IGCSE information/ESL/ English As a Foreign Language
2 June 2010
IGCSE information
IGCSE
English as a Second Language (ESL)
Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL)
(4ES0)
First examination 2011
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Teacher’s guide
Edexcel, a Pearson company, is the UK’s largest awarding body, offering academic and
vocational qualifications and testing to more than 25,000 schools, colleges, employers and other
places of learning in the UK and in over 100 countries worldwide. Qualifications include GCSE,
IGCSE, AS and A Level, NVQ and our BTEC suite of vocational qualifications from entry level
to BTEC Higher National Diplomas, recognised by employers and higher education institutions
worldwide.
We deliver 9.4 million exam scripts each year, with more than 90% of exam papers marked
onscreen annually. As part of Pearson, Edexcel continues to invest in cutting-edge technology
that has revolutionised the examinations and assessment system. This includes the ability to
provide detailed performance data to teachers and students which help to raise attainment.
Acknowledgements
This guide has been produced by Edexcel on the basis of consultation with teachers, examiners,
consultants and other interested parties. Edexcel would like to thank all those who contributed
their time and expertise to its development.
Edexcel is grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material.
Page 23, from the Exodus website: www.exodus.co.uk
Page 26, Worksheet from Learner Independence Worksheets, Jenny Timmer,
published 1997 by IATEFL, ISBN 1901095258
References to third-party material made in this document are made in good faith. Edexcel does
not endorse, approve or accept responsibility for the content of materials, which may be subject
to change, or any opinions expressed therein. (Material may include textbooks, journals,
magazines and other publications and websites.)
Authorised by Roger Beard
Prepared by Alice Jones
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Edexcel Limited 2008
Introduction
The Edexcel International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) in English as a
Second Language (ESL) is designed for schools and colleges. It is part of a suite of IGCSE
qualifications offered by Edexcel.
About this guide
This guide is for teachers who are delivering, or planning to deliver, the Edexcel IGCSE in
English as a Second Language (ESL) qualification. The guide supports you in delivering the
course content and explains how to raise the achievement of your students. The guide:
• expands on the information on examination requirements given in the specification
• explains the related assessment procedures
• suggests teaching approaches
• gives examples of course planning.
Contents
Why choose this qualification? 1
Support from Edexcel 2
Section A: Qualification content 3
Introduction 3
Information for Edexcel centres 4
Section B: Assessment 5
Assessment overview 5
Assessment Objectives and weightings 6
Assessment summary 6
Examination questions 11
Using the mark scheme 14
Section C: Planning and teaching 15
Course planner 15
Approaches to teaching 16
Teaching ideas 17
Appendices 29
Appendix 1: Notes on assessment and the assessment criteria 31
Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
1
Why choose this qualification?
The Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) incorporates a range of task types,
levels and skills. The task types are designed to enable students to demonstrate their abilities in
ways which can be assessed sensitively and reliably.
The mark schemes recognise this spectrum of ability which means that achievement in the
tests can be reported across the whole range of grades.
This qualification offers:
• Single tier covering grades A* to G.
• Reading and writing skills tested separately in Paper 1.
• Listening tested separately in Paper 2.
• Speaking communication skills assessed and endorsed separately in Paper 3.
• Assessment opportunities in the June examination series.
• Topics relate to the interests of students using English as a second language to
communicate, for example in study and leisure situations.
• Contexts and settings will be familiar to students, for example school, the media.
• Authentic reading and listening texts which are culturally sensitive.
• Tests aimed at Level B2 of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework.
Go to www.edexcel.com/igcse2009 for more information about this IGCSE and related
resources. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
2
Support from Edexcel
We are dedicated to giving you exceptional customer service. Details of our main support
services are given below. They will all help you to keep up to date with IGCSE 2009.
Website
Our dedicated microsite www.edexcel.com/igcse2009 is where you will find the resources and
information you need to successfully deliver IGCSE qualifications. To stay ahead of all the
latest developments visit the microsite and sign up for our email alerts.
Ask Edexcel
Ask Edexcel is our free, comprehensive online enquiry service. Use Ask Edexcel to get the
answer to your queries about the administration of all Edexcel qualifications. To ask a question
please go to www.edexcel.com/ask and fill out the online form.
Ask the Expert
This free service puts teachers in direct contact with over 200 senior examiners, moderators and
external verifiers who will respond to subject-specific queries about IGCSE 2009 and other
Edexcel qualifications.
You can contact our experts via email or by completing our online form. Visit
www.edexcel.com/asktheexpert for contact details.
Regional offices
If you have any queries about the IGCSE 2009 qualifications, or if you are interested in offering
other Edexcel qualifications your Regional Development Manager can help you. Go to
www.edexcel.com/international for details of our regional offices.
Head Office — London
If you have a question about IGCSE 2009 and are not sure who you need to ask email us on
IGCSE2009@edexcel.com or call our Customer Services Team on +44 (0) 1204770696.
Training
A programme of professional development and training courses, covering various aspects of the
specification and examination is available. Go to www.edexcel.com for details. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
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Section A: Qualification content
Introduction
Edexcel’s IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) has been designed for
students who are either obtaining their secondary education through English as a medium of
instruction, or who are studying English in order to enhance their educational or employment
prospects. It is appropriate for teaching in both schools and colleges.
Key subject aims
• To develop student understanding of a wide variety of complex reading texts, recognising
implicit meaning and adapting their own style and speed of reading to different texts and
purposes.
• To enable students to understand standard spoken language, whether live or broadcast, on
unfamiliar and familiar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or
vocational contexts.
• To enable students to write clear, well-structured text using an appropriate style,
highlighting relevant issues, expanding and supporting their points of view where relevant
and showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
• To develop students’ ability to express themselves fluently, spontaneously and appropriately
in a range of speaking contexts with little obvious searching for expressions or use of
avoidance strategies.
• To develop the skills needed for further study or employment either in English-speaking
countries or where English is used as the main medium of communication for business and
commerce.
• To develop an understanding of the nature of language in different cultural contexts in order
to build up effective communication skills.
Assessment
• Edexcel’s IGCSE in ESL is aimed at students who are at Level B2 of the Council of
Europe’s Common European Framework.
• Reading, writing and listening skills are assessed through two examination papers.
• Grades A* to G.
• Speaking is assessed through a face-to-face interview. The speaking test is optional and
endorsed separately. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
4
Information for Edexcel centres
The Edexcel IGCSE in ESL qualification was first made available in the summer of 2006. It
was reviewed in the summer of 2008, but there have been no significant changes. However
some minor adjustments have been made to the speaking and writing assessment criteria (see
pages 15 and 17 of the specification).
For more information on the content of the examination papers, please refer to the specification
and sample assessment materials. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
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Section B: Assessment
This section should be read in conjunction with the specification. It is designed to help you
understand the Assessment Objectives and assessment criteria. You need to be clear about how
the Assessment Objectives are covered in the various task types and, in the case of Writing and
Speaking, measured through the assessment criteria. With a single tier of entry, it is important
that students know the level of competence and performance expected.
Assessment overview
The table gives you an overview of the assessment for this course.
We recommend that you make this information available to students so that they are fully
prepared and know exactly what to expect in each assessment.
