Preparation

Sample paper

Assessment of Writing

Sample scripts with examiner comments

Paper Use of English General description Structure and tasks

The four parts of the Use of English paper

Preparation

Sample paper

Answer key


Paper Listening General description

Structure and tasks

The four parts of the Listening paper

Preparation Sample paper

Answer key


Paper Speaking General description

Structure and tasks

The four parts of the Speaking test

Preparation

Sample paper

Assessment of Speaking

Cambridge English First for Schools glossary

Contents



2 CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH FIRST FOR SCHOOLS HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS

ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ESOL

About Cambridge ESOL

Cambridge English: First for Schools is developed by University ofCambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), a not-for-protdepartment of the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge ESOL is one of three major exam boards which form the

Cambridge Assessment Group (Cambridge Assessment). Morethan 8 million Cambridge Assessment exams are taken in over160 countries around the world every year.

The world’s most valuable range of EnglishqualicationsCambridge ESOL offers the world’s leading range of qualicationsfor learners and teachers of English. Over 3.5 million people take ourexams each year in 130 countries.

Cambridge ESOL offers assessments across the full spectrumof language ability. We provide examinations for general

communication, for professional and academic purposes, and alsospecialist legal and nancial English qualications. All of our examsare aligned to the principles and approach of the Common EuropeanFramework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

To nd out more about Cambridge English exams and the CEFR, go towww.CambridgeESOL.org/CEFR

In addition to our own programmes of world-leading research, wework closely with professional bodies, industry professionals andgovernments to ensure that our exams remain fair and relevant tocandidates of all backgrounds and to a wide range of stakeholders.

Key features of Cambridge English examsCambridge English exams:

• are based on realistic tasks and situations so that preparing fortheir exam gives learners real-life language skills

• accurately and consistently test all four language skills – reading,writing, listening and speaking – as well as knowledge of languagestructure and its use

• encourage positive learning experiences, and seek to achieve apositive impact on teaching wherever possible

• are as fair as possible to all candidates, whatever their national,ethnic and linguistic background, gender or disability.

Proven qualityCambridge ESOL’s commitment to providing exams of the highestpossible quality is underpinned by an extensive programme ofresearch and evaluation, and by continuous monitoring of themarking and grading of all Cambridge English exams. Of particularimportance are the rigorous procedures which are used in theproduction and pretesting of question papers.

All our systems and processes for designing, developing anddelivering exams and assessment services are certied as meetingthe internationally recognised ISO 9001:2008 standard for qualitymanagement and are designed around ve essential principles:

Validity – are our exams an authentic test of real-life English?Reliability – do our exams behave consistently and fairly?Impact – does our assessment have a positive effect on teachingand learning?Practicality – does our assessment meet learners’ needs withinavailable resources?Quality – how we plan, deliver and check that we provideexcellence in all of these elds.

How these qualities are brought together is outlined in ourpublication Principles of Good Practice, which can be downloaded freefrom www.CambridgeESOL.org/Principles

University of Cambridge InternationalExaminations

The world’s largest provider ofinternational qualications for14–19 year olds

Cambridge Assessment: the trading name for theUniversity of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES)

Cambridge ESOL: Universityof Cambridge ESOL Examinations

Provider of the world's mostvaluable range of qualications forlearners and teachers of English

OCR: Oxford Cambridge and RSAExaminations

One of the UK’s leading providersof qualications

Departments of the University

Departments (exam boards)

One of the oldest universities in the worldand one of the largest in the United Kingdom




INTRODUCTION TO CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FIRST FOR SCHOOLS

What can candidates do at Level B2?

The Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) has carriedout research to determine what language learners can typically do ateach CEFR level. It has described these abilities in a series of Can Dostatements using examples taken from real life situations.

Cambridge ESOL, as one of the founding members of ALTE, uses thisframework as a way of ensuring its exams reect real-life languageskills.

Examples of Can Do statements at Level B2

Typicalabilities

Reading and Writing Listening and Speaking

Overallgeneralability

CAN express views, feelings, andopinions effectively in writing andgive reasons.

CAN nd relevant informationin texts.

CAN identify the expression offeelings and attitudes such ascriticism, disapproval, agreement,and so on.

CAN start, have and endconversations on familiar topics.

Social andLeisure

CAN write emails and letters whichare more or less formal, accordingto how well he/she knows theperson he/she is writing to (forexample to get information he/sheneeds for a school project or abouta social activity).

CAN write about events andexperiences in a detailed andreadable way.

CAN follow TV programmes andlms if they are spoken at normalspeed and in standard English.

CAN understand and discuss thestories in lms, books, and TVprogrammes with his/her friends.

School andStudy

CAN write essays on topics he/she has clear opinions about, andpresent his/her argument.

CAN read and understand factualtexts on topics he/she is notfamiliar with, if he/she can use adictionary.

CAN make simple notes for studypurposes, capturing the mostimportant points.

CAN ask for factual informationand understand the answer.

CAN ask for clarication and

further explanation and willprobably understand the answer.

Exam content and processing

Cambridge English: First for Schools is a rigorous and thorough test ofEnglish at Level B2. It covers all four language skills – reading, writing,listening and speaking and includes a fth element focusing on thecandidate’s understanding of the structure of the language. Preparingfor Cambridge English: First for Schools helps candidates develop theskills they need to use English to communicate effectively in a varietyof practical contexts.

A thorough test of all areas of language abilityThere are ve papers: Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listeningand Speaking. Each paper carries 20% of the total marks. Detailedinformation on each test and sample papers follow later in thishandbook, but the overall focus of each test is as follows:

Introduction to Cambridge English:First for Schools

Cambridge English: First for Schools is an English qualication at upper-intermediate level. It was developed in 2010 as a version of CambridgeEnglish: First (FCE) with exam content and topics specically targeted

at the interests and experience of school-age learners.

Cambridge English: First for Schools:

• follows exactly the same format and level as Cambridge English:First

• leads to exactly the same internationally recognised CambridgeESOL certicate as Cambridge English: First

• matches students’ experiences and interests• follows on as a progression from the successful Cambridge English:

Key for Schoolsand Cambridge English: Preliminary for Schools• enables students to take an internationally recognised exam and

enjoy the exam experience.

Candidates can choose to take Cambridge English: First for Schools aseither a paper-based or a computer-based exam.

Who is the exam for?Cambridge English: First for Schools is aimed at school pupils whowant to:

• start working in an English-speaking environment• study at an upper intermediate level, such as foundation or

pathway courses.

Who recognises the exam?• Cambridge English: First is recognised around the world by higher

education institutions, businesses and government bodies asproof of a learner’s language abilities. Overall, Cambridge ESOLexams are recognised by 12,500 institutions and employers.

• The UK Border Agency accepts Cambridge English: Firstcerticates as meeting the language requirements for Tier 1, 2and 4 visa applications*.

* All information accurate as of April 2011. Check the latestrequirements at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk

For more information about recognition go towww.CambridgeESOL.org/recognition

What level is the exam?Cambridge English: First for Schools is targeted at Level B2 on the CEFRscale. Level B2 is required in everyday written and spoken situationsand achieving a certicate at this level proves that a candidate isbecoming skilled in English.




EXAM CONTENT AND PROCESSING

CerticatesWe have made enhancements to the way we report the results of ourexams because we believe it is important to recognise candidates’achievements.

C2

C1

B2

B1

A2

A1

The Common EuropeanFramework of Reference

CProcient

user

BIndependent

user

ABasic user

Cambridge English:First

Grade B

Grade C

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grade A

Level B1

Ready forsuccess in thereal world

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Candidates receive the same certicate as candidates who havetaken Cambridge English: First.

Cambridge English: First – Level C1

Exceptional candidates sometimes show ability beyond B2 level. If acandidate achieves grade A in their exam, they will receive the FirstCerticate in English stating that they demonstrated ability at Level C1.

Cambridge English: First – Level B2

If a candidate achieves grade B or C in their exam, they will beawarded the First Certicate in English at Level B2.

Level B1 Certicate

If a candidate performance is below Level B2, but falls within LevelB1, they will receive a Cambridge English certicate stating that theydemonstrated ability at B1 level.

Special circumstances

Cambridge English exams are designed to be fair to all test takers.This commitment to fairness covers:

• Special arrangementsThese are available for candidates with a permanent or long-termdisability. Consult the Cambridge ESOL Centre Exams Manager(CEM) in your area for more details as soon as you becomeaware of a candidate who may need special arrangements.

• Special considerationCambridge ESOL will give special consideration to candidates

affected by adverse circumstances such as illness orbereavement immediately before or during an exam. Applicationsfor special consideration must be made through the centre nolater than 10 working days after the exam date.

• MalpracticeCambridge ESOL will investigate all cases where candidates aresuspected of copying, collusion or breaking the exam regulationsin some other way. Results may be withheld while they arebeing investigated, or because we have found an infringement ofregulations. Centres are notied if a candidate’s results have beeninvestigated.

Reading: 1 hour

Candidates need to be able to understand texts from publications such as ction andnon-ction books, journals, newspapers and magazines.

Writing: 1 hour 20 minutes

Candidates have to show that they can produce two different pieces of writing:a compulsory task in Part 1, and one f rom a choice of ve in Part 2.

Use of English: 45 minutesCandidates’ use of English is tested by tasks which show how well they can control theirgrammar and vocabulary.

Listening: 40 minutes (approximately)

Candidates need to show they can understand the meaning of a range of spoken material,including lectures, radio broadcasts, speeches and talks.

Speaking: 14 minutes

Candidates take the Speaking test with another candidate or in a group of three, and aretested on their ability to take part in different types of interaction: with the examiner, withthe other candidate and by themselves.

Each of these ve test components provides a unique contribution to

a prole of overall communicative language ability that denes what acandidate can do at this level.

International EnglishEnglish is used in a wide range of international contexts. To reectthis, candidates’ responses to tasks in Cambridge English exams areacceptable in all varieties and accents of English, provided they donot interfere with communication. Materials used feature a range ofaccents and texts from English-speaking countries, including the UK,North America and Australia. US and other versions of spelling areaccepted if used consistently.

Marks and resultsCambridge English: First for Schools gives detailed, meaningful results.All candidates receive a Statement of Results . Candidates whoseperformance ranges between CEFR Levels C1 and B1 will also receivea certicate .

Statement of Results

The Statement of Results outlines:

• the candidate’s result. This result is based on a candidate’s totalscore in all ve papers

• a graphical display of a candidate’s performance in each paper(shown against the scale Exceptional – Good – Borderline –Weak)

• a standardised score out of 100 which allows a candidate to seeexactly how they performed.




EXAM SUPPORT

Past Paper Pack

Past Paper Packs provide authentic practice for candidates preparingfor Cambridge English paper-based examinations and are ideal to usefor mock exams.

Each pack contains:

• ten copies of each of the papers with photocopiable answer

sheets• CD with audio recordings for the Listening paper• Teacher Booklet with:

- answer keys- mark schemes and sample answers for Writing- tapescripts for the Listening paper- the assessment criteria and a copy of the Cambridge ESOL

Common Scale for the Speaking paper- Speaking test materials, which include candidate visuals and

examiner scripts.

www.CambridgeESOL.org/past-papers

Speaking Test Preparation Pack

This comprehensive resource pack is designed to help teachersprepare students for the Cambridge English: First for Schools Speaking

test. Written by experienced examiners, it provides clear explanationsof what each part of the Speaking test involves. The step-by-stepguidance and practical exercises help your students perform withcondence on the day of the test.

Each pack includes:

• Teacher’s Notes• Student Worksheets which you can photocopy or print• a set of candidate visuals• a DVD showing real students taking a Speaking test.

www.CambridgeESOL.org/speaking

Exam support

A feature of Cambridge English exams is the outstanding free andpaid-for support we offer to teachers and candidates.

How to order support materials from Cambridge ESOL

A wide range of official support materials for candidates and teacherscan be ordered directly from the Cambridge ESOL eShops:

• Printed publications: www.shop.CambridgeESOL.org• Online preparation: https://eshop.cambridgeesol.org

Support for teachers

Teacher Support website

This website provides an invaluable, user-friendly free resource for allteachers preparing for our exams. It includes:

General information – handbook for teachers, sample papers,exam reports, exam dates

Detailed information – format, timing, number of questions, tasktypes, mark scheme of each paperAdvice for teachers – developing students’ skills and preparingthem for the examDownloadable lessons – a lesson for every part of every paper,there are more than 1,000 in totalForums – where teachers can share experiences and knowledgeCareers – teaching qualications for career progressionNews and events – what’s happening globally and locally in yourareaSeminars – wide range of exam specic seminars for new andexperienced teachers, administrators and school directors.

www.teachers.CambridgeESOL.org

Cambridge English Teacher

Developed by Cambridge University Press and University ofCambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), CambridgeEnglish Teacher provides opportunities for English teachers to engagein continuing professional development through online courses, sharebest practice and network with other ELT professionals worldwide.

For more information on how to become a Cambridge EnglishTeacher, visit www.CambridgeEnglishTeacher.org




EXAM SUPPORT

Support for candidates

Cambridge ESOL website

We provide learners with a wealth of exam resources and preparationmaterials throughout our main website, including exam advice,sample papers and a guide for candidates.

www.CambridgeESOL.org

Official preparation materials

A comprehensive range of official Cambridge English preparationmaterials are available from University of Cambridge ESOLExaminations (Cambridge ESOL) and Cambridge University Press.

Materials include printed and digital resources to support teachersand help learners prepare for their exam.

Find out more at www.CambridgeESOL.org/exam-preparation

Other sources of support materials

A huge range of course books, practice tests and learning resourcesare produced by independent publishers to help prepare candidatesfor Cambridge English exams. We cannot advise on text books orcourses of study that we do not provide, but when you are choosingcourse materials you should bear in mind that:

• Cambridge English: First for Schools requires all-round languageability

• most course books will need to be supplemented• any course books and practice materials you choose should

accurately reect the content and format of the exam.www.CambridgeESOL.org/resources/books-for-study

Exam sessions

Cambridge English: First for Schools is available as a paper-basedor computer-based test. Candidates must be entered through arecognised Cambridge ESOL centre. Find your nearest centre atwww.CambridgeESOL.org/centres

Further information

Contact your local Cambridge ESOL centre, or Cambridge ESOLdirect (using the contact details on the back cover of this handbook)for:

• copies of the regulations• details of entry procedure• exam dates• current fees• more information about Cambridge English: First for Schools and

other Cambridge English exams.




Paper 1Reading

Structure and tasksPART 1TASK TYPEAND FOCUS

Multiple choice.Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose,main idea, meaning from context, textorganisation features (exemplication,comparison, reference).

FORMAT A text followed by 4-option multiple-choicequestions.

NO. OF QS 8.

PART 2TASK TYPEAND FOCUS

Gapped text.Text structure, cohesion and coherence.

FORMAT A text from which sentences have beenremoved and placed in jumbled order after thetext. Candidates must decide from where inthe text the sentences have been removed.

NO. OF QS 7.


Multiple matching.Specic information, detail, opinion andattitude.

FORMAT A text or several short texts preceded bymultiple-matching questions. Candidatesmust match prompts to elements in the text.

NO. OF QS 15.

General descriptionPAPER FORMAT The paper contains three parts, with

a range of texts and accompanyingcomprehension tasks. One part maycontain two or more shorter relatedtexts.

TIMING 1 hour.NO. OF PARTS 3.

NO. OF QUESTIONS 30.TASK TYPES Multiple choice, gapped text,

multiple matching.

TEXT TYPES From the following: newspaper andmagazine articles, reports, ction,advertisements, correspondence,messages, informational material(e.g. brochures, guides, manuals,etc.).

LENGTH OF TEXTS Approximately 550–700 words pertext. Approximately 2,000 wordsoverall.

ANSWER FORMAT For all parts of this paper, candidatesindicate their answers by shadingthe correct lozenges on the separateanswer sheet.

MARKS Parts 1 and 2: each correct answerreceives 2 marks.Part 3: each correct answer receives1 mark.




PAPER 1: READING

PART 3 Multiple matchingIn this part, there is an emphasis on locating specic information anddetail, and recognising opinion and attitude, in one long text or a group ofshort texts.

Sample task and answer key: pages 12 and 13.

