Questions I Would Ask if I Was Choosing a Delta Module Two Centre

If you've just done the Delta Module One exam, you may now be thinking about going on to Module Two. Here's some guidance to help you choose the centre and the course format which is right for you...


When people apply for our Delta Module Two Course, I'm always surprised at how few questions they ask about how the course is run. Yes, every centre has to cover the same syllabus content  (click on the link and see pp. 4-8) and conform to the Cambridge regulations (which you can find  in the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates, pp. 50-67). But within these boundaries, there's a wide range of possible variations.



Obviously, the first thing you need to decide is what course formats would suit you best - intensive or non-intensive (and in both cases lasting how long?), face-to-face, online or blended? You'll probably find this out from the centre website. But in any case, the first questions I'd ask would be: 

• Whichever formats the centre uses, why did they choose them? What do they consider to be their advantages and disadvantages?

• If it's a blended or non-intensive F2F course, how often will you have to attend in person, and how far in advance are the dates set? What time are the course sessions (and will these give you time to arrive and get home at a reasonable hour). What happens in case of a transport strike on a day you're scheduled to attend, particularly if you're scheduled to teach on that day?

The last question about the course format and timing relates to something I'd ask any centre, regardless of the course type I'd chosen but particularly on non-intensive courses:

• What happens if I'm ill on a day when I'm supposed to submit an assignment (which includes teaching)? Or if I'm simply not ready by that date, possibly because I've been ill previously or have had other problems previously. Can it be rescheduled? And if I miss any other sessions, how can I catch up on the content? For example, are they filmed and put online or are recorded versions of the presentations etc put online, or have I just missed them?

And then there's the coursework itself - and here there's scope for a plethora of questions:

• The coursework must include at least 65 contact hours. How many of these are taken up by seminars and what do the seminars cover? What about individual tutorials - how many and when: before assignments, after assignments? Is the contact all face to face or is anything done on-line. If so what platform is used and what are the technical details?

• What order are the assignments done in? Do I have a choice or is it set? What about the topics of the LSAs and EPs - within the boundaries set by Cambridge, do I have a choice of which systems/skills to teach or does the centre decide? How much guidance is given?

• How much time do I have between assignments and what else will I have to do in that time? On intensive courses, how much of that time is taken up eg by seminars, observations of other teaching, non-assessed teaching etc? 

• Apart from the seminars and assignments, the compulsory coursework also includes 35 hours of Guided Reading and Tasks and 10 hours of Guided Observations and Tasks. How are these built into the course?

• What help do I get with the assignments? Are the titles set by the centre or (again within the boundaries set by Cambridge) do I have a free choice? Can I get written tutor feedback or have a tutorial at the planning stage? Can I submit a first draft for comment and then rewrite it before the final submission? How much time is left between one assignment and the next?

• What about the classes I use for the assignments? Is this a group or groups provided by the centre or, if I'm doing a local course, can I use my own groups who I know better? In any case, can I use my own groups for the Experimental Practice assignment and the  External Assessment if I want to?

• Presuming it's a group provided by the centre - will there be just one group to get to know or will the learners change? How many and which levels are involved? Will I have to teach them on days other than those when I'm presenting an assignment (remember this will involve more preparation work and take time away from the assignments themselves)? If not, do I have the option of doing so if i want to get to know the learners better and/or pre-teach something relevant to my assignment lesson? Will they be following a set syllabus/coursebook that the assignments have to mesh with, or not?

•  What help do I get evaluating my own teaching? Do other course participants observe and can they give feedback? Are the lessons filmed so that I can watch them and see for myself?  How long after the assignment is feedback and the result given? What written feedback is provided? Just the observer's notes - in which case am I told the grades the assignment received? Or will I also see the Delta 5A assessment forms which are sent to Cambridge?

• Similarly, for the Professional Development Assignment, can I write a first draft of each section and then rewrite it after seeing the tutor's comments, and will I see the Delta 5B assessment form which is sent to Cambridge?

• To pass the coursework you must pass one internal assignment. What happens if, by LSA3 I haven't reached pass standard? Will I have a chance to repeat one of my assignments and try again before the external? 

• What if something goes wrong during the course - if I'm ill or something - and can't complete it. Can I transfer to the next course? Will this cost extra?

• What are the centre's average results for a course in terms of referred candidates, pass, merit, and distinction grade - or if they're not sure, what were the results of the last course? What's the drop out rate?

