Jamaica and the Caribbean
Region Mathematics and
English Skills (3850)
Delivery Guidance for Stage
1 English (3850-201)
2021
V1 April 2021
Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................ 2
STRUCTURE OF THE ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................................. 2
RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
TYPES OF QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 3
READING SECTION ..................................................................................................................................................................3
WRITING SECTION ..................................................................................................................................................................8
CLIMATE CHANGE WORD LISTS .................................................................................................................................. 14
Introduction
This document is intended to support teachers with the delivery of teaching and learning in preparation for
the 3850 Reading and Writing Stage 1 2021 examination.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to present us all with considerable challenges in relation to how
teaching, learning and assessment can take place during 2020-21. Many young people have not returned
to consistent face-to-face teaching since March 2020 when Jamaican schools closed as a result of the
Covid-19 pandemic and many are finding it difficult to maintain their engagement with a long term
online/distance learning set up. City & Guilds recognise the teaching and learning challenges that are being
faced by centres and in response has produced this delivery guidance document to be used in conjunction
with the 3850 Qualification Handbook.
Structure of the Assessment
• This examination has a total of 40 marks available.
• The Reading section has 26 marks and the Writing section has 14 marks.
• The duration of the paper is 2 hours.
• Candidates must have access to a dictionary.
Resources
The following resources are available on the City & Guilds website to assist with teaching and learning:
•
Chief Examiner Annual Reports: These annual reports provide detailed information on areas
where learners commonly performed well in past examination series and where there are common
development requirements. There are often consistencies in areas where learners perform well and
where there is a need for development over time, and these reports can guide teachers towards the
assessment criteria that require focus when planning teaching and learning.
•
Sample Papers: There are a range of sample papers available on the City & Guilds website.
These are papers that have been used in previous years and provide a comprehensive guide to the
level of demand, scope and expectations of the paper.
Pass Marks for Sample Papers
Sample Paper
2021 Sets 10 & 11 Stage 1
Pass
19
Merit
27
Distinction
35
Types of Questions
For 2021, the examination will focus on the topic of Climate Change.
Here are some explanations of what learners are expected to demonstrate for different types of questions
that appear within the examination. These explanations are supported by some examples from previous
papers.
Reading Section
Question Type
Purpose of the
document
Marks
Explanation
Available
1
In recent series we’ve seen that candidates generally do well in understanding
the purpose of the text and the main point of the text, but it is still important that
teaching and learning takes place around the different formats of the text and
the language that each uses.
This is tested using a multiple-choice question.
The main point of
the document
1
In this question candidates will be asked to identify the statement that indicates
what the document is about. It is important that the candidates read the whole
of the document before answering this question.
An example of this type of question is:
What is Document 1 about?
a) Going on a rollercoaster.
b) Doing an unusual sport.
c)
Running races up a hill.
d) Watching Olympic movies.
Tick
the correct answer.
This is tested using a multiple-choice question.
The use of a
dictionary
1
The dictionary question continues to be an issue for some candidates who
infer meaning from their own knowledge, sometimes incorrectly, rather than
refer to a dictionary for the exact meaning. Candidates must have access to,
and be taught to use, a dictionary.
An example of this type of question is:
‘Use a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word skills that has been used
in Document 2. Write the definition here.’
Tip: Candidates will always be told which document the word is in.
Spelling errors
1
Candidates are generally asked to find a spelling error in the first and last
paragraph (or box at the end). Candidates can find locating the misspelt word
in the last paragraph more challenging, so they should be advised to pay extra
care and caution when looking for this error.
An example of this type of question is:
‘There is a spelling error in the first paragraph of the document. Write the
correct spelling here.’
Question Type
Marks
Available
Explanation
Tip: Make sure candidates can identify what is meant by ‘the first paragraph’
so they are confident on where to look for the error.
1
An example of this type of question is:
‘There is a spelling error in the last paragraph of the document. Write the
correct spelling here.’
Tip: Make sure candidates can identify what is meant by ‘the last paragraph’
so they are confident on where to look for the error.