Paper 1 Percentage Marks Time Availability
Reading and Writing 66 3
2
% of the
total IGCSE
marks
The total
number of
marks available
is 100.
(40 marks for
reading; 60
marks for
writing –
adjusted to
equal
weighting.)
2 hours June
examination
series
First
assessment
June 2011
Paper 2 Percentage Marks Time Availability
Listening 33 3
1
% of the
total IGCSE
marks
The total
number of
marks available
is 30.
45 minutes June
examination
series
First
assessment
June 2011
Optional Paper 3 Percentage Marks Time Availability
Speaking Separately
endorsed
The total
number of
marks available
is 20.
Approximately
12 minutes
June
examination
series
First
assessment
June 2011 Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
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Assessment Objectives and weightings
Papers 1 and 2
% in IGCSE
AO1-AO6: Reading (Paper 1) 33 3
1
%
AO7-AO10: Writing (Paper 1) 33 3
1
%
AO11-AO15: Listening (Paper 2) 33 3
1
%
TOTAL 100%
Optional Paper 3
% in spoken
language
AO16-AO18: Speaking 100%
TOTAL 100%
Assessment summary
Paper 1 Description Knowledge and skills
Reading
and
Writing
Reading – Section 1
Text types could include a collection of
short texts (for example advertisements),
timetables and leaflets (for example
giving advice).
Task types include multiple matching,
multiple-choice and short-answer
questions.
Skimming and scanning skills are tested.
Reading – Section 2
Students are required to read longer pieces
of text such as articles.
Task types include multiple-choice, short-
answer questions, Yes/No/Not Given or
True/False/Not Given questions, notes
completion and sentence completion.
Students read for both gist and detail.
Reading
AO1 understand the overall message of a
text
This AO concerns focus. Students need to be
able to grasp the writer’s main or basic
message, for example from a text that is
conveying information, giving advice,
providing an amusing account of past events.
This means that students need to be able to
identify the main points, and not become
confused or sidetracked by less important
points.
AO2 understand in detail a range of texts,
identifying finer points of detail
This AO concerns close focus. Students need
to identify points of fact and illustration
accurately, and show that they can see small
but salient differences between things. They
need to be able to do this in relation to a
variety of text types. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Paper 1 Description Knowledge and skills
Reading – Section 3
Students are required to read a long piece
of text or prose such as a report or article.
Texts could come from an academic
source but will be of general interest.
Task types include multiple-choice, short-
answer questions, Yes/No/Not Given or
True/False/Not Given questions, notes
completion, sentence completion and
diagram completion.
Students read for both gist and detail.
They need to be able to follow a line of
argument or discussion and to identify
attitudes and opinions expressed in the
text.
AO3 scan a range of texts in order to
locate relevant details
This AO reflects the widespread use of
scanning in real life, for example choosing
television programmes or films from listings,
suitable accommodation from brochures, or
deciding which talks to attend at a
conference. Students need to be able to see
and understand paraphrasing so that they can
match aspects listed in the questions to their
equivalents in the texts. This task is more
sophisticated than simply spotting the same
words in the questions and texts.
AO4 follow a line of discussion to its
logical conclusion
This AO concerns the development of ideas.
Students need to be able to see how one part
or step of an argument or idea follows on
from the previous one. To do this, students
need to know the linguistic devices that
writers use to bind their ideas together
causally and sequentially.
AO5 identify a writer’s viewpoint and
attitude, stated and implied
This AO concerns the student’s ability to
identify the writer’s underlying message
from the way information is presented in the
text. For example understanding that when
the writer says ‘a parcel didn’t arrive for
three days’, the writer thinks this is too slow.
The student’s ability to identify the writer’s
mood and attitude is assessed here.
Sometimes the writer’s viewpoint is openly
stated; sometimes the student needs to ‘read
between the lines’.
AO6 distinguish between facts, ideas and
opinions
This AO concerns evaluation. Students need
to be able to interpret and analyse
information with which they are presented.
Many texts do not present facts and attitudes
side by side for comparison. The reader has
to identify what characterises a text – the
reporting of undisputed fact, or the proposing
of hypothetical situations. This often relates
to why the writer produced the text – to
persuade, to inform, to warn, etc. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
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Paper 1 Description Knowledge and skills
Writing – Section 4
Students are asked to produce a factual
piece of writing, which can be a report or
an article. They will be given a short
description of a situation which sets out
the context and outlines what they should
include in their response.
Students will be given a context and a
target reader. They will have to present
information in an appropriate format and
style which addresses the needs of the
task. Students will be expected to write
between 100 and 150 words for this task.
Writing – Section 5
Students are asked to produce a short
piece of writing in response to a given
situation. This can be a letter, fax or email
and students may need to provide and ask
for required information. They may be
asked to respond to a letter, an advert or a
short article.
Students will need to respond
imaginatively to these situations, drawing
on their own experiences. Students will be
expected to write between 100 and 150
words.
Writing – Section 6
Students will need to read one or two
short texts of about 300-500 words and,
from their reading, produce a summary of
between 100 and 150 words for a given
purpose and reader. The input text will be
short, accessible and on a topic of general
interest. Information may be presented in
a variety of ways, including bullet points
or diagrams.
Students will be expected to produce a
semi-formal text using their own words
and phrases as much as possible. The
main purpose of this task is not to test
students’ reading ability.
Writing
AO7 write messages or letters conveying
information for a range of audiences and
purposes and covering a range of language
functions
This AO concerns the ability to respond to a
situation by presenting pieces of information
together in a format relevant to the
requirements of the reader and the context.
Students need to produce written texts which
respond to the various requirements of the
rubric and input for each task.
AO8 write clear, accurate, well-structured
longer texts on a range of subjects and for
a range of audiences and purposes
This AO concerns the ability to produce
longer responses to a variety of situations and
topics. Students need to be able to bring
together a range of linguistic resources into a
coherent and cohesive text.
AO9 write in a range of registers to fit the
context and the audience
This AO concerns the appropriateness of the
tone and style adopted. Students need to be
able to distinguish whether a situation is
formal, neutral or informal, and to use
linguistic features to form a suitable
response. For example, students need to
recognise that writing a letter to a potential
employer is a formal activity and requires an
appropriate formal letter.
AO10 summarise information provided to
them in text form for a given purpose and
audience
This AO concerns identifying and
condensing important information within a
text. Students need to be able to pick out the
facts that represent the main message of a
text and then reproduce them in their own
words. Students need to use linguistic
resources to support consistent and concise
writing. The written text they produce should
be complete, with a beginning and an end. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
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Paper 2 Description Knowledge and skills
Listening
Section 1
Students will listen to a short
monologue giving factual information,
for example public announcements,
radio reports, telephone messages or
pre-recorded information. Students
will be expected to listen for detailed
information.
Task types include note completion,
table completion, form completion,
sentence completion and multiple-
choice questions.
Section 2
Students will listen to a longer
recording which will be in the form of
a transactional dialogue where
speakers are participating in
negotiating meaning. They may have
to follow a discussion or an argument,
identify the attitudes and opinions of
the speakers or follow instructions.
