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How to pass Delta

Over the last ten years, I’ve been involved in running Cambridge ESOL Delta courses,
initially face-to-face, and more recently online, as well as examining and assessing. In recent
years I’ve been working on as many as seven courses a year, which has brought me into
direct contact with literally hundreds of candidates.

One question that often comes up is Is there a ‘book’ for Delta? Well the easy answer to this
is that there isn’t. And neither could there be, as it just covers too many areas, both
pedagogically and in the areas of researching, teaching and course planning it sets out to
assess.

However, one thing I’ve found through my contact with so many Delta candidates is that
from the initial stages in becoming familiar with course content right through to the final
assessment stages, there are a number of common issues which keep coming up again and
again.

There are some excellent training courses out there, which take candidates from the early
stages of development to passing the different modules with confidence. Some excellent
advice is given out on these courses, but it can be difficult to make sure you ‘please all of the
people, all of the time’, as Abraham Lincoln once said. Very often a really useful ‘nugget’ of
advice will be given in a private tutorial, or feedback to a lesson, and not shared with
everyone.

The aim of this book, therefore, is to collect all of these practical tips and present them in
one small, handy guide. It is not meant to be an exhaustive source of all the methodological
issues you’ll explore during a Delta course, but a practical checklist of how to succeed. It
takes the form of a How to … guide, in the hope that it gives you practical tips which are
easy to implement and, most importantly, lead to you passing the Delta.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the Module 1 exam, setting out tips for
each question in the exam paper. Part 2 deals with Module 2, and gives you advice on
passing each coursework component. Finally, Part 3 gives practical tips on each part of the
extended assignment for Module 3.

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Contents
1 How to pass Module 1

1a Exam overview and general tips

Paper 1
1.1 How to pass Question 1
1.2 How to pass Question 2
1.3 How to pass Questions 3 & 4a
1.4 How to pass Questions 4b-d
1.5 How to pass Question 5a
1.6 How to pass Question 5b
Paper 2
1.7 How to pass Question 1
1.8 How to pass Question 2a
1.9 How to pass Question 2b
1.10 How to pass Question 3
1.11 How to pass Question 4

2 How to pass Module 2

2a Exam overview and general tips
Professional development Assignment (PDA)
2.2a How to survive the diagnostic observation
2.2b How to write the reflection & action stages
2.2c How to succeed in the Experimental Practice assignment
Language System/Skills Assignment (LSA)
2.2a How to write the background essay
2.2b How to plan a successful lesson
2.2c How to teach the lesson

3 How to pass Module 3

3a Extended assignment overview and general tips
3b How to read critically for Module 3
3.1 How to write part 1
3.2 How to write part 2
3.3 How to write part 3
3.4 How to write parts 4 & 5
3.5 How to present the assignment

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How to pass Module 1

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1.2 How to pass Paper 1, Question 2
Byline | Paper one, task two, three parts are due.

What it looks like

Task two (15 minutes)

Provide a definition and an appropriate brief example or illustration for four of the terms below.
Write your answers in your answer booklet
a schwa
b information gap activity
c summative assessment
d suffix
e bottom-up processing
f subordinate clause

Discover

1a Look at the statements about the schwa from the exam question above. Are they
true (T) or false (F)?

1 It’s a vowel sound. 7 It’s transcribed phonemically with the

symbol /ə/.
2 It’s usually spelt –ee or –ea.
8 It’s never stressed.
3 -oo in book /bək/
9 It’s a diphthong.
4 It’s produced with the tongue in the central
position. 10 -mous in enormous /ɪˈnɔ:məs/
5 Lips are unrounded when it’s produced. 11 It’s the most common vowel sound in
English.
6 It always occurs at the end of a word.
12 It’s only used in British English

b Which of the true statements above:

• are part of the core definition (CD)?
• is an example (EG)?
• are key further points (FP)?

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2 Look at the two answers to this question. Which scored better, do you think? Why?

Candidate A Candidate B

a Schwa a Schwa

CD: Vowel sound produced with the tongue in
a central position which is never stressed.
EG: the last syllable in ‘enormous’ /ɪˈnɔ:məs/
FP: It’s the most common vowel sound in
English.
The schwa, a term derived from the Hebrew
word ‘shva’, relates to a weak form of a short
vowel sound in English. This doesn’t occur with
all vowels, but it’s the most common vowel
sound in English. it’s known as a mid-central
vowel sound, as when it’s produced, the tongue
is in the middle of the mouth (the middle of the
vowel chart) and the lips are unrounded. It’s a
short vowel sound, not like diphthongs which
consists of a glide between two sounds. It is a
feature of spoken, not written English, and due
its frequency it’s not difficult to think of examples,
such as the ‘a’ in ‘about’, or the ‘a’ in ‘sofa’.