There are not necessarily any "right answers" to these questions. All the possible choices have pros and cons, and some participants will perform better with one type of organisation and others with another. But the centre should be able to answer them all, to justify their choices, and to explain the advantages and disadvantages of whatever they have decided. And if you have a choice of centres, I recommend contacting several and seeing whose answers you feel will suit you best. All Module Two centres must be approved by Cambridge, and you'll find the full list, and their contact details, here 

And don't forget that extracts from our Module Two course are posted every Wednesday on our companion blog The Delta Course. Check it out weekly. You'll find input and activities to help you with all the assignments and other requirements of the course.

Doing Delta Module One? Some Exam Tips - Part One

Are you about to take the Cambridge English Delta Module One exam? This is the first in a series of articles which will look in detail at all the tasks in exam, to make sure you understand the exam requirements and can avoid some of the most common mistakes made by candidates. The articles are written by Sue Swift, who taught on Cambridge English Diploma exam courses for over  50 years. 


To pass the Delta Module One Exam, you have to know your stuff. But you also have to know how to get it all down on paper in the time allowed, and in the format that will get you the maximum marks without wasting time.

So in this section of the Notebook we’ll be posting a series of articles to check you understand the requirements of each question, and to provide a few exam tips. And if you stick with us, at the end there’ll be a link to a quiz where you can test that you’ve remembered everything.

First of all then, here are some general comments.

The exam consists of two papers, taken on the same morning (always the first Wednesday in June and December). Each paper lasts 90 minutes, and you'll have a 30-45 minute break in between. There are 100 marks for each paper and you have to get a cumulative 50% to pass. In other words, it doesn't matter where you get the marks - you could do one paper brilliantly and the other very badly, but as long as the total marks were over 50% you'd pass. So - 100+ marks to get in 180 mins, which means that to ensure a bare pass mark you need to aim for approximately one mark every one minute forty seconds. More if you're aiming for a merit or distinction. One mark every minute and a half and you'd get only 90 marks - which means a fail.  Let's say a mark a minute.

Sounds tough? Keep in mind that you're not asked to write essays, and frequently not even full sentences. Concentrate on getting down the points you need to make, using semi-note form, lists and bullet points. If you try to answer the questions in essay form, you'll waste a lot of time without gaining any marks. As we look at each of the individual tasks on the papers, we'll look too at the format you might use.

Paper One - Task One

In the first task you can immediately pick up six marks. You're given six definitions, usually with an example, and are asked to state the term which relates to each definition. The definitions may be of methods or activity types, terms which relate to grammar, phonology, lexis or discourse, terms relating to skills and subskills, or to testing – anything in fact from the syllabus. No problem at all if you know your stuff. However, there are still a few thing to keep in mind :

a) The terms must be 100% accurate, and that includes spelling. If you misspell the term, even though you clearly know the right answer, you won’t get the mark. Don’t worry though about standard spelling alternatives, for example differences between British and American spelling. Both will be accepted – eg behaviourism / behaviorism

b) There are sometimes alternative terms for the same thing. Plosives can also be called stops, washback is also known as backwash, Community Language Learning is also called Counseling Language Learning, and so on. However, only one of the terms is required – if they are standard alternatives either will be accepted. If you put down both and they’re both right, you won’t gain anything but will have wasted time that could have been used to gain a mark elsewhere. If you put down two terms and one is wrong, then you don’t get the mark – even if the other is correct. So put down the one you are most confident of, and nothing else.

c) Don’t get sidetracked by the example, which may be more specific than the definition. For example, what answer would you give for : A sound made by initially blocking the airflow, but then releasing it through a small space, creating friction. Eg /ʤ/ 

The answer is  An affricate.  If you had written  Voiced postalveolar affricate, you would have been describing the specific example, not the term in general. The definition covers all affricates – voiced or unvoiced and in whatever place of articulation. The postalveolar affricates may be the only ones which are phonemes of English, but there are others - think, for instance, of the unvoiced alveolar affricate in Swahili words such as tsetse. So be careful – the term must reflect the general concept expressed in the definition, leaving out any “extra” features specific to  the example.

d) Remember the one mark per minute rule. Read the definitions carefully - but don't spend ages pondering over the terms if you don't know them. Five minutes is more than ample for this task.  Leave a space and move on. If a term comes to you late in the exam, go back and add it

Paper One - Task Two

Task Two is really the mirror image of  Task One. This time you are given four terms and have to provide the definition, and an example. Some things to bear in mind :

a) In the new version of the exam there is no choice. You are given four terms and must define /exemplify  all of them. But you don't necessarily have to do them in order - if you're not sure of one or more of the terms, write it on the paper, leave ample white space and come back to it later if you have time. And even if you do know all the answers, don't spend too much time on this one. There are twelve marks - so twelve minutes meets our “one mark per minute” aim. If you’ve not finished by the time the 12 minutes are up it’s probably because you’re struggling. In that case move on – you’re more likely to pick up marks by doing the later questions thoroughly than by spending more time here.

b) On the other hand, if you find the task easy, don’t get carried away and try to write everything you know on the topic.  Give a clear definition and one example only. Once you’ve stated these, there are no more marks to be had, so you’re just wasting time which can be better spent elsewhere. Remember though that there are two marks for the definition (and one for the answer) - so make sure it's clear and precise.