Task types include note and sentence
completion, multiple-choice and short-
answer questions.
Section 3
Students will listen to a longer
recording which may be a monologue
in the form of a talk, or a dialogue in
the form of an interview or a guided
dialogue. They may have to listen to a
complex argument or discussion, and
will need to understand the overall
message as well as identify attitudes
and opinion.
Task types include note and sentence
completion, chart or table completion,
short-answer or multiple-choice
questions.
AO11 understand spoken English, spoken at
normal speed, likely to be encountered in
social, educational or employment contexts
This AO concerns the ability to follow and
process information in a range of everyday
situations. The English involved will contain
features of spoken language, such as hesitation
and turn-taking.
AO12 understand a wide range of recorded
material and identify essential and finer
points of detail
This AO concerns coping with many different
kinds of listening, such as recorded information
lines, radio interviews, informal conversations.
Students need to be able to recognise the context
of the listening extracts so that they can
concentrate on understanding the content.
AO13 understand a conversation between
two or more speakers where information is
being negotiated and exchanged
This AO concerns the ability to deal with
collaborative or conflictive discussion between
speakers. Students need to be able to determine
when and how ideas and information are being
confirmed, rejected or modified across speakers’
turns in conversation.
AO14 identify a speaker’s viewpoint and
attitude, stated and implied
This AO concerns perceiving what a speaker
means by what they say. While very similar to
AO5, it requires ‘live’ processing, at the speed at
which the speaker speaks.
AO15 distinguish between facts, ideas and
opinions
This AO concerns a thorough understanding of
the speaker’s purpose and the context. While
very similar to AO6, it requires ‘live’
processing, at the speed at which the speaker
speaks. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
10
Optional
Paper 3
Description Knowledge and skills
Speaking
Part 1: Introductory interview
(2-3 minutes)
The interlocutor introduces themselves and
asks the student a set of simple introductory
questions. These questions are based on a
familiar topic, such as home or leisure, and
the interlocutor works from a set of prompt
questions provided by Edexcel to guide the
conversation.
Part 2: Student talk (1 minute
preparation, plus 1-2-minute talk)
The interlocutor gives the student a task
card provided by Edexcel containing a
topic, some bullet points to stimulate ideas,
and a question relating to the topic. The
student is also given some paper and a pen
to make notes if they wish.
The student has one minute to prepare for
the talk, during which they may make
notes. These notes are collected by the
interlocutor at the end of the test and
destroyed by the centre. They are not
assessed.
The student is then asked to talk, for no
more than two minutes, about the given
topic. The student does not need to address
all the bullet points but they are expected
to address the specific question on the
task card in the allotted time.
Part 3: Extended discussion (maximum
5 minutes)
The interlocutor will lead the student into
an extended discussion on the topic used in
Part 2. The interlocutor will have a set of
questions provided by Edexcel from which
to choose questions ranging from the
concrete and familiar to the more complex
and abstract. The interlocutor should start
with more familiar and everyday contexts,
and give more-able students the opportunity
to address more abstract issues arising from
the chosen topic.
AO16 communicate in speech
comprehensibly and clearly
This AO concerns communicative ability,
content, pronunciation and fluency.
AO17 show the ability to cope with a
range of topics at different levels of
complexity
This AO concerns communicative ability
and content, and to some extent lexical
accuracy and range and grammatical
accuracy and range.
AO18 use a range of vocabulary,
grammar and structures appropriately
This AO concerns lexical accuracy and
range and also grammatical accuracy and
range.
Each set of Assessment Objectives is assessed entirely within that paper. There is some overlap
of activity, for example students will need to read questions and prompts in the Listening paper,
but marks are awarded only for performance in relation to the Assessment Objectives for that
specific task. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
11
Examination questions
The comments below are an indication of how each task type may be used for assessment. They
are not exhaustive or prescriptive.
Please refer to the sample assessment materials for example examination papers.
Paper 1
Reading: Sections 1 to 3
Multiple matching
Students could be asked to match a list of people’s requirements to advertised services, or to
match a list of pieces of information to paragraphs in a longer text. It is likely that the language
used in the list will paraphrase the language used in the texts. The list may contain the same
number of, more or fewer items than the number of sections of text. There will be at least one
‘distracter’ – another apparently possible answer – for each item on the list.
Multiple choice
Depending on the text and level, students may be asked which option is the correct answer to a
factual or interpretative question, or which best fills a gap in a sentence. Questions can range in
complexity from ‘What time did the train leave?’ to ‘What is the writer’s purpose in referring to
waterfalls?’ There could be three or four options – the number of options will always be the
same within a particular task. All options will appear plausible, but only one will be correct.
Yes/No, True/False/Not given
Students code each question according to the two- or three-way distinction presented by the
rubric. For example, each item in a list of sentences may contain information that is True or
False or Not Given according to the text. Not Given means that there is no information within
the text as to whether the statement is true or false. Yes or No responses might be required when
deciding whether opinions match those of the writer.
Short-answer questions
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type. Questions are formed in
such a way so that they can generally be answered in between one and three words. The words
needed for the answers are in the text and students answer by copying words, unchanged, from
the text. The number of words required is usually stated in the rubric. Students are not penalised
for writing unnecessary words (provided they make sense) or for spelling mistakes that do not
block understanding. Students should avoid copying whole sentences from the text since doing
so will not show that they have understood the task. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
12
Notes completion, sentence completion
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type. Prompts are formed in such
a way that the notes or sentences can be completed with one or a few words – the number may
be specified in the rubric. The answers are words in the text and students copy the words
unchanged. Extra words will not be penalised, nor will spelling errors. The prompts will contain
sufficient grammatical cues so that it is clear what part of speech is required in the gaps. The
notes or sentences to be completed will paraphrase information in the text. Again, students
should avoid copying whole sentences from the text.
Diagram completion
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type. This is a visual note
completion task, with students taking words from the text to label a diagram or other graphic.
The visual input is always clear and directly relevant to the text. It can be understood without
any external or world knowledge of the particular topic. It may represent an object, a process or
a set of data described in the text.
Please note, the responses to the reading questions can be found in the texts. Students will not
be expected to formulate answers based on what they have read. However, they will need to
make sure that their selected responses meet the question requirements grammatically and are
spelt correctly. This is particularly important in sentence or notes completion tasks. Students
must also ensure that their responses fit the number of words required as stated in the
instructions for each task.
For further information on acceptable student responses, please go to
www.edexcel.com/international and refer to the Examiners’ Report booklets.
Writing: Sections 4 to 6
Section 4: Report or article
Students are required to respond to a set of explicit instructions when producing their text. They
are given outline content, the nature of the text (for example where it will appear, who will read
it), the approximate length, and so on. These aspects of writing form part of the assessment.
Students will always be able to make use of their own experience and knowledge, or invent
relevant material.
Section 5: Correspondence: letter, fax or email
Students are required to respond appropriately. The task provides an input (description of a
situation, a letter or a published text to which to respond). Relevance forms part of the
assessment. The input will always be accessible to students.
Section 6: Summary
Students are required to produce a semi-formal text by condensing a longer input text. It is
explicit within the instructions for the task that language needs to be concise. Linguistic control
forms part of the assessment. Students are told the purpose of the text they produce.
