Below, you'll find a question relevant to each task on the two papers. Scroll down past the questions and you'll find the suggested answers.
Paper 1/1
How would
you have done in one of the past exams? Here are some definitions that have
come up in Paper 1/1. Could you name each of them? Click on the link to
check your answers - and the spelling. In the
exam, incorrect spelling of terminology means no mark.
A)
A phrase containing a pair of words linked usually by a conjunction and sometimes by a preposition which is fixed both
syntactically and semantically, eg pros and cons / nose to tail
B) A process common in reported speech where
present tense verbs in direct speech change to past verbs in reported speech, and
past verbs in direct speech become past perfect in reported speech. Eg Where are you? is reported as She asked me where I was.
C)
A
form of a word which can stand alone or to which prefixes and suffixes can
be added. Eg the underlined sections of (un)interest(ing) person(able),
(re)apply
D) A term to
describe a teaching strategy in which the needs of a mixed ability class are
catered for by giving the learners tasks according to their individual
abilities, eg a class is given a gapfill text and the weaker students are also
given a list of answers to choose from
E) A word, such as a demonstrative or an
article, that premodifies a noun in some way, eg I don’t like that
idea; We bought a car
Paper 1/2
How good is your knowledge of the terminology associated
with methodology?
Click here and…
a) Day One: Read through the list and click on any terms that you are not sure about. Choose one from the list in (b) that you are sure of, define and exemplify it, and then click on the link to check your answer.
b) For each of the next few days, define and exemplify one or two of these terms connected with methodology. Try, and then
click on the links to check your answers.
If you look at the index of the ELT Glossary, you'll find that after the alphabetical index, all the terms are listed by topic - methodology, phonology, second language acquisition etc. Take one topic at a time and work on them using the idea suggested in (a) above, so that you gradually cover them all before the exam.
Paper 1/3
Learners at
high A2 level are given a writing task asking them to write an email to a
friend giving news, describing their new house, and inviting them to come and
stay for the weekend. In Paper 1/3
you are asked to identify three key subskills for the task. Which of the
following would not gain full
marks and why not?
a) Using a formulaic greeting/expression of interest
in the friend’s news to open (or possibly close) the email : How are you? And how are things going at
work?
b) Giving news
about the move and the house: We’ve been
really busy moving into the new house, but it’s just about straight now.
c) Division of
the email into paragraphs, each dealing with one topic- eg starting with a
paragraph greeting and possibly reacting to a previous email
d) Organisation of the email – eg salutation, greeting, giving news, inviting,
closing
Paper 1/4
The text (134 words) for this question is reproduced below. It was written by a Japanese learner in an intermediate class (CEFR B2).
In class, students have been discussing the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. They have read an article from The Guardian discussing the award, and seen a video of Obama’s acceptance speech. The writing task set was:
"
This article was very shocking to me. because this article criticizes Nobel Peace Committee itself. I don’t think Nobel Peace Prize isn’t necessarily specifical estimates. But I learned that this idea is possible. About President Obama, I agree with the article. I think he hasn’t actually accomplished anything yet. But on the other hand, his speech (in the video you showed me) captured me. He said he would accept this awared as call to action. If he carry on his oath, the world improve in a good way. In other news paper, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said “The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it is given to someone... who has the power to contribute to peace.” I agree with his idea, and I hope President Obama contribute to peace! (134 words)
What criticisms would you make of the following points included for the category Cohesion?
1. Strength - Cohesion: lexical cohesion. Good use of eg synonyms to avoid repetition eg: prize-award, and the use of the general noun in this idea to refer back to the criticism of the committee eg: But I learned that this idea is possible.
2. Strength - Cohesion: sentence connection. Some use of connectives expressing the relationship between ideas – eg But on the other hand, his speech … captured me
Paper 1/5
Can you define the form and use of the word "on" in each of the following sentences?
He jumped on the table
I’m relying on you.
Turn on the heating when you get there.
I think he rather looks down on us.
I don't get on with John very well.
Paper 2/1
M wishes to do a 121 course to improve her spoken competence as she wishes to work as a teacher of geography in an English medium secondary school. On the school’s placement test she has tested out at C1 level. On the first day of the course, the T. gives her the following test :
- talk about the educational system in your country
- what would you improve about it
She is given time to think and make notes before starting.
Paper 2/2
Read Scott Thornbury on Humanistic Approaches. Notice this is basically a list of five assumptions. Could you rephrase them as such and find a (different) reason for each of them?
Paper 2/3
Describe five different activities that could be used to exploit the transcript of a listening text after comprehension work has been done.
Suggested Answers
Paper 1/1
Click on the links in the letters A-E of the question.
Paper 1/2
Click on the links in the question for the answers. Remember that you only need to give a brief definition (similar to those in the task for Paper 1/1) and one example to gain full marks. Don't waste time adding the extra information included - though this may be necessary for other tasks in the exam such as Paper 2/2 or 2/3.
Paper 1/3
The points which would
not gain full marks are:
(b) The function is
relevant, but no specific linguistic area is indicated and the example is way above the level that an A2
learner would be able to produce. You would need a simpler example – eg Use of
the present simple to give news about the move and house : I
really like the new house . It has
a big garden – and you know that I love gardening.
(c) Cambridge say that when you discuss discourse
organisation you must include the content of at least 3 sections on your
illustration, so you would need to discuss the content of at least 3
paragraphs. (Notice how this requirement is satisfied in point d.)