For example, if  the term is adjacency pair your answer might be something like : 

• Adjacency pair : A sequence of two related utterances by different speakers, the second being dependent on the first
• Eg : Compliment –Thanks/Downgrading : This cake is wonderful!/ Thanks. But it’s really simple to make.

The following definition doesn't meet these criteria :

•  Learning style  : The individual style in which someone learns. 

This doesn't define the term but simply rephrases it.  A better answer would be : 

• Learning style : The typical approach (including methods, activities, procedures etc) which an individual tends to favour / find most useful in order to acquire information or skills.
• Eg : Someone with a theorist learning style (Honey and Mumford) likes to see clear rules and explanations for what s/he is learning

Obviously, the definitions have to be accurate. Those in the following examples are not. What's wrong with them  and how would you rephrase them? 

• A cloze test : A  test involving a text from which individual words have been removed. The student must then read the passage and replace the words.
• An error : A mistake which the student makes because s/he doesn’t know the correct structure
• Topic sentence : The opening sentence of a paragraph.

You’ll find the answers if you scroll down to the end.

So how can you prepare for these questions? As you prepare for the exam, while you're reading or as you go through your course, make yourself a set of terminology cards, like the ones in the photo above. On one side write the term, and on the other a definition (without using the term), and an example. Keep the cards in a box on your desk, and every day, take ten or twelve of them at random and put them in your bag. Every time you have a moment during the day when you have nothing else to do - for example when you're waiting for the bus or in a queue at the bank, take a few of the cards out and test yourself. Either look at the side with the definition and see if you can remember the term, or look at the term and see if you remember all the information on the other side. 

Alternatively you can do the same thing on the net using sites like Quizlet  or Quia Web  which allow you to create matching activities, multiple choice tests. missing word tests or whatever. 

You’ll find a lot more examples and advice for both these questions and all the others on the two papers in the various documents published by Cambridge English. If you haven’t already done so, look at these carefully between now and the exam. You can download them all from the Cambridge website. Follow the link to see what is available. In particular though, make sure you look at the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates, which contains full details of the requirements for each question and the marking scheme, as well as suggested answers to tasks and a useful analysis of  strong and weak answers to past questions.

And of course - don't forget the ELT Glossary on this site. Look at the lists of terms, choose one, write a definition and example, and then click to compare your version with the answer. 

In the next article in this series, we'll look at the requirements of Paper One, Task 3.

How did you do with the definitions?

a) Cloze : This one was too generic. It describes any type of gapped text, not a cloze test in particular. It also reuses the word "test" rather than defining it. A better definition would be : An activity used to measure reading comprehension in which words are removed from a reading passage at regular intervals – eg every 7th word, or every 9th word. The reader then has to replace the words.

b) An error : Two problems here. Firstly, mistake is used as a synonym for any type of inaccuracy, including error, rather than for another, distinct type of inaccuracy. And secondly, it’s too restrictive. An error isn’t always structural – learners may make lexical errors, word stress errors or whatever. So, a more accurate definition would be : Inaccuracy in speech or writing due to lack of knowledge of the language item needed.

c) A topic sentence : Whilst topic sentences are frequently found at the beginning of a paragraph, first sentences are not always topic sentences and topic sentences may also occur in other positions. And even if the assertion were true, it would still be only half the definition as no mention is made of the function of the topic sentence. A better definition would be : A sentence (often the initial sentence) in a text or paragraph which introduces and/or summarises the main idea or argument of the text/paragraph.



To see the other articles in this series:

Part Two - Paper One Task Three
Part Three - Paper One Task Four

Part Four - Paper One Task Five

Part Five - Paper Two Task One
Part Six - Paper Two Tasks Two and Three
Part Seven - Paper Two Task Four

and to check your understanding when you've seen them all, try a couple of quizzes : 

So you think you know about Paper One?   
So you think you know about Paper Two?  