For information on the Writing assessment criteria please refer to Appendix 1.
For further information on acceptable student responses, please go to the Edexcel website at
www.edexcel.com/international and refer to the Examiners’ Report booklets. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
13
Paper 2
Listening: Sections 1 to 3
With all the Listening task types, questions generally paraphrase information in the recording,
and are not all worded in exactly the same way. Students should not listen out for ‘dictated’
words, but should concentrate on following the meaning of what they hear.
Multiple choice
Depending on the level and complexity of the recording, students are asked which option is the
correct answer to a factual or interpretative question, or which best fills a gap in a sentence.
Questions can range in complexity from ‘What did the woman order to eat?’ to ‘Why does
Duncan believe the meeting will not achieve its aim?’ There are generally three options for each
question. Where the recording is a discussion, it is important for students to be clear about
which speaker the question refers to. The recordings will avoid having two men or two women
in conversation.
Short-answer questions
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type, which is usually used for
direct, factual information. The answers are all words heard in the recording, and students must
not change the form of the words they hear. The required answer will be either a number or one,
two or three words; this will be specified in the rubric.
Notes completion, sentence completion
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type. The prompts are designed to
show clearly what parts of speech should be used in forming the response. The answers are all
words heard in the recording, and students should not change the form of the words they hear.
The required answer will be either a number or one, two or three words; this will be specified in
the rubric.
Form, chart, table or diagram completion
Students need to write their answers out in words for this task type. This task type is similar to
notes or sentence completion. Each question is presented differently, according to the context
and to facilitate real-life tasks. The answers are all words heard in the recording, and students
should not change the form of the words they hear. The required answer will be either a number
or one, two or three words; this will be specified in the rubric. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
14
Paper 3
Speaking
Introductory interview
Students are required to respond to questions from the interlocutor that reflect the content and
style of everyday social interaction. The questions are designed to elicit responses that are
longer than single-word answers, but are not extended utterances. Students will be familiar with
the topics.
Student talk
Students are required to give a single, uninterrupted talk of at least one minute. The topic card
given to the student by the interlocutor sets out the situation. The content of the talk will come
from the student’s own experience, knowledge or ideas. Students are given time to prepare and
they can make notes. The assessment includes an evaluation of how the talk was organised, etc.
Any notes are destroyed after the test and are not assessed.
Extended discussion
Students are required to engage in a discussion with the interlocutor. The interlocutor will ask
questions that extend the topic covered in the student’s talk in the previous stage. Students will
need to respond to questions that explore areas of opinion and hypothesis; they are designed to
assess the upper limits of the student’s ability. Questions are framed to encourage students to
talk at length. No judgements are made on the views and opinions expressed by the student.
For information on the Speaking assessment criteria please refer to Appendix 1.
Using the mark scheme
The mark scheme gives the responses we expect from students. Indicative answers are given but
during the standardisation of examiners process the mark scheme is updated and expanded to
cover unexpected, correct student responses. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Section C: Planning and teaching
Course planner
This guide does not recommend or suggest a course structure. There are several reasons for this.
• This IGCSE is studied for different reasons, and in different contexts. These differences will
affect how the course is prepared.
• In some settings, this IGCSE will be taken alongside other IGCSEs, in effect taking the
place of a first language IGCSE in English. It will be timetabled like any other subject.
• In other settings, this IGCSE will be taken by some students only and will be timetabled as
an extra or optional subject.
• There is considerable variation in the possible pattern of entry. This IGCSE may be taught
as a one- or two-year course. It could be the only IGCSE taken by all students, some
students or one student in a centre, before or after other courses and/or qualifications.
Students could also be independent, using the IGCSE as a UK university entry requirement
and preparing themselves for the exam.
In whatever circumstances this IGCSE is taken, there is the issue of level. While there is a
single tier of entry, it is likely that each centre will have its own level of expectation regarding
student grades. Course design will be influenced by targeted grades.
A reasonable starting point for course design would be the assessment criteria for the Writing
component (and Speaking, if applicable). Looking across the top band descriptors, or the middle
range, for example, gives an outline indication of the activities that students will need to carry
out to succeed at that level.
The Assessment Objectives can be used to structure a course, particularly if taken in
conjunction with the number of teaching hours available. For example, including Speaking,
there are 18 Assessment Objectives. In a course with a total of 72 hours, an average of four
hours per Assessment Objective could be allocated, but an effective programme of homework or
self-study work would also need to be incorporated.
Students will need to become familiar with a wide range of texts (written and recorded) and
communicative situations in order to develop the necessary skills. You can select authentic
material and design situations to suit your students’ needs. Course books or textbooks can also
be used.
In most situations, it is unlikely that teaching staff responsible for this IGCSE would work in
isolation. It would be useful to evaluate how the Assessment Objectives are or can be addressed
through other subject activities. If the amount of class time specifically dedicated to English as a
Second Language is limited, work from other subjects may be incorporated. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
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Approaches to teaching
Courses need to address all the Assessment Objectives effectively. Class and self-study
activities, if well designed, can provide development towards more than one Assessment
Objective at a time.
For example, small groups of students might be given different texts, each of which presents a
different opinion or argument relating to an overall topic (for example the environment). Going
through the texts could involve close grammatical and lexical work, followed by group
discussion of a series of questions designed to elicit:
• a thorough understanding of the text in full (AO2)
• the argument the writer is making (‘recycling is a waste of time’, ‘we shouldn’t rely on
governments to solve the problem’, ‘poverty is the real problem’…) (AO5).
As this is taking place through discussion, the activity will also help to develop AO14 and
AO15 in Listening, and all the AOs for Speaking. The groups could produce presentations based
on what they have read and discussed, and then present these to the whole class. You can
consider the presentations in terms of accuracy and then set an activity so that students can
analyse and correct their material.
This sequence of activities would address a significant proportion of the Assessment Objectives.
It may (as previously suggested) also be feasible to link this to work with other subject areas.
Student awareness of their own strengths and needs, and of their effectiveness in making
progress, is likely to influence their development of the skills required for this IGCSE. You may
wish to draw up checklists or study diaries in which students record their activities and progress.
The Assessment Objectives can be used as the basis for a series of ‘can-do’ statements and
students encouraged to see themselves as working towards their successful completion.
Diaries or similar records will help you to be aware of any relevant language practice that
students are engaging in outside the classroom. For example, if students are spending time
listening to music with English lyrics, or looking at websites, this is a potential learning
resource for you to access.
Students, particularly if they are young, may need guidance to see how the ‘academic’
requirements of the exam relate to real-life tasks. Their understanding of what the exam is about
should increase if they can see that, for example, they are meeting AO3 (‘scan a range of texts
in order to locate relevant details’) when choosing which film to go and see or rent. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Teaching ideas
This section gives suggestions for preparing students for the Edexcel IGCSE in English as a
Second Language (ESL) qualification.
These suggestions are open and flexible so that you can adapt them according to your particular
teaching situations. They are not lesson plans, but offer ideas which may form the basis of
lesson plans.