Each correct answer in Part 3 receives 1 mark.Part 3 consists of one long text or up to six shorter texts, precededby 15 questions. Candidates are required to locate the specicinformation which matches the questions. To do this, they need tounderstand detail, attitude or opinion in the question and locate asection of text where that idea is expressed, discounting ideas inother sections which may appear similar but which do not reect thewhole of the question accurately. Some of the options may be correctfor more than one question.

PreparationGeneral• The most valuable preparation is to ensure that your students

read a wide range of texts both in class and at home. Classroomreading can include a range of reading texts from coursebooksand reading-skills books at this level as well as current articlesfrom teen magazines and newspapers on topics of interest.

• With coursebook texts, encourage your students to focus onany prereading questions. These stimulate interest in the topiccovered by the text and train your students in valuable prediction

techniques.• Some course books include questions which are to be answered

while reading a text. These will help your students to worktheir way through the text and interpret the meaning of morecomplex passages. The questions will also involve your studentsin using different reading strategies. It is useful to encourage yourstudents to be aware of alternative ways of dealing with texts sothey can decide which ones suit them best.

• It is helpful to introduce a programme of reading at home. As partof the homework assignments, a weekly reading scheme could bestarted. Your students could be asked to provide verbal or writtenreviews of the texts they have read. These could include gradedreaders including graphic novels, unabridged short stories ornovels, non-ction, newspaper or magazine articles, etc. Wherepossible, encourage your students to follow up on their hobbiesand interests by reading magazines about sport, music, fashion,etc. in English. If relevant magazines are not available locally, youmay be able to access them on the internet. Reading up abouthobbies etc. could also lead to written articles for a class project,or short talks.

• Make sure your students are familiar with the format of theReading paper. Train them to read carefully the instructions onthe front page of the question paper and at the start of each task.The instructions give a brief context for each text and remindcandidates what they have to do.

The three parts of theReading paper

PART 1 Multiple choiceIn this part, there is an emphasis on detailed understanding of a text,

including the expression of opinion, attitude, purpose, main idea, detail,tone and gist. Candidates are also tested on their ability to recognisemeaning from context and follow text organisation features, such asexemplication, comparison and reference.


Each correct answer in Part 1 receives 2 marks.

Part 1 consists of a text, followed by eight 4-option multiple-choice questions which test the understanding of content and textorganisation. The text may be taken from, for example, an article ora modern novel. Questions may focus on the main ideas or details

in the text, and on the attitudes or opinions expressed. Candidatesmay also be asked to deduce the meaning of a word or phrase andto demonstrate understanding of references, such as pronouns,within the text. Additionally, questions may focus on the tone of thetext or the writer’s purpose, as well as the use of exemplication orcomparison. These questions may require candidates to infer themeaning from clues in the text, a skill which is an essential part ofreading ability.

The 4-option multiple-choice questions are presented in the sameorder as the information in the text so that candidates can follow thedevelopment of the writer’s ideas as they work through the questions.The nal question may require candidates to interpret an aspect of

the text as a whole.

PART 2 Gapped textIn this part, there is an emphasis on text structure, cohesion and coherence,and candidates’ ability to follow the development of a long text.


Each correct answer in Part 2 receives 2 marks.

Part 2 consists of one text from which seven sentences have beenremoved and placed in jumbled order after the text, together with

an eighth sentence which does not t in any of the gaps. Candidatesare required to decide from where in the text each sentence hasbeen removed. Each sentence may be used only once, and thereis one sentence that candidates do not need to use. The task testsunderstanding of how texts are structured.

Rather than concentrating on individual sentences, candidatesneed to be able to follow the development of ideas, opinions andevents through the text as a whole, using their understanding of textcoherence and cohesion devices. This task is particularly effective inhelping to distinguish between stronger and weaker candidates atCambridge English: First for Schools level.




PAPER 1: READING

• As in Part 1, it is important to discourage your students fromrelying on ‘word spotting’, that is assuming that if the same word,name, date, etc. appears in the surrounding text and one of theoptions, that is automatically the right sentence to ll the gap.Train them to check all the other linguistic clues carefully beforemaking their nal decision.

PART 3

• Your students will need practice in skimming and scanning textsquickly for specic information in order to prepare for this task.Once they have had this, it may be helpful to divide the class intoteams and encourage them to ‘race’ against each other. Pointsshould be deducted for incorrect answers, to emphasise the needfor accuracy as well as speed.

• In class, ask your students to tell you why a particular part of thetext matches a prompt. This will help them to check their choicescarefully. Once again, discourage them from choosing an answeron the basis of similar vocabulary alone.

• Give your students plenty of opportunity to read book and lmreviews or articles in which a number of different people expresstheir thoughts about their career, hobbies, etc. You could alsoask students, either as a pair or group activity in class or as ahomework assignment, to devise their own Part 3 task, based ontexts you provide or ones that they nd for themselves. Writingchallenging questions for their classmates to try will help thestudents understand what clues they will need to look for whentackling a real Part 3 task.

• Show your students how to ll in the answer sheet and give thempractice in doing this in a timed exercise. Explain to them thatthey can transfer their answers after each task or at the end ofthe paper.

• When your students are familiar with the different task types,discuss with them which part(s) take them longer to complete.Following this discussion, you could work out with them possible

timings for each task. Remind them that each task is worthapproximately equal marks. The outcome of the discussion willalso help you to decide which task types to concentrate on infuture classes and where assistance is needed with developingparticular reading skills.

By part

PART 1

• Train your students to read through the text before looking at thequestions. As three out of the four options are incorrect, there isno point in trying to absorb them all before tackling the text.

• Get your students to read each stem carefully so that they havesome idea of what they need to look for.

• Warn your students about the risks of ‘word spotting’, that isassuming that an option must be correct simply because itcontains a word that is also in the text. Students need to checkthat the meaning of an option is reected in the text, not that oneword is the same in both.

• When the questions take the form of incomplete sentences,encourage your students to read both parts of the sentencecarefully. They need to check that the whole sentence matcheswhat is written in the text and not just the phrase in option A, B,

C or D.

• Make sure your students read texts in which opinions, ideas andattitudes are expressed, such as interviews with well-knownpeople in which they explain how they started out in their eldand what they believe helped them to be successful, or extractsfrom novels which focus on characters’ feelings.

PART 2

• Train your students to read through the text with the gaps in it sothat they gain an overall idea of the structure of the text and thedevelopment of the writer’s ideas, before starting to do the task.

• When your students are selecting a sentence to ll a gap, makesure that they look carefully at the information before and afterthe gap. Candidates sometimes make the wrong choices byselecting options which seem to t the text before the gap, andneglecting to check that the text after the gap follows on logically.

• Give your students plenty of practice in recognising a widerange of linguistic devices which mark the logical and cohesivedevelopment of a text, for example words and phrases indicatingtime periods, cause and effect, exemplication, contrastingarguments, repetition, concordance of tenses, pronouns, etc. Thiswill help them to make the correct choice between two possiblesentences which seem rather similar at rst sight.




PAPER 1: READING | ANSWER KEY AND CANDIDATE ANSWER SHEET

Answer key

PAPER 1 | READING

Q Part 1

1 B

2 D

3 A

4 C

5 D

6 B

7 A

8 D

Q Part 2

9 F

10 B

11 H

12 G

13 A

14 D

15 E

Q Part 3

16 E

17 D

18 C

19 A

20 E

21 C

22 B

23 D

24 A

25 D

26 B

27 C

28 E

29 A

30 A





Paper 2Writing


Question 1Writing a letter or email.Focus on requesting and giving information,explaining, apologising, thanking, suggestingand expressing preference.

FORMAT Candidates are required to deal with inputmaterial of up to 160 words. This mayinclude material taken from advertisements,extracts from letters, emails, schedules, etc.

NO. OF TASKSAND LENGTH

One compulsory task.120–150 words.


Questions 2–4Writing one of the following: an article, anessay, a letter, a report, a review, a story.Question 5 (Question 5 has two options)Writing one of the following, based on oneof two prescribed reading texts: an article,an essay, a letter, a report, a review. Varyingfocuses according to the task, including:describing, explaining, expressing opinion,giving information, narrating.

FORMAT A situationally based writing task specied inno more than 70 words.

NO. OF TASKSAND LENGTH

One task to be selected from a choice of ve.120–180 words.

General descriptionPAPER FORMAT The paper contains two parts.

TIMING 1 hour 20 minutes.NO. OF PARTS 2.

NO. OF QUESTIONS Candidates are required to completetwo tasks: a compulsory one in Part1 and one from a choice of ve inPart 2.

TASK TYPES From the following: an article, anemail, an essay, a letter, a report, areview, a story.Each task has a given purpose and atarget reader.

ANSWER FORMAT The questions are in a bookletwith lined pages for the answers.The blank pages at the back of thebooklet can be used for writing notesor nishing answers, if necessary.

MARKS Each question on this paper carriesequal marks.




PAPER 2: WRITING

Task formatThe input for these ve tasks is considerably less than in Part 1. Eachwriting task in Part 2 has a context, a purpose for writing and a targetreader specied in no more than 70 words.

Attention to every element in the question is essential for effectivetask achievement and candidates should consider carefully what levelof formality is appropriate to the task.

PART 2 Questions 2–5

Sample questions and scripts: pages 19 and 25–29.

Task type and focusIn Part 2, candidates have a choice of tasks. Questions 2–4 aregeneral questions, based on a range of topics, such as health andtness, sport, music and so on. The tasks for Questions 2–4 mayinclude any of the following task types: an article, an essay, a letter,a report, a review, a story. Questions 5A and 5B are based on two

set texts. There will be one question on each of the set texts (seefollowing section).

As with Part 1, candidates are expected to show that they are awareof the kind of writing required to accomplish a task, and must beable to demonstrate appropriate use of one or more of the followingfunctions: describing, explaining, expressing an opinion, givinginformation, narrating.

The different task types are intended to provide guidance for thecandidates, so they can put together and develop their ideas on atopic, with a purpose for writing and a target reader in mind.

PART 2 Questions 5A and 5BQuestion 5 consists of a choice between two tasks based on the set readingtexts.

Task type and focusCandidates are required to write one of the following: an article, anessay, a letter, a report or a review.

This option is included to give candidates the opportunity to reada range of literature written in English and to show in their writingthat they have appreciated the themes, characters and relationshipswithin the work they have read. The set texts are carefully chosen for

their appropriacy for teenage candidates, however, teachers shouldbe selective when choosing this option to assure it is suitable for theage range in their class. Alternatively, or in addition, teachers mayguide candidates to an appropriate lm version of the book. It is notcompulsory to prepare a set text, or to write on one in a CambridgeESOL examination, but it is hoped that the study of a text can bea rewarding and enjoyable experience. Teachers are best placedto make a judgement as to which of the set texts on offer may beappropriate and stimulating for a particular teaching situation.

Two books are offered each year in simplied form, one a classic andthe other something more recent. Each book will normally remain onthe list for two years.

Assessment is based, as for the other Part 2 tasks, on control oflanguage in the given context.

The two parts of the Writing paper

Each question on the Writing paper carries equalmarks.

Expected word lengthCandidates are asked to write 120–150 words for Part 1 and 120–180words for Part 2.

Writing approximately the right number of words is an integral part oftask achievement. If signicantly fewer words are written, this is likelyto mean that the task has not been successfully completed, whereasoverlong pieces of writing may involve irrelevance, repetition of ideas,poor organisation and have a negative effect on the target reader.

PART 1 Compulsory taskThis part tests the candidates’ ability to respond to a letter or email, andaccompanying notes.

Sample question and script: pages 18 and 24.

Task type and focusIn Part 1, the task will be in the form of a letter or email, with notes orprompts to be addressed. The range of functions tested may includeexpressing enthusiasm, requesting and giving information, explaining,apologising, thanking, suggesting and expressing preferences.Candidates are expected to respond to both the letter and email ingrammatically correct English, and should note that abbreviated textstyle language is not acceptable. Both letters and emails should havean opening salutation, paragraphing and closing phrasing (although nopostal addresses are required for the letter). The degree of formalityrequired in the task will vary according to the situation and the targetreader; candidates are expected to assess this from the informationgiven in the instructions and the tone of the input letter or email.

Task formatThe input for Part 1 is approximately 160 words in total. It is made upof a text (letter or email) and notes, and may be supported by visualsor attachments such as a photo, timetable or advertisement. Widelyused abbreviations such as N.B., e.g., and etc. may also appear aspart of the input. It is very important that candidates cover all of

the essential points of the input in their answer so that the targetreader is fully informed. Candidates should be aware that the overallaim of the task is to achieve a positive effect on the target reader.Organisation and cohesion, clear layout, use of register appropriatefor the audience, and control and accuracy of language are allimportant features of task achievement. Some evidence of range oflanguage is also required, which means building on key words fromthe input rather than ‘lifting’ whole segments. Part 1 tasks oftenoffer candidates the opportunity to add a piece of information, ormake a suggestion or request of their own, and this enables them todemonstrate the range of their language.

PART 2This part consists of four questions f rom which candidates must chooseone. One of the four questions offers two options based on set texts. (Thereare two set texts, and one question will be offered on each.)




PAPER 2: WRITING

By part

PART 1

• Successful answers to Part 1 questions include all of the contentpoints, and expand them where appropriate with relevant ideasand information. It is a good idea to explore the range of functionsused in the notes to help your students recognise how some

require factual information, ‘give details …’ and some presentopportunities for expansion, ‘say which and why …’ , ‘give opinion…’ .Brainstorm ideas for expansion and encourage your students toreview their writing, substituting frequently used words with awider range.

• Understanding the scenario in Question 1 and reading the inputcarefully helps students to write their letters or email in anappropriate tone. They should also consider this when dealingwith the functions in the notes. Apologising to a friend, ‘I’mreally sorry, you know how careless I am!’ is different from a formalapology, ‘I must apologise for the noise our group made and hope wedid not disturb you too much’ . In the examination, candidates are

given credit for consistent use of register in their answers.

• Paragraphs make letters or emails easier for the reader to follow.Organising the four content points gives a natural framework, butthe students need to nd ways to link these points. Register playsa part here, too. Your students may know formal linking wordslike ‘furthermore’ and ‘moreover’ but should also be able to useless formal ones like ‘anyway’ and ‘as well as’.

• Candidates can use key words from the input text but should notlift whole segments of language. No credit is given for languagewhich has been obviously lifted from the input text.

• Remind your students that the instructions always tell the

candidate to read the text and ‘the notes you have made’ . It alsosays ‘write a letter/email using all your notes’ . The notes are eitherclose to the text or underneath it on a notepad. Candidates mustaddress each of the points in their letter or email. Missing out acontent point means the reader is not fully informed and the taskis not adequately achieved. This will result in candidates beingpenalised.

PART 2

• Part 2 will always have three different tasks, plus a choice of twotasks on the set texts in Question 5.

• The tasks in Part 2 give candidates a chance to show their rangeof language. In class, students should be encouraged to use avariety of grammatical structures and explore the use of newvocabulary and expressions.

• Since there is always a choice of task types in Part 2, studentsshould avoid a particular task type if it is unsuited to theirinterests or experience.

• Each word in the instructions is important to the task. Studentsshould, therefore, be advised to avoid a question if they areunsure of what is required as their answer may not be whollyrelevant.

Preparation

General• Candidates write most effectively when they choose tasks

and topics suited to their interests and experience. Whenpreparing students for the examination, it is important to ensure

they are familiar with the paper and the range of task types andtopics so that they can identify those which are most accessibleto them.

• Train your students to read the question carefully, underlining themost important parts. They then need to make a plan, referringclosely to the question and looking for opportunities to developtheir ideas and show their range of language.

• The time allowed for the Writing paper (1 hour 20 minutes) isdesigned to be sufficient for candidates to make brief plans andthen write two answers. Any corrections they need to makeshould be clear so that the examiner can follow and mark whatthey have written.

• Your students need to think carefully about who the target readeris for each task and try to write in an appropriate style and tone.

• Linking ideas effectively is something your students will needguidance on. Using a variety of linking words is important, as isensuring that the ow of ideas in the writing is logical and easyfor the reader to follow.

• Your students should be encouraged to use a range of complexlanguage. If, in doing so, they make mistakes, the examiner willalways give credit for the complex language attempted as long asthe mistakes do not impede communication.

• Counting words wastes time in an examination and leads toclumsy alterations to what a candidate has already written.Students need practice in writing tasks within the word limitso that they know when they have written enough in their ownhandwriting.

• Make sure your students have practice in answering questionswithout the use of dictionaries. Dictionaries are not allowed in theCambridge English: First for Schools examination.