Doing Delta Module One? Some Exam Tips - Part Two

In the last article in this series, we looked at things you need to keep in mind when answering Tasks 1 and 2 on Paper One of the Delta Module One exam. Here, we're moving on to Task 3. Have a look at the Cambridge Handbook for Tutors and Candidates for more information on this task 


Paper One Task 3  

If Tasks 1 and 2 of Paper One test your understanding of the concepts involved in EFL, then task 3 moves on to look at how you might apply that knowledge in your lesson planning. It asks you to analyse a given speaking or writing activity in terms of the key subskills and language features it would involve - ie the language items and discourse organisation skills that the learners would need to be able to control in order to carry out the activity successfully. You need both to identify the subskill/item and give an example or illustration, and it is important that the example should be appropriate to the level of competence  which the activity is intended for, and also specific to that activity. In other words, you are being asked to evaluate an activity in terms of whether it would be "doable" by a given group of learners - what language items etc they would need to have covered before attempting the task.

You are asked to identify three of these features, and and two examples are given in the rubric - obviously you can't choose the same ones. There are 12 marks available - so in terms of out "one mark per minute" aim (see the first article in this series), you shouldn't spend more than 12 -14 minutes on this task.  There are two marks available for each feature you identify, plus a further two for the example. 

To look at the "traps" that candidates fall into, let's look at a sample question. Based on the information above, how many marks would you award for the following answer? Imagine that the task is to roleplay a meeting where the participants are organising a conference.  Each rolecard gives information on one or more of the things which need to be done (book the conference centre, send out the publicity etc) and gives various pieces of information about alternatives and individual preferences. There is also a designated meeting leader who has an overview of all the things to be decided. In the meeting, they have to decide who is going to do what. They are at lower intermediate (CEFR B1) level.

How many marks would you give to the following points?

1) Structuring the discourse (meeting leader) : Eg Opening - indicating the meeting structure and announcing topics - definition, negotiation and allocation of tasks - summarising decisions - closing.

2) Using modal and semi-modal verbs to express necessity and obligation, and to make recommendations : Eg We must book the conference centre, and we should send out the information next week

3) Making/Accepting/Refusing polite requests : Eg Joanna, I wonder if you'd mind dealing with the catering? / Well actually, I think David would be the best person for that.

4) Suggesting : Eg How about... What about... Why don't we... We could...

5) The participants would need to be able to offer and/or confirm willingness to take on specific tasks, by saying what they'll do. 

6) Relative clauses : For the publicity, why don't we contact the people who we used last time?

7) Allocating speaking turns by eg nominating and asking open questions : Anne, why do you prefer the Four Trees Hotel?

8) Self selecting for a speaking turn : Can I say something about the catering?

9) Summarising decisions : OK, so Joanna is going to book the conference centre and David is going to deal with the catering .

I'm not a Cambridge examiner, but my comments on the individual points would be :

1) OK. The candidate has identified a speaking subskill and has clearly illustrated it. The layout, with the use of the colon and "Eg" makes it clear which is the subskill and which the illustration. I'd give this the full 4 marks.

2) OK. The function is relevant, the language items needed to express that function are stated, and the examples are specific to the context. Again, the layout is clear and the underlining indicates clearly which language items are illustrative of the structures/function indicated. I'd again give this point the full 3 marks. However, notice that the candidate has wasted time by giving two examples. The second is not necessary.

3) The function is valid (2 marks), but the exponents chosen to illustrate it (I wonder if you'd mind.../Well, actually ) would be beyond the capability of the average learner at this level, so no marks. Joanna, can you deal with the catering? would have been a more appropriate illustration.

4) The function is valid (2 marks), but the examples are incomplete - they are just sentence stems rather than full examples relevant to the specific task, and therefore gain no marks. The candidate could have used the example which was used in (6) here.

5) This is very wordy. The first eight words just eat up time without gaining marks, and if you wrote this phrase for each point you'd be writing at least forty redundant words. I don't know how fast you write but at my writing speed that's 75 seconds down the drain. In addition, no concrete example is given here at all, so again just 2 marks for the functional area. Much better to replace this with Offering and/or confirming willingness to take on specific tasks : Eg - OK, I'll phone the printers this afternoon.

6) Relative clauses is not a "key" item for this task - it's possible to imagine learners completing it successfully without using relative clauses at all. It's simply a generic feature of language which could crop up in almost any stretch of discourse. No marks for this here. In order for relative clauses, to be "key" the task would have to be one where learners really needed to use it continually to fulfill the task. A task necessitating circumlocution strategies would be an example - eg an activity where learners were given of pictures of things they didn't know the names of, and had to buy them in a shop. This would give rise to eg I'm looking for the things which you wear on your eyes when you go swimming. Here, I would argue that the ability to use relative clauses really was "key". But in the task we're discussing, it's incidental.

