Revised FCE and CAE exams 2015

and above all, I shall do no harm.

Portugal 2014

Bob Obee
Professional Support Leader
Lesson Paths
 Findings

FCE and CAE in future

over 70% of respondents wanted shorter exams

a majority favoured a four paper format

combined Reading and Use of English most favoured

content should be suitable for study purposes, work/career

advancement, as well as for general purposes
 Summary of new FCE(fS) format
FCE and FCEfS from 2015
Paper/timing Content
Reading Part 1 4-option MC cloze
and Part 2 Open cloze
Use of English Part 3 Word formation
75 min Part 4 Key word transformations
Part 5 4-option multiple choice
Part 6 Gapped text
Part 7 Multiple matching

Writing Part 1 one compulsory question (essay)

80 min Part 2 one question from a choice of three (four for FCEfS). Set text option for FCEfS only

Listening Part 1 3-option multiple choice

40 min (approx.) Part 2 Sentence completion
Part 3 Multiple matching
Part 4 3-option multiple choice

Speaking Part 1 Interview

14 min Part 2 Individual long turns
Part 3/4 Collaborative task and follow-up discussion

Total timing: 3 hours 29 minutes (current exam 3 hours 59 minutes)

 Summary of new CAE format
CAE from 2015
Paper/timing Content
Reading Part 1 4-option MC cloze
and Part 2 Open cloze
Use of English Part 3 Word formation
90 min Part 4 Key word transformations
Part 5 4-option multiple choice
Part 6 Cross-text multiple matching
Part 7 Gapped text
Part 8 Multiple matching

Writing Part 1 one compulsory question (essay)

90 min Part 2 one question from a choice of three. No set text option

Listening Part 1 3-option multiple choice

40 min (approx.) Part 2 Sentence completion
Part 3 4-option multiple choice
Part 4 Multiple matching

Speaking Part 1 Interview

15 min Part 2 Individual long turns
Part 3/4 Collaborative task and follow-up discussion

Total timing: 3 hours 55 minutes (current exam 4 hours 40 minutes)

 FCE(fS) and CAE Reading and Use of English

Summary of main changes

all current FCE(fS), and most current CAE R and UE tasks retained in
shortened formats (current CAE R short texts and CAE UE gapped
sentences tasks dropped)

new cross-text multiple matching task developed for CAE, enhancing the
academic coverage of the test

UE tasks before R tasks in the new format

progression from FCE to CPE clearer

 New CAE Reading task
Four reviews of a book. Which reviewer

37 has a different view from the others on

A the confidence with which Botton
discusses architecture

B 38 shares reviewer Bs opinion of the

significance of Bottons book

C
 FCE(fS) and CAE Writing
Summary of main changes

both FCE(fS) and CAE to include new compulsory essay in Part 1

FCEfS to include a modified story task in Part 2, while the report as an

output text type has been dropped. There will be a single set text
included, rather than the current two.

FCE will retain the report text type, but will not include the story. There
will be no set text option.

CAE Part 2 will no longer include article or information sheet as output

text types. There will be no set text option.

the output word ranges have been increased for both exams
 Writing Part 1 question
 FCE Part 1 Writing question

In your English class you have been talking about education. Now your
teacher has asked you to write an essay for homework.

Write your essay using all the notes and giving your point of view.

Some parents teach their children at home rather than sending them to
school. Is this a good or a bad thing for the children ?

Write about
- Having a teacher as a parent
- making friends
- ___________ your own ideas.

 Modified Speaking Part 3 Task

 FCE(fS) and CAE Speaking
Summary of main changes

FCE(fS) and CAE Part 1 Phase 2 modified to reduce the number of follow
up questions. FCE(fS) includes 12 questions grouped in three categories.
CAE includes eight discrete questions. Part 1 timing reduced by one
minute

FCE(fS) Part 2 the listening candidate question (LCQ) has been extended
slightly to allow for a more meaningful contribution from the listening
candidate (similar to CAE)

FCE(fS) and CAE Part 3 visuals replaced with written prompts. Task now
split into two to include a discussion phase and a decision-making phase

FCE(fS) and CAE Part 4 timing extended by one minute

 Modified Speaking Part 3 Task
CAE Part 3 extract
CAE Part 3
 Impact on teaching

Writing :
study / academic focus [discursivity]

Common Scale of Writing B2

Common scale of Writing C1
 Essay Writing :
The mechanics of discursive English

Id first like you to read something for me :

A feature article for Time magazine

written by Al Gore
 Perfect Essay
Respect the Land

When we consider a subject as sweeping as the environment, we often focus

on its most tangible aspects - the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food
we put on the table. Those things are critically important. But to me the
environment is also about something less tangible, though no less important.
It is about our sense of community - the obligation we have to each other, and to
future generations, to safeguard Gods earth.