• Make sure your students are aware of the importance ofspelling and punctuation. Although spelling errors and faultypunctuation are not specically penalised, they can sometimes

impede communication. If so, the overall impression mark will beadjusted. (N.B. American usage and spelling are acceptable – seeInternational English, page 4). Remind them of the importance ofchecking their work.

• Each question on the Writing paper carries equal marks so yourstudents should practise planning the time they spend on eachquestion carefully.

• Remind your students that they must write their answers onthe lined pages following each question in the booklet. Theymay use the blank pages at the back of the question booklet tomake notes, but these notes will not be marked. They may alsouse these blank pages to nish their answers, if necessary, butthey should make it clear that the writing is part of their answer.

• It is important to write clearly so that the answers are easy toread. However, it is not important if candidates write in upper orlower case, or if their writing is joined up or not.




PAPER 2: WRITING | SAMPLE PAPER

W r i t i n g ●

P a r t 1

Y o u m u s

t a n s w e r

t h i s q u e s t i o n .

W r i t e y o u r a n s w e r

i n 1 2 0 –

1 5 0 w o r d s

i n a n a p p r o p r i a t e s t y l e o n

t h e o p p o s

i t e p a g e .

1

Y o u a r e g o i n g

t o s t a y w

i t h y o u r

E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g f r i e n d , A l e x , f o r t h e w e e k e n d .

R e a d

A l e x ’ s

e m a i l a n d

t h e n o t e s y o u

h a v e m a d e .

T h e n w r i t e a n e m a i l t o

A l e x , u s i n g a l l y o u r n o t e s .

E M A I L

F r o m :

A l e x G r e e n

S u b j e c t : Y o u r v i s i t

I t ’ s g r e a t

t h a t y o u c a n v i s i t m e

t h i s w e e k e n d .

A n e w

a c t i v i t y c e n t r e

h a s j u s t o p e n e d n e a r m y

h o u s e .

S h a l l w e

g o ? T h e r e ’ s

a c l i m

b i n g w a l l a t

t h e c e n t r e , o r

t h e y c a n

t a k e u s

s a i l i n g o n

t h e r i v e r .

T h e s t a f f a t

t h e c e n t r e a l s o

t a k e

g r o u p s i n t o t h e h i l l s t o g o m o u n t a i n

b i k i n g . W h i c h a c t i v i t y

w o u l d y o u p r e f e r

t o d o ?

I t h i n k w e ’ l l b e

t i r e d o n

S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g s o m a y b e w e

s h o u l d j u s t s t a y

i n a n d

d o s o m e t h i n g .

S o w

h a t d o y o u

t h i n k w e s h o u l d

d o ?

I ’ m s o e x c i t e d a b o u t y o u r v i s i t .

C a n y o u r p a r e n t s

b r i n g y o u

t o m y

h o u s e o n

F r i d a y e v e n i n g r a t h e r

t h a n S a t u r d a y

m o r n i n g ?

S e e y o u

A l e x

Y e s !

T e l l A l e x

S u g g e s t …

N o ,

b e c a u s e …

W r i t e y o u r e m a i l .

Y o u m u s t u s e g r a m m a t i c a l l y c o r r e c t s e n t e n c e s w

i t h a c c u r a t e s p e l l i n g a n d

p u n c t u a t i o n

i n a s t y l e a p p r o p r i a t e

f o r t h e s i t u a t i o n .

Q u e s t i o n

1

P l e a s e w r i t e w

i t h i n t h e g r e y

l i n e s

E M A I L

T o :

A l e x

G r e e n

S u

b j e c t : M y v

i s i t

PAPER 2 | WRITING




PAPER 2: WRITING | SAMPLE PAPER

W r i t i n g ●

P a r t 2

W r i t e a n a n s w e r

t o o n e o f

t h e q u e s t i o n s

2 –

5 i n t h i s p a r t .

W r i t e y o u r a n s w e r

i n 1 2 0 –

1 8 0 w o r d s

i n

a n a p p r o p r i a t e s t y l e o n

t h e o p p o s i t e p a g e .

P u t t h e q u e s t i o n n u m

b e r i n t h e b o x a t

t h e t o p o f

t h e p a g e .

2

Y o u

h a v e s e e n

t h i s a n n o u n c e m e n t

i n a n

i n t e r n a t i o n a l t e e n m a g a z i n e .

C o m p e t i t i o n :

T h e

2 1 s

t - C e n

t u r y

T e e n a g e r

W h a

t i s t h e o n e

t h i n g a m o

d e r n

t e e n a g e r s

h o u

l d n o t

b e w

i t h o u

t ?

C o m p u

t e r ? M P 3 p

l a y e r ?

M o b i l e p

h o n e ?

Y o u

d e c i d e !

T h e

b e s t a r t i c l e w

i l l b e p u

b l i s h e d

i n n e x t m o n

t h ’ s m a g a z i n e .

W r i t e y o u r a r t i c l e .

3

Y o u

h a v e s e e n a s t o r y w r i t i n g c o m p e t i t i o n

i n a n E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e m a g a z i n e a n d y o u

d e c i d e

t o e n t e r .

Y o u r s t o r y m u s t

b e g i n w

i t h t h i s s e n t e n c e :

A t l a s t t h e w e e k e n d

h a d a r r i v e d a n d

A n n a

w a s

b o t h n e r v o u s a n d e x c i t e d .

W r i t e y o u r s t o r y .

4

Y o u

h a v e r e c e n t l y

h a d a

d i s c u s s i o n i n y o u r

E n g l i s h

c l a s s a b o u t

t e e n a g e f a s h i o n s . N o w y o u r

t e a c h e r

h a s a s k e d y o u

t o w r i t e a n e s s a y , a n s w e r i n g

t h e f o l l o w i n g q u e s t i o n :

D o y o u

t h i n k t h a t y o u h a v e t o s p e n d a

l o t o f m o n e y o n

f a s h i o n t o l o o k g o o d ?

W r i t e y o u r e s s a y .

5

A n s w e r o n e o f

t h e f o l l o w i n g t w o q u e s t i o n s

b a s e d o n o n e o f

t h e t i t l e s b e l o w

. W r i t e

t h e l e t t e r

( a ) o r

( b ) a s w e l l a s

t h e n u m

b e r 5 i n t h e q u e s t i o n

b o x a t

t h e t o p o f

t h e o p p o s i t e p a g e .

( a ) M a c b e t h

b y W i l l i a m S h a k e s p e a r e

Y o u

h a v e s e e n

t h e f o l l o w i n g a n n o u n c e m e n

t i n a n

i n t e r n a t i o n a l s c h o o l m a g a z i n e .

Y o u

h a v e d e c i d e d t o w r i t e a n a r t i c l e , u s i n g a c h a r a c t e r

f r o m t h e s t o r y o f

M a c b e t h .

A r t i c l e s w a n t e d :

T e l l

U s

A b o u

t A B a d

C h a r a c t e r

I n A S t o r y Y o u

K n o w .

W

h a t d o e s t h i s p e r s o n

d o ?

W h y d o e s t h i s p e r s o n

b e h a v e s o

b a d l y ?

I s

t h e r e s o m e t h i n g y o u

l i k e a b o u t t h i s p e r s o n ?

T h e w r i t e r o f t h e

b e s t a r t i c l e w i l

l w i n £ 1 0 0 w o r t h o f b o o k s !

W r i t e y o u r a r t i c l e a b o u t a c h a r a c t e r

i n t h e s t o r y o f

M a c b e t h .

( b ) J o e S i m p s o n :

T o u c h i n g t h e V o i d

Y o u r

E n g l i s h c l a s s

h a s h a d a

d i s c u s s i o n a b o u t w

h a t h a p p e n s i n T o u c h i n g t h e V o i d .

N o w y o u r

t e a c h e r h a s g i v e n y o u

t h i s e s s a y

f o r h o m e w o r k :

S i m o n a n d

J o e h a v e t o m a k e s o m e

d i f f i c u l t d e c i s i o n s i n t h e s t o r y o f

T o u c h i n g

t h e V o i d . D o y o u

t h i n k t h e y m a k e

t h e r i g h t c h o i c e s ?

W h y ? / W h y n o t ?

W r i t e y o u r e s s a y .

Q u e s

t i o n

PAPER 2 | WRITING




PAPER 2: WRITING | ASSESSMENT

Assessment of Writing

Examiners and markingWriting Examiners (WEs) undergo a rigorous process of training andcertication before they are invited to mark. Once accepted, they aresupervised by Team Leaders (TLs) who are in turn led by a Principal

Examiner (PE), who guides and monitors the marking process.

WEs mark candidate responses in a secure online markingenvironment. The software randomly allocates candidate responsesto ensure that individual examiners do not receive a concentration ofgood or weak responses, or of any one language group. The softwarealso allows for examiners’ marking to be monitored for quality andconsistency. During the marking period, the PE and TLs are ableto view their team’s progress and to offer support and advice, asrequired.

Assessment scales

Examiners mark tasks using assessment scales that were developedwith explicit reference to the Common European Framework ofReference for Languages (CEFR). The scales, which are used acrossthe spectrum of Cambridge ESOL’s General and Business EnglishWriting tests, consist of four subscales: Content, CommunicativeAchievement, Organisation, and Language:

• Content focuses on how well the candidate has fullled the task,in other words if they have done what they were asked to do.

• Communicative Achievement focuses on how appropriate thewriting is for the task and whether the candidate has used theappropriate register.

• Organisation focuses on the way the candidate puts together the

piece of writing, in other words if it is logical and ordered.• Language focuses on vocabulary and grammar. This includes the

range of language as well as how accurate it is.

Responses are marked on each subscale from 0 to 5.

When marking the tasks, examiners take into account length ofresponses and varieties of English:

• Guidelines on length are provided for each task; responseswhich are too short may not have an adequate range of languageand may not provide all the information that is required, whileresponses which are too long may contain irrelevant content andhave a negative effect on the reader. These may affect candidates’

marks on the relevant subscales.

• Candidates are expected to use a particular variety of Englishwith some degree of consistency in areas such as spelling, andnot for example switch from using a British spelling of a word toan American spelling of the same word.





The subscale Content is common to all levels:

Content

5 All content is relevant to the task.Target reader is fully informed.

3 Minor irrelevances and/or omissions may be present.Target reader is on the whole informed.

1 Irrelevances and misinterpretation of task may be present.Target reader is minimally informed.

0 Content is totally irrelevant.Target reader is not informed.

The remaining three subscales (Communicative Achievement,Organisation, and Language) have descriptors specic to eachCEFR level:

CEFRlevel

Communicative Achievement Organisation Language

Demonstrates complete command of the

conventions of the communicative task.Communicates complex ideas in an effectiveand convincing way, holding the targetreader’s attention with ease, fullling allcommunicative purposes.

Text is organised impressively and

coherently using a wide range ofcohesive devices and organisationalpatterns with complete exibility.

Uses a wide range of vocabulary, including

less common lexis, with uency, precision,sophistication, and style.

Use of grammar is sophisticated, fully controlledand completely natural.

Any inaccuracies occur only as slips.

C2 Uses the conventions of the communicativetask with sufficient exibility tocommunicate complex ideas in an effectiveway, holding the target reader’s attentionwith ease, fullling all communicativepurposes.

Text is a well-organised, coherentwhole, using a variety of cohesivedevices and organisational patternswith exibility.

Uses a range of vocabulary, including lesscommon lexis, effectively and precisely.

Uses a wide range of simple and complexgrammatical forms with full control, exibilityand sophistication.

Errors, if present, are related to less commonwords and structures, or occur as slips.

C1 Uses the conventions of the communicativetask effectively to hold the target reader’sattention and communicate straightforwardand complex ideas, as appropriate.

Text is well-organised and coherent,using a variety of cohesive devices andorganisational patterns to generallygood effect.

Uses a range of vocabulary, including lesscommon lexis, appropriately.

Uses a range of simple and complex grammaticalforms with control and exibility.

Occasional errors may be present but do notimpede communication.

B2 Uses the conventions of the communicativetask to hold the target reader’s attention andcommunicate straightforward ideas.

Text is generally well-organised andcoherent, using a variety of linkingwords and cohesive devices.

Uses a range of everyday vocabularyappropriately, with occasional inappropriate useof less common lexis.

Uses a range of simple and some complexgrammatical forms with a good degree of control.

Errors do not impede communication.

B1 Uses the conventions of the communicativetask in generally appropriate ways tocommunicate straightforward ideas.

Text is connected and coherent, usingbasic linking words and a limitednumber of cohesive devices.

Uses everyday vocabulary generallyappropriately, while occasionally overusingcertain lexis.

Uses simple grammatical forms with a gooddegree of control.

While errors are noticeable, meaning can still bedetermined.

A2 Produces text that communicates simpleideas in simple ways.

Text is connected using basic, high-frequency linking words.

Uses basic vocabulary reasonably appropriately.

Uses simple grammatical forms with somedegree of control.

Errors may impede meaning at times.





Cambridge English: First for Schools Writing Examiners use the following assessment scale, extracted from the one on the previous page:

B2 Content Communicative Achievement Organisation Language

5 All content is relevant to thetask.

Target reader is fully informed.

Uses the conventions ofthe communicative taskeffectively to hold the targetreader’s attention andcommunicate straightforwardand complex ideas, asappropriate.

Text is well-organised andcoherent, using a varietyof cohesive devices andorganisational patterns togenerally good effect.

Uses a range of vocabulary, includingless common lexis, appropriately.

Uses a range of simple and complexgrammatical forms with control and

exibility.Occasional errors may be present but donot impede communication.

4 Performance shares features of Bands 3 and 5.

3 Minor irrelevances and/oromissions may be present.

Target reader is on the wholeinformed.

Uses the conventions ofthe communicative taskto hold the target reader’sattention and communicatestraightforward ideas.

Text is generally well-organised and coherent, usinga variety of linking words andcohesive devices.

Uses a range of everyday vocabularyappropriately, with occasionalinappropriate use of less common lexis.

Uses a range of simple and somecomplex grammatical forms with a gooddegree of control.

Errors do not impede communication.


1 Irrelevances andmisinterpretation of task maybe present.

Target reader is minimallyinformed.

Uses the conventions ofthe communicative task ingenerally appropriate ways tocommunicate straightforwardideas.

Text is connected andcoherent, using basic linkingwords and a limited numberof cohesive devices.

Uses everyday vocabulary generallyappropriately, while occasionallyoverusing certain lexis.

Uses simple grammatical forms with agood degree of control.

While errors are noticeable, meaning canstill be determined.

0 Content is totally irrelevant.

Target reader is not informed.Performance below Band 1.




PAPER 2: WRITING | GLOSSARY OF TERMS

5. LANGUAGE

Vocabulary Basic vocabulary refers to vocabulary used for survival purposes,for simple transactions, and the like.

Everyday vocabulary refers to vocabulary that comes up incommon situations of a non-technical nature in the relevantdomain.

Less common lexis refers to vocabulary items that appear less

often in the relevant domain. These items often help to expressideas more succinctly and precisely.

Appropriacy ofvocabulary

Appropriacy of vocabulary: the use of words and phrases thatt the context of the given task. For example, inI’m very sensibleto noise , the wordsensible is inappropriate as the word shouldbesensitive . Another example would beToday’s big snow makes getting around the city difficult . The phrase getting around is wellsuited to this situation. However,big snow is inappropriate asbig andsnow are not used together.Heavy snow would be appropriate.

Grammaticalforms

Simple grammatical forms: words, phrases, basic tenses andsimple clauses.

Complex grammatical forms: longer and more complex items, e.g.noun clauses, relative and adverb clauses, subordination, passiveforms, innitives, verb patterns, modal forms and tense contrasts.

Grammaticalcontrol

Grammatical control: the ability to consistently use grammaraccurately and appropriately to convey intended meaning.

Where language specications are provided at lower levels (as inCambridge English: Key (KET) andCambridge English: Preliminary(PET) ), candidates may have control of only the simplest exponentsof the listed forms.

Range Range: the variety of words and grammatical forms a candidateuses. At higher levels, candidates will make increasing useof a greater var iety of words, xed phrases, collocations andgrammatical forms.

Overuse Overuse refers to those cases where candidates repeatedly use the

same word because they do not have the resources to use anotherterm or phrase the same idea in another way. Some words mayunavoidably appear often as a result of being the topic of the task;that is not covered by the term overuse here.