7/8) Either of these would be OK, but not both. They are really part and parcel of the same generic area - turntaking.  Don't split areas which are actually the same - for example in (3) making, accepting and refusing are all part of the area Polite Requests, not three individual points. No more than 3 points.

9) Again, valid - but unacceptable here because the point has already been used in (1). Don't repeat yourself - and this is true throughout the exam. You'll only get the marks for a point once, and in this task that's true of both the features and the examples. You could have (1) or (9) but not both.

And whoops - there are nine points here, and you were only asked for three. You won't be penalised for the extra ones, but you're certainly going to over-run the time allowance. So you won't pick up any extra marks, but you will waste time that could have been bringing you marks in the next question. 

Other criticisms? The points are a bit top-heavy on functions - not necessarily a problem but it could lead you into putting down points which are too "close". Aim for a range of different types of subskill and discourse feature. This list starts well - a discourse feature is followed by a structural/functional area - but it would be nice to have seen a lexical area in there too. Cardinal and ordinal numbers comes to mind  : We need a plenary room for five hundred people/ The conference is from the third to the fifth of September / We need to print about 5,000 leaflets would all be possible examples.  Looking for a range of discourse, structural/functional and lexical features will add variety to your list and help avoid the danger of overlap.

This is a task where thinking time pays dividends. Look at the activity from the point of view of discourse,  structural/functional and lexical areas, choose the three that seem to you the strongest, and put those down - naming the feature and giving a clear example specific to the task without wasting time on discussion, or introductory/concluding phrases. 

Sue Swift was involved with Cambridge English Diploma schemes  for nearly 50 years, both as a tutor and assessor. 



To see the other articles in this series:

Missed some of the other articles in this series? You'll find links to all of them here - just scroll down the page. But if you're preparing for the Delta Module One, don't forget that you'll find a lot more information about all the tasks in the exam, with sample questions and answers, plus advice for tackling the questions in the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates. 

Doing Delta Module One? Some Exam Tips - Part Four

In this part of our series on the Cambridge English Delta Module One exam, we look at the requirements of Task Five on Paper One of the written exam. See the Cambridge website to download the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates which provides a sample question and analyses of weak and strong answers for this task and all the others.

Task Five of Paper One  tests your awareness of the language systems - discourse, grammar, lexis and phonology.  It carries fifty marks - so it's a major component of the paper and worth spending time on. If you follow the principle of aiming for a mark a minute, you could dedicate between 40 and fifty minutes to this question. 

Don't waste time trying to form your answer into complete sentences or connected paragraphs. Bullet points and semi note form are all that's required. There's a mark for each valid point you make - so use the time to put down as much information as possible about each feature of the language you analyse. 

The first part of the task asks you to look at the text as representative of a particular genre, and identify features which are specific to that genre - usually five, but as always, read the rubric carefully in case there are changes. So first of all, what do we mean by genre?

Imagine you were walking down the road and suddenly a sheet of paper blows towards you and wraps itself around your legs. If you pick it up, even a very cursory glance will tell you if it's an extract from a novel, a newspaper sports report, a poem, a legal contract, a recipe, a shopping list, a charity appeal - or whatever. Even without reading it, you'll recognise the genre from the visual impact. How is laid out on the page - does it use connected paragraphs, numbered paragraphs, bullet points, or what? Are photos are included or not? Are there larger font headlines or is bold or italic print used? And so on. Start to read it and immediately you'll notice differences in the language - shopping lists will consist of  a sequence of noun phrases, recipes will contain imperative verbs, poems will use devices such as rhyme, assonance and alliteration. It's this sort of feature that you are asked to identify, giving an example from the text of each.

What type of genre might be included? The list is endless, but some that have come up in the past include advertisements, home pages from websites, information leaflets, articles from the popular scientific press, and human interest articles from newspapers.  However, if your exam preparation has included analysis of a wide range of genres, you'll start to see that certain features are shared by various different genres because they all use a specific text type or have a similar purpose. For example,  biographies, novels and news articles will all involve narrative, and therefore past verbs will be predominant;  advertisements, hotel and restaurant websites, and websites inviting membership  all have a promotional purpose and may well use personal pronouns repeatedly to try and make the reader feel personally involved. Once you've looked at various genres therefore, and have seen how they fall into categories related to text type and purpose, you should know what type of feature to look for even if the exam includes a genre which you haven't specifically considered in the past.