Caption or title for
an image
1
Candidates will be given an image and asked to select the caption they think
best relates to it.
This is tested using a multiple-choice question.
Names of layout
features
1
Candidates will be asked to name one layout feature used in a particular
document. It is the name of the feature that is required. Candidates should not
quote the wording from the text or state where it has been used in the text.
Tips:
• Make sure candidates are familiar with a range of layout features and
their technical names.
• Make sure candidates name the layout features rather than copying out
the relevant section of the text.
• Refer to Marking Guides from sample papers for possible answers.
Question Type
Fill in the form
Marks
Available
8
Explanation
There are four parts to this question type:
• completing personal details fields
• writing a sentence
• identifying an instruction
• proofreading.
Further guidance and break down of marks are given below.
Candidates generally do well here, but the sentence on the form continues to
be challenging each year.
An example of the form is:
Application form
Looking for work?
Tell us what type of work you
are looking for and we will help
you find your dream job.
Complete your personal details
Full Name: ___________________________________________
Address:
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Telephone Number: _______________________
Write one sentence telling us about your dream job.
______________________________________________________________
Send your form to: application@joblife.co.ja
Form subcomponent
3
Completing
personal details
fields
Form subcomponent
Write one
sentence
Candidates get one mark for completing each of the following fields: the
name, address and telephone number.
The details do not have to be their actual personal details.
Candidates need to demonstrate that they understand what is required for
each field and can apply correct form filling conventions.
3
Candidates are asked to write one sentence on the form. They are not
penalised if they write more.
There is one mark for spelling, one mark for punctuation and one mark for
grammar.
Question Type
Marks
Available
Explanation
Learners need to remember that the sentence is required to make good
grammatical sense and that they need to use correct punctuation and
grammar throughout the sentence, particularly at the start and end of the
sentence.
A marked example is annotated below:
This candidate would receive 0 marks. The break down for this is given below:
Area
Marks
Reason
Awarded
Spelling
0
Become appears as two separate words: be
come
Punctuation
0
C in come and C in chefs are in upper and not
lowercase.
The sentence did start with an initial capital
letter and end with a full stop, but the use of
uppercase C lost the punctuation mark.
Grammar
0
Use of chefs and not the singular chef.
Tips:
• Ensure that candidates’ handwriting displays a clear difference
between upper and lowercase letters.
• Make sure that candidates always start their sentence with a capital
letter and end it with an appropriate end of sentence marker.
Form subcomponent
1
Identify an
instruction on
the form
Form subcomponent
Tip: Underlining or highlighting on the form is acceptable. There is also space
for candidates to write the instruction out under the question on the paper, this
is also acceptable.
1
Proofreading the
form
Missing capital
letters
The form contains a number of instructions and candidates only need to
identify and circle one of them.
Candidates are asked to sign to confirm they have proofread only the
sentence they have written on the form, not the whole form
Tip: Ensure candidates recognise the requirement to sign when they have
proofread their sentence on the form.
2
Candidates are required to demonstrate their understanding of how capital
letters are used at the start of the sentence or for proper nouns.
Candidates are asked to circle the letters that should be in capitals.
Tip: Underlining or highlighting is acceptable.
An example is given below:
Mary seacole was born in Jamaica and learned nursing from her
mother. Mary later explored the Caribbean all on her own. she visited
Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas when she grew up. Mary loved the
Caribbean.
Question Type
Missing
punctuation
Marks
Available
2
Explanation
Candidates are required to understand the need for a full stop, question mark
or exclamation mark at the end of a sentence. At Stage 1 candidates are not
tested on any other punctuation, they should be advised of this.
An example of this type of question is:
‘In this text there is a missing punctuation mark at the end of two of the
sentences.’
Candidates are asked to put in the missing punctuation marks.
The next Olympic Games will be in Japan Competitors train very hard to
get a place. Only the best in the world can go there. Would you like to
be one of them
Alphabetical
ordering
1
Candidates are required to put the words in alphabetical order. Candidates
can number the words in the box or fill in the lines 1 to 6.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
advert
good
job
skills
team
train
Tip: Candidates will not be penalised for writing the words for this question in
lower or uppercase, they are being assessed on their ability to order words
alphabetically.