Errors and slips Errorsare systematic mistakes.Slips are mistakes that are non-systematic, i.e. the candidate has learned the vocabulary item orgrammatical structure, but just happened to make a mistake in thisinstance. In a candidate’s response, where most other examples ofa lexical/grammatical point are accurate, a mistake on that pointwould most likely be a slip.

Impedecommunication

Impede communication means getting in the way of meaning.Meaning can still be determined indicates that some effort isrequired from the reader to determine meaning.

Cambridge ESOL Writingmark scheme

Glossary of terms

1. GENERAL

Generally Generally is a qualier meaning not in every way or instance. Thus,‘generally appropriately’ refers to performance that is not as goodas ‘appropriately’.

Flexibility Flexible andexibly refer to the ability to adapt – whetherlanguage, organisational devices, or task conventions – rather thanusing the same form over and over, thus evidencing better controland a wider repertoire of the resource. Flexibility allows a candidateto better achieve communicative goals.

2. CONTENT

Relevant Relevant means related or relatable to required content points and/or task requirements.

Target reader Thetarget reader is the hypothetical reader set up in the task, e.g. amagazine’s readership, your English teacher.

Informed The target reader isinformed if content points and/or taskrequirements are addressed and appropriately developed. Somecontent points do not require much development (e.g. “state whatis x”) while others require it (“describe”, “explain”).

3. COMMUNICATIVE ACHIEVEMENT

Conventionsof thecommunicativetask

Conventions of the communicative task include such thingsas genre, format, register, and function. For example, a personalletter should not be written as a formal report, should be laid outaccordingly, and use the right tone for the communicative purpose.

Holding thetarget reader’sattention

Holding the target reader’s attention is used in the positive senseand refers to the quality of a text that allows a reader to derivemeaning and not be distracted. It does not refer to texts that forcea reader to read closely because they are difficult to follow or makesense of.

Communicativepurpose

Communicative purpose refers to the communicativerequirements as set out in the task, e.g. make a complaint, suggestalternatives.

Straightforwardand complexideas

Straightforward ideas are those which relate to relatively limitedsubject matter, usually concrete in nature, and which require simplerrhetorical devices to communicate.Complex ideas are those whichare of a more abstract nature, or which cover a wider subject area,requiring more rhetorical resources to bring together and express.

4. ORGANISATION

Linking words,cohesivedevices, andorganisationalpatterns

Linking words are cohesive devices, but are separated here to referto higher-frequency vocabulary which provide explicit linkage. Theycan range from basic high frequency items (such as “and”, “but”) tobasic and phrasal items (such as “because”, “rst of all”, “nally”).

Cohesive devicesrefers to more sophisticated linking words andphrases (e.g. “moreover”, “it may appear”, “as a result”), as wellas grammatical devices such as the use of reference pronouns,substitution (e.g.There are two women in the picture. The one onthe right …), ellipsis (e.g.The rst car he owned was a convertible,the second a family car.), or repetition.

Organisational patterns refers to less-explicit ways of achievingconnection at the between sentence level and beyond, e.g.arranging sentences in climactic order, the use of parallelism, usinga rhetorical question to set up a new paragraph.




PAPER 2: WRITING | SAMPLE SCRIPTS WITH EXAMINER COMMENTS

Examiner comments

Subscale Mark Commentary

Content 4 The focus of the task is central to the article and the content is relevant. The level of detail is appropriate and thedevelopment of the argument is logical and well-balanced.

The target reader is, on the whole, informed.

CommunicativeAchievement

4 A number of devices are used to hold the reader’s attention, including the use of the rhetorical question ( and what betterthan a mobile phone? ) addressing the target reader both generally and directly by the use of you.

The tone is light and persuasive and well-suited to an article in a teen magazine.

Organisation 4 The text is well organised and coherent and uses a variety of organisational patterns to generally good effect. The paceof the article is effectively kept up by the varied openings of each paragraph ( Nowadays, Most mobile phones, Besides this,So). Some linking words are over-used, especially and in the rst sentence of the second paragraph.

Language 4 A range of lexis and collocation is used to good effect in the article ( a number of applications, allows you to access theinternet, nd your way, carry around ). Some errors are also present ( out of this, mind having ).

Both simple and some complex grammatical forms are used with a good degree of control and the errors ( not soexpensiv neither, at any place ) do not impede communication.

Question 2

Candidate B

The One Thing a Modern Teenager should not be Without

Nowadays a modern teenager, wherever they are, needs to be in contact all the time and what better than amobile phone?

Most mobile phones now have a number of applications, so it is not just a mobile phone and it allows you alsoto access the internet, nd your way, send a message and take fotos and send them to your friends anywherein the world and so on. You can’t be out of this if you mind having lots of friends and keeping in touch withthem at any place.

Besides this, it is very small, so easy to carry around and nowadays it is not so expensiv neither. The pricesare going down all the time and you can easily nd bargain offers!

So, no excuses modern teenagers!

PAPER 2 | WRITING | QUESTION 2





Examiner comments


Content 5 The story follows on seamlessly from the prompt and moves with ease to its conclusion, with relevant narration anddescription throughout. It is an extremely well-balanced story with a beginning, middle and end, fully informing thetarget reader about Anna’s trip.


5 The story is told using an impressive range of narrative devices. These include the variation of sentence lengths, forexample the rst and second paragraphs, a range of narrative tenses, questioning the reader directly ( guess what? ), andthe effective use of punctuation ( she was sure he did! ).

The emphasis elicited by the use of ever in the second sentence is a subtle narrative device to move the interest on.

The narrative pace is kept up with ease and the reader’s attention is fully held throughout.

Organisation 5 The text is well organised and coherent. A wide variety of cohesive devices and organisational patterns are employedto excellent effect. Backward and forward referencing, a variety of linking words, the shortening of phrases ( Back homerather than When Anna got back home ), all contribute to the cohesion which helps make this story so successful.

Language 5 A range of vocabulary and collocations, both common and less so, is employed to develop the story effectively ( rst timeever, nervous and excited, absolutely exhausted, got to bed straightaway, thrilled, to treasure forever ).

Both simple and complex grammatical forms are used with impressive control and exibility and the text is error-free.

Question 3

Candidate C

At last the weekend had arrived and Anna was both nervous and excited. She was on her way to the USA forthe rst time ever after winning a study trip to nd out about American culture and represent her country.

She took off at eight and by the time the plane landed, Anna was absolutely exhausted. Luckily the family thatwas going to take care of her was waiting at the airport so she got to bed straightaway.

The next day the family took Anna to watch her favourite lm. Although it was in English she understoodalmost everything because she had been studying English for ages. As they were leaving the cinema, guesswhat? Anna saw her favourite lm star. She was thrilled! He smiled shyly at her – she was sure he did! – asshe managed to take a picture of him to treasure forever.

Back home she told everyone about her adventure and showed the picture to the lm stars many fans there.

They were amazed and just couldn’t believe Anna’s luck!






Examiner comments


Content 4 The content in the essay is relevant to the question and there is a suitable level of detail and development of ideas.

The target reader is on the whole informed of the writer’s ideas and opinions.


3 The conventions of the essay task are employed with varying degrees of success. There is an over-use of short, snappystatements and questions which can be inappropriate ( is so easy!, We love shopping!, It’s very easy and cheap!, Why not trysometime soon ? Whatever. Why? ).

Organisation 3 The text is generally well organised and coherent although, it lacks internal cohesion. A variety of cohesive devices isemployed, such as punctuation ( you can also look good spending only little ), and referencing pronouns (Maybe they don’tlike anymore).

Language 3 A range of everyday topic-appropriate lexis and collocation is used ( newer designs, style, mix and match, buy online, loads ofmoney ).

A range of simple and some complex grammatical forms is used with an adequate degree of control. However, errors ofomission are noticeable ( Why not try sometime soon?, You can use style of, spending only little, they give you free for nothing ).

Question 4

Candidate D

Do you think that you have to spend a lot of money on fashion to look good?

Spending a lot of money on fashion is so easy! We love shopping! But I think it is not nessecery to spend loadsof money on fashion – you can also look good spending only little. You can buy online, like ebay and there alwayshave new style of fashion come in and newer designs for less price. You can use style of mix and match andmatching our old clothes together with new ones to make fashion style again. It’s very easy and cheap! Whynot try sometime soon?

Also, sometimes you can get clothes from friends and they give you free, for nothing. You don’t need pay at all,nothing. May be they don’t like anymore and give to you instead. Maybe they change size and can’t t anymore.Whatever.

So, I don’t think you have to spend a lot of money on fashion to look good. Why?






Examiner comments


Content 5 The content is completely relevant to the task and all the points in the question are clearly covered and expanded well,with some good exemplication.

The target reader is fully informed of the writer’s opinions and the reasons for them.


4 The reader’s attention is gained by the question in the second sentence. It is then held, as the story is summarised andpresented with reasons for and against calling Macbeth a bad man.

The conclusion is effective in rounding up the straightforward ideas which have already been expressed.

Organisation 4 The text is generally well organised and coherent. Good use is made of linking words and phrases in order to move theargument on ( Furthermore, Later, Perhaps he is, However, All this is to suppor t ).

Language 4 There is a good range of topic-related lexis ( weak, inuenced, ambitious, cannot kill easily, support his position ) but with anoccasional inappropriate use of some lexis ( named, so, hardly ).

A good control of simple and some complex grammatical forms is shown, especially in the second paragraph. The errorsdo not impede communication.

Question 5A

Candidate E

Macbeth

Macbeth is the famous play by Shakespeare and very exciting and dramatic. Someone like Macbeth who killsmany people should be named bad but is this true?

Macbeth wants to become king and thinks he must kill the king to take his place. Furthermore his wife LadyMacbeth is very strong and wants him to murder the king and is angry when she thinks he is so weak to doit. Macbeth is inuenced by her almost and listens to her plan to kill the king. Later he murders the king andtwo guards but feels mad afterwards. Perhaps he is ambitious but not bad inside, he cannot kill easily withoutregret.

However, Macbeth also pays men to kill Banquo and his son and he kills Macduff’s family. All this is to support

his position and ambition to stay as king.Is there something I like in Macbeth? At the beginning he was a good soldier who fought hardly for the king andfor his country. People admire him but his ambition was too strong and his wife too.

PAPER 2 | WRITING | QUESTION 5A




Paper 3Use of English


Multiple-choice cloze.Lexical/lexico-grammatical.

FORMAT A modied cloze test containing 12 gaps andfollowed by 4-option multiple-choice items.

NO. OF QS 12.

PART 2TASK TYPE

AND FOCUS

Open cloze.

Grammatical/lexico-grammatical.FORMAT A modied cloze test containing 12 gaps.

NO. OF QS 12.


Word formation.Lexical/lexico-grammatical.

FORMAT A text containing 10 gaps. Each gapcorresponds to a word.The stems of the missing words are givenbeside the text and must be changed to formthe missing word.

NO. OF QS 10.


Key word transformations.Lexical and grammatical.

FORMAT Eight separate items, each with a lead-insentence and a gapped second sentence to becompleted in two to ve words, one of whichis a given ‘key word’.

NO. OF QS 8.

General descriptionPAPER FORMAT The paper contains four parts.

TIMING 45 minutes.NO. OF PARTS 4.

NO. OF QUESTIONS 42.TASK TYPES Multiple-choice cloze, open

cloze, word formation, key wordtransformations.

ANSWER FORMAT Candidates may write on thequestion paper, but must transfer

their answers to the separate answersheet within the time limit.Candidates indicate their answersby shading the correct lozenges orwriting the required word or wordsin capital letters in a box on theseparate answer sheet.

MARKS Parts 1, 2, and 3: each correct answerreceives 1 mark.Part 4: each answer receives up to2 marks.




PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH

The focus of this task is primarily lexical, though an understandingof structure is also required. It tests the candidates’ knowledge ofhow prexes, suffixes, internal changes and compounds are usedin forming words. Candidates may be required to demonstrateunderstanding of the text beyond sentence level.

PART 4 Key word transformations

In this part, there is an emphasis on grammar and vocabulary.


Each answer in Part 4 receives up to 2 marks.

Part 4 consists of eight questions (plus an example). Each questioncontains three parts: a lead-in sentence, a key word, and a secondsentence of which only the beginning and end are given. Candidateshave to ll the gap in the second sentence so that the completedsentence is similar in meaning to the lead-in sentence. The gap mustbe lled with between two and ve words, one of which must be thekey word. The key word must not be changed in any way.

In this part of the paper the focus is both lexical and grammatical anda range of structures is tested. The ability to express a message indifferent ways shows exibility and resource in the use of language.

The mark scheme splits the answer into two parts and candidatesgain one mark for each part which is correct.

Preparation

General

• Your students should be encouraged to read extensively so thatthey build up a wide vocabulary and become familiar with themany uses of different structures. This should enable them todeal with a range of lexical items and grammatical structures in avariety of text types.

• When studying for the paper, it will be useful for your students torefer to dictionaries and grammar books. However, they shouldalso develop strategies for operating independently of referencebooks (by, for example, guessing the meaning of unknown wordsfrom the context) as they are not permitted to take dictionariesinto the exam with them.

• Students should develop an efficient personal system forrecording the new vocabulary they learn. They should record asmuch detail as possible.

• The texts in Parts 1, 2 and 3 all have titles. Encourage yourstudents to pay attention to each title as it will indicate the maintheme of the text.

• Encourage your students to read through each text (Parts 1, 2 and3) carefully before beginning to answer the questions so that theyhave a clear idea of what it is about.

• In Parts 2 and 4, there may be more than one permissible answerfor a question. However, students should only give one answer

for each question. If they give two answers, and one of them isincorrect, they will not be given a mark. If they want to change ananswer, they should rub it out.

The four parts of theUse of English paper

PART 1 Multiple-choice clozeIn this part, there is an emphasis on vocabulary and grammar.


Each correct answer in Part 1 receives 1 mark.

Part 1 consists of a text in which there are 12 gaps (plus one gap as anexample). Each gap represents a missing word or phrase. The text isfollowed by 12 sets of four words or phrases, each set correspondingto a gap. Candidates have to choose which one of the four words orphrases in the set lls the gap correctly.

Candidates are required to draw on their lexical knowledge andunderstanding of the text in order to ll the gaps. Some questionstest at a phrasal level, such as collocations and set phrases. Otherquestions test meaning at sentence level or beyond, with moreprocessing of the text required. A lexico-grammatical element may beinvolved, such as when candidates have to choose the option whichts correctly with a following preposition or verb form.

PART 2 Open clozeIn this part, there is an emphasis on grammar and vocabulary.



Part 2 consists of a text in which there are 12 gaps (plus one gap asan example). Candidates are required to draw on their knowledge ofthe structure of the language and understanding of the text in orderto ll the gaps. In this part, as there are no sets of words from whichto choose the answers; candidates have to think of a word which willll the gap correctly.

The focus of the gapped words is either grammatical, such asarticles, auxiliaries, prepositions, pronouns, verb tenses and forms,or lexico-grammatical, such as phrasal verbs, linkers and wordswithin xed phrases. The answer will always be a single word. Insome cases, there may be more than one possible answer and this isallowed for in the mark scheme.

The absence or misuse of punctuation is ignored, although spelling,as in all parts of the Use of English paper, must be correct.

PART 3 Word formationIn this part, there is an emphasis on vocabulary.



Part 3 consists of a text containing 10 gaps (plus one gap as anexample). At the end of some of the lines, and separated from the

text, there is a stem word in capital letters. Candidates need to forman appropriate word from given stem words to ll each gap.




PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH

• Remind your students to make sure the answer they choose tsinto the sentence. They should not choose their answer simplyafter reading the words which come before the gap; they need toread the words which follow as well. It is sometimes the case thata preposition or adverb which follows a gap determines which ofthe options is correct.

• Get your students used to reading all the options for any question

before deciding which one lls the gap correctly, and remind themthat they should never choose more than one option as the answer.

• Make your students aware that it is important that the mark theymake in the lozenge on the answer sheet for each answer is rmand clear and done in pencil.

PART 2

• As in Part 1, candidates need to read the words which follow thegap as well as those which come before it. Tell your students thatthey should make sure that if they are lling the gap with a verb, itagrees with its subject.

• Remind your students to keep in mind a sense of the whole text.• Make your students aware that they must use only one word to

ll each of the gaps. They should never use abbreviations (e.g.‘sthg’ for ‘something’), and (with the exception of can’t = cannot)they should not ll any of the gaps with a contraction (e.g. didn’t,he’ll), as these count as two words.

