1. IGCSE English Language Exam
What can you do to revise?

2. Paper One One text to read (split up in to short sections)
hours long
2 sections
50 marks in total
One text to read (split up in to short sections)
Plenty of time to do the reading.
Section A is split in to 5 questions to answer on the text.
Section B is a writing task linked in some way to the text.

3. Section A Example Questions:
What have you learnt about the man from America?[3 marks]
What happened to the man and why?[3 marks]
How did the other people on the bus react to what had happened? [5 marks]
Refer to the whole passage. What have you learnt about China and its people? [7 marks]
Consider the whole passage. How has the writer tried to make the story interesting for readers? [7 marks]

4. An example of what they might read…
We had been travelling for more than ten hours through central China’s lush countryside, and were somewhere between the cities of Xi’an and Luoyang. Petrol fumes permeated the crowded bus, making me feel sick. I wanted my day’s journey to end.
There is a sample paper available for you to take home.

5. “I feel the need the need for speed”
SLOW DOWN!!!
Read slowly and carefully – it’s the single most important and most helpful thing you can do. 5

6. The exam is stressful but ‘training’ helps.
TIMING
Quick quiz!
You have 2 hours to complete Paper 1– how many minutes is that? Take away 20 minutes for reading time. There are 50 marks – how many minutes could you roughly spend on each mark? If question 1 is worth 3 marks – how many minutes should it take you (maximum)?
120 minutes
100 minutes
2 minutes
6 minutes
The exam is stressful but ‘training’ helps.

7. The exam tests these skills:
Layer 1: what is the text about?
Layer 3: explain in your own words what the writer is telling you.
Layer 4: explain what the writer means by using quotations.
Layer 2: find quotations that prove what it is about.
Layer 5: summarise what the writer says & thinks.
Layer 6: what techniques does the writer use to get their point across.

8. Section A Reading This section is split into 5 parts
There are easier short questions for you to answer
Overall it is worth 25 marks
See sample paper to take away (Jan 2015)

9. Question 1 Finding information
“What have you learnt about the man from America?”
What you need to practise at home is spotting the facts / information given in a text
You are told to put what you have read in to your own words
TIP
As you read it through underline the facts as you find them – this will make it easier to refer back

10. Question 2 and 3 Explaining / Interpreting Information
Quote from the text to explain/illustrate your answer e.g. “As an American I wanted privacy…..” This implies that he did not feel comfortable in his surroundings…
pick out phrases - do not copy big chunks of writing.

11. Question 4 “ Refer to the whole passage”
Explain, using your own words, what the writer means or is telling you
“What have you learnt about China and its people”
Summarise
TIP – go through it again underlining what you have ‘learnt’, then organise these points in to a summary of your own writing and incorporating short quotes
Have a guess – use clues in the passage
Try choosing a word and replacing it with another one that makes logical sense.
I don’t know what those words mean…

12. Look for recognisable words within the word.
Help
Strategy One:
Look for recognisable words within the word.
The compartment was large, well lighted and comfortable, with a toilet and sink in an adjoining room.
Adjoining looks like add + joining.
This might mean that another room with a toilet and sink has been added onto the main compartment, or that it joins on to the main compartment.
Strategy Two:
Look at information around the word to see if you can work out the meaning of the word.
Where do you come from? What do you do? Married or single? Any children? This nagging made me evasive, secretive, foolish, an inventor of far-fetched stories.
Evasive looks like it means avoidance because all the other adjectives make the character seem like they don’t want to give the information that they are being nagged for.

13. What is a summary?
A summary – or précis – is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. The summary captures all the most important parts of the original, but expresses them in a much shorter space.

14. Example
Original text
‘At a typical football match we are likely to see players committing deliberate fouls, often behind the referee’s back. They might try to take a throw-in or a free kick from an incorrect but more advantageous positions in defiance of the clearly stated rules of the game. They sometimes challenge the rulings of the referee or linesmen in an offensive way which often deserves exemplary punishment or even sending off. No wonder spectators fight amongst themselves, damage stadiums, or take the law into their own hands by invading the pitch in the hope of affecting the outcome of the match.’ [100 words]

15. Example
Summary
Unsportsmanlike behaviour by footballers may cause hooliganism among spectators.
[9 words]

16. Another question that’s tricky - Question 5: “Consider the whole passage”
“How has the writer tried to make the story interesting for readers?” I know – it’s an exam – it’s not ‘interesting’ – it’s pressure BUT This question is about techniques the writer uses, not if you really are interested! REMEMBER Humour, facts, persuasive language, descriptive language, emotive language, repetition, use of punctuation . . .

17. Ways to help Use the iceberg method weeds
uncultivated, unwanted
pulled up, thrown away
strangle, take over the garden
useless and ugly, threat to beauty
resilient, indefatigable enemy, nature’s power,
futility of human endeavour

18. Point offered in answer
Rooted in text
Impression / effect created
Point offered in answer
Evidence for that in text

19. Learn the most common language devices
Metaphor Simile Alliteration Onomatopoeia Quotations Facts/statistics Opinion Connectives
Find examples for each …
If you can’t remember what they mean …
Check now !!!

20. Section B: Writing (25 marks) Choose one question from this section
Remember to:
plan
paragraph
communicate clearly.
At the end:
read
check
correct.
SPAG is marked in this section
PROOF READ CAREFULLY

21. Think about the choices offered – what skills are they looking for?
Section B
Think about the choices offered – what skills are they looking for?
This question will ask the students to write a :
Piece of descriptive writing
Story
Piece of persuasive writing (argue for or against)
Read the different types of genre and revise the different formats.

22. HINT Story or description If you were holding a baby what would you:
Practise: using Sensory words
Give me 5!
If you were holding a baby what would you:
See
Hear
Smell
Taste
Touch
Use these words to create images in writing.

23.
This site is open access and contains:
Past papers
Resources
Information on the course
Examiner tips
Useful websites list
BBC Bitesize – a useful website for revision containing advice and examples