In-Service Teacher Training Assessment in IGCSE English as a Second Language 0510 Session 2: Question papers and mark schemes

Introductions Background Aim of training Welcome

Session 2 looks at: Summative assessment The construction of question papers and mark schemes Analysis of question papers Grade descriptions Recent candidate scripts Creating suitable summative exercises and mark schemes

What is summative assessment? Summative assessment might be: A means to place students in rank order External to the teaching and learning situation Regarded as an objective way of recording achievement The pressure under which teachers work Seen as the ‘end’ of a course of learning

How question papers are set Using Assessment Objectives Levels of difficulty Mark schemes

Question papers (1): Reading - Locating specific information Timetables and signs Newspaper advertisements Collecting and analysing brochures

Factual/informative articles Newspaper and magazine articles Articles which include a visual display - e.g. graph, chart, diagram Question papers (2): Reading - Locating more detailed information

Question papers (3): Reading and writing as an integrated skill Filling out a form – the information transfer exercise

Analyse summaries to recognise similarities Convert a set of notes to a summary Practise the language of summaries Encourage use of own words Question papers (4): Reading and writing – writing a summary

Question papers (5): Extended writing - Descriptive/personal writing Writing letters Recording personal feelings, opinions Describing events, places, people Semi-formal style and register Audience is always given

Of a more formal style/register Often deals with an issue open to debate, e.g. to persuade, to comment upon, to state own point of view, to consider a variety of others’ views Higher level concepts are introduced Same mark scheme/criteria as first task Question papers (6): Extended writing: Using language for a specific purpose

Question papers (7): Listening for specific information in short statements Factual detail presented Often in the form of announcements, e.g. at railway stations, airports, etc. News reports, weather reports, travel reports Understanding directions Recognising numbers, amounts, currency

Question papers (8): Listening to longer conversations/interviews/talks Semi-formal interviews are often used Most interviews have a developed topic or theme Gap-filling is required for some exercises ‘Gist’ is also tested - working out the attitudes, opinions and feelings of speakers Core candidates will use multiple choice Extended candidates will answer using sentence- length responses

Question papers (9): Speaking - the Oral Test Topic-based conversation/discussion Includes a 2-3 minute ‘Warm up’ - not assessed Conversation to last 6-9 minutes - assessed Examined at the Centre, moderated by CIE Graded separately

Question papers (10): Coursework Conduct three different and separate activities throughout the course Try to include group work and pair work - not just individual work Assessed by the teacher/Examiner using the same criteria as for the Oral Test Same procedure applies for sending in samples The only Coursework option for the E2L IGCSE course

The Oral Assessment criteria Three criteria: Development and Fluency, Vocabulary and Structure The full grid appears in the syllabus, and applies to both the Oral Test and Coursework Teachers/Examiners, in applying the criteria, tend to be lenient more often than severe Grade 1 candidates are not expected to be ‘First Language’ users

Grade descriptions: Why have grade descriptions? To make clear the level of performance required for different grades Help Examiners to set questions of the appropriate difficulty Help teachers assess the level of their students Form a basis for school-based assessment

Enjoyable to read Very few errors Confident and wide-ranging use of language, idiom and tenses Excellent sense of purpose and audience Shows independence of thought The interest of the reader is aroused and sustained Extended Writing criteria (1): extracts from Mark Band 8-9

Meaning is clear and work is of a safe, literate standard Mainly simple structures and vocabulary Infrequent spelling errors, which do not interfere with communication Material is satisfactorily developed Fulfils the task Extended Writing criteria (2): extracts from Mark Band 4-5

Partly relevant and some engagement with the task Frequent, distracting errors hamper precision and slow down reading Simple structures and vocabulary Supplies some detail and explanation, but the effect is incomplete Extended Writing criteria (3): extracts from Mark Band 2-3

Weak, with many errors in grammar and spelling Only partial engagement with the task Language simple but still often wrong choice of register and vocabulary Meaning may be obscured or neutralised by the weight of linguistic error Extended Writing criteria (4): extracts from Mark Band 0-1

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