In-Service Teacher Training

1. In-Service Teacher Training Assessment in IGCSE English as a Second Language 0510 Session 3: Mark schemes and Examiners Reports

2. Welcome • Introductions • Background • Aim of training

3. Session 3 looks at: Resources • Mark schemes as a resource • Principal Examiners’ Reports • Recommended books • Other resources • Learners and their needs

4. Using mark schemes as a resource Mark schemes: • Give the allocation of marks • Indicate the range of acceptable answers • Give examples of unacceptable answers • Give an indication of what Examiners are looking for in an answer

5. Mark schemes and Principal Examiners’ Reports: • Both give information about each part of each question • Should be used side by side to analyse students’ answers to questions • Provide information which can be passed on to students

6. Principal Examiners’ Reports After each examination session the Principal Examiner: • Writes a full and detailed report for each component • Comments on strengths and weaknesses of the candidates • Aims to provide advice to help teachers improve their own teaching and their students’ performance

7. Some areas covered in Principal Examiners’ Reports • Tiering - how effective it was • Completion of the examinations • Very detailed comments on specific questions • Acceptable and unacceptable answers • The rubric - how well was it followed?

8. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Reading/Writing papers • ‘Candidates must be reminded that this is a summary exercise which requires them to keep within a restricted word length.’ • ‘Many wrote at some length about what happened before and during the operation rather than afterwards.’ • ‘Many failed to follow the “between 12 and 20 words” instruction.’

9. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Reading and Writing papers • ‘Many centres are teaching their candidates to use idioms. This is indeed a good way to inject interest and some style into the writing.’ • ‘Weaker candidates listed the prompts and described them without really developing their own views or ideas about the project.’ • There was generally appropriate paragraphing…’

10. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Listening papers • ‘In accordance with the “listening for understanding” ethos of the component, phonetic attempts at an answer were rewarded unless they created a different word with a different meaning.’ • ‘It is always a good strategy to attempt an answer, particularly if it makes contextual sense.’

11. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Listening papers • ‘It is worth noting that where a candidate has re-written the answer, it should always be made clear which answer is the candidate’s final version.’ • ‘Mr. Rasheed’s telephone number caused some problems with number sequence reversal and often the distractor number was given instead of the correct 3247.’

12. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Speaking component • ‘The very best discussions are those during which Examiners create a relaxed atmosphere, allowing candidates to speak easily and at good length.’ • ‘Moderators would like to hear discussion/conversation from the outset – there is no need for an introductory or extended speech by the candidate about the topic.’

13. Principal Examiners’ Reports: Extracts on the Speaking component • ‘The prompts are not intended to be prescriptive, but are suggested as springboards for further discussion.’ • ‘Leniency was still noted in applying the fluency criterion – examiners need to be sure that candidates have contributed significantly to the conversation before awarding 9 or 10.’

14. Books/Texts • CIE maintains a Resource list of endorsed and other recommended textbooks on CIE Online. • Visit your qualifications page at www.cie.org.uk for further information.

15. Other resources and support material • CIE Publications CD-ROMs containing syllabuses, past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports • A CD of a range of Listening material has been produced. Activities and structured lessons have been written to support this • Online training. Teachers can follow a 6-week course of online training in IGCSE E2L

16. The Internet – some useful websites • www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish [BBC World Service] • www.learnenglish.org.uk/welcome/english.html [British Council] • www.englishspace.org [English Space] • www.selfaccess.com [Self Access]

17. CIE Teacher Support site Access to this site allows you to download: • Schemes of Work • Question papers and mark schemes for all exam sessions since 2002 • Syllabuses • Principal Examiners’ Reports

18. CIE Teacher Support site You can also: • Access a number of other useful resources • Engage with a subject specific FAQ area

19. The learners: time for reflection • How might learning on this course be different to a regular E2L programme? • What level do you think your E2L students need to be at when starting the IGCSE course? And to do well? • Can you anticipate some questions that might be asked by your learners? • How will you introduce your learners to the background knowledge they will need to acquire?

20. Your teaching To finish: • Are you happy with the teaching resources that you have? What will you need to obtain? • Does your teaching style suit this IGCSE course? What IS your teaching style? • Are you confident about constructing some of your own teaching schemes and lessons? • Are there any final thoughts or issues that you would like to raise with your colleagues now?

21. Closing comments