This part of the task carries only five marks, so don't sweat over it excessively. If you've found four features but the fifth doesn't immediately occur to you, leave a bit of white space and move on. You'll probably pick up more marks by spending the time on the rest of the paper - and if you do have time left over, you can always go back look at it again later. Remember though, that you must both describe the feature - eg Use of second person pronouns and possessives to directly address the reader and give an example from the text - eg ... you want the best for your dog, so..  NB: No example means that no mark will be given even if the point is correct.

The rest of the paper asks you to analyse specific words or phrases, as they are used in the text. There will be three sections, each focusing on a different language item or area, and you will be asked to analyse them from the point of view of any of the following : form, meaning, use, pronunciation and problems they may cause for learners. Be careful, the rubric of each section will tell you which of these categories you should focus on. Be sure to analyse the items in terms of the category or categories specified and nothing else - other points you make won't get any marks and will just waste time.

So what do we mean by form, meaning, use, pronunciation and problems for students? What points should you include under each? Let's take the following sentence :  I don't think I've ever seen David take anything seriously - and as usual, when we arrived, he was horsing around. How would you analyse the words was horsing around in terms of each of the four categories? You might like to try it before you read on.  You'll find my analysis later.

Let's look first of all at form. Here you need to analyse the grammatical form of the items. Here's usually a lot to say and you shouldn't  be afraid to state the obvious. If you're analysing eg the word pencils, tell the examiners that you know it's a plural countable common noun; if the item is  writes that it's a third person singular present simple lexical verb. Any piece of information left out, however obvious it may seem, could lose you a mark. You might also deal with any spelling changes caused by affixes - eg in prettier the "y" of pretty changes to "i" before the comparative suffix -er because it is preceded by a consonant.

Meaning is the lexical meaning of the word - a synonym or the definition that you might find in a dictionary. So eg if you were analysing the expression put up with, the meaning would be tolerate (something), accept (it) even though it bothers or irritates you. Cambridge have not asked about meaning for the past few years - only form and use. However, I've not been able to find anything that says they have definitively excluded it from the exam. So if you're asked for meaning, look for a synonym.

There are various ways you can deal with use :

1. Syntactic use : how is the word or phrase used in the sentence? If it's a noun, is it the subject in the clause? Or the object? If it's an adjective does it premodify a noun or is it the complement of a verb? And so on.

2. Semantic Use : For example, does the word have a specific connotation which indicates the writer's attitude. For example, in the sentence She had lost a lot of weight and was starting to look really..., the attitude changes completely if the next word chosen is scrawny or slim. The person's weight and appearance might be the same, but scrawny indicates a negative attitude while slim is positive. As another example, a synonym of a word might be chosen to avoid repeating the original word. Repetition might make the text sound stilted or boring. Compare eg : There are several examples listed. For example, he talks about... and  There are several examples listed. For instance, he talks about...

3. Stylistic use : Does the choice of the word or phrase add to the formality or informality of the text? Does it create humour? Is it typical of journalistic style, academic style etc etc. 

4. Use in the discourse : For example, in the following example ...

The Taj Mahal is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was built in 1632 by the Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan...

The use of the passive verb was built allows the discourse to follow the "given-new" order of information which is typical of English (The Taj Mahal is "given" in that it has been mentioned in the previous sentence; the date and constructor are "new" pieces of information. Choosing an active verb would mean ordering the sentence with new information placed first.)

When dealing with pronunciation, remember that you must use phonemic script to illustrate the points you make. No phonemic script means no mark - even if your description is valid. You will need to consider the citation form of the word/phrase and any potential changes that may occur in connected speech, with specific accents etc. So if you were transcribing the phrase new age you might write something like :

Citation form : new - /nju:/ (Br.Eng) /nu:/ (Am. Eng); age - /eɪʤ/

Connected speech : probable use of "intrusive consonant /w/ to link the two vowel sounds  - /nju: w eɪʤ/

When considering pronunciation, you'll need to consider such features as elision and gemination, epenthesis, assimilation, catenation and liaison, and yod coalescence. (For an explanation of some of these terms, see here.)