1. An all-purpose worksheet for reading texts
You could provide an all-purpose worksheet, which students complete every time they read
something in English, in or out of class. You could use the example on the following page, or
adapt it to suit your students’ needs.
Students could complete the sheet as homework or in class as a pair or group project. The
results can then be discussed by the whole class.
You could then build on this to incorporate more evaluative work. You could look at some
sample reviews or other opinion-based pieces of writing and then ask students to write reviews
or discursive texts based on the texts they used to complete the worksheets.
The worksheet can be adapted or extended to include questions about the style or genre etc of
the texts studied. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
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READING RECORD
Name: ............................................................................................. Date: ...................................
Title of text: ..................................................................................................................................
Author’s name (if known): ...........................................................................................................
• Before reading, look at the title or first line of the text. Write here what you think the text
will be about.
I think this text is going to be about
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
• Read through the text once as quickly as you can. Don’t worry about words you don’t
understand. What do you think is the main thing the writer wants to tell you?
The main thing the writer wants to say is
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
• Read the text again, this time more slowly. Don’t worry about words you don’t understand,
unless they are a real problem (meaning that you can’t follow the whole article without
knowing what they mean). Write a heading for each paragraph or section of the text.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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• Now write a few sentences to summarise what you have learned from reading this text.
Somebody reading this summary should be able to understand what the text was about.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
• Use a dictionary to look up the words and phrases you don’t understand. Decide which will
be most useful to learn for the future and make notes about them here.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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2. Extending to further practice activities
The text presented here is a random example; it is reasonably accessible and a convenient
length. This type of text can be found in all sorts of magazines and newspapers and on the
internet. Remember you don’t have to use a whole article – you can extract the section or
sections that seem most suitable.
RELAXATION
Everyone experiences stress now and again but the winter months often find us
feeling at our least relaxed. Cold weather, busy shops and short, dark days can put a
strain on the best of us. If you are feeling fraught, why not try our simple suggestions
to help you relieve those stressful feelings?
If you have a tendency to clench your teeth when stressed, drop your jaw and move
it gently from left to right and then in reverse. If you clench your fists, hold your left
hand in the palm of your right hand with the thumbs touching. Relax in this position
for two minutes, while taking deep, calming breaths.
Certain foods can help you to relieve stress. Red onions, for example, contain a
compound that is a natural sedative. A breakfast of porridge, carrot juice, lemon tea
and a banana can set you up for the day.
If you have anything green in your wardrobe, wear it on days when you feel most
stressed as green is believed to be the most calming colour.
Getting enough sleep is important but if your mind won’t switch off, try writing a list
of all the things that are worrying you and decide to tackle them in the morning. If
stress is making you extra tired, don’t be tempted to sleep in too often. Sleeping for
longer than you usually do for more than a week can spoil the quality of your sleep.
Even in winter you should sleep with the central heating turned off and a window
open slightly. You could also have a more restful night if you sleep in the best quality
bed linen that you can afford – cotton sheets and goose down duvets are most
comfortable.
Tea and coffee — and many commercial soft drinks — are stimulants. Instead of
drinking these all day, try having the occasional cup of herbal tea.
Give yourself regular pampering sessions and plan treats to look forward to. These
don’t need to be expensive or bad for you. Try locking the bathroom door, lighting
some candles and having a long bath, scented with calming lavender oil. If chocolate
is your weakness, buy yourself a bar, sit down somewhere comfortable and eat it
slowly, savouring each piece. Try not to chew, so that the delicious flavour stays in
your mouth for longer.
This text could be used in a variety of ways. There are opportunities for lexical work. Students
could match a list of words or phrases to their equivalents in the text; for example, ‘occasional’
to ‘now and again’, ‘tense’ to ‘fraught’. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Students can practice several Reading task types. You could give students a sample of several
types together, as in the examples below.
For True/False
‘Stress levels tend to be reduced during the winter months.’ [False]
‘Writing down the things that worry you can help to reduce stress.’ [True]
For short-answer questions
‘What should you not close completely at night?’
…………………………………… [(a/the) window]
For sentence completion
‘It is a good idea to drink …………………………………….. .’ [herbal tea]
For Diagram completion, you could make a simple drawing of a person with lines pointing to
the jaw, the hands, a piece of clothing, etc, and create phrases for students to complete. For
example, a line to clothing could have ‘wear something ……..………’ (where the answer is
‘green’).
The text on page 20 could also be used as the basis for a summary writing exercise. To involve
speaking and negotiating, you could give different groups different sections of the whole text
for them to summarise before re-assembling the complete text and summary. This could be done
progressively; for example the text must be reduced to half its length and then to half the length
again.
Other writing skills could be practised, for example students could use the content of the text to
help them write an email to a friend who has asked for advice about reducing stress.
If you live in a country where winter days are not short and cold, noting this fact in relation to
the text could be a cue for a discussion on the causes of stress (the text is about dealing with
stress once it has become a problem, it is not an explanation of the causes). Students could make
suggestions about what causes stress. There is plenty of scope for speaking practice to be
developed from this reading text. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
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3. Using reading material from the internet
The internet is an extremely useful source of material. If you work in circumstances where it is
possible to teach a class in a computer centre, and have students using the internet together, you
can access a wide range of sites and incorporate these into your lesson planning. If you have
access to the internet you can use it to retrieve text for use in class.
The text on page 20 is a random example. ‘Adventure travel’ could be a relevant and interesting
topic for students. Type ‘adventure travel’ into a search engine and the travel company Exodus
is near the top of the list. On their home page is a clickable box Responsible Tourism. By
highlighting this and right-clicking Copy, you can take the text and move it into a Word file to
use in lessons.
The text includes a wide range of lexical and grammatical language giving advice related to the
topics of travel and the environment.
You can use this text in a variety of ways. You can cut it down if you think it is too long.
• You might like to cut the text into sections and give different sections to different groups,
who work on their section and then share their findings with the other groups.
• You could create various practice questions, as in 2 above, for both Reading and Writing
tasks.
• You could make up some notes for students to complete, rather than giving them the text,
and then read out the text, or parts of it, as Listening practice.
• Groups could practise summarising parts of the text. This would involve them engaging
closely with the text and processing ideas. They would then be well equipped to enter into a
discussion, putting forward the recommendations from their part of the text.
• A range of direct language work can be carried out with the text, or parts of it. There is a
wealth of vocabulary to study and a range of grammatical structures to consider. Much of
the language is used to make recommendations – giving advice and warnings – and can be
transferred to other situations.
• As the text is copied into a Word format, it is easy to create useful exercises, such as gap
fills, by deleting or re-ordering certain words.
• Students could discuss which recommendations they think are the most important or
sensible etc.
• Students could be given writing exercises based on the ideas in the text. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Responsible Tourism: Your role
As a traveller, we believe that you have as important a role as we do. We believe
that we provide a framework for Responsible Tourism but your choices and actions
before, during and after your holiday have a considerable part to play.
The following covers some of the issues that we hope you will consider during your
travels.
Economic issues
Our aim is to put as much back into the local communities that we visit as possible.
We ask that you:
1. Buy locally made crafts and support local skills. Do not simply buy on price, but on
value to you: bargaining for a lower price for both souvenirs and services is often the
accepted and expected custom, but don't drive a hard bargain just for the sake of it.