Paper 1/4
1. Criticisms : a) Two examples included. You should only give one as only the first will be considered for marks and the second just wastes valuable time; b) Notice that prize and award are actually taken from the name of the award and from Obama's words. They are therefore not very strong evidence of this feature being a consistent strength of the learners' competence; c) these are actually the only two examples of the feature in the text, so again there's not much strong evidence that it's a "key" strength.
2. Criticism : This is the only example in the text which is really at B2 level. The feature is not therefore consistent or "key" and the point would gain no marks.
Paper 1/5
Can you define the form, and use of the word
"on" in each of the following sentences?
He jumped on the table
= preposition : head of
prepositional phrase "on the table"
I’m relying on you.
= preposition. Part of prepositional verb “rely on”.
Turn on the heating when
you get there.
= adverb : part of transitive (separable) phrasal verb "turn on"
I think he rather looks
down on us.
= preposition : part of phrasal prepositional verb "look
down on"
I don't get on with John very
well.
= adverb : part of phrasal prepositional verb "get on
with"
See here for more
information on multi-word verbs..
And don't forget that the Language Matters section of An ELT Notebook contains various posts - including both articles and activities to check your understanding - which will help prepare you for this task.
Paper 2/1
a) Positive: Discourse format – planned long turn: She will need to speak in prepared long turns in the classroom when she is presenting geographical concepts to her learners, giving instructions etc. Impact on the L: The task format is therefore relevant to her needs and will reveal if she is actually capable of organising and expressing points logically, fluently and accurately.
b) Negative: Discourse format – planned long turn: This test focuses only on long turns and not short turns needed in the classroom (eg elicitations) or (especially if the job is not in her own country) the type of spontaneous social interaction she would need in the staffroom with colleagues. Impact on the L: The T. would therefore have no evidence as to her performance in this sort of discourse and this could impact negatively on ultimate relevance of the course to her needs
NB: The impact stated in (b) - ie the eventual relevance of the course to her needs - was used in one of the points in this question last week. It's relevant to both and could be used for either - but not for both. If you repeated the same impact for a second point, it would not get the marks again.
Paper 2/2
1. Assumption: Ls should be encouraged to talk about themselves, their own experiences, likes, opinions etc in the c/r. Reason: If Ls get to know each other as people, it can have a positive impact on c/r dynamics. And if there is any disharmony, the T will gain useful information to use when deciding the composition of pairs/groups.
2. Assumption: Personalisation activities should avoid potentially negative or “uncomfortable” topics. Reason: Being “forced” to discuss topics which bring back unpleasant memories, or which the L finds embarrassing could, in Krashen’s terms “raise the affective filter” and block learning.
3. Assumption: The T should take factors such as personality, power relationships and cultural factors into consideration when choosing personalisation activities. Reason: Not everyone likes talking about themselves, and in some cultures revealing personal information is discouraged, or talking about achievements may be seen as “boasting”. In situations like in-company courses where the same class may contain a boss and subordinates, there may be things which each person does not want to reveal to the others.
4. Assumption: The content of the lesson should be connected to the Ls’ lives. Reason: This ensures the learners will know what to talk about – their performance will show their communicative ability with no risk of them blocking because they are trying to discuss something they know nothing about.
5. Assumption: Ss responses should be used in the lesson – if the activity has been in PW/GW rather than full-class this should be done in a follow-up stage looking at both content and language Reason: Focusing on content (what the Ls have said) shows the T. is interested in their ideas/experiences and improves c/r rapport; focusing on language creates learning affordances – errors can be corrected, language can be upgraded to show Ls how they could express ideas with greater complexity, and “useful” language used by one L can be brought to the attention of the whole group.
Paper 2/3
Describe five
different activities that could be used
to exploit the transcript of a listening text after comprehension work
has been done. (Relevant
to Paper 2/3)
1. Gap the
transcript
a) to focus on
a language item (eg collocation, intensifiers, cohesive devices, prepositions,
verb forms etc) or discourse item (eg fillers, gambits, etc). Ask Ls to decide
what the missing word(s) might be. Replay the recording to check and focus on
the word(s) used and any acceptable alternatives.
b) to focus on
a feature of pronunciation eg a connected speech feature. Ls listen to the
recording again, with the phrases played several times and/or repeated more
slowly by the T until they recognise the words. The pronunciation features are
focused on and explained as necessary. Repetition work can then be used if the
T. wants to focus on production as well as decoding.
2. Jumbled sentences: To focus on
word order problems (eg the position of adverbs of frequency): Ls are given the
transcript with the words of some sentences in jumbled order. They reconstruct
the sentences, listen again to check and discuss the reasons for the
positioning and any other acceptable alternatives.
3. Reading Aloud: The
transcript could be used used for reading aloud practice, using both
repetition work and shadow reading.
4. Recycling: The text,
or a section of it, could be used as a dictation in a later lesson to recycle the language that the initial lesson focused on. The Ls hear each
sentence/utterance from the text (or a section of it) several times and write
down what they understand. They then compare their version with the transcript
and discuss any problems they had decoding the words. Alternative dictation
techniques like dictogloss and running dictations can also be used.
5. Jumbled text: With a
monologue, eg a presentation, the transcript (or one section of it) can be cut
up into different sentences which are given to the learners in an envelope,
jumbled. They reconstruct the text using devices of cohesion and coherence to
guide them, before listening again to check. Follow-up focus is then on the
role of the devices.
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