ExpertguidanceonthenewProficiencyExam

ThenewformatfortheCambridgeEnglishProficiencyduetobeintroducedinMarch2013should
notpresentanyunforeseenproblemsfortheteacherorstudent.Existingtasktypeshaveeither
beenmodifiedslightlyorchangedtobringtheminlinewiththeFCEand/ortheCAEexaminations
(egtheReadingandListeningmultiplematchingtasks).Sometasktypes(egtheUseofEnglish
gappedsentences)havegonealtogetherandotherswhichmightseemtobenew(egWritingPart1)
arelargelybuildingonskillsthestudentswouldalreadyhavebeenpractisingfortheoldexam
format,iesummarising.Finally,theexamisshorteroverallwhichwillmakeitmoreaccessibleforthe
students.

However,thefactremainsthattheCertificateofProficiencyinEnglish(CPE)isahighlevel
examinationandrequirescertainskillsandfairlyintensivepreparation.Toteacherspreparing
studentsforthenewexamtherefore,Iwouldsuggestthefollowingguidelines:

ReadingandUseofEnglish.Thisisacombinedpaperwith7partstobecompletedin1
hours.Examtimewillneedtobeusedcorrectlyandconstructively.Studentsshould
thereforebetrainedinexamstrategiesandskillsthatwillenablethemtoapproachthetasks
inthemosteffectiveway.ExpertProficiencycontainsabankofimportantstrategiesand
examskillsthatwillhelpthestudentstomakethemostoftheirexamtime.UseofEnglish
tasksatthislevelfocusontheabilitytounderstandandmanipulatechunksoflanguageso
emphasisshouldbeputongettingthestudentstolearnitemsofvocabularywithina
contextualisedphraseorcollocation.Aprogrammeofreadingoutsidetheclassroomshould
beencouragedtogetherwiththeuseofasuitableEnglishEnglishdictionary,suchasthe
LongmanExamsDictionary.ThroughtheVocabularyDevelopmentandLanguage
DevelopmentsectionsinExpertProficiency,studentswillbepresentedwithawiderangeof
collocationalandidiomaticphrases.Theywillalsobeabletousethebankoffurtherphrases
andexpressionsatthebackofthecoursebookasaresource.

Writing.ThewritingtasktypesinPart2ofthispaperwillbefamiliartothestudents(article,
letter,report,review,essay).ExpertProficiencydevotestwoWritingsectionstoeachof
thesetasktypes,withextrasupportandmodelanswersatthebackofthecoursebook.The
writingtaskinPart1drawsonstudentsexistingknowledgeandskillsinrelationtoeffective
useofsummarising.Togetherwiththat,studentsareaskedtoevaluatetheopinions
expressedinthetwoshorttextsthataregivenhere,addingtheirownopinions.Inother
words,teachersshouldfocusontrainingtheirstudentstoexpressideasintheirownwords
andtousesophisticatedlanguageattheleveltoencapsulatetheirownideasonthesubject
underdiscussion.ExpertProficiencydevotestenWritingsections(in5modules)tothe
developmentofadvancedsummarisingandevaluationskills.

Listening.Studentsatthislevelneedtobefamiliarwithidiomaticlanguageasusedbynative
speakersandtobeabletograspandunderstandasophisticatedleveloflanguageuse.
Studentsshouldthereforebeencouragedtotakeasmuchresponsibilityaspossiblefortheir
progressinthisarea,bywatchingfilmsinEnglish,listeningtotheradioinEnglishorby
watchingdiscussionprogrammesontheInternet:thereisnoshortageofmaterialavailable!
ExpertProficiencyprovidesskillsbasedexamtraininginthisareatogetherwithanextra
focusonidiomaticlanguagearisingfromtheexamtasks.
 Speaking.Fluencyinspeakingismadeupofseveralcomponents:1exposureovertimeto
theuseofnativespeakertypelanguage,2agraspofessentialvocabularysothatideascan
beexpressedsuccessfullyandclearly,and3,afamiliaritywiththegrammaticalstructureof
thelanguagesothatutterancescanbeorganisedinagrammaticallyaccuratewaytoensure
mutualcomprehension.Itwouldbeagoodideaforteacherstoorganiseclassroomdebates
ontopicsrelatedtothosethatnormallyoccurintheexamination.Thiswillgivestudents
bothpracticeinexpressingtheirideasandtheopportunitytoincreasetheirfluency.The
SpeakingsectionsinExpertProficiencyfocusnotonlyonexampractice(althoughthatisa
significantelementofeachsection)butalsoontheprovisionoftopicrelatedideasand
vocabulary,togetherwithinputintheformofnativespeakerdialogues.

IhopethattheaboveadvicewillproveusefulduringtheforthcomingacademicyearandIwishall
teacherseverysuccessinthepreparationoftheirstudents!

MeganRoderick,Autumn2012

Abouttheauthor

MeganRoderickfirsttaughtEFLintheUKandhassincespent25years
teachingandwritinginGreece,whereherwideexperienceofteaching
studentsofallagesandabilitiesbothatherownlanguageschooland
elsewherehasinformedherwritingofEnglishLanguagematerials.Sheisa
qualifiedsecondaryschoolteacherwithanMEdinTEFL.

Meganisthecoauthor(togetherwithCarolNuttallandNickKenny)ofthe
brandnewPearsoncourseExpertProficiency.Herpreviouspublicationsinclude
secondarygrammarcourses,MichiganECCEandECPEExamPracticebooks,Primarymaterials(Our
DiscoveryIsland)andExamscourses(CosmicB1,ActivateB1+).Herparticularinterestsaretheuseof
grammarasavehicleformeaning,theprocessofconveyinghumourthroughthemanipulationof
language,andbringingthelanguagealivethroughdialogueandstory.