2. Try the local food and specialities. Many rural areas around the world are under
threat from a reduction in their agricultural base and by eating locally produced
goods you will help the local farmers as well as the local economy.
Local standards of living are usually very different to our own, so we need to realise
that our economic power is great and we should not abuse it.
Environmental issues
1. Please never buy products that exploit wildlife or aid the destruction of species or
habitats. Do not buy souvenirs made from endangered species, like ivory; doing so
will only encourage the trade. For more information please visit the CITES website.
2. Consider what you really need to take with you. Waste disposal systems in many
countries are ill equipped to deal with the increased pressures that tourism brings,
and a few simple measures can make an enormous difference to the effect you have
on your destination. Where possible remove the wrapping of packaged goods before
you leave: unwrap soaps and take bottles out of boxes.
3. Pick up your litter as you would at home: bottles, cans, plastic, cigarette butts,
apart from being unsightly, can be deadly to wild animals.
4. Environmentally friendly detergents and shampoos for hand and hair washing are
widely available. Please take these, and use as little as possible. This will help to
keep valuable fresh water supplies, rivers, streams and the sea free from pollution.
Make sure you prevent soap polluting someone else's drinking water.
5. Remember that in many places fresh water is a very precious commodity and
should not be wasted, so use a minimum for showering and washing. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
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6. Where any toilet facilities exist, however unsavoury, they should be used. Where
they do not, always bury your waste and make sure it is at least 30 m from a water
source. Your leader will give you appropriate advice on this issue.
7. Although we insist that our guides maintain suitable distances from wildlife,
allowing the animal a suitable escape distance, there is always a temptation to get
closer. For this reason we recommend that you don't encourage your guide or driver
to get closer to the animals than is acceptable and to take the most powerful lens for
your camera you can get. Never feed wild animals or attempt to touch them.
Social issues
We hope that those who choose to travel with Exodus do so with a genuine desire to
enhance their holiday by learning more about the people of the host community.
1. It’s quite easy in a small community to appear an arrogant rich foreigner, so be
aware of the feelings of other people, and try to avoid giving offence. Learning a
little of the local language and customs plus taking note of the dress codes can help
reduce these barriers.
2. Please always ask permission before taking pictures of people, ritual events or
special places like shrines. If people seem reluctant or look away then please do not
take a picture. Be careful not to cause offence through your thoughtlessness.
3. If you are not sure please ask your guide or leader for advice on how to respond to
begging and about appropriate gifts. It is usually better, for example, to give school
materials or local food treats as a group, through the leader, to the school head or
village head. Just handing out sweets encourages children to be a nuisance by
begging, and may well ruin their teeth in a place where there is no dental service.
4. Extravagant displays of wealth such as ostentatious jewellery and technological
gadgetry can be an incitement to robbery, as well as accentuating the gap between
rich and poor, so please think about this when deciding what to take with you.
Responsible tourism is an issue that is important for the tourist, host communities
and the environment. It is important to us that the local communities play a fair role
in our operations and that we provide a long-term investment in these destinations.
It is also important that we contribute to the conservation of the natural
environment that is so often the reason for our presence in the destinations.
Above all, responsible tourism is about appreciating that it is the economic,
environmental, cultural, social issues of an area that are paramount. It must be
remembered that it is important for us all to work towards providing a responsible
future that benefits all.
Exodus website: www.exodus.co.uk Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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4. Using listening material from the internet
There is a wealth of general material available on the internet. The BBC website has excellent,
specifically prepared learning materials. You can go to the Learn English site via the BBC
World Service pages. There are also many other subject-based learning materials. Television
provides valuable listening practice.
5. Extending writing practice to speaking
Preparing the ground with controlled writing work can provide a useful route to fluency work in
speaking.
You can give students the worksheet below or adapt it to suit your particular students. You
could give students advertisement(s) to comment on, or let them choose their own as an out-of-
class assignment.
Once students have written their answers and you have checked them (you may wish to give
language help and focus during that process), they can begin to share their ideas. You could give
them suggested phrases to discuss. The discussion could be extended into more generalised
areas, for example concerning the role of advertising in society.
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ADVERTISEMENTS
Watch an advertisement on television, or find one in a magazine, and analyse it using
the questions below. Give reasons for your answers.
~ Who do you think it is aimed at? (age, social class, male/female)
~ Is it trying to create a new market, or increase a market share?
~ What values or connotations does it attempt to invest the product with?
~ What needs or desires does it appeal to? Or is it trying to create a need or desire?
~ Is the visual aspect eye-catching, unusual or memorable?
~ Does the advertisement contain any stereotypes? What do you think about the
choice of actors/people?
~ Is there a slogan? If so, is it memorable? Does it make use of any puns?
Worksheet from Learner Independence Worksheets, Jenny Timmer,
published 1997 by IATEFL, ISBN 1901095258 Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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6. Extending speaking practice to writing
The idea is to use speaking activities to generate a flow of ideas, and then to use these ideas to
inform controlled writing practice.
Possible topic list
• My last holiday
• My favourite song or piece of music
• Improvements I would like to see in my city/town/street/country
• Something interesting I’ve seen recently on TV
• Something I’d like to buy
• A nice present I’ve received in the last year
• A place I’d really like to visit
• The job I’d like to have in the future
• My opinions about sport
• Sport or art: which is more important?
• My favourite things to eat and drink
• The most important jobs for society
• A famous person I’d like to meet
• Things that make me smile
Note: This list of topics, which can be adapted according to the interests of your particular
students, does not represent the topics used in the exam. It is simply a list that might generate
discussion among students.
How can I use this list of topics?
One approach is to give pairs of students a few topics each. They prepare a few questions on
each topic, and then use these to interview other pairs.
Another approach is to use the list of topics as prompts. Students work in groups, going round in
turn. The topics can be written on small cards, which are placed face down. A student turns over
a card and has to speak for as long as possible without stopping on that topic. The focus is on
keeping talking, not accuracy of language. Points could be awarded according to how many
seconds they spoke for.
Once the speaking activities have created a lively atmosphere and generated sufficient language,
you may wish provide some language focus to refine or sharpen some of the grammar or lexis
students have been using.
You could then give your students writing exercises, along the lines of either of the first two
sections of the Writing paper. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
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7. Lexical and grammatical focus in reading
The same lesson can move from tightly-focused language work based on a reading text through
to discussion activities and practising speaking skills.
Here is an example of a short, accessible text being used as the first step in this process.
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is 1 one of the best tennis players in history. He began 2 playing tennis
when he was seven years old. He found an old tennis racquet in the basement. 3 His
parents couldn’t afford lessons so Pete used to spend hours hitting balls 4 against the
basement walls.
Pete’s family moved to California. The family was happy about moving to a warm
climate and Pete became more 5 and more involved 6 in the game of tennis. Soon
the family joined a tennis club and 7 it became clear that Pete was very talented.
Pete is calm and polite 8 under pressure and he is a great team player. He has an
aggressive serve and a competitive style. But he is an easy-going person who is
straightforward and sincere.