Those are values I learned firsthand, as a young boy on my familys farm in

Tennessee. We didnt call it environmentalism back then; it was simply common
sense. My earliest environmental lessons came from our efforts to stop soil
erosion - by stopping the formation of gullies that would wash away the vital
topsoil on which our farm depended. Large farmers who leased their land for
short-term profits didnt worry about soil erosion at the time: thats one of the
reasons three hectares of prime topsoil floats past Memphis every hour, washed
away for good.
 As a teenager, I learned that such short-term thinking was causing even more
serious problems. One of the books we discussed around our family table was Rachel
Carsons classic Silent Spring, about pesticide abuse. As it did for millions around the world,
Carsons book helped awaken in me that our planets life is too precious to squander.

Today, the threats to our environment are even clearer to see and much greater
in scope and number. We live in a world where climate change, deforestation, holes in
the ozone layer and air pollution are growing sources of concern. Our challenge is to find
new ways to address those problems by reaching back to our oldest values of community
and responsibility - by inspiring a greater respect for the land and resources we share.

If we are to protect and preserve the environment on a global scale we must all do
our part, as nations, as families and as individuals. The need for awareness has never
been greater, and the opportunity for us to make a difference is just as great. If we
practice and teach the right kind of care and commitment for the environment it will
continue not only to bring us its natural gifts, but also to bring us together.
 Is it the Perfect Essay ?

Did it have lots of discourse markers /

linkers In addition to the fact that .., Moreover .. ?
Did it have lofty gambits like :
It is incontestably true that ... ?

So what was the glue that held it all together and

allowed to develop / flow ?
and above all I shall
do no harm
 Lexicalise the links

We cant say in English : one big therefore or

two other serious therefores
We can say :
This leads/has led to
This can impact on
As a direct result, economies

But
 Perfect Essay
Respect the Land
,
When we consider a subject as sweeping as the environment we often focus on
- , ,
its most tangible aspects the air we breathe the water we drink the food we
put on the table. Those things are critically important. But to me the environment is
,
also about something less tangible though no less important. It is about our sense
,
of community - the obligation we have to each other and to future generations
to safeguard Gods earth.
,
Those are values I learned firsthand , as a young boy on my familys farm in
Tennessee. We didnt call it environmentalism back then; it was simply common
sense. My earliest environmental lessons came from our efforts to stop soil erosion
-which
by stopping the formation of gullies that would wash away the vital topsoil on
our farm depended. Large farmers who leased their land for short-term
profits didnt worry about soil erosion at the time: thats one of the reasons three
hectares of prime topsoil floats past Memphis every hour, washed away for good.

 ! . ,

dash
full-stop

? ;
inverted comma
colon
comma
: -

semi-colon
question mark
exclamation mark
apostrophe
 1 The problems of pollution, deforestation and
managing waste are low government priorities.

2 The truth is simple : economic needs are put before

environmental ones every time.

3 Coastal areas should or rather must make use of

tidal energy.

4 Some foods given green labels have been produced

in an eco-friendly way ; others have not.
 5 Rainforests must be preserved at all costs : they act as
the lungs of the earth.

6 Poverty and greed, the results of modern economic

policy, are the twin causes of environmental destruction.

7 Our parents generation has known about climate

change for twenty years and done nothing. Its shameful !

8 We need to be careful when using the term : blame.

 9 Nuclear power has never had the publics
trust nor is it ever likely to.
10 If humanity has a future, it logically has
to be a renewable one
 such each this these neither both they so it here do
their the other its both this did

The graph shows how people in five different European countries spent
TV/media viewing time in terms of live TV, social media, internet
video streaming, on-demand TV and downloaded internet video in 2010.
of countries show quite different patterns of viewing
behaviour across the range of media

Live TV was the most popular form of viewing in all counties except
Sweden. , figures for social media applications and live video
streaming were much higher. suggests that live TV is becoming
less relevant for population and is likely to become even more
in the future.

The French as a nation watched the most live TV. is perhaps partly
explained by the fact that watched so little on-demand TV
compared to countries where presumably is more widely
available or is considered better value, or .
 Impact on teaching

Writing : [discursivity]

we will probably want to emphasise

paragaph shape and paragraph
development more
Paragraph Development
 Coherence : putting it together
Main ideas Language for developing ideas

Shameful lack of government cause and effect

investment in research. This leads/has led to
This can impact on
As a direct result, economies

explanation
Renewable energy is a security as
This is obvious if you consider
well as an environmental issue.
What this means in reality is ..
Thus, today .
Such problems have been made worse

Fossil fuel resources are rapidly evidence

depleting. One /another example of this is ..
Approximately/Only around 10 %
It is estimated that
You only have to look .
 Impact on teaching

Speaking [discursivity]

we will probably want to emphasise turn

shape and turn development more
CAE Part 3
 Turn shape
Focusing :

Extending :

Rounding Off :
 Focusing
My parents would For me, personally..
say..
Whats crucial here
Most school-leavers

..I think this one is

very different for men
and women
In the past
CAE Part 3
 A good Part 3 candidate will..

actively listen
support and comment .
seek and help to clarify
initiate and respond
probe and question .
help navigate ..

.. agreeing / disagreeing . tend to seek

closure
Encourage simple across turn strategies
for development in Parts 3 and 4

Across turn

And .But .Thats

Cambridge English on You Tube
Speaking tests
 Teacher Support website
free resources for the classroom

www.teachers.cambridgeenglish.org
FCE, FCE for Schools and CAE from
2015