PART 3

• Students should be made aware of the range of words whichcan be formed from the same stem word, e.g. ‘compete’,‘competition’, ‘competitor’, ‘competitive’, ‘competitively’, andthe negative forms of these words, e.g. ‘uncompetitive’. In the

examination when they see the ‘stem word’ at the end of a line,they must not automatically write a related word which theyknow well as their answer. They need to read the surroundingsentence to decide what the missing word is.

• Sometimes the missing word will need to be in the plural, andsometimes it will need to be in a negative form. The sense of thetext around the gap will help candidates decide if it is necessaryto put the word in the plural or to make it negative.

• Make your students aware that answers will not always need onlyprexes or suffixes to be added to a word; sometimes internalchanges will need to be made (e.g. ‘long’ to ‘length’).

• Remind your students that each stem word applies only to thegap on the same line. They must not try to form a word from thatstem word in any other line. In every case the stem word willhave to be changed.

PART 4

• In preparing for this part of the paper, give your students practicein paraphrasing. This might include rewriting sentences fromtexts, saying things again ‘in other words’, as well as workingon lexical synonyms and grammatical transformations. In theexamination, they must make sure that the answer makes thesecond sentence mean, as far as possible, the same as the lead-in

sentence.

• Each part of the test has an example towards the beginning.Students should get used to reading these to help themunderstand what they have to do. Remind them that in theexamination they must not write the answer to the example ontheir answer sheet.

• Sometimes candidates may decide that the answer they havewritten is wrong and wish to change it. If this happens in Part 1,

they will need to rub out the mark they have made and mark adifferent lozenge. In Parts 2, 3 and 4, they should clearly rub outthe word or words and replace them. They should not try alteringthe word itself as this will make it unclear. They should notput the word in brackets as it will appear to be an alternative.

• Encourage your students to plan their time carefully and notspend too long on any one part of the test. They should try tomake sure that they have a few minutes at the end of the test tocheck through their answers. They can do the various parts ofthe test in any order, but it may be better to do them in the orderof the question paper so as to avoid the possibility of puttinganswers in the wrong sections of the answer sheet.

• Make your students aware that correct spelling is essential in allparts of the paper.

• Remind your students that handwriting should be clear so that itcan be read easily by the markers.

• Give your students practice in completing the answer sheet.When writing their answers on the answer sheet, they must becareful to make sure that they put the answer by the appropriatequestion number. This is especially important if they leave somequestions unanswered. They must also be sure to write in capitalletters in Parts 2, 3 and 4.

By partPART 1

• Remind your students that different types of words are testedin this part. Sometimes it is necessary to choose betweenwords with a similar meaning, e.g. choosing ‘leaking’ ratherthan ‘spilling’, ‘pouring’ or ‘owing’ to ll the gap in ‘The roof ofour tent was …’. At other times it will be necessary not simplyto know the meaning but also to know which word is correctbecause of the preposition, adverb or verb form which follows,e.g. choosing ‘interested’ rather than ‘keen’, ‘enthusiastic’ or‘eager’ to ll the gap in ‘You may be … in applying for this job’.

• Give your students practice in recognising the differences inmeaning between similar words, e.g. ‘cut’ and ‘tear’. They shouldtry to learn whole phrases as well as individual words in context,and they should be aware that knowing the grammatical patternsand collocations of words is as important as knowing theirmeaning.

• This part of the paper also tests collocations, such as ‘to payattention to’, and linking phrases such as ‘even if’. Phrasal verbsare also tested here. They may be tested in three different ways:the whole of the phrasal verb, e.g. ‘keep on’, just the verb itself,e.g. ‘keep’, or just the preposition or adverb which follows theverb, e.g. ‘on’. Thus, some questions test at a phrasal level, whileothers test meaning at sentence level or beyond, with moreprocessing of the text required.




PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH | SAMPLE PAPER

U s e o

f E n g

l i s h ●

P a r t

1

F o r q u e s

t i o n s 1 –

1 2

, r e a d

t h e t e x t b e l o w a n d

d e c i d e w

h i c h a n s w e r

( A ,

B ,

C o r

D ) b e s t f i t s e a c h g a p .

T h e r e i s a n e x a m p l e a t

t h e b e g i n n i n g ( 0 ) .

M a r k y o u r a n s w e r s o n

t h e s e p a r a

t e a n s w e r s h e e

t .

E x a m p l e :

0

A

e d g e

B

s u r r o u n d

C

t u r n

D

e n c l o s e

0

A

B

C

D

___________________________________________________________________________________

T h e

i n t e r n e t b

u s

I n t h e d e s e r t a r e a s

t h a t ( 0 )

. . . . . . . . . .

T u c s o n c i t y ,

U S A

, s t u d e n t s s p e n d

h u n d r e d s o f

h o u r s o n y e l l o w

b u s e s e a c h y e a r g e t t i n g

t o a n d

f r o m t h e i r s c h o o l s .

B u t w

h e n m o b i l e

i n t e r n e t e q u i p m e n t w a s

( 1 )

. . . . . . . . . .

o n a y e l l o w s c h o o l b u s ,

t h e b o r e d , o f t e n n o i s y ,

t e e n s w e r e

( 2 )

. . . . . . . . . .

i n t o q u i e t , s t u d i o u s

i n d i v i d u a l s .

D i s t r i c t o f f i c i a l s g o t

t h e i d e a d u r i n g ( 3 )

. . . . . . . . . .

d r i v e s o n s c h o o l b u s i n e s s

t o P h o e n i x , t w o

h o u r s e a c h

w a y , w h e n

t h e y ( 4 )

. . . . . . . . . .

t h a t , w

h e n t h e y w e n t

i n p a

i r s , o n e p e r s o n c o u l d

d r i v e a n d

t h e o t h e r

c o u l d w o r k u s i n g a

l a p t o p a n d a w

i r e l e s s c a r d .

T h e y ( 5 )

. . . . . . . . . .

i f i n t e r n e t a c c e s s o n a s c h o o l

b u s

c o u l d ( 6 )

. . . . . . . . . .

s t u d e n t s ’ a c a d e m i c p r o d u c t i v i t y ,

t o o .

B u t

t h e i d e a f o r w

h a t s t u d e n t s c a l l ‘ t h e

i n t e r n e t b u s ’ r e a l l y

( 7 )

. . . . . . . . . .

s h a p e w

h e n t h e d i s t r i c t ’ s c h i e f

i n f o r m a t i o n o f f i c e r

( 8 )

. . . . . . . . . .

a c r o s s a n a r t i c l e a b o u t h a v i n g

i n t e r n e t a c c e s s

i n c a r s .

H e

t h o u g h t ,

‘ W h a t i f y o u c o u l d p u t

t h a t i n a

b u s ? ’

T h e o f f i c

i a l s h a v e b e e n d e l i g h t e d t o s e e

t h e ( 9 )

. . . . . . . . . .

o f h o m e w o r k g e t t i n g

d o n e , m o r n i n g a n d

e v e n i n g , a s

t h e i n t e r n e t b u s ( 1 0 )

. . . . . . . . . .

u p a n d

d r o p s o f f s t u d e n t s a l o n g

t h e 7 0 - m i n u t e d r i v e .

( 1 1 )

. . . . . . . . . .

s o m e s t u d e n t s s p e n d

t h e i r t i m e p l a y i n g g a m e s o r v i s i t i n g s o c i a l n e t w o r k i n g s i t e s , m o s t

s t u d e n t s d o m a k e

( 1 2 )

. . . . . . . . . .

o f t h e i r t r a v e l t i m e

t o s t u d y .

1

A

i n s t a

l l e d

B

s e t

C

i n c l u

d e

d

D

s t r u c t u r e

d

2

A

r e p

l a c e

d

B

e x c h a n g e

d

C

s w i t c h e

d

D

t r a n s f o r m e

d

3

A

e x t r a o r d

i n a r y

B

o c c a s i o

n a

l

C

e x c e p

t i o n a

l

D

f e w

4

A

b e

l i e v e

d

B

a c k n o w

l e d g e

d

C

e s t i m a

t e d

D

r e a

l i s e d

5

A

t h o u g

h t

B

i m a g i n e

d

C

s u s p e c t e

d

D

w o n

d e r e

d

6

A

i n c r e a s e

B

e n

l a r g e

C

r i s e

D

h e

i g h t e n

7

A

f o r m e

d

B

t o o

k

C

h e

l d

D

d i d

8

A

g o

t

B

l o o

k e d

C

c a m e

D

p u

t

9

A

t o t a l

B

a m o u n

t

C

n u m

b e r

D

m e a s u r e

1 0

A

b r i n g s

B

p i c k s

C

r i d e s

D

c a t c h e s

1 1

A

S i n c e

B

D e s p i t e

C

A l t h o u g

h

D

H o w e v e r

1 2

A

p r o g r e s s

B

w o r k

C

u s e

D

p a r t

PAPER 3 | USE OF ENGLISH




PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH | SAMPLE PAPER

U s e o

f E n g l i s h

● P

a r t 4

F o r q u e s

t i o n s 3 5 –

4 2 , c o m p l e t e

t h e s e c o n d s e n t e n c e s o

t h a t i t h a s a s i m

i l a r m e a n i n g

t o t h e f i r s t

s e n t e n c e ,

u s i n g t h e w o r d g i v e n . D o n o t c h a n g e

t h e w o r d g i v e n .

Y o u m u s t u s e

b e t w e e n t w o a n d

f i v e w o r

d s , i n c l u d i n g t h e w o r d g i v e n .

H e r e

i s a n e x a m p l e

( 0 ) .

E x a m p l e :

0

S c h o o l p r i z e s a r e g i v e n o u t a t

t h e e n d o f e a c h y e a r .

P L A C E

S c h o o l p r i z e - g i v i n g … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

a t t h e e n d o f e a c h y e a r .

T h e g a p c a n

b e f i l l e d b y t h e w o r d s

‘ t a k e s p l a c e ’ , s o y o u w r

i t e :

E x a m p l e :

0

T A K E S

P L A C E

W r i t e o n

l y t h e m

i s s i n g w o r d s I N C A P I T A L L E T T E R S o n

t h e s e p a r a t e a n s w e r s h e e t .

___________________________________________________________________________________

3 5 J o h n

w e n t

t o t h e c i n e m a

b y h i m s e l f y e s t e r d a y a f t e r n o o n .

O W N

J o h n

w e n t

t o t h e c i n e m a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

y e s t e r d a y a f t e r n o o n .

3 6 T h e s t a r t o f

t h e s e c o n d r a c e w a s

d e l a y e d b e c a u s e t h e

f i r s t r a c e

f i n i s h e d l a t e .

C A U S E D

T h e d e l a y t o t h e s t a r t o f

t h e s e c o n d r a c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

t h e l a t e f i n i s h o f

t h e f i r s t r a c e .

3 7 I t i s s i x m o n t h s s i n c e

R i c h a r d w e n t

t o t h e b a r b e r ’ s f o r a

h a i r c u t .

H A D

R i c h a r d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

h i s h a i r c u

t a t

t h e b a r b e r ’ s f o r s i x m o n t h s .

3 8 M y b r o t h e r

d i d n ’ t u s e

t o b e s o c o n f i d e n t .

T H A N

M y b r o t h e r

i s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

t o b e

.

3 9 M a r t a ’ s

d a

d t o l d h e r y e s t e r d a y

t h a t s h e c o u

l d v i s i t

h e r

f r i e n d a f t e r s c h o o

l .

A L L O W E D

Y e s t e r d a y ,

M a r t a

’ s d a d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

h e r

f r i e n d a f t e r s c h o o

l .

4 0 K a t e r e g r e t s m

i s s i n g

t h e c o n c e r t .

W I S H E S

K a t e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

m i s s e d t h e c o n c e r t .

4 1 H a n n a

h w a s

h a p p y

t o l e n

d L i n a

j a c k e t .

M I N D

H a n n a h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

a j a c k e t t o L i n

.

4 2 ‘ T i m

, y o u

l e f t t h e

f r i d g e

d o o r o p e n ! ’

s a i d S a r a h .

A C C U S E D

S a r a h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

l e a v i n g

t h e

f r i d g e

d o o r o p e n .





PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH | ANSWER KEY

Answer key


Q Part 1

1 A

2 D

3 B

4 D

5 D

6 A

7 B

8 C

9 B

10 B

11 C

12 C

Q Part 2

13 ABOUT

14 THAT/WHICH

15 UP

16 EACH/EVERY

17 IN

18 OR

19 BE

20 WHY

21 TO

22 NOT

23 ONE

24 HAS/IS

Q Part 3

25 IMPRESSIVE

26 SOLUTION

27 ARCHITECTURE

28 HEIGHT

29 AGRICULTURAL

30 MOVEMENT(S)

31 IMPOSSIBLE

32 ACCOMMODATION

33 GROWTH

34 NECESSITY

Q Part 4

35 ON | HIS OWN

36 WAS CAUSED | BY

37 HAS NOT | HAD

38 MORE CONFIDENTTHAN | HE USED

39 ALLOWED HER / MARTA| TO VISIT/SEE

40WISHES | SHE HADN’T /HAD NOT

41DIDN’T / DID NOT MIND| LENDING

42 ACCUSED TIM / HIM| OF




PAPER 3: USE OF ENGLISH | CANDIDATE ANSWER SHEET






PAPER 4: LISTENING

In this part, candidates listen to ve short texts with differentspeakers, which are related in some way. For example, they may allbe speaking about aspects of the same subject, such as travel, orabout similar experiences or objects, such as journeys or vehicles.Alternatively, the link may be functional, such as a series of differentspeakers asking for information, or apologising.

PART 4 Multiple choiceIn Part 4, the predominant focus is on testing the candidates’ ability tolisten for opinion and attitude, expressed in gist, main idea, and specicinformation.

Sample task page 44, tapescript page 48, and answerkey page 49.


The seven questions in this part of the paper take the form of3-option multiple-choice questions. The questions follow the orderof the speakers’ comments as expressed during the course of the

recording, and are presented in such a way that they either rephrase,report or summarise the ideas being expressed.

Preparation

General• Students’ ability to understand what they hear can improve

dramatically if they are regularly exposed to audio materials:the more English they hear, the more readily they will pick outindividual words, then phrases and sentences. A daily learning

programme which includes a ‘hearing English’ component fromaudio or video recordings will help prepare your students for theListening test. This should include a range of voices, accents andstyles of delivery.

• Classroom discussion activities provide an invaluable source oflistening practice.

• Encourage your students to identify the stressed syllables andwords in a listening text (the ones which carry the message)rather than trying to listen for every single syllable.

• In order to build up condence, get your students to read asummary of what they are going to hear before they listen to thefull text.

• Make your students aware of how much they themselvesbring to a listening task. For example, discuss with them whatthey can expect to hear, e.g. names and places when they turnon the news, or numbers and times if they listen to railwayannouncements.

• Try changing the focus of the tasks they do in class; sometimesask your students to listen for specics, sometimes for overallsummaries.

• Students should practise listening to and reading the question, sothat they are sure they understand what they are listening for andwhat they have to do.

The four parts of theListening paper

PART 1 Multiple choiceThis part tests candidates’ ability to listen for gist, detail, function, purpose,

attitude, opinion, relationship, topic, place, situation, genre, agreement,etc. in a series of unrelated short texts.

Sample task page 42, tapescript pages 45–46, andanswer key page 49.


The eight questions in this part of the paper are presented both onthe question paper and on the recording, so that candidates areled carefully through them. The testing focus is spelled out in eachquestion, for example:

• What is her job?• Where is he going?• Who are they talking about?• What emotion/attitude/feeling/opinion is being expressed?

PART 2 Sentence completionThis part tests candidates’ ability to listen for specic words or phrasesfocusing on detail, specic information and stated opinion, from a singlelong text, and produce written answers by completing gappedsentences.

Sample task page 43, tapescript pages 46–47, andanswer key page 49.


The 10 questions in this part of the paper take the form of incompletesentences. The questions follow the order of the information in thelistening text. Candidates need to listen to the text and complete thesentences.

Answers will not exceed three words in length. The word, numberor phrase they require will be heard on the recording and will notrequire any change. It will make sense when tted into the sentenceon the question paper. Minor spelling errors are not penalised, but thecandidate’s intention must be clear and unambiguous. Candidates

will not be asked to spell words which are above Cambridge English:First for Schools level. However, spelling must be correct where a wordhas been spelled out letter by letter, for example where the key is aproper name.