Identification of
information
Multiple
The remaining questions are multiple choice or short answer questions that
deal with identification of information.
Tips:
• Candidates do not need to write out the question in their answers and
they will not be asked to write out complete sentences.
•
Candidates need to read questions carefully and locate information in
the text rather than just picking out individual words or phrases that
they believe to be correct without reading the whole text.
•
The marks against each question on the Reading paper will tell
candidates how many answers are required. For example, 1 mark is
one answer, 2 marks are two answers.
Please note:
The only places where spelling, punctuation and grammar are tested in the Reading section are when:
identifying spelling errors in the source documents
completing the sentence required on the form
identifying where the missing capital letters are in a piece of text
inserting missing punctuation in a piece of text.
Writing Section
The Writing section is presented in a consistent format in every examination series, but the topic focus will
change. The Stage 1 Writing paper in 2021 is on the topic of Climate Change.
In this section the candidate is required to plan and create a piece of writing.
See example question below:
Write about a job you would really like to do.
You must explain:
• what the job is
• why you would like to do this job
• what skills and knowledge are needed
Use these bullet points to help you think about what you are going to write.
Write between 75 – 150 words. You must write at least 75 words.
Plan
Candidates are given space within the examination paper to plan their ideas for the writing. There is one
mark available for candidates creating a suitable plan. The plan must address each of the bullet points to
achieve this mark. Each point can be a word, phrase or sentence.
Key points for teaching and learning:
•
Candidates need to be aware that their responses must address each of the bullet points, and
that it is not sufficient to just copy the bullet points given, into the space allocated for their plan.
•
The plan needs to reflect the bullet points with a word or phrase against each bullet. Some
candidates write “introduction”, “middle” and “end” with no further detail or divide the space for the
plan up into four segments and number each one. This does not attract the mark for a plan.
•
Candidates do not have to write what, why, where or number the points, but just indicate they have
understood what the plan requires and show that it will inform their writing.
•
There is no set format that the candidate must present their plan in, but they must demonstrate their
ability to plan their writing.
TIP:
Candidates sometimes use the plan box to write a rough draft. Candidates should be made aware that this
does not achieve any marks and reduces the time that they need to complete the marked writing task.
Worked Examples
Here are two examples of a plan, in answer to the question in the example above. One of them achieves no
marks, the other one mark.
Example of a response that does not achieve a mark
This candidate only wrote the ‘skills needed’ in their plan. They did not cover the bullet points for ‘what the
job is’, or ‘why they would like to do this job’, therefore they did not get the mark for this question.
Example of a response that does achieves a mark
Children’s doctor
I love children
Good communication skills, well organised and know how to listen
This plan covers all 3 bullet points:
• What the job is – “Children’s doctor”
• Why you would like to do this job – “I love children”
• What skills and knowledge are needed - “Good communication skills, well organised and know how
to listen
TIP: Candidates are not penalised for spelling, grammar and punctuation in the plan
Producing a piece of writing
At Stage 1 there is no prescribed format for the writing. Candidates are not asked to write a particular
document type such as a letter, article or report, just a piece of writing to address the question. However,
there will always be three bullet points that candidates must cover in their plan and in their writing.
Here is the candidate’s piece of writing after the plan indicating typical errors.
The table below shows how marks were awarded for the piece of writing against the marks available.
Writing
Length (min 75
words)
Content (covers
3 bullet points)
Legible
Marks
available
1
Mark
awarded
1
Notes
94 words
3
3
The job is a children’s doctor, wanted to do this job as I
love children, skills are knowing how to communicate and
listen.
Full 3 marks for content as each bullet point has been
covered.
1
1
Text is legible.
TIP: It is extremely important that candidates use a black
or blue pen and not a pencil or crayon as this affects the
legibility of the script.
Paragraphs
1
0
Writing needs to be organised in short paragraphs and a
minimum of two paragraphs seen to achieve a mark.
Sequencing
1
1
Writing is in a sequenced order. Planning assists with
sequencing.