Pete says, ‘I’m always 9 on time. I’m very punctual. It makes me mad when I’m
supposed 10 to meet someone and they’re late.’
You could delete the words in bold and then use the gaps in either of two ways, or a
combination of both.
• The gaps can be left open and students, working in pairs to increase their ideas and generate
speaking practice at the same time, decide which words are missing.
• Alternatively, you could give two or more possible answers for each gap. In this case, the
questions might be:
1 one/that
2 to play/play
3 the/their
4 for/opposite
5 by/for
6 on/to
7 so/there
8 below/when
9 by/for
10 meet/meeting.
You should adapt these according to your students’ levels, needs and recent language studied. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Notes on assessment and the assessment criteria 31
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Appendix 1: Notes on assessment and the assessment
criteria
While Reading and Listening are assessed through specific mark schemes, Writing and
Speaking are assessed using generic mark grids (see pages 15 and 17 of the specification). In
addition, there are task-specific mark schemes for each Writing task.
Writing: general points
The question and answer booklet
Students are given a question and answer booklet and must write their answers in the space
provided, which is an approximation of the space required. Some students will produce answers
at the ‘ends’ of the specified word range, and handwriting styles and sizes will vary. However,
examiners must be able to see clearly where the answer is.
Preparatory notes and other rough work should be carefully crossed out. Students should not
scribble all over their rough work. If a student runs out of time in writing the full answer, the
examiner may be able to read and, where appropriate, give credit for relevant rough work.
Writing a draft version and then a final version can cause problems with timing. It is probably
better if students make notes to work from.
Word count
The word counts are wide and generous, and reflect the requirements of the different tasks.
Students who write below the minimum word count will omit essential content material, while
those going over the limit will include irrelevant material which will obscure the clarity of the
required message.
Where examiners can see that an answer is above or below the word count, they will count or
estimate the number of words. If a student’s word count is below the minimum limit, there will
not be a sufficient sample to make a proper assessment. Task-specific content points are likely
to be missing, and the student will be penalised under Task achievement. If a student writes too
much they too will be penalised under Task achievement. See Task achievement on page 32 for
further details.
You should encourage students to understand why there are word limits. Students should be
guided to appreciate that the word limits indicate the size and direction of the message they need
to communicate.
Students should not spend time meticulously counting each and every word. This effort would
be better applied to checking for errors. Examiners are sometimes frustrated with answers that
contain a running word count but have basic mistakes of spelling or elementary grammar. You
should encourage students to have a sense of how much writing each range represents, so they
will know roughly what they will need to write in the exam, say, 12 lines to be in the middle of
the range.
Paper 1 Part 6: the summary
For the summary task students need to use their own words and phrases. This is to encourage
them to demonstrate their knowledge and control of language by giving answers that examiners
can credit according to the assessment criteria. If students just copy out parts of the source text,
it is difficult to know the student’s level of language skills. Credit cannot be given for complete
sentences, or other sizeable chunks, ‘lifted’ directly from the source text. At the same time,
students are not expected to paraphrase characteristic elements of the text, such as names,
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One way of looking at this is to imagine the task was being word processed. If, in order to
shorten a text and re-present it to a certain audience, you simply deleted some parts and left
others intact, you would have made it shorter but would not have considered any of the elements
that make up texts and hold them together. However, if you kept the basic terminology, deleted
irrelevant or less important parts and then re-phrased the remaining information into concise
language, you would be a good editor and skilled communicator.
An everyday example of summarising in action is sport. Someone who is keen on football will
watch a 90-minute match, with all its commentary, and be able to describe the highlights in less
than a minute, informing the listener or reader about what happened and its significance.
Task achievement
Each writing task has a task-specific mark scheme, which examiners use to assess answers and
check that students have fulfilled the requirements. The task-specific mark scheme will usually
include about five task-specific requirements.
Failure to complete the task as described in the task-specific mark scheme is penalised for all
writing tasks under communicative quality, one of the four assessment criteria for writing. In
some cases, a severe lack of achievement will also affect the criterion effective organisation.
Student performances vary enormously, and each task is different, so the assessment process
always involves dealing with the unexpected. However, there will be a set response to certain
issues.
• No more than 4 out of 5 marks will be awarded under communicative quality if one task-
specific requirement has not been addressed.
• No more than 3 out of 5 marks will be awarded under communicative quality if two or more
task-specific requirements have not been addressed.
• No more than 4 out of 5 marks will be awarded under communicative quality if the response
contains irrelevant information or if the student has exceeded the word limit.
• Where material has been lifted straight from the text, it will not be credited: in other words,
the answer will be assessed without it.
• If a student writes an essay rather than a letter for example, this is an issue of
communicative quality, and the answer will be limited to a possible maximum of either 3 or
4 marks out of 5, depending on the particular task and student performance.
• Generally speaking, if a student produces an answer which does not address the majority of
the task-specific requirements, the examiner will be able to credit very little in terms of
communicative quality or effective organisation.
• If a student produces a summary for Paper 1: Part 6 that misrepresents the ideas and
information in the source text, they will not receive a high mark for this part, however well
they write in terms of grammar, vocabulary, etc. This is because they are not fulfilling the
criteria of communicative quality (the reader receives no useful information by reading the
summary) and effective organisation (the summary will lack any useful coherence). Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
33
Writing: the assessment criteria
Writing skills will be assessed according to the assessment grid on page 15 of the specification.
This assessment grid is solely for information and guidance for teachers to use when marking
practice assignments. All components of this specification are externally assessed by Edexcel.
The four criteria used to mark the writing test are:
• communicative quality
• lexical accuracy and range
• grammatical accuracy and range
• effective organisation.
The student’s work should be marked on each of the four criteria separately, scoring a mark
between 0 and 5 for each. The examiner may read a student’s work several times before giving a
final mark, which will be an aggregate of all four marks.
The task-specific mark scheme will identify those content points which students need to include
in order to fulfil the requirements of the task. If any specified content points are missing from
the student response, then the student will be penalised. See page 32 for an explanation of how
students will be penalised for shortcomings in task achievement.
Examiners will be expected, initially, to work through the task-specific mark scheme and decide
whether the student has addressed all the requirements of the task. They will then read the
response again and work through the Writing skills assessment grid.
Communicative quality
For this criterion, examiners will take account of how well the student’s text succeeds in
communicating the core message of the task. As well as the general descriptors set out in the
assessment grid in the specification, each writing task will be assessed according to a task-
specific mark scheme which will define the content points needed to complete the task
successfully. These content points should be clear if students read and work through the task
carefully. For the summary task (Paper 1: Part 6), the content points will be central points of
information contained within the source text.
See Task achievement on page 32 for details of how marks are deducted under this criterion,
either for omitting task-specific points or for failing to keep within the stated word limits.
It is important that the tone and register used in the answer are suitable for the situation, as they
are important elements of communication. Students will need to be made aware of these aspects
of writing so that they do not produce, for example, an overly aggressive letter of complaint or
an excessively formal email thanking a friend for a present.