PART 3 Multiple matchingIn Part 3, the focus is on the skill of listening for general gist, detail,function, purpose, attitude, opinion, relationship, topic, place, situation,genre, agreement, etc. Candidates need to match an option to the correctspeaker.

Sample task page 43, tapescript pages 47–48, and

answer key page 49.





PAPER 4: LISTENING

PART 2

• Preparation for this part should include lots of exposure to simplegapll listening exercises, and dictation of numbers and dates.

• Students need to get into the habit of reading not only the textin front of the gap, but also the text which follows the gap, whichmay affect their answer. You can reassure them that the testeditems come in the same order as they are heard on the recording.

• Candidates sometimes write too much, either by includingunnecessary detail, or by trying to rephrase what they hear on therecording. Irrelevant detail can spoil what would otherwise havebeen a correct answer. Candidates should be reminded that nochanges are required to the key information, that no answer willneed more than three words, and that in many cases they willneed only one or two words.

PART 3

• It is really important for candidates to use the time they are givento read through the questions, since they need to have a clear

idea of what they are listening for. Students could practise doingthe exercise with the tapescript, so that they can see the kind ofmatching required. Other relevant exercises would be any whichpractise ‘saying the same thing in a different way’.

• If your students are at all unsure about an answer, they shouldwait for the second listening before making their nal decision.Making too quick a decision may mean that a candidate ‘uses up’an answer that belongs to another speaker.

PART 4

• In preparing for multiple-choice questions, it can be useful forstudents to answer questions in their own words before they

look at the options; they can then decide which option seems tocorrespond most closely to their own answer.

• Remind your students that they should use the time allowedbefore each recording to read through all the questions carefully,so they are prepared for what they hear.

• Students should be advised that the information on the questionpaper is there to help them follow as they listen.

• Remind your students that they should write their answers forPart 2 clearly when they copy them onto the answer sheet, usingCAPITAL LETTERS.

• Students should get used to answering all the questions, evenif they are not sure of the correct answer – they’ve probablyunderstood more than they think.

• Students shouldn’t be distracted by individual words and phrasesin Parts 1, 3 and 4. They should listen to the whole message.

• Students should know when to stop concentrating on a questionwhich they are nding difficult, so that they don’t miss the nextquestion.

By part

PART 1

• Play real-life snippets to your students, e.g. a teacher’sannouncement, a weather report, and ask them to identify thetext type and topic.

• Candidates can be distracted by hearing words or phrases in thetext which appear in one of the incorrect options. They need topractise spotting such mismatches, and understanding why theyare wrong.

• Try using a variety of short practice texts. The questions shouldrange from people to places, from opinions to events, fromrelationships to reasons. Provide the text and options, but get thestudents to write the questions themselves.

For example:

You overhear a boy talking about a lm he watched last night.

(Students suggest a question)

Options

A: a car

B: a family

C: a robbery

Text

Boy:It’s so difficult to get everyone to agree about what we’re goingto watch on TV. Is it the same in your house? Last night, for example,there were three lms on. There was that one with the four sistersand their mother, during the American Civil War. Do you know theone I mean? I’d been looking forward to seeing it for ages. But theothers had different ideas. Jessie was eager to see some cartoonthing about a car, but Lizzie wanted a thriller about two bank robbers.And rather than give in to each other, they both went with my choice– actually, we all enjoyed it.




PAPER 4: LISTENING | SAMPLE PAPER

L i s t e n i n g

P a r t

1

Q u e s

t i o n s

1 –

8

Y o u w

i l l h e a r p e o p l e

t a l k i n g i n e i g h t

d i f f e r e n t s i t u a t i o n s .

F o r q u e s t i o n s

1 –

8 ,

c h o o s e t h e b e s t a n s w e r

( A , B

o r C ) .

__________________________________________________________________________________

1

Y o u h e a r a

t e a c h e r t a l k i n g t o h e r c l a s s a b o u t s o m e p r o j e c t w o r k .

W h y i s s h e

t a l k i n g t o t h e m ?

A

t o s u g g e s t w a y s o f a p p r o a c h i n g

t h e p r o j e c t

B

t o e x p l a i n w

h a t t h e i r p r o j e c t s h o u l d

b e a b o u t

C

t o w a r n o f

t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f

l a t e p r o j e c t w o r k

2

Y o u h e a r

t w o

f r i e n d s t a l k i n g a b o u t a

f i l m t h e y h a v e j u s t s e e n .

W h a t d o t h e y a g r e e a b o u t ?

A

h o w g o o d

t h e s p e c i a l e f f e c t s w e r e

B

h o w m

i s l e a d i n g t h e p u b l i c i t y w a s

C

h o w e x c i t i n g s o m e s c e n e s w e r e

3

Y o u h e a r a

b o y t a l k i n g a b o u t a s c h o o l t r i p

h e ’ s j u s t b e e n o n .

W h a t d i d h e t h i n k o f

i t ?

A

I t f a i l e d t o l i v e u p

t o h i s e x p e c t a t i o n s .

B

H e

f o u n d i t s u r p r i s i n g l y

i n t e r e s t i n g .

C

O n l y p a r t s o f

i t w e r e e n j o y a b l e .

4

Y o u o v e r h e a r a g i r l l e a v i n g a v o i c e m a i l m e s s a g e .

W h a t i s s h e

d o i n g ?

A

a s k i n g

f o r a

l i f t a f t e r a n a c t i v i t y

B

t e l l i n g s o m e o n e a b o u t s o m e a r r a n g e m e n t s

C

a c c e p t i n g a n

i n v i t a t i o n t o a s p o r t s e v e n t

5

Y o u h e a r t h e w e a t h e r

f o r e c a s t o n a

l o c a l r a d i o s t a t i o n .

W h a t w

i l l t h e w e a t h e r

b e l i k e t h i s a f t e r n o o n ?

A

l e s s c l o u d y

t h a n t h i s m o r n i n g

B

w a r m e r

t h a n t h i s m o r n i n g

C

m u c h

t h e s a m e a s

t h i s m o r n i n g

6

Y o u h e a r p a r t o f a n

i n t e r v i e w w

i t h a y o u n g p o p s i n g e r .

W h a t d o e s s h e s a y a b o u t

h e r s i n g l e ?

A

T h e s o n g a l l o w e d

h e r t o e x p r e s s

h e r f e e l i n g s .

B

S h e h a d t o d o a s o n g w

h i c h w a s c h o s e n

f o r h e r .

C

I t i s q u i t e s i m

i l a r t o a s o n g s h e s a n g o n

t e l e v i s i o n .

7

Y o u o v e r h e a r

t w o

f r i e n d s t a l k i n g a b o u t s c h o o l e q u i p m e n t .

W h a t d o e s t h e g i r l t h i n k a b o u t

h e r n e w

‘ f u n k y d i v i d e r s ’ ?

A

T h e y a r e a g r e a t n e w

i d e a .

B

T h e y a r e n o t v e r y a t t r a c t i v e .

C

T h e y a r e e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y

f r i e n d l y .

8

Y o u o v e r h e a r a

b o y t a l k i n g o n

h i s m o b i l e p h o n e .

W h a t i s h e d o i n g ?

A

a s k i n g f o r h e l p w

i t h s o m e t h i n g

B

s a y i n g w

h y h e h a s n ’ t d o n e s o m e t h i n g

C

p a s s i n g o n s o m e

i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t s o m e t h i n g

PAPER 4 | LISTENING





L i s t e n i n g

P a r t

4

Q u e s

t i o n s

2 4 –

3 0

Y o u w

i l l h e a r a n

i n t e r v i e w w

i t h a y o u n g m a n c a l l e d

M a r k S h a r p w

h o t o o k p a r t

i n s o m e t h i n g c a l l e d

‘ T h e I r o n A g e

P r o j e c t ’ ,

d u r i n g w

h i c h h e l i v e d a s p e o p l e d

i d i n B r i t a i n o v e r

t w o

t h o u s a n d y e a r s a g o .

F o r q u e s t i o n s

2 4 –

3 0

, c h o o s e t h e b e s t a n s w e r ( A , B o r C

) .

_________________________________________________________________________________

2 4

W h y d i d M a r k

j o i n ‘ T h e I r o n A g e

P r o j e c t ’ ?

A

H i s h i s t o r y t e a c h e r s u g g e s t e d i t t o h i m

.

B

H e g o t i n v o l v e d

b e c a u s e o f h i s p a r e n t s .

C

H e o f f e r e d

t o t a k e c a r e o f t h e a n i m a l s .

2 5

H o w d

i d M a r k p r e p a r e

f o r t h e p r o j e c t ?

A

b y a c q u i r i n g a p p r o p r i a t e s k i l l s

B

b y r e a d i n g a b o u t t h e p e r i o d

C

b y v i s i t i n g a n

I r o n A g e v i l l a g e

2 6

W h a t d o e s M a r k s a y a b o u t l i v i n g

i n a n

I r o n A g e

h o u s e ?

A

H e m

i s s e d m o d e r n c o n v e n i e n c e s .

B

T h e f i r e c a u s e d

h i m p r o b l e m s .

C

H i s b e d c o u l d

h a v e b e e n s o f t e r .

2 7

W h a t d i d M a r k

d i s l i k e a b o u t h i s

I r o n A g e c l o t h e s ?

A

T h e c o l o u r s w e r e

t o o b r i g h t .

B

I t w a s

d i f f i c u l t t o m o v e

i n t h e m

.

C

H e

f o u n d t h e m r a t h e r h o t .

2 8

W h a t d i d M a r k

l i k e a b o u t h i s

d a i l y w o r k ?

A

b e i n g p a r t o f a

t e a m

B

s p e n d i n g

t i m e o u t d o o r s

C

t h e p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y

2 9

W h a t w o u l d

M a r k

h a v e p r e f e r r e d

t o d o i n h i s l e i s u r e t i m e ?

A

l i s t e n t o s t o r i e s

B

e a t b i g g e r m e a l s

C

g o t o b e d e a r l i e r

3 0

W h a t d o e s M a r k

t h i n k h e g a i n e d

f r o m

t h e p r o j e c t ?

A

a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e p a s t

B

a s y m p a t h y w

i t h m a n u a l w o r k e r s

C

a n a p p r e c i a t i o n o f l i f e

t o d a y

PAPER 4 | LISTENING





M: But the car chases were spectacular – and scary – it was worthseeing just for them.

F: I was on the edge of my seat sometimes, no doubt about that.But after all that hype beforehand – and even a couple of awards– weren’t you a bit disappointed with the lm as a whole?

M: No way! I could sit through it again anytime, no problem.

— *** —

Three

You hear a boy talking about a school trip he’s just been on.

What did he think of it?

A It failed to live up to his expectations.

B He found it surprisingly interesting.

C Only parts of it were enjoyable.

— *** —

I hadn’t been that keen to go on the trip – it was part of our geographycourse and there was a report to do afterwards – it sounded prettydull to me and I wasn’t wrong. It also meant missing my drama class– which was a real shame. The tour of the museum kicked off witha lm about the place, which wasn’t too bad actually, but after thatit was downhill all the way. Although one or two of the interactivedisplays were fun, the talks we had to sit through couldn’t have beenless interesting. I’ve nally done the report, but it’s not very good. Iwish I’d gone to drama instead!

— *** —

Four

You overhear a girl leaving a voicemail message.

What is she doing?

A asking for a lift after an activity

B telling someone about some arrangements

C accepting an invitation to a sports event

— *** —

Hi – it’s me. Sorry I missed you after school – hope you caught thebus OK! I’ve asked about next Wednesday and the match starts atsix, not seven - so we can meet an hour later if you like – we must’veread the time wrong on the poster. Anyway, I’ll be coming with my

sister if that’s OK – she really wants to see it – so if your brotherwants to come along as well then that’d be cool. My Dad’s agreedto pick us up in the car afterwards – that’ll save us having to wait forthe bus. Call me if there’s a problem – I’ll see you at school tomorrowanyway. Byeeee!

— *** —

Five

You hear the weather forecast on a local radio station.

What will the weather be like this afternoon?

A less cloudy than this morning

B warmer than this morning

C much the same as this morning

— *** —

Tapescript

This is the Cambridge First Certicate in English for Schools ListeningTest.

SAMPLE PAPER.

I’m going to give you the instructions for th is test.

I’ll introduce each part of the test and give you time to look at thequestions.

At the start of each piece you’ll hear this sound:

— *** —

You’ll hear each piece twice.

Remember, while you’re listening, write your answers on the questionpaper. You’ll have ve minutes at the end of the test to copy your answersonto the separate answer sheet.

There will now be a pause. Please ask any questions now, because youmust not speak during the test.

Now open your question paper and look at Part One.

You’ll hear people talking in eight different situations.

For questions 1 – 8, choose the best answer (A, B or C).

One

You hear a teacher talking to her class about some project work.

Why is she talking to them?

A to suggest ways of approaching the project

B to explain what their project should be about

C to warn of the consequences of late project work

— *** —

Now, what you’ll have to do is nd a partner to work with. It doesn’tmatter whether you’ve worked with them before, in fact it might bebetter if you haven’t! I’ll give you the outline of the project in a minute,but just to say that you’ll need to spend some time on planning – likehow you’ll divide up the work between you and so on. You’ll certainlyneed the internet, and other sources like books and you may evenwant to take yourselves down to the museum. But don’t forget – thedeadline for the completed project is the end of the month, so there’s

no time to waste.— *** —

Two

You hear two friends talking about a lm they have just seen.

What do they agree about?

A how good the special effects were

B how misleading the publicity was

C how exciting some scenes were

— *** —

M: Awesome lm! I’ve never seen effects like those … ever!

F: Well, they were OK – but I wouldn’t go that far! And therewasn’t much of a story, was there? It was just bang crash all theway. I found it a bit samey in places, to be honest.

PAPER 4 | LISTENING





— *** —

Eight

You overhear a boy talking on his mobile phone.

What is he doing?

A asking for help with something

B saying why he hasn’t done something

C passing on some information about something

— *** —

This is Ben here. Listen, you know that website you told me about– the one with the stuff you said would be useful for our historyhomework – well I wrote down the address somewhere at school,but managed to lose it. Was it something like pastlink? Anyway, I dida search using words like that and came up with some really greatstuff that I thought you might nd useful too even if it’s not the same

one – so I’ve sent you an email from that site and you’ll see the linksto some others. Anyway, the homework’s all done now at least – hopeyou’re getting on OK. Bye.

— *** —

That is the end of Part One.

Now turn to Part Two.

You’ll hear an interview with a young tap-dancer called Jodie Markeld.For questions 9 – 18, complete the sentences.

You now have forty-ve seconds to look at Part Two.

— *** —

Int: My guest today’s the 16-year-old tap-dancer, Jodie Markeld,who’s currently touring in the hit show Funky Noise. Jodie,before we hear some of our viewers’ questions, tell us, whatis tap-dancing exactly?

Jodie: Hi there. Yeah – in tap-dancing you wear special shoes withlike pieces of metal in the bottom – so when you dance,you make a noise. You need a hard surface for tap-dancing,and performers aren’t regarded just as dancers, but alsoas musicians. We all work together with the guitarists anddrummers, to get the rhythm and the sound right.

Int: So let’s go to some of our viewers’ questions. Tina who’sfteen and comes from London has emailed to ask: ‘How did

you get into tap-dancing, Jodie?’

Jodie: Well, I started at the age of four. I come from a show-business family. It was my grandmother who taught me thebasics, but then my uncle kind of took over when I showedtalent for it. He got me a part in a show when I was six. Mymum was none too sure - reckoned I was a bit young - but hetalked her and Dad into the idea.

Int: Next Linda from Manchester says: ‘Jodie, tell us about therst time you appeared on TV.’

Jodie: Well, that rst show, which was called Showtime, was at thetheatre and I did that for six weeks. One night a TV producer

came to see the show. It was him who signed me up for theTV show Footnotes. It was easier than the theatre actually,because it didn’t go out live. So if you made a mistake, youcould go back and lm that bit again.

M: So it’s coming up to eleven o’clock and time to go over to Heidiat the weather centre. Good morning Heidi.

F: Hi Tom.

