Revised FCE and CAE exams 2015
… and above all, I shall do no harm.
Belgrade April 2014
Bob Obee
Professional Support Leader
Lesson Paths
http://bit.ly/QcCH55
Performance - CAE
• Serbia performance vs top 10 countries – 2012
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
*June session only
Reading
Germany
Mexico
Serbia
Czech Rep
Italy
Russia
Switzerland
France
Romania
Bulgaria
Writing
Bulgaria
Germany
Serbia
Czech Rep
Russia
Italy
Switzerland
Portugal
Agrentina
Romania
Use of Eng
Bulgaria
Serbia
Agrentina
Poland
Romania
Germany
Czech Rep
Russia
Italy
Mexico
Listening
Germany
Portugal
Switzerland
Serbia
Bulgaria
Czech Rep
Poland
Romania
France
Mexico
Speaking
Germany
Mexico
Serbia
Czech Rep
Romania
Russia
Switzerlan
France
Poland
Bulgaria
Serbia Results 2013
FCE
Downward
COUNTRY
Serbia
GRADE A
GRADE B
GRADE C
Certification Level
FAIL
22.6%
31.8%
34.5%
9.8%
1.2%
CAE
Serbia
18.4%
24.2%
38.4%
16.2%
2.9%
13.7%
20.4%
39.8%
21.7%
4.4%
CPE
Serbia
Findings
• FCE and CAE in future
• over 70% of respondents wanted shorter exams
• a majority favoured a four paper format
• combined Reading and Use of English most favoured
• content should be suitable for study purposes, work/career
advancement, as well as for general purposes
Summary of new FCE(fS) format
FCE and FCEfS from 2015
Paper/timing
Content
Reading
and
Use of English
75 min
Part 1 4-option MC cloze
Part 2 Open cloze
Part 3 Word formation
Part 4 Key word transformations
Part 5 4-option multiple choice
Part 6 Gapped text
Part 7 Multiple matching
Writing
80 min
Part 1 one compulsory question (essay)
Part 2 one question from a choice of three (four for FCEfS). Set text option for FCEfS only
Listening
40 min (approx.)
Part 1 3-option multiple choice
Part 2 Sentence completion
Part 3 Multiple matching
Part 4 3-option multiple choice
Speaking
14 min
Part 1 Interview
Part 2 Individual long turns
Part 3/4 Collaborative task and follow-up discussion
Total timing: 3 hours 29 minutes (current exam 3 hours 59 minutes)
Summary of new CAE format
CAE from 2015
Paper/timing
Content
Reading
and
Use of English
90 min
Part 1 4-option MC cloze
Part 2 Open cloze
Part 3 Word formation
Part 4 Key word transformations
Part 5 4-option multiple choice
Part 6 Cross-text multiple matching
Part 7 Gapped text
Part 8 Multiple matching
Writing
90 min
Part 1 one compulsory question (essay)
Part 2 one question from a choice of three. No set text option
Listening
40 min (approx.)
Part 1 3-option multiple choice
Part 2 Sentence completion
Part 3 4-option multiple choice
Part 4 Multiple matching
Speaking
15 min
Part 1 Interview
Part 2 Individual long turns
Part 3/4 Collaborative task and follow-up discussion
Total timing: 3 hours 55 minutes (current exam 4 hours 40 minutes)
FCE(fS) and CAE Reading and Use of English
• Summary of main changes
• all current FCE(fS), and most current CAE R and UE tasks retained in
shortened formats (current CAE R short texts and CAE UE gapped
sentences tasks dropped)
• new cross-text multiple matching task developed for CAE, enhancing the
academic coverage of the test
• UE tasks before R tasks in the new format
• progression from FCE to CPE clearer
New CAE Reading task
• Four reviews of a book.
• Which reviewer
• A
37 has a different view from the others on
the confidence with which Botton
discusses architecture
• B
38 shares reviewer B’s opinion of the
significance of Botton’s book
• C
• C
FCE(fS) and CAE Writing
• Summary of main changes
• both FCE(fS) and CAE to include new compulsory essay in Part 1
• FCEfS to include a modified ‘story’ task in Part 2, while the ‘report’ as an
output text type has been dropped. There will be a single set text
included, rather than the current two.
• FCE will retain the ‘report’ text type, but will not include the story. There
will be no set text option.
• CAE Part 2 will no longer include ‘article’ or ‘information sheet’ as output
text types. There will be no set text option.
• the output word ranges have been increased for both exams
• Writing Part 1 question
FCE Part 1 Writing question
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In your English class you have been talking about education. Now your
teacher has asked you to write an essay for homework.
Write your essay using all the notes and giving your point of view.
Some parents teach their children at home rather than sending them to
school. Is this a good or a bad thing for the children ?
Write about
- Having a teacher as a parent
- making friends
- ___________ your own ideas.
• Modified Speaking Part 3 Task
FCE(fS) and CAE Speaking
• Summary of main changes
• FCE(fS) and CAE Part 1 Phase 2 modified to reduce the number of follow
up questions. FCE(fS) includes 12 questions grouped in three categories.
CAE includes eight discrete questions. Part 1 timing reduced by one
minute
• FCE(fS) Part 2 the ‘listening candidate question’ (LCQ) has been extended
slightly to allow for a more meaningful contribution from the listening
candidate (similar to CAE)
• FCE(fS) and CAE Part 3 visuals replaced with written prompts. Task now
split into two to include a discussion phase and a decision-making phase
• FCE(fS) and CAE Part 4 timing extended by one minute
• Modified Speaking Part 3 Task
CAE Part 3 extract
CAE Part 3
Impact on teaching
• Writing : [discursivity]
• we will probably want to emphasise
paragaph shape and paragraph
development more
Paragraph Development
Coherence : putting it together
Main ideas
Language for developing ideas
Shameful lack of government
investment in research.
cause and effect
This leads/has led to
This can impact on
As a direct result, economies
Renewable energy is a security as
well as an environmental issue.
explanation
This is obvious if you consider…
What this means in reality is ..