Lexical accuracy and range
Here it is important that students use words with the right meaning for the context and that they
do so accurately in terms of spelling, part of speech, sentence fit etc. If items of basic
vocabulary are incorrectly spelled or misused, it may be an effort for the reader to read the
answer and this will reduce the mark that the examiner can award. Some credit can be given
where the student shows signs of ambition, such as trying to use a certain idiom or lower
frequency word, but not managing to be 100 per cent correct. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
34
Grammatical accuracy and range
The focus here is mainly at the sentence level, with credit being given for accuracy in sentence
structure. Examiners are looking for evidence of different types of structure. They can give
credit for ambition in forming more complex sentences, where appropriate, but not where the
word order, for example, has become so confused that it is hard for the reader to establish a
meaning from what has been written. For example, there is effective ambition and two errors
that do not hinder understanding in this sentence: ‘If I had knew that the train would be late, I
would have went by car.’ However, the basic nature of the mistake in this next sentence means
that the text is flawed at an elementary level: ‘Yesterday I going cinema.’ The next sentence,
which is perhaps suffering from first language interference, contains basic errors and requires
considerable effort on the part of the reader: ‘Oranges like me too much.’
Students need to write their answers in full sentences. Using bullet points, or similar devices, to
aid layout does not affect this requirement. If a student uses bullet points to enhance the layout
of their answer, they must still write in full sentences.
Punctuation is a necessary feature of grammatical writing. A lack or misuse of punctuation will
be interpreted by examiners as an indication of a lack of structure control. The use of capital
letters is part of punctuation. Students should note that answers written entirely in capital letters
will mean that the examiner cannot see where capital letters have been correctly placed.
Note: Teachers are sometimes uncertain about the distinction between lexis and grammar.
Broadly speaking, the lexical focus will be on the choice of vocabulary item, and the
grammatical focus on its deployment within the sentence’s structure. The choice of ‘interesting’
as between ‘boring’ and ‘fascinating’ and as opposed to ‘interested’ would be a lexical matter,
while writing ‘in’ or ‘by’ + noun or noun phrase rather than ‘to’ + base verb, according to what
followed, would be a grammatical matter.
Effective organisation
This is about how the answer as a whole is held together. The answer needs to be coherent – the
reader should be able to follow the line of logic or narrative without ambiguity or other
confusion.
The answer also needs to be cohesive. Certain aspects of cohesion, particularly referencing such
as matching verb tenses, singular/plural agreement included in the use of pronouns following
nouns etc, will also be considered by examiners under lexical and grammatical accuracy. This
will be the case where accuracy is relevant only to the structure of an individual sentence. The
criterion of effective organisation involves checking these features across sentences. Two
sentences that are entirely correct when taken separately may not work correctly in conjunction.
Effective organisation is also concerned with devices such as conjunctions that link a sequence
of sentences together effectively and help the reader follow the text. Examiners will credit
phrases such as ‘the next thing that happened/I should like to mention is’, ‘with the result that’,
‘and that is why’, ‘in contrast’, etc. You may prefer to term some of these as ‘discourse
markers’ – what matters is that students use features of language to bind their answers together
effectively.
Finally, paragraphing is an important aspect of organising texts, and the use of appropriate
paragraphs to assist the reader will be given credit. In the summary task (Paper 1: Part 6), the
instructions usually contain two or three main areas that the summary should include. It is likely
that a well-organised summary would use paragraphing to reflect these areas, and credit will be
given for this. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0) –
Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
35
Speaking
Speaking skills will be assessed according to the assessment grid on page 17 of the
specification. This assessment grid is solely for teacher information and guidance. All
components are externally assessed by Edexcel.
The four criteria used to mark the Speaking test are:
• communicative ability and content
• pronunciation and fluency
• lexical accuracy and range
• grammatical accuracy and range.
Note: All Speaking tasks are recorded on cassette or CD and sent to Edexcel for marking. ‘The
examiner’ is therefore the person who listens to the tape and assesses the student; it is not the
person conducting the interview. The interviewer, or interlocutor, conducts the test, and needs to
be able to understand the student without strain in order to hold a meaningful conversation.
When using the assessment grid for speaking, the student’s performance should be marked on
each of the four criteria separately, scoring a mark between 0 and 5 for each.
Communicative ability and content
It is under this criterion that the examiner will be most concerned with the content of student
responses, and their relevance to the question being asked. There is, of course, no right or wrong
in terms of the student’s ideas, opinions or experiences, but the effectiveness of communication
is influenced by how speakers frame or present what they say. Students are expected to expand
their responses beyond one-word answers. If they just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in response to the
interviewer’s questions, they are not being very communicative. It should also be clear to the
examiner whether the student is telling them a fact or making a judgement, expressing an
opinion, etc. In a discussion about pollution, for example, if the student says that 3000 people
drive to work every day in their town, it must be clear whether the student is simply relating a
neutral fact or indicating that this is too many or a reasonable reduction in recent years. As in
any normal social situation, if the interviewer has to work disproportionately hard in
maintaining a conversation, communicative quality is adversely affected.
Pronunciation and fluency
All aspects of pronunciation are considered by the examiner. However, they are not assessed
discretely; examiners focus on the way pronunciation facilitates or hinders the fluency of the
student’s speech. What matters is that the student can be understood without undue effort on the
part of the listener. No judgement is made about the accent a student may have in terms of
linguistic or geographic origin. However, where the distinctions between individual sounds are
inconsistent with each other, additional effort will be required in order to follow what the
student says. Similarly, if a student does not distinguish between individual sounds where the
distinction carries meaning in English, it will be difficult for the listener to know what words are
intended.
Examiners are not expecting ‘prose’ spoken aloud. They expect students to produce features of
spoken language, including false starts to sentences, some hesitation while thoughts are ordered,
self-correction, etc. However, a student who hesitates extensively throughout the interview,
struggling to pronounce various words, will put a strain on both the interviewer and the
examiner.
Intonation patterns are also important here, and examiners will be looking for evidence of the
ability to add meaning and interest to utterances by appropriate use of intonation. Teacher’s guide – Edexcel IGCSE in English as a Second Language (ESL) (4ES0)
– Issue 1 – November 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008
36
Lexical accuracy and range
Many of the comments made under the lexical accuracy and range and grammatical accuracy
and range (previous pages), and also the note that follows them, are relevant here.
There are additional demands made on the student in the Speaking exam and awareness of these
influences examiners in their assessment. Students have to take in what the interviewer says, not
what they read at their own speed. Listening and speaking cannot be separated but, since
listening is assessed in its own right, examiners are not looking here to judge how well a student
understands the questions. Also, compared to their use of lexis in the Writing paper, in the
Speaking test students have to access and process words and phrases from their lexical resource
‘live’ in the presence of an interviewer who they may not know. Examiners are aware of these
issues, and will give credit for evidence of range.
Grammatical accuracy and range
Again, comments made in the Writing section are relevant here, and also the proviso that the
aural/oral situation influences student performance and examiner assessment.
The questions the interviewer asks the student, and the prompt card provided in Section 2, will,
together, give students the opportunity to use a wide range of verb tenses and structures.
Students have ample opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge.
Examiners will give credit for evidence of range and complexity in the forming of utterances,
and for ambition in trying to achieve this. On the other hand, they will find it hard to follow
utterances which are disrupted by basic errors in even elementary language.
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