Spelling
2
2
Using the Table of Errors
4 errors for the length of the writing, so the full 2 marks are
given. The same spelling error is only penalised once.
Punctuation
2
2
Using the Table of Errors
2 errors for the length of writing, so the full 2 marks are
given. The same punctuation error for using capital letters
incorrectly (apart from start of sentence and proper nouns)
is only penalised once. The exception to this is the use of
the lowercase I for the personal pronoun, which is
penalised up to a maximum of 2 marks.
Grammar
2
0
Using the Table of Errors
9 errors for the length of writing, so 0 marks. Grammar
errors are penalised every time.
The spelling, punctuation and grammar errors are awarded on the basis of the Tables of Errors below:
Spelling
Marks
2
1
0
Errors in a text of
0-40 words
0-2
3+
Punctuation
Errors in a text of
Marks
0-40 words
2
1
0-2
0
3+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Grammar
Marks
2
1
0
Errors in a text of
0-40 words
0-2
3+
Worked Example
As this candidate’s writing was 94 words in length it could access:
Spelling – 2 marks
Errors in a text of
Marks
0-40 words
2
1
0-2
0
3+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Punctuation – 2 marks
Errors in a text of
Marks
0-40 words
2
1
0-2
0
3+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Grammar – 0 marks
Errors in a text of
Marks
0-40 words
2
1
0-2
0
3+
Errors in a text of
41-74 words
0-2
3-4
5+
Errors in a text of
75-150 words
0-4
5-8
9+
Errors in a text of
150+ words
0-6
7-10
11+
Common errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar at Stage 1.
Spelling
•
•
•
Punctuation
•
•
Grammar
•
Candidates sometimes use “text speak” and a number of spellings that reflect
American and not Standard Jamaican English.
The following frequent errors are noted: ‘alot’ for ‘a lot’, ‘apart’ for ‘a part’, ‘them
selves’ not ‘themselves’, ‘chief’ not ‘chef’, ‘cause’ not ‘because’, ‘writting’ not ‘writing’,
‘brakes’ not ‘breaks’.
Candidates also abbreviate. They use of short forms, Rd (road), St (Street), Ave
(Avenue), pics (pictures), yrs (years). These are all counted as spelling errors.
Many candidates mis-use capital letters within words, eg senTenc, but also where
words are not proper nouns and do not start sentences. This results in them being
penalised for the incorrect use of uppercase and is most often seen with the letters, A,
C, F, H, J, K, L, M, O, S, T, P, V and W. However, other letters are frequently
incorrectly capitalised.
The use of ‘i’ as opposed to ‘I’ when candidates refer to themselves is frequently seen
and this contributes to the loss of punctuation marks.
•
The main issues with grammar continue to be subject verb agreement and
inconsistent use of tenses, both singular and plural. For example, have, has (often
seen as, ‘as’) and had, and the incorrect use of the indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’.
The omission and/or the incorrect use of definite and indefinite articles also appears to
be a challenge, eg ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘an’. For example, the sentence below is missing ‘an’
before “event planner”:
•
There continues to be confusion with the use of the, they, there, their and they’re.
Climate Change word lists
A word list is provided to aid teaching and learning every year. This word list covers vocabulary pertinent to
the topic for the reading and writing and speaking and listening papers. Teachers should ensure that
candidates are familiar with and understand the meaning of these words. The following is the word list for
Stage 1 paper on Climate Change:
accommodation
adventurous
advertise
advice
bamboo
be in season
benefit
checklist
chilled
consider
cookery
course
creative
crop
damage
delete
dump
eco-friendly
eco-warrior
energy
environment
episode
experience
facilities
field
freshwater
gardening
green tourist
guest
hammock
harvest
healthier
hiking
hut
ingredients
invent
landfill
load
locally grown
location
mountainous
organic
overall
planet
podcast
pollute/pollution
popular
power (verb)
public transport
recipe
recycle
refrigerator/fridge
reuse
review
rising
save
sign up
skills
store
temperature
terrible
tinned
to end up
waste
well fed