M: Now, lots of local kids are going to the barbecue in the park later

today. Is the weather going to be kind to them?F: Well Tom, after last night’s storms we’ve certainly lost that

humidity everyone was complaining about, and temperatureshave fallen overnight. These will pick up again as the dayprogresses, however, and we should be in for a nice evening.Although we will see a build up of cloud later this afternoon,we’re unlikely to see a repeat of last night’s heavy rain.

— *** —

Six

You hear part of an interview with a young pop singer.

What does she say about her single?

A The song allowed her to express her feelings.

B She had to do a song which was chosen for her

C It is quite similar to a song she sang on television.

— *** —

Int: The single’s gone straight to the top of the charts, you must bepleased – even if it was a while coming.

F: Well, I really didn’t want to rush the decision on a single. In theend, I went for a song where I could really give my heart andsoul and the producers were willing to go along with that – butit took a bit of nding actually. A lot of people thought I’d come

out with a ballad like the one I sang at the nal of the TV talentshow, but to be honest it’s a relief to have struck out in anotherdirection – one people wouldn’t have associated me with maybe.

— *** —

Seven

You overhear two friends talking about school equipment.

What does the girl think about her new ‘funky dividers’?

A They are a great new idea.

B They are not very attractive.

C They are environmentally friendly.

— *** —

F: Guess what my Gran’s bought me now – funky dividers!

M: What are dividers?

F: You know, things you put in your schoolwork les - they helpyou sort out all those handouts you make notes on then stuff inany old how.

M: Oh right. I could do with some of those.

F: Well, it’s hardly rocket science, they’ve been around for years.No the thing about these funky ones is they’re like made fromtotally recycled material – I’m afraid my Gran’s into all that and

usually gets me stuff that’s seriously uncool – but these areactually colour co-ordinated with the les and stuff I’ve alreadygot. So I can save the planet for her without everybody knowing!

M: Really?

EXAM | LEVEL | PAPER SAMPLE PAPERPAPER 4 | LISTENING





That is the end of Part Two.

Now turn to Part Three.

You’ll hear ve people talking about the sporting activities they do. Forquestions 19 – 23, choose from the list (A – F) what each speaker likes most

about their sport. Use each letter only once. There is one extra letter whichyou do not need to use.

You now have thirty seconds to look at Part Three.

— *** —

Speaker 1

I’ve been in the tennis team for a couple of years now, andrepresented the school in a couple of tournaments. I didn’t actuallywin most of my matches, because there were some amazingly skillfulplayers there from other schools – but it was a great experience justgetting to play against them. If I had to say why I go for tennis ratherthan any other sport, I guess it’d be because you get a good all-round

workout – which keeps you in good shape – but you can do a lot ofthe training in your own time. I’ve never really been keen on grouptraining sessions; you know, like friends who do hockey or whateverhave to do.

Speaker 2

People always think that football’s a very competitive sport – thatit’s all about beating other schools – but that isn’t why I play really.I’m really into tness and I do lots of different sports - but football’sthe big one for me, and I think it’s because I’ve got a sort of giftwhen it comes to ball control. So when mates in the team pass theball to me, I reckon it’s because they know what I can do with it. Mybrother’s doing sports science at college. That must be awesome –

combining schoolwork and sports – that’s what I want to do somedaytoo.

Speaker 3

Volleyball’s, like, the only sport where boys and girls really get to playtogether – I hate the idea of the girl’s football team, for example, asif we’re kind of not up to the real thing. I wanted to do a sport thisyear because we’ve got quite a heavy workload at school and I reallyneed to let off steam occasionally. Volleyball does that for me. Don’ttell our coach, but I don’t actually care whether our team wins or notwhen we play other schools – I play for the fun of it – and I’m gettinga bit better at some of the key skills, like serving, too – which is kindof satisfying.

Speaker 4

Basketball’s kind of fast and exciting and you really get a chance tobuild up both your skills and your tness if you play it often enough.I’m not that brilliant actually, but I get a lot of support from the guyson the team – and they’re what really makes it special for me. Someof them are really incredible at passing and I pick up a lot of tips fromthem. It’d be great if our school could win more matches because ourrecord’s not been that great this season – but I think we’ve just beenunlucky. We could’ve beaten some of those other schools easily – butthings just didn’t go our way.

Speaker 5

I’m not such a brilliant swimmer, so it was a shock when I was chosenfor the school team and I’ve really had to work hard on my techniqueto keep my place. But I’m not a very competitive person, so at rst

Int: OK. Now Mark from Scotland says: ‘Jodie tell us about theorigins of tap-dance.’

Jodie: Well tap-dance as we know it became famous in the mid-twentieth century when it was in loads of big Hollywoodlms. But actually it wasn’t American originally. It all startedas a mixture of two much older types of dancing: An Africandance called Juba and traditional Irish dancing – somethingthat’s been popular again recently.

Int: Right. Now, Ashley asks: ‘Are there different sorts of tap-dancing?’

Jodie: Two main types. So you have to decide which one you’regonna do. Classical tap’s more like ballet and dancers usetheir arms a lot to make elegant movements. Hoong is theother type. Here the dancers concentrate more on their legsand footwork – they really try to make their feet sound likedrums.

Int: Finally, Gary asks: ‘How do you know if a tap-dancer is anygood?’

Jodie: Well, Gary that’s a good question! Basically, the aim in tap-dance is to produce clear sounds with each one separate.The knees and ankles need to be relaxed at all times, withoutthat it can sound all wrong! So that’s how a dancer is judged,along with speed, rhythm and stuff.

Int: And what about lessons Jodie – lots of listeners have askedabout that?

Jodie: Well tap classes generally last about an hour – beginningwith a warm-up to stretch the muscles. Lots of kids do tap

dance because it develops physical tness and is greatfun too. Beginners are sometimes told to dance as if theoor was made of glass! That makes them think about theposition of their feet and not to just stamp around any oldway.

Int: And what about equipment?

Jodie: You need good shoes, of course. Some have heels, somedon’t – both are quite comfortable. But the key thing isthat they’re the right size – they mustn’t be big, your feetshouldn’t move around in them, so go for some that are quitetight tting.

Int: Thanks Jodie. Now before you go. You’re touring in the showFunky Noise – what’s that like?

Jodie: Life on the road sounds glamorous, but it’s quite ordinaryreally. I still have to do my homework, cos I’m still enrolled inHigh School in my hometown. But my parents travel with meand home-school me.

Int: How does that work out?

Jodie: Well, Mum does the English; Dad the Maths and Science.The only thing they can’t do is the IT – I school them in that!And I still nd time for my PlayStation games and watchingTV!

Int: Jodie – thanks for joining us today.

Now you’ll hear Part Two again.

— *** —

PAPER 4 | LISTENING



CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH FIRST FOR SCHOOLS HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS

Answer key

PAPER 4 | LISTENING

Q Part 1

1 A

2 C

3 C

4 B

5 B

6 A

7 C

8 C

Q Part 2

9 MUSICIANS

10 UNCLE

11 SHOWTIME

12 IRISH

13 ARMS

14 KNEES

15 GLASS

16 BIG / LARGE / LOOSE

17 GLAMOROUS

18 IT / INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

Q Part 3

19 C

20 E

21 D

22 B

23 F

Q Part 4

24 B

25 A

26 B

27 C

28 B

29 A

30 C

49

PAPER 4: LISTENING | ANSWER KEY




PAPER 4: LISTENING | CANDIDATE ANSWER SHEET

PAPER 4 | LISTENING





Paper 5Speaking

Structure and tasksPART 1TASK TYPEAND FORMAT

A conversation between the interlocutor andeach candidate (spoken questions).

FOCUS General interactional and social language.

TIMING 3 minutes.

PART 2TASK TYPEAND FORMAT

An individual ‘long turn’ for each candidatewith a brief response from the second

candidate. In turn, the candidates are given apair of photographs to talk about.

FOCUS Organising a larger unit of discourse;comparing, describing, expressing opinions.

TIMING A 1 minute ‘long turn’ for each candidate,plus a 20-second response from the secondcandidate.


A two-way conversation between the candidates.The candidates are given spoken instructionswith written and visual stimuli, which are usedin a decision-making task.

FOCUS Sustaining an interaction; exchanging ideas,expressing and justifying opinions, agreeingand/or disagreeing, suggesting, speculating,evaluating, reaching a decision throughnegotiation, etc.

TIMING 3 minutes.


A discussion on topics related to thecollaborative task (spoken questions).

FOCUS Expressing and justifying opinions, agreeingand/or disagreeing.

TIMING 4 minutes.

General descriptionPAPER FORMAT The Speaking test contains four

parts.

TIMING 14 minutes.

NO. OF PARTS 4.

INTERACTIONPATTERN

Two candidates and two examiners.One examiner acts as bothinterlocutor and assessor andmanages the interaction either byasking questions or providing cuesfor the candidates. The other acts

as assessor and does not join in theconversation.

TASK TYPES Short exchanges with theinterlocutor and with the othercandidate; a 1 minute ‘long turn’; acollaborative task involving the twocandidates; a discussion.

MARKS Candidates are assessed on theirperformance throughout.




PAPER 5: SPEAKING

• Students should be condent that they know what they have tosay before they start their long turn. Remind your students thatthey will not lose marks if they ask the examiner to repeat theinstructions.

• Students sometimes nd that a minute is quite a long time totalk. Give your students practice at talking for a minute abouta given topic. Topics and visuals in Cambridge English: First for

Schools coursebooks will be appropriate for this practice. Givethem plenty of practice in organising an extended turn andin linking their ideas together. Time this practice so that yourstudents get a feel for how long a minute is. Without this, theymay nish the task too quickly and as a result fail to give theexaminers an adequate sample of language.

• Give your students practice by cutting thematically linked pairs ofphotographs from magazines and giving these an additional focusas in the test. For example, you might choose photographs of twodifferent types of holiday and ask your students to compare thephotographs and say what people would enjoy about a holiday ineach of the different places.

• Encourage your students to bring their own photographs to classand to speak about them.

• Candidates are not expected to give detailed descriptions of eachpicture. Rather, they are asked to compare the pictures and togive their reaction to them. Get your students to work in pairs orsmall groups and to share their ideas about what they might say,before they attempt a task.

• Students often nd it useful to observe a good model answergiven by a more advanced learner of English or by the teacher.

• Encourage your students to focus on useful language for thispart of the test. In particular, ways of expressing similarity anddifference may help, e.g. ‘one similarity is that ...’ ; ‘In this picturethere’s … whereas in the other there’s …’ . Remind your studentsthat using comparatives and linking words will produce a moreextended and coherent sample of speech than simply stringingtogether a series of simple statements. This will help them to gainmarks under the Discourse Management assessment criterion.

• Play games such as Just a Minute where candidates have to speakfor 1 minute without repeating themselves.

PART 3

• In this part of the test, the interlocutor’s instructions will be: ‘First

talk about . . . .’ ‘Then decide. . .’ . The ‘First talk about . . .’ instructionforms the bulk of the task. Encourage your students to discussthe content of the visual prompts as fully as possible beforemoving on to negotiate a decision. Tell them that they will notlose marks if they fail to reach a decision, provided that they havediscussed the visual prompts fully.

• It is very important for candidates to interact with each otherwhen they carry out the Part 3 task. All classroom discussionin pairs and small groups, therefore, provides excellentpreparation.

• Remind your students to make positive contributions to movethe discussion forward. They should be encouraged to respondto each other’s contributions by agreeing, disagreeing andquestioning each other, rather than just giving information aboutthe task.

• Make sure your students are familiar with the format of eachpart of the test. They should be aware of the different interactionpatterns (who speaks to whom) and what stimulus will beprovided by the interlocutor.

• Encourage your students to speak clearly so that they can beheard by both the interlocutor and assessor. They should bemade aware that different varieties of English accents in the UK

and elsewhere in the world are acceptable.

• Train your students to paraphrase when they do not know, orcannot remember, a word.

• Train your students to listen carefully to the instructions, andto read the questions above the pictures, so that they knowprecisely what they have to talk about.

• To ensure all candidates are treated fairly, the interlocutor keepsto a scripted frame (as shown in the sample papers). However,you may remind your students that they can ask the examiner torepeat the instructions or a question.

• Encourage your students to initiate discussion and to respond towhat other students have to say.

N.B. In some centres candidates from the same school are pairedtogether. However, where candidates from a number of different schoolsare entered at the same centre, some candidates may nd that they arepaired with a candidate from another school. Students may check withthe centre through which they are entering for the local procedure, if theywish.

By part

PART 1

• In this part of the test, students will benet from ndingopportunities to practise talking about themselves. Interlocutorswill ask candidates a range of questions about their everyday life,for example free time, sports they enjoy, holidays, school and soon. Encourage your students to respond promptly, with answerswhich are complete and spontaneous. Rehearsed speechesshould be avoided as these might be inappropriate for thequestion asked.

• Encourage your students to look for opportunities to socialisewith English speakers. In class, they could role-play socialoccasions in which they meet new people, e.g. parties, travelling,starting a new school. This will give them the opportunity to

practise a range of topics for this part of the test.

• Students could brainstorm possible questions from the categoriesabove. The different groups could then answer each other’squestions.

PART 2

• Teach your students to listen carefully to the instructions and tocarry them out. Remind them that they should listen carefullyto the instructions which follow the words ‘and say’ and readthe question above the photographs. If they do not do this theymay miss the focus of the task and not produce a wide enoughrange of language, or they may nd it difficult to speak for the fullminute.




PAPER 5: SPEAKING

• In classroom activities, one student in each group could be maderesponsible for ensuring that every member of the group gets anequal opportunity to speak, so that the students become alertedto the importance of turn-taking.

• It may be useful to focus on accurate production of functionallanguage likely to be useful in this type of discussion. This mayinclude ways of managing the discussion, e.g. ‘Shall we start with

this one?’ ; ‘What do you think?’ ; ‘Shall we move on to ... ?’. Ways ofexpressing and justifying opinions, and agreeing and disagreeing(politely) are also likely to be useful.

PART 4

• Encourage your students to give full answers to the questionsasked. They can do this by keeping useful question words in theirheads, e.g. ‘Why?’ , ‘How?’ , ‘When?’ , ‘Where?’. If, when answering aquestion, they move on to responding to related question words,they will give full contributions. For example, in response to aquestion following Part 3 on the subject of ‘Holidays’, studentscould be asked ‘Would you like to go on a holiday like this?’ .

Students could answer ‘yes’, giving the reasons why they wouldlike a particular holiday, when they would like to go, where theywould go, and so on. The question ‘Why?’ is useful for nearly allPart 4 questions and the interlocutor will often ask this questionif students fail to give more than a minimal response.

• Let your students practise asking each other for their opinionson everyday situations and current events, and encourage themto give full answers to the questions asked in the way suggestedabove.

• Candidates may be asked individual questions, but they mayalso choose to involve their partner in the discussion. Therefore,as with Part 3, classroom discussions in pairs and small groupsprovide excellent preparation.

• In order to raise awareness of the types of questions asked and ofeffective ways of answering them, it may be helpful to give pairsof students different topics and to ask each pair to think of sixdiscussion questions for their topic. These sets of questions couldthen be exchanged by the different pairs and discussed.

• Remind your students that there are no right answers to thequestions and candidates will not be judged on their opinions,only on the language they use to express their opinions. It is quiteacceptable for candidates to admit to not knowing much about aparticular question, but they should be taught to expand on their

views wherever possible and should be discouraged from makingresponses such as ‘I don’t know’, ‘I’m not sure’ or ‘I haven’tthought about that’.




PAPER 5: SPEAKING | SAMPLE PAPER

PAPER 5 | SPEAKING




2 1 S c h o o

l A c t i v i t i e s

P a r t s

3 a n d

4

7 m

i n u

t e s

( 9 m

i n u

t e s

f o r g r o u p s o

f t h r e e

)

P a r t 3

I n t e r l o c u t o r

N o w ,

I ’ d l i k e y o u

t o t a l k a

b o u

t s o m e

t h i n g

t o g e

t h e r

f o r a

b o u

t t h r e e m

i n u

t e s .

( 4 m

i n u t e s f o r g r o u p s o f t h r e e )

H e r e a r e s o m e

d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s t h a t s t u d e n t s o f t e n

d o d u r i n g t h e i r s c h o o l d a y .

P l a c e P a r t

3 b o o k l e t , o p e n a t

T a s k

2 1 , i n f r o n t o f t h e c a n d i d a t e s .

F i r s t , t a l k t o e a c h o

t h e r a

b o u

t w

h y i t m i g h t b e

i m p o r t a n t t o

d o t h e s e d i f f e r e n t

a c t i v i t i e s a t s c h o o l .

