Monday, 9 March 2015

Paper 1 Task 2

utterance - a complete unit of speech in spoken language.  An utterance can be shorter than a sentence.
A: when's he coming?
B: tomorrow - an utterance.

velar - from velum /k/ /g/  - velum is the soft part at the back of the throat.

holistic learner - describes a learner who learns language through global exposure to language.

discrete-item test - a test of one particular area of grammar, lexis or discourse.

forward wash - the effect a test/exam has on the teaching that follows the test/exam.

schemata - a mental representation of a situation or the context of a text.

top-down processing - applying world or context knowledge in our decoding of the meaning of a text.

hyponym - a word whose meaning is included in the meaning of another more general word.  bus is a hyponym of vehicle.

Paper 2 Task 1

face validity - a test LOOKS LIKE it tests what it's supposed to e.g. a pronunciation test which is written may be perceived by the ss as not having face validity.

content validity - thoroughness.  does it test what is in the syllabus?

construct validity - the test tests what it's supposed to and nothing else.

predictive validity - how well ss will use a language or skills area in the real world.

direct test - a test of the language point or skill by focusing on that language point.
indirect testing  -  a test of something within the context of something else.

direct - testing use of linkers with a gap fill
indirect - testing a student's use of linkers by getting them to write a discursive essay.

* does the test rely on the subjective opinion of the marker (low reliability) or is is mechanically marked (high reliability).

Friday, 6 March 2015

cognitive

cognitive = the mental act of learning/understanding

CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy = a form of therapy in which, having learnt to understand their anxiety, patients attempt to overcome their usual behavioural responses to it.

cogitate - to ponder; think about sth; meditate

Polysemy & homonyms

polysemy - chip - small piece of material.

homonyms - to bat one's eyelids/to bat a ball/vampire bat - no overlap in meaning.

Monday, 2 March 2015

Paper 1

Task 1 (6 marks, 5 mins)

-careful with spelling
-answer is usually 1 or 2 words
-do not give an example or extra info.

Task 2 (12 marks, 15 mins)

a. Adjacency pair
Definition:  this is worth 2 point.
Example:


a. Adjacency Pair
Definition: paired phrases (or triplets) which occur together in often fairly fixed ways
Example: “How are you?”
“Fine, thanks. And you?”

Task 3 (12 marks, 10-15 mins)

-this task can either be a writing or speaking activity at any level.
-2 marks for each language feature correctly identified and 2 marks for each correct example.
-use bullet points and simple list the features.

Feature:
Example:

Language features = language systems: grammar, functions, lexis, discourse, (phonology for the speaking).

Grammar
Feature: use of the passive
Example: 'you will be taken straight to your hotel when you arrive'.

Feature: present perfect continuous
Example: 'I've been working as a journalist for 6 months'

Feature: phrasal verbs
Example: 'I took up tennis recently'.  NOT  'take up/give up'

PROVIDE FULL EXAMPLES:  'I've been working in a school'  NOT  'I've been working'.


Vocabulary features:  here you don't need to put full example of what the ss might say - just 4-6 words. e.g.

Feature: lexis of public buildings.
Example: church, railway station, library

=> If the feature is about paragraph organisation, you need to put a full mini paragraph plan.  e.g.  imagine the task is to write about a favourite hobby:

Feature: appropriate paragraph organisation
Example: paragraph 1 - your experience with this hobby  paragraph 2 - the good points of this hobby paragraph 3 - the disadvantages.

PHONOLOGY

Feature: emphatic stress to show enthusiasm
Example: 'you must see it, it's amazing!'

Paper 4 (20 marks, 20-25 mins)

-read rubric and think about what you would expect from a student of that level.
-must include 1 strength and 1 weakness.  It can be 3 strengths and 1 weakness though.

Strengths
Task Achievement:
Example:

Weaknesses
Accuracy of grammar:
Example:

Paper 5 (50 marks, 45 mins)

Feature 3 - Headline - it's elliptical (functional words are omitted)

Feature 5 - The passive - neutral quality - suggest impartiality (fair, just)
[stay impartial until you have heard both sides]

Feature 8 - use of present tenses to emphasise the immediacy and relevance of news events.  e.g. Obama snubs. e.g Obama to visit Gaza (infinitive for future)

Feature 9 - expanded or densely pre-modified noun phrases  are used to save time and space in descriptions.  e.g. {terrorist fist-thumping gesture/right wing critics/former CIA officer and Hilary Clinton supporter.

macrostructure - the overall structure of a text (also termed genre structure or discourse structure)