Answers

Tips

 Use prompts (CD:, EG:, FP:) to keep you focused and remind yourself of the necessary
parts to include in your answer (remember: Paper one, task two, three parts are due).
This will also make it easier for the examiner to find marks.

 Don’t treat it as an opportunity to write everything you know on the topic. Just put
enough to get the marks – you won’t have time for anything more.

 Make sure your definitions are precise, and that you are describing what makes this
term different from similar ones (e.g. in the example above, what makes the schwa
different from other vowel sounds).

 Use phonemic transcription for all examples relating to pronunciation.

 Only choose four of the six terms. If you answer any more than this, only the first four
will be marked.

 Pronunciation and assessment always come up, and these are good areas to revise
as they also come up in Paper 1, Task 4 (pronunciation), and Paper 2, Task 1
(assessment).

 Use Quizlet http://quizlet.com/subject/delta/ to build up a set of terminology cards to help

you revise for the exam.

Suggested reading

Harris, M. & McCann, P. 1994 Evaluating your Students Richmond

Hughes, A. 2002 Testing for Language Teachers, CUP
Kelly, G. 2000 How to Teach Pronunciation Longman
Richards, J & Schmidt, R. 2010 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Longman
Roach, P. 2000 English Phonetics and Phonology, CUP
Thornbury, S. 2006 An A-Z of ELT, Macmillan
Underhill, A. 1994 Sound Foundations, Heinemann

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How to pass Module 2

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2.2b How to teach the lesson
Discover

1 How much do you know about teaching and reflecting on/evaluating your lesson for
the LSAs? Do the quiz and check what you know.

Test your knowledge

1 How many assessment categories are there for teaching and reflection & evaluation?
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
2 What’s the minimum number of students you need for the lesson?
a) 1
b) 3
c) 5
3 Can you deviate from your lesson plan during the class?
a) yes
b) no
c) only after you’ve completed all the stages
4 Can you involve the tutor or assessor in the lesson e.g. to make up a pair?
a) yes
b) no
c) only if they agree
5 What should you do if a learner asks you a question not related to the topic of the lesson?
a) give them a full answer or open it to the class
b) answer them briefly but steer the focus back to the topic of the lesson
c) ignore them
6 What three things do you need to evaluate in your reflection & evaluation document?
a) your planning, your teaching and the learners’ progress
b) your aims, your timing and how happy the learners were
c) your progress, your planning and your teaching
7 When discussing future lessons, what should you consider?
a) how you would teach this lesson differently
b) how you intend to build on your progress
c) how you intend to build on your learners’ progress achieved in this lesson
8 When can you find out if your lesson passed?
a) usually immediately after the end of the lesson
b) usually after you’ve written your reflection & evaluation document
c) usually about two weeks after the lesson

2 Look at the following pairs of extracts taken from reflection & evaluation
documents. Which sentence in each pair is better? Why?

1 a) Despite selecting vocabulary that is usually suitable for intermediate learners, these
learners struggled with it.
b) Since the vocabulary was completely new to the learners, I could have considered how I
was going to check understanding more carefully.

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2 a) Learners were able to make useful predictions, which provided useful scaffolding for the
listening exercise.
b) Learners discussed what they expected to hear before listening to the conversation.

3 a) I feel the learners made clear progress, as shown by their success in carrying out the
final task.
b) The learners approached me at the end of the lesson to say how much they had
enjoyed it.

4 a) If I taught this lesson again, I would drop the second practice activity in order to save
time for feedback at the end.
b) In the next lesson, we will be looking at writing formal emails. This will allow the learners
to review and extend the phrases they learnt this lesson.

Answers

Tips

Teaching

 It sounds obvious, but be prepared. Have your handouts set out in order, think about
where you want learners to sit, how you’re going to use the board, etc.

 Look back at your feedback from previous observations and make sure you have
opportunities to address any ongoing issues.

 Try out your activities with (an)other class(es) before the observation. This will give you
a feel for how long things take.

 Don’t teach the lesson to the same class before though, if students have been
‘prepared’ for the observation too much it will show.

 Do explain the purpose of the observation to your students, and make it clear that it’s
you being observed, not them, so they should act naturally (and arrive on time!).

 Teach the learners, not the plan. It’s fine to deviate from your lesson plan, and in fact
your ability to adjust your plan according to emerging needs is one of the things you’re
assessed on.

 Although it’s difficult when you’re stressed, listen to your learners. Respond
convincingly to their questions and maintain eye contact when they reply, rather than
looking back at your plan for the next stage.

 Use the board to exploit incidental lexis. If a learner says, for example, ‘I must finish
this work until Friday’, use this as an opportunity to write up an example sentence with
by and one with until, and quickly explain/check the difference. this is where the real
learning takes place, and tutors/assessors love to see it.