T h e n

d e c i d e w

h i c h t w o a c t i v i t i e s a r e n o t i m p o r t a n t f o r

s t u d e n t s t o d o a t s c h o o l .

A l l r i g h t ?

C a n d i d a t e s

3

m i n u t e s

( 4 m

i n u t e s f o r

g r o u p s o f t h r e e )

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

… . .


T h a n

k y o u .

( C a n

I h a v e

t h e

b o o

k l e t , p

l e a s e

? ) R e t r i e v e

P a r t

3 b o o k l e t .

P a r t 4


S e l e c t a n y o f t h e

f o l l o w i n g q u e s t i o n s , a s a p p r o p r

i a t e :

•

W h i c h o f t h e s e a c t i v i t i e s

d o y o u m o s t e n j o y

d o i n g

a t s c h o o l ? . . . … ( W

h y ? )

•

S o m e p e o p l e s a y

t h a t s c h o o l i s f o r l e s s o n s a n d

t h a t s t u d e n t s s h o u l d

d o o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s a f t e r

s c h o o l . W h a t d o y o u

t h i n k ?

•

W h a t d o y o u

t h i n k i s t h e b e s t t h i n g a b o u t s c h o o l l i f e ? . . . … ( W

h y ? )

•

D o y o u

t h i n k i t ’ s t r u e t h a t s t u d e n t s h a v e

t o s t u d y

t o o h a r d t h e s e d a y s a n d

d o n ’ t h a v e e n o u g h

t i m e

t o e n j o y

t h e m s e l v e s ? . . . … ( W

h y ? / W h y n o t ? )

•

D o y o u

t h i n k w e

l e a r n m o r e

i n s c h o o l o r o u t s i d e s c h o o l ? . . . … ( W

h y ? )

•

W h a t a g e d o y o u

t h i n k s t u d e n t s s h o u

l d b e a l l o w e d

t o l e a v e s c h o o l a t ? . . . …

( W h y ? )

T h a n

k y o u .

T h a

t i s t h e e n

d o

f t h e

t e s t .

S e l e c t a n y o f t h e

f o l l o w i n g

p r o m p t s , a s a p p r o p r i a t e :

• W

h a t d o y o u

t h i n k ?

• D

o y o u a g r e e ?

• A

n d y o u ?

PAPER 5: SPEAKING | SAMPLE PAPER

PAPER 5 | SPEAKING




PAPER 5: SPEAKING | ASSESSMENT

Cambridge English: First for Schools Speaking Examiners use a more detailed version of the following assessment scales, extracted from the overallSpeaking scales on page 60.

B2 Grammar and Vocabulary Discourse Management Pronunciation Interactive Communication

5 Shows a good degreeof control of a range ofsimple and some complex

grammatical forms.Uses a range of appropriatevocabulary to give andexchange views on a widerange of familiar topics.

Produces extended stretchesof language with very littlehesitation.

Contributions are relevant andthere is a clear organisationof ideas.

Uses a range of cohesivedevices and discoursemarkers.

Is intelligible.

Intonation is appropriate.

Sentence and word stress is

accurately placed.Individual sounds arearticulated clearly.

Initiates and responds appropriately,linking contributions to those of otherspeakers.

Maintains and develops the interactionand negotiates towards an outcome.


3 Shows a good degree ofcontrol of simple grammaticalforms, and attempts somecomplex grammatical forms.

Uses a range of appropriatevocabulary to give andexchange views on a range offamiliar topics.

Produces extended stretchesof language despite somehesitation.

Contributions are relevant andthere is very little repetition.

Uses a range of cohesivedevices.

Is intelligible.

Intonation is generallyappropriate.

Sentence and word stress isgenerally accurately placed.

Individual sounds aregenerally articulated clearly.

Initiates and responds appropriately.

Maintains and develops the interactionand negotiates towards an outcome withvery little support.


1 Shows a good degree ofcontrol of simple grammaticalforms.

Uses a range of appropriatevocabulary when talkingabout everyday situations.

Produces responses whichare extended beyond shortphrases, despite hesitation.

Contributions are mostlyrelevant, despite somerepetition.

Uses basic cohesive devices.

Is mostly intelligible, and hassome control of phonologicalfeatures at both utterance andword levels.

Initiates and responds appropriately.

Keeps the interaction going with verylittle prompting and support.

0 Performance below Band 1.

.

B2 Global Achievement

5 Handles communication on a range of familiar topics, with very littlehesitation.

Uses accurate and appropriate linguistic resources to express ideas andproduce extended discourse that is generally coherent.


3 Handles communication on familiar topics, despite some hesitation.

Organises extended discourse but occasionally produces utterances that lackcoherence, and some inaccuracies and inappropriate usage occur.


1 Handles communication in everyday situations, despite hesitation.

Constructs longer utterances but is not able to use complex language exceptin well-rehearsed utterances.

0 Performance below Band 1.




PAPER 5: SPEAKING | GLOSSARY OF TERMS

2. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY (cont.)

Grammaticalcontrol

Grammatical control: the ability to consistently use grammaraccurately and appropriately to convey intended meaning.

Where language specications are provided at lower levels (as inCambridge English: Key (KET) andCambridge English: Preliminary(PET) ), candidates may have control of only the simplest exponentsof the listed forms.

Attempts at control: sporadic and inconsistent use of accurateand appropriate grammatical forms. For example, the inconsistentuse of one form in terms of structure or meaning, the production ofone part of a complex form incorrectly or the use of some complexforms correctly and some incorrectly.

Spoken language often involves false starts, incomplete utterances,ellipsis and reformulation. Where communication is achieved, suchfeatures are not penalised.

Grammaticalforms

Simple grammatical forms: words, phrases, basic tenses andsimple clauses.

Complex grammatical forms: longer and more complexutterances, e.g. noun clauses, relative and adverb clauses,subordination, passive forms, innitives, verb patterns, modal formsand tense contrasts.

Range Range: the variety of words and grammatical forms a candidateuses. At higher levels, candidates will make increasing useof a greater var iety of words, xed phrases, collocations andgrammatical forms.

3. DISCOURSE MANAGEMENT

Coherence andcohesion

Coherence and cohesion are difficult to separate in discourse.Broadly speaking, coherence refers to a clear and logical stretch ofspeech which can be easily followed by a listener. Cohesion refersto a stretch of speech which is unied and structurally organised.

Coherence and cohesion can be achieved in a variety of ways,

including with the use of cohesive devices, related vocabulary,grammar and discourse markers.

Cohesive devices: words or phrases which indicate relationshipsbetween utterances, e.g. addition (and, in addition, moreover );consequence (so, therefore, as a result ); order of information (rst,second, next, nally ).

At higher levels, candidates should be able to provide cohesion not just with basic cohesive devices (e.g.and, but, or, then, nally ) butalso with more sophisticated devices (e.g.therefore, moreover, as aresult, in addition, however, on the other hand ).

Related vocabulary: the use of several items from the same lexicalset, e.g.train, station, platform, carriage;orstudy, learn, revise.

Grammatical devices: essentially the use of reference pronouns(e.g.it, this, one ) and articles (e.g.There are two women in thepicture. The one on the right . . .).

Discourse markers: words or phrases which are primarily used inspoken language to add meaning to the interaction, e.g.you know ,you see ,actually ,basically ,I mean ,well ,anyway , like .

Extent/extendedstretches oflanguage

Extent/extended stretches of language: the amount of languageproduced by a candidate which should be appropriate to the task.Long turn tasks require longer stretches of language, whereas taskswhich involve discussion or answering questions could requireshorter and extended responses.

Relevance Relevance: a contribution that is related to the task and not aboutsomething completely different.

Repetition Repetition: repeating the same idea instead of introducing newideas to develop the topic.

Cambridge ESOLSpeaking assessment

Glossary of terms

1. GENERAL

Conveying basicmeaning

Conveying basic meaning: the ability of candidates to get theirmessage across to their listeners, despite possible inaccuracies inthe structure and/or delivery of the message.

Situations andtopics

Everyday situations: situations that candidates come across intheir everyday lives, e.g. having a meal, asking for information,shopping, going out with friends or family, travelling to school orwork, taking part in leisure activities. ACambridge English: Key(KET) task that requires candidates to exchange details about astore’s opening hours exemplies an everyday situation.

Familiar topics: topics about which candidates can be expected tohave some knowledge or personal experience.Cambridge English:First (FCE) tasks that require candidates to talk about what peoplelike to do on holiday, or what it is like to do different jobs, exemplifyfamiliar topics.

Unfamiliar topics: topics which candidates would not be expectedto have much personal experience of.Cambridge English: Advanced(CAE) tasks that require candidates to speculate about whetherpeople in the world today only care about themselves, or thekinds of problems that having a lot of money can cause, exemplifyunfamiliar topics.

Abstract topics: topics which include ideas rather than concretesituations or events.Cambridge English: Prociency (CPE) tasksthat require candidates to discuss how far the development of ourcivilisation has been affected by chance discoveries or events, or theimpact of writing on society, exemplify abstract topics.

Utterance Utterance:people generally write in sentences and they speak inutterances. An utterance may be as short as a word or phrase, or alonger stretch of language.

2. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY (cont.)

Appropriacy ofvocabulary

Appropriacy of vocabulary: the use of words and phrases that tthe context of the given task. For example, in the utteranceI’m verysensible to noise,the wordsensibleis inappropriate as the word should be sensitive.Another example would beToday’s big snowmakes getting around the city difficult.The phrase getting around iswell suited to this situation. However,big snowis inappropriate asbigandsnoware not used together.Heavy snowwould beappropriate.

Flexibility Flexibility: the ability of candidates to adapt the language theyuse in order to give emphasis, to differentiate according to thecontext, and to eliminate ambiguity. Examples of this would bereformulating and paraphrasing ideas.




PAPER 5: SPEAKING | GLOSSARY OF TERMS

4. PRONUNCIATION

Intelligible Intelligible: a contribution which can generally be understoodby a non-EFL/ESOL specialist, even if the speaker has a strong orunfamiliar accent.

Phonologicalfeatures

Phonological features include the pronunciation of individualsounds, word and sentence stress and intonation.

Individual sounds are:• Pronounced vowels, e.g. the / / in cat or the / / in bed• Diphthongs, when two vowels are rolled together to produce one

sound, e.g. the / / in host or the / / in hate• Consonants, e.g. the / / in cut or the / / in sh.

Stress: the emphasis laid on a syllable or word. Words of two ormore syllables have one syllable which stands out from the restbecause it is pronounced more loudly and clearly, and is longerthan the others, e.g. imPORtant. Word stress can also distinguishbetween words, e.g. proTEST vs PROtest. In sentences, stresscan be used to indicate important meaning, e.g.WHY is that oneimportant?versusWhy is THAT one important?

Intonation: The way the voice rises and falls, e.g. to convey the

speaker’s mood, to support meaning or to indicate new information.

5. INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION

Development ofthe interaction

Development of the interaction:actively developing theconversation, e.g. by saying more than the minimum in response tothe written or visual stimulus, or to something the other candidate/interlocutor has said, or by proactively involving the other candidatewith a suggestion or question about further developing the topic(e.g.What about bringing a camera for the holiday? orWhy’s that? ).

Initiating andResponding

Initiating: starting a new turn by introducing a new idea or a newdevelopment of the current topic.

Responding: replying or reacting to what the other candidate or theinterlocutor has said.

Prompting andSupporting

Prompting: instances when the interlocutor repeats, or uses abackup prompt or gesture in order to get the candidate to respondor make a further contribution.

Supporting: instances when one candidate helps anothercandidate, e.g. by providing a word they are looking for during adiscussion activity, or helping them develop an idea.

Turn and Simpleexchange

Turn: everything a person says before someone else speaks.

Simple exchange: a brief interaction which typically involves twoturns in the form of an initiation and a response, e.g. question-answer, suggestion-agreement.




Options the individual words in the set of possible answers for a multiple-choice item.

Paraphrase to give the meaning of something using different words.

Phrasal Verb a verb which takes on a new meaning when followed by a certainpreposition or adverb (e.g. ‘ get away ’, ‘take up ’).

Pretesting a stage in the development of test materials at which items are triedout with representative samples from the target population in order

to determine their difficulty.

PromptSentence

the complete sentence given as the opening or closing line of astory inCambridge English: First for Schools Paper 2 Part 2.

Referencing the technique of using ‘referents’.

Referent a word or term that refers to another person, place, etc.

Register the tone of a piece of writing. The register should be appropriate forthe task and target reader, e.g. a letter of application is written in aformal register.

Report Layout the way in which a report should be presented. AtCambridgeEnglish: First for Schools level a report in Paper 2 Part 2 shouldbe clearly organised into paragraphs/sections and may includeheadings.

Stem Word the word at the end of each line inCambridge English: First forSchools Paper 3 Part 3, which is the basis for the word that has tobe formed.

Target Reader the intended recipient of a piece of writing. It is important to ensurethat the effect of a written task on a target reader is a positive one.

Task Fullment completing all elements of aCambridge English: First for Schools Paper 2 task using a range of appropriate and accurate language.

Acronyms

ALTE The Association of Language Testers in Europe.

CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

EFL English as a Foreign Language.

ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages.

UCLES University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Cambridge English: First forSchools glossary

Answer Sheet the form on which candidates record their responses.

Assessor the Speaking test examiner who assigns a score to a candidate’sperformance, using analytical criteria to do so.

Cloze Test a type of gap-lling task in which whole words have been removedfrom a text and which candidates must replace.

Coherence language which is coherent is well planned and clear, and all theparts or ideas t well so that they form a united whole.

CollaborativeTask

the opportunity in the Speaking test for the candidates to engagein a discussion and work together towards a negotiated outcomeof the task set.

Collocation this term describes the likelihood of two words going together, e.g.a good job, a wonderful occasion .

ComprehensionQuestions

short questions testing information selection, linking and sentenceconstruction.

Content Points the points contained in the notes on the text in theCambridgeEnglish: First for SchoolsPaper 2 Part 1 compulsory question, whichmust be included in the candidate’s letter or email.

Discourse written or spoken communication.

Gap-Filling Item any type of item which requires the candidate to insert somewritten material – letters, numbers, single words, phrases,sentences or paragraphs – into spaces in the text. The response maybe supplied by the candidate or selected from a set of options.

Gist the central theme or meaning of the text.

Impeding Error an error which prevents the reader from understanding the wordor phrase.

Input Material the text and notes, sometimes supported by illustrations or

diagrams, which candidates have to base their answers on in theCambridge English: First for SchoolsPaper 2 Part 1 compulsoryquestion.

Interlocutor the Speaking test examiner who conducts the test and makes aglobal assessment of each candidate’s performance.

Item each testing point in a test which is given a separate mark or marks.

Key the correct answer to an item.

Key Word the word which must be used in the answer to an item inCambridge English: First for Schools Paper 3 Part 4.

Lexical adjective from lexis, meaning to do with vocabulary.

Long Turn the opportunity in the Speaking test for a candidate to talk

uninterrupted for a period of time, enabling them to produce anextended piece of discourse.

Lozenge the space on the mark sheet which candidates must ll in toindicate their answer to a multiple-choice question.

Multiple Choice a task where candidates are given a set of several possible answersof which only one is correct.

MultipleMatching

a task in which a number of questions or sentence completionitems, generally based on a reading text, are set. The responses areprovided in the form of a bank of words or phrases, each of whichcan be used an unlimited number of times.

Neutral Style a writing style, atCambridge English: First for Schools levelappropriate for compositions, with no specic features of formalityor informality.

Openingand ClosingFormulae

the expressions, either formal or informal, that are usually used toopen and close letters, e.g. ‘Dear Maria … With best wishes from …’,or ‘Dear Mr Dakari … Yours sincerely …’.

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FIRST FOR SCHOOLS GLOSSARY



University of CambridgeESOL Examinations1 Hills RoadCambridgeCB1 2EUUnited Kingdom

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Cambridge English: First for Schools is a new version of Cambridge English:First, also known as First Certificate in English (FCE) , developed with examcontent and topics targeted at the interests of school-age learners. Itis at Level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference forLanguages (CEFR) published by the Council of Europe.

Cambridge English: First has been accredited by Ofqual, the statutoryregulatory authority for external qualications in England and itscounterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland; for more information, seewww.ofqual.gov.uk

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