And finally, problems for learners. These could fall into any of the categories above. For example - if you were analysing the noun a series, learners might have problems with the form : as the word ends in -ies they might assume it is plural. Learners of specific L1 groups may have problems pronouncing individual sounds in the words - Japanese learners, for example, would have problems with the /r/ sound here. Other words might create problems with meaning, eg because they are false cognates - for instance, an Italian learner hearing the word college might assume it meant boarding school (It. collegio = boarding school). Use might also be problematic - as an example, if the word that you were analysing was derived from Latin and being used in a formal context, consider whether learners from Romance L1s might overuse it because it was similar to a word in their own language and therefore more memorable than eg the phrasal verb that might be more naturally used in an neutral/informal style.

Those then are the four categories you will have to analyse. So how would you deal with the phrase was horsing around? Here's my analysis :

Form : 

3rd person singular, past continuous (Be past tense + Ving) form of phrasal verb (verb + adverb) horse around. 

Spelling : mute "e" dropped before addition of -ing suffix.

Meaning/Use : 

a) Past continuous form : describes a temporary on-going event occurring at a reference point in the past (here, the moment of arrival) 

b) phrasal verb :  to act in a non-serious way; fool about. Informal style. Semi-synonymous with, and forms a cohesive tie with, "not take anything seriously".

Pronunciation : 

Citation form - /wɒz hɔ:sɪŋ əraʊnd/. In connected speech :

a) almost certain use of weak form of "was" /wəz/ 

b) possible elision of /h/ (eg London accent) and consequent catenation between syllable final /z/ and syllable intial /ɔ:/ 

c) Rhotic accents (eg Somerset, most American) : pronunciation of post vocalic /r/: /hɔ:rsɪŋ/

d) Potential consonant lenition /ŋ/ to /n/ (eg London accent)

e) CV catenation between final consonant of "horsing" and initial vowel of "around"

Problems for learners :

a) Pronunciation of /h/ for eg Italian speakers, who would tend to omit it.

b) Pronunciation of /w/ for German speakers, who might replace it with /v/

c) Listening comprehension : Problems bottom-up decoding the phrase because of the features of connected speech mentioned

d) Understanding meaning  due to the "non-transparent" quality of the phrasal verb.

Would you have time to write that much about every item specified? Of course not. Don't even try, or you'll be spending the whole 90 minutes on that question alone. Notice too that I've given four problems for learners here (you may have thought of others too), while it's usually specified that you should identify three - again, read the rubric carefully so that you don't waste time writing down extra points that will gain you no marks. Obviously, on the spur of the moment you won't think of half the things that might come to mind if you were doing it other than in exam conditions.  But it shows you that there is far more that you could say than it is actually necessary to say, so leaving out a few things is not the end of the world.  However, if you have a check list in mind of the things you might say (eg the different categories I've mentioned under Use), points will come to mind more easily. You get one mark for every point you make, and you're aiming for fifty. Five go on the genre analysis section, leaving 45 here to gain on analysing  (usually) about 9-12 items. This means that if you make  3-4 points about every item, you'll get full marks, while 2 points per item, added to full marks in the genre analysis section, would still guarantee a pass average. And bear in mind that if you look at one of the sections and can't answer it at all, you can still pick up the marks by saying more about the items in another section.

So how can you prepare yourself for this task?

1. By reading books on language and discourse, particularly those which provide tasks for you to work through. You'll find some recommended below.

2. Follow and participate in internet forums which discuss language. I use the one on eslhq, but there are many. Read the questions that are there and see if the answers agree with the explanation in the grammar you are using - you should be using one intended for teachers of English/students of linguistics, not for learners. And if you're still puzzled leave your own question and see if you get a credible answer.

3. Spend ten minutes a day focusing on language analysis. Pull a book off your bookshelf at random. Open it at page 52. Find the tenth complete sentence on the page and choose the third word in the sentence. Analyse it in the ways you might have to in the exam, then check your answer with a good dictionary (for meaning, form, pronunciation) and  your grammar.

Some Recommended Reading...

Lewis, M. The English Verb 

Thornbury, S. About Language

McCarthy, M. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers 

Carter, R. and McCarthy, M Cambridge Grammar of English 

To see the other articles in this series...

Missed some of the other articles in this series? You'll find links to all of them here - just scroll down the page. But if you're preparing for the Delta Module One, don't forget that you'll find a lot more information about all the tasks in the exam, with sample questions and answers, plus advice for tackling the questions in the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates and the exam reports which have been published by Cambridge English. Click on the link to download the last one available - the report on the two papers for June 2016 - together with the two papers from that exam.

Doing Delta Module One? Some Exam Tips - Part Three

In Part Three of our series on the Cambridge English Delta Module One exam, we look at the requirements of Task Four on Paper One of the written exam. If you've missed the other articles in this series, you'll find links at the end, plus a link to a quiz where you can find out if you've really understood what you should be doing in Paper One. 

