Exam

Practice:
Unit 6
The Distance Delta
Paper 1 Task 1, 2 & 3 and Paper 2 Task 1 & 3

Paper 1 Task 1, 2 & 3 and Paper 2 Task 1 & 3

Adapted from Cambridge English Examination Report June 2010 (updated to current specifications)

Task 1 (6 marks)

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Provide the term for each definition.

Write your answers in your answer booklet. Provide only one answer per question.

a. The use of grammatical and lexical means to achieve connected text, either spoken or
written. These include: reference words e.g. this, the, it; linkers e.g. However, and topic-
related lexis (Cohesion)

b. A grammatical category which is used to indicate the time at which an action happens by
changing the form of the finite verb. English has two: past and present e.g. he walked and he
walks (Tenses)

c. A test employing tasks which replicate real-life activities e.g. role-playing a job interview,
writing a letter of complaint, or reading and completing an application form (Direct Testing)

d. Two words which differ from each other in pronunciation by only one phoneme e.g. met,
mat; pin, bin (Minimal pair)

e. A term for an ‘umbrella’ item of lexis which subsumes a range of more specific items e.g.
fruit in relation to apple, orange, pear (Superordinate- hypernym)

f. An approach to developing learners’ writing skills that is informed by the belief that creating
a written text is purely a matter of imitating elements that are provided in a model. (Product
writing approach - model test approach)

Task 2 (12 marks)

Provide a definition and an appropriate brief example or illustration for each of the terms below.

Write your answers in your answer booklet.

a. Idiom

Basic definition:

A group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the
meanings of each word on its own.

Examples:

 blessing in disguise, beat around the bush, bite the bullet.

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
 b. coordinating conjunction

A coordinating conjunction is a word that connects two elements of equal

grammatical rank and syntactic importance. They can join two verbs, two nouns, two

adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses. The seven coordinating

conjunctions are Fan boys, “i.e. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so”.

c. Allophone

Any of the various phonetic realizations of a phoneme in a language, which do not

contribute to distinctions of meaning. For example, in English an aspirated p (as

in pin ) and unaspirated p (as in spin ) are allophones of the phoneme /p/.

d. formative assessment

Formative assessment is used to conduct in-process evaluations of student

comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or

course, to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and

student learning while it’s happening. For example, quizzes, pop-quizzes, progress

test, and diagnostic test.

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
Task 3 (12 marks)

The extract for this task is the writing activity below for pre-intermediate (CEFR A2/B1) level
learners.

Writing task

Write a tourist leaflet (70 – 80 words) about some

beautiful or interesting places in your country. Include:

● A title to attract the reader’s attention

● Information about interesting things to see and
places to visit
● Information about what people can do there

In order to complete the activity successfully, learners at this level would need to use the following
key language features:

● organisation e.g. starting with a general statement, continuing with specific

information about the place, concluding with another general statement, finally
giving contact numbers, practical information
● functional language for recommending / suggesting / advice e.g. Why not visit the
famous old castle?, You could spend the day on the beach

Identify a total of three further key language features learners at this level would need to use.
Provide an example specific to this activity to support each choice.

General advice about what to include in the leaflet is given in the extract. Do not repeat the features
mentioned in this general advice in your answer.

Task Three (12 marks)

• formal/ no contractions/short phrases

Example Where: Situated in …, Where to stay: Helton Hotel

• Short Title (Wh-words +to +inf)

Example Where to stay, When to visit

• Language comparative and superlative.

Example the most beautiful place, the best time of the year to visit

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
Write your answers in your answer booklet.

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
Paper 2

Task 1 (18 marks)

The text for this task is reproduced on the following page. It is being used in the following situation.

E works for a large company giving investment advice. She uses English daily in her contacts
with clients over the telephone, in conference calls and when giving presentations. She is at
upper intermediate (CEFR B2) level and has booked a short tailor-made one-to-one English
course to improve her speaking skills for work. Her teacher has decided to give her this test
to find out her needs at the start of the course.

Using your knowledge of relevant testing concepts, evaluate the effectiveness of the tasks in this test
for this learner in this situation.

Make a total of six points. You must include both positive and negative points.

Positives
1. Instructions: very clear, direct, and not complicated.
2. Energizing/Warm-up task: the first task helps the test taker to relax and relief him/her from anxiety.
3. Test type: it is a direct diagnostic speaking test, which is appropriate for figuring out gaps in the
speaking skill.

Negatives
1.Topic of tasks: The context of the test is about traffic, games and competitions which are not related to
E’s career in correspondence to business. This affects both the face validity and content validity of the
speaking test.
2. Face-to -face vs. virtual: The context of the speaking test is face-to -face, which E’s correspondence is
virtual over the phone or in conferences.
3. E’s attitude might be low regarding the topics used in the speaking test i.e. might be not interested or
have enough background.

Write your answer in your answer booklet.

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
Task 3 (40 marks)

Below are four quotes from teachers about the use of the students’ first language (L1) in the
classroom.

Teacher 1:
‘There’s an activity in the unit we were working on this morning which asks
them to translate back to L1. I never do that one because I don’t want
students using L1 in the classroom.’

Teacher 2:
‘I never use the students’ language in the classroom, even though I can.’

Teacher 3:
‘I have to use L1 in my class, otherwise everything takes too long.’

Teacher 4:
‘All my students tell me they want to speak English in class, but whenever we
have a discussion, I can’t keep them in English’.

a. What beliefs inform attitudes such as those expressed by teachers 1 and 2 in the quotes
above?
Both teacher 1 & teacher 2 prefer usefulness other than enjoyableness nor easiness. Using
L1 is easy and might be enjoyable for students, but this will affect their practice of the target
language inside the classrooms.

b. What procedures could teachers 3 and 4 adopt in order to encourage greater use of English
in their classrooms?
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Learning English, making class communicative, making
English practical, making class fun, forging relationships, giving feedback.

c. On what occasions might it be beneficial for either a teacher or students to use L1 in the
classroom?

When making comparisons between English and their L1: “Is this similar or different in your
language?” (This can be applied to words, phrases, grammar patterns…)
Provide a quick and accurate translation of an English word that might take several minutes
for the teacher to explain and, even then, there would be no guarantee that the explanation
had been understood correctly. It can also be used to clarify a difficult language pattern by
providing with the equivalent in L1.
Using L1 with beginners when necessary (as mentioned above) gives them security and
relieves their fear of using English. Anxiety is reduced and increasing students' self-
confidence is clearly positive. However, teachers should use different types of scaffolding in

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6
 the target language as much as possible in order to gradually reduce the amount of L1 as
students go up the ladder and reach higher levels of English.

Write your answer in your answer booklet.

©️ International House London and The British Council The Distance Delta - Unit 6