YLE revisions

January 2018
Overview
• Why the changes have been made

• What the changes are

• Support and preparation materials

WHY THE CHANGES HAVE BEEN
MADE
Key strengths of existing YLE
Why have the changes been made?
• Keep YLE relevant to the evolving needs of learners and
schools
• Incorporate evolving approaches to curriculum design,
pedagogy and assessment for young learners
• Position YLE more closely with Main Suite as part of the
language learning journey throughout school
and beyond
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES?
Starters changes and rationale
Listening

• New Part 1 task

Starters – new Listening task
young-learners-handbook-
2018.pdf p 20 NAMES
Starters changes and rationale
Reading and Writing

• Part 1 now has both plural and singular nouns

• Part 4 factual / semi-factual text instead of a riddle

More variety of
language can be CLIL element
tested
Starters changes and rationale
Speaking

• Candidate now asked name

• Part 1 is a conflation of old Parts 1 and 2

• Additional question added to Speaking

Part 2 (Tell me about …)

Movers changes and rationale
Listening

• New Listening Part 3 task

• Drawing item dropped from Part 5

Movers – new Listening task
Part 3
– 5 questions –

Mrs First is telling Paul about the people in her family. What is each person
doing now?

Listen and write a letter in each box. There is one example.

her son B

A B

her uncle

her daughter C D

her cousin

E F

her brother

her sister

G H
Movers changes and rationale
Reading and Writing
• Task order has been changed

• Total number of questions has been reduced

• Current Part 2 has been removed

• Part 6 is a new Writing task

Movers – new Reading and Writing task
Marking
• Candidates are marked here on a scale from 0-2.
Candidates are expected to write two different
sentences for questions 5 and 6, and these should be
distinct from sentences provided earlier on in the task,
i.e. for questions 1-4.
Movers changes and rationale
Speaking
• Candidate now asked name and age
• Part 2 story task now has title and names of
characters
Flyers changes and rationale
Listening

• Drawing item dropped from Part 5

Flyers changes and rationale
Reading and Writing
• Task order has been changed

• Current Part 2 has been removed

• Part 7 is a new Writing task

Flyers – new Reading and Writing task

Simple Past
Between 20 and or
30 words Present
Continuous

One or two
sentences about
each picture
Flyers changes and rationale
Speaking
• Candidate now asked name, family name and
age

• Part 3 story task now has title and names of

characters
Wordlist changes and rationale
Total words Starters Movers Flyers
2011 466 358 (824) 471 (1295)
2018 497 401 (898) 513 (1411)
+ 6.25% + 8.25% + 8.23%
At Starters: tablet – fantastic and skateboard
At Movers : e-book , ill and film star
At Flyers by myself, enormous, Earth (or planet)

Some words have been moved from Movers to Starters

and from Flyers to Movers.
Writing assessment changes and rationale
• Movers
– Can write short, simple, isolated phrases about
everyday topics and concrete situations
CEFR
• Flyers
– Can write a short message on a postcard or in an
email

Cambridge English is going to be publishing

some public guidance on the marking criteria
Speaking assessment changes and
rationale
Vocabulary Pronunciation Interaction
and grammar Individual sounds Reception/responding
Range (Word) stress Support required
Control Intonation Fluency/promptness
Extent
Cohesion
Results reporting changes and rationale
Results reporting changes and rationale

Strengths

Areas to
work on

Ideas for what to do

Aligned to the Cambridge English scale
Changes and rationale - summary
• Question papers – very few changes
– New Starters and Movers Listening tasks
– New Movers and Flyers Writing tasks
– More opportunity to speak during speaking tests
– Less anxiety
• Assessment criteria
– New mark schemes for Movers and Flyers writing tasks
– Updated speaking assessment criteria
• Results reporting
– Developing a new statement of results
• Wordlists
SUPPORT AND PREPARATION
MATERIALS
Support and preparation materials - free
• New sample tests
• Word lists
• Handbook for
teachers
Support and preparation materials - free
• Brief exam guide
• Information for
parents and
teachers
• Word list picture
books
Support and preparation materials - free
• Classroom posters and activities
• Progress charts
• Lesson plans
Support and preparation materials - free
• Updated speaking test videos
worldoffun.cambridge.org January 2017

Information, resources, teaching tips and more

• http://worldoffun.cambridge.org/resources
Questions
jgoldblum@anglo.edu.uy
fcapo@anglo.edu.uy
acorbo@anglo.edu.uy
Thank you!