Thus, today ….
Such problems have been made worse
Fossil fuel resources are rapidly
depleting.
evidence
One /another example of this is …..
Approximately/Only around 10 %
It is estimated that …
You only have to look ….
Impact on teaching
• Speaking [discursivity]
• we will probably want to emphasise turn
shape and turn development more
CAE Part 3
Turn shape
• Focusing :
• Extending :
• Rounding Off :
Focusing
• My parents would
say..
• For me, personally..
• What’s crucial here …
• Most school-leavers…
• ..I think this one is
very different for men
and women…
• In the past …
CAE Part 3
A good Part 3 candidate will..
•
•
•
•
•
•
actively listen …
support and comment ….
seek and help to clarify
initiate and respond …
probe and question ….
help navigate …..
• …….. agreeing / disagreeing …. tend to seek
closure
Encourage simple ‘across turn’ strategies
for development in Parts 3 and 4
• Across turn
•
…And
….But
….That’s
Exam teacher roles
Doctors in a sense
•
…..…
I, the exam teacher, shall do my utmost to
engage you with language through and
around the exam and to train you in all its
aspects, shedding light into its darker
corners ... and thereby enhancing your
accuracy, dexterity and fluency in
English..and above all I shall do no harm
….and above all I shall do no harm
•
Slavish ‘exam practice’ can potentially do
harm in terms of ..
• - demotivation
•
•
- not optimising opportunities for language
development
•
- potential re-enforcement of poor strategies
Exam Teaching Mix
• Exam practice
• Exam Training
[full specification, comprehensive ]
[ modified tasks , task platform ]
• Exam awareness-raising
• [familiarisation , post-task review and reflection ]
Exam Practice
Authentic
• looks like the test
• no modification of test feature
e.g. text length
• full range of test item difficulty
• requires total strategy
engagement
• is just there
and above all I shall do no harm
Genuine
• looks like some of the test
• some modification of test feature
e.g. text length
• part range of test item difficulty
• can prioritise/delimit strategy
engagement
• can be used within a progressive
cycle
Authentic v Genuine
1 You only get depressed because you worry.
If you _______ not get so depressed NOT
0 1 2 3
2 You’re always blaming me for things that go wrong. 0 1 2 3
Whenever _____________ me ANYTHING
3 I didn’t phone because I didn’t know you were back 0 1 2 3
I _____________ I’d known you were back. IF
FCE Reading and USE
One day : One focus
•
poss comprehenssustainbiodegradvalusuitexhaustrenewreverscompat-
accessaffordflexfashionresponsprofitvisfeasdesirreus-
CAE Reading and Use
• -able
• -ible
One day : One focus [or maybe 2]
• poss accesscomprehens- afford• sustainflexbiodegrad- fashionvaluresponssuitprofitexhaustvisrenewfeasreversdesircompatreus-
CAE Reading and Use
•
•
•
•
•
un –
im –
ir –
nonin-
Exam Practice
CAE Reading and Use
Tidal Energy
Based in Sheffield [UK] Pulse Tidal is a company
that has developed an 1 ______ machine that
generates electrical power from the ocean tides;
providing electricity that is clean and 2 ______
and unlike other 3 ______ energy sources totally
4 _________.
Our power comes from the current created as the
tides ebb and flow, a motion as 5 _______ as the
rising and setting of the sun
AFFORD
VISION
NEW
PREDICT
RELY
Exam Training
provide a task and interactive class
platform
..that allows you to explore with students the discreet
target skills implied by the different test tasks ...
..that allows you to meaningfully explore student current
skills and strategies and engage them cognitively and
affectively with the content.
...train you in all its aspects
•
•
Multiple-choice elimination
I shifted uncomfortably inside my best suit and eased a finger inside the tight
white collar. It was hot in the little bus and I had taken a seat on the wrong side
where the summer sun beat on the windows. It was a strange outfit for the
weather, but a few miles ahead my future employer might be waiting for me and
had to make a good impression.
There was a lot depending on this interview. Many friends who had qualified
with me were unemployed or working in shops or as labourers in the shipyards. S
many that I had almost given up hope of any future for myself as a veterinary
surgeon.
•
•
•
•
•
1 As he travelled, the writer regretted his choice of
A
B clothes.
C career.
D means of transport.
FCE Reading and Use
FCE Writing
[communicative achievement
register]
Exam awareness :
deeper familiarity with test
Completing mark sheets
Using/allocating time
Assessment and weighting
Awareness of question shape
Awareness of question focus
Effective test strategies for question
shedding light into its darker corners....
Lack of test awareness may lead a candidate
to …
 overlook required and/or possible feature of an answer
 use an ineffective or less effective strategy
 wander off-task
 spend too long on one part of a paper or not make effective
use of time
shedding light into its darker corners....
Familiarisation
44 Do you think you could help me to fill in this application
form? WONDERING +
I ………………..……………….. me a hand filling in this
application form.
48 Unless the weather improves, they will have to stop the
tennis match. +MEAN+
If the weather doesn’t get …………………….. ……… the
tennis match.
Answer Awareness
• 44 was wondering if/_____ ][ you could/____/might
___/give
• 48 (___) better ][ it will mean stopping
• ][ shows where the answer is
• split into two parts for marking
• purposes.
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FCE, FCE for Schools and CAE from
2015
Thank you