This article is written by Sue Swift, who has been involved with Cambridge English Diploma schemes  for neqarly 50 years, both as a tutor and assessor. 

Paper One Task Four  

Paper One, Task Four asks you to analyse the written or spoken production  of a learner, and to identify three key strengths and three key weaknesses in his/her performance. You are then ask to choose one of the weaknesses and to explain why you would choose to prioritise it in your teaching. It doesn't matter how many strengths and how many weaknesses you discuss - in the sense that it could be 2/" or 3/1 - but you must discuss at least one strengths and at least one weakness.

There are 20 marks for this, so if you're following the principle of "a mark a minute" you should aim to spend a maximum of 15-20 minutes on it.

This question can, I think, tell you an awful lot about yourself as a teacher. Some people have no difficulty seeing the strengths, but struggle to see the weaknesses. Others (and I'm afraid I'm one of them) home in on the weaknesses immediately, but have to look really hard to identify the strengths. It's the teaching equivalent of seeing the glass half full or half empty, and can serve as a good reminder that when teaching we need  to pay attention to both sides : to emphasise the positive but also to be aware of our students' problems in order to be able to provide the support and help they need - or vice versa if you're like me.


Anyway, back to the exam. The analysis of the strengths and weaknesses is not a completely free choice. A number of categories will  categories will be specified (ususally about four or five), such as :


Task achievement 
Organisation and cohesion
Style and genre
Range and accuracy of lexis
Accuracy of grammar
Complexity of grammar
Spelling and punctuation (if it's a written passage)
Pronunciation - sounds, stress, connected speech, (if it's a spoken text)
etc


If it's a spoken text, certain words will be written in phonemic script, so that you can analyse the pronunciation. This is usually a "gift" - only certain words will be transcribed, so by looking at them and the category of pronunciation specified, you should be able to identify at least one strength or weakness immediately.

It is essential that all the strengths and weaknesses you identify "fit" one of the categories which are specified. It's not enough, however, to identify a general category as a strength or weakness - you also need to identify specific features within that category. For example:

Weakness : Pronunciation - Indic'vidual sounds sounds.  /θ/ is consistently pronounced as /s/ - eg : /sʌndə/. 

Weakness : Spelling. Consistent mispelling of words containing vowel + y before  a suffix : eg He plaies tennis.  

Strength : Range and accuracy of lexis. Good range of phrasal and prepositional verbs including "non-transparent" items : eg, He takes after his father. 

Strength : Organisation. The text is divided into paragraphs, each with a clear topic, and the topic of each paragraph leads naturally into the next. Eg Para 1 = her immediate family - describes her mother and father. Para 2 = her extended family - follows the description of her father by moving on to describe his brothers and sisters. Para 3 = an explanation of why her aunt is so special for her.

Notice the use of the word "consistent" in  some of the answers. You are asked to identify key strengths and weaknesses - ie the ones that have a significant impact on the text or the learner's ability to use English. If there is only one example of a feature, it can't be said to be "key" - it might be just a slip. Look for recurrent features.

Notice too the layout of the answer :
1. An indication of whether it is a strength or weakness and the specified category
2. Definition of the specific problem
3. An example from the text

Because your focus is on the specific items, you may find more than one item for each category, and there may be both strengths and weaknesses in the same category. For example, above we've identified the pronunciation of a specific sound as a pronunciation weakness, but if the category specified was Pronunciation: individual sounds and features of connected speech, you might also include ...

Strength: Pronunciation - connected speech. Consistent use of weak form pronunciation, using the schwa - eg, we went for /fə/ lunch  

Similarly, we might also add the following points, which again focus on the same category that we specified above as weaknesses, but on a different aspect:

Strength: Range and accuracy of lexis - good range of adjectives describing the personality of her relatives : She is the most extrovert person in our family.

Strength : Communicative success - use of circumlocution when she does not know a lexical item : I wanted to buy - erm,  those things you wear on your eyes when you go swimming... erm, glasses for swimming.

Missed some of the other articles in this series? You'll find links to all of them here - just scroll down the page. But if you're preparing for the Delta Module One, don't forget that you'll find a lot more information about all the tasks in the exam, with sample questions and answers, plus advice for tackling the questions in the Handbook for Tutors and Candidates  published by Cambridge. Click on the link to download it.

And don't forget either that extracts from our Module One course are posted every Tuesday on our companion blog The Delta Course. Check it out weekly. You'll find input and activities to help you with all the activities in the exam.