 Stay focused on your aims. If a student asks a question not related to the focus of the
lesson, by all means answer it, but don’t allow this to take up too much time. Whiles this
can be useful in your everyday teaching, you need to show here that you can achieve
your aims.

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 It’s good to monitor and take notes while learners are speaking, but make sure you leave
enough time to do something with them, whether it’s quick feedback on the board, a
board race, or whatever.

 Above all, keep things in perspective, and don’t let the anxiety about being observed
take over. Teaching is what you do every day, and this is a lesson you’ve researched
and fully prepared, so go in and enjoy it!

Reflection & evaluation

 Write some notes immediately after the lesson. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to
forget what happened, especially after relief kicks in!

 Be honest, and don’t put the blame for things which went wrong on the learners.
Conversely, if something went well, then don’t be afraid to say so.

 Evaluate what happened, don’t just describe it. Look for evidence of learners’
progress and its causes and effects.

 Describe, in clear, practical terms, how you intend to build on the learning achieved in
this lesson. Will learners have a chance to put into practice the language/skills they’ve
learnt?

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How to pass Module 3

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3b How to read critically for Module 3
Discover

1 Read these two excerpts from Part 1 of two different assignments on business
English and answer the questions.
1 Which candidate uses a direct quote? Is it useful?
2 Which candidate demonstrates understanding of what they’ve read more clearly?
3 Which candidate refers to their experience? Why do they do this?

Candidate A

An important key principle of teaching business English is the type of English taught. As Frendo says,
‘the English used in international business is not necessarily the same English that native speakers
use. It is a lingua franca. It may even be considered a new type of English which has developed and
is developing to meet the needs of its users. People whose first language is English do not
necessarily speak this language.’ (Frendo, 2005:7)

Frendo, E. 2005 How to Teach Business English, Pearson

Candidate B

Donna (2000) states that the type of language taught in business English classes usually involves a
high frequency of technical and business terms. However, in my experience of job-experienced
business learners, I have generally found that it’s the day-to-day, social language that they both need
and are most eager to improve.

Donna, S. 2000 Teach Business English, CUP

Answers

Tips

 Before you even start reading, think about what makes your specialism different from
others, and write down a list of what you think are the main features.

 Don’t read books cover to cover. It’s unlikely that you’ll have time and not everything
will be relevant for the assignment.

 Look at the contents pages and/or introductory chapter of books to locate the parts
where the key principles of the specialism are discussed, then focus on these.

 Try to find similar areas discussed by different authors.

 Summarise what different authors say about a key principle of the specialism, but then
refer to your own experience in order to show how far this supports or refutes what
you’ve read. This will allow you to draw well-balanced, informed and practical
conclusions and demonstrate critical thinking.

 You can also refer to articles from journals and websites.

 Don’t quote large pieces of text. Direct quotes should only be used to support what you
say, not as a substitute.

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Answer key
1.2

1a
1 T 2 F 3 F 4 T 5 T 6 F 7 T 8 T 9 F 10 T 11 T l2 F

b
CD: a, d, h
EG: j
FP: e, g, k

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A’s response is better, gaining the full three marks. It’s succinct and contains all three parts.
B’s response gets only two marks for CD and FP (the EG needs phonemic transcription). It’s too long
and poorly organised.

Back to exercises

2.3b

1
1c2c3a4b5b6a7c8b

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1 b; Be honest and don’t blame the students for things which didn’t go well.
2 a; Make sure you evaluate rather than just describe what happened.
3 a; Be objective: learners may well have ‘enjoyed’ the lesson (or at least tell you they did),but how
much progress did they make?
4 b; remember to show how you will build on the learning achieved in this lesson, not what you
would differently.

Back to exercises

3b
1 A - not really, as it doesn’t allow him/her to show understanding
2B
3 B - to show how far they agree/disagree with what they’ve read

Back to exercise

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This was a sample of the forthcoming e-book How to Pass Delta, by Damian Williams.

Some specific questions for readers:

 I’ve added some suggestions for further reading in the first section. However, there
are so many different sources for each area, and these are most likely to be provided
by the course where the reader is studying. Is it useful to also add suggestions for
reading, or would this take up too much space? Would you like to see a bibliography,
and if so, would it be better to have one for each module, or one complete
bibliography for the whole book?

 For the Module 1 exam tasks, I’ve added a ‘byline’. This provides a short mnemonic
on the main strategy to remember when in the exam. Is this useful, or does it just
sound a little contrived?

 Are there any other sections you’d like to see in the book?

What will you get in the full book?

 See the ‘Contents’ page for an overview

 Three parts, with advice on each Module of the Delta
 A discovery activity (comparing samples, matching, quizzes, etc.) for each part of the
exam or coursework
 Full answer key for each exercise, with tappable links back and forth for easy
navigation
 Comprehensive list of tips, as a ‘checklist’, for each part of the exam or coursework
 Suggestions for initial reading

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