An overview of the changes to the Cambridge English: First & Advanced exams that are occurring in January 2015 and what these changes may mean for us as teachers and our learners.
Oppenheimer Film Discussion for Philosophy and Film
Ihlow october 2014 changing face of cambridge exams
1. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
nglish
ertificates in
dvanced
irst
David Petrie
Friday 10th October 2014 / Monday 13th October 2014
2. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
3. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
4. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
5. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
6. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
7. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (60 min)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice
Part 2 – 7 question text
insertion
Part 3 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(45 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word
formation
Part 4 – 8 question Key Word
Transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
8. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (60 min)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice
Part 2 – 7 question text
insertion
Part 3 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(45 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word
formation
Part 4 – 8 question Key Word
Transformations
2015 Reading & Use of
English: (75 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word
formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word
Transformations
Part 5 – 6 question multiple
choice
Part 6 – 6 question text
insertion
Part 7 – 10 question multiple
matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
9. Reading & Use of English
2015 Reading & Use of English (75 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word Transformations
Part 5 – 6 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 6 question text insertion
Part 7 – 10 question multiple matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
10. Reading & Use of English
2008 2015
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 1
Grammatical / lexico-grammatical Part 2
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 3
Lexical and grammatical Part 4
Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose, main
idea, meaning from context, text organisation
(exemplification, comparison, reference)
Part 5
Text structure, cohesion & coherence Part 6
Specific information, detail, opinion & attitude Part 7
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
11. Reading & Use of English
2008 2015
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 1 Vocabulary: e.g. Idioms, collocations, fixed phrases,
complementation, phrasal verbs, semantic precision
Grammatical / lexico-grammatical Part 2 Awareness and control of grammar with some focus
on vocabulary
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 3
Vocabulary, in particular the use of affixation,
internal changes and compounding in word
formation
Lexical and grammatical Part 4 Grammar, vocabulary and collocation.
Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose, main
idea, meaning from context, text organisation
(exemplification, comparison, reference)
Part 5
Detail, opinion, attitude, tone, purpose, main idea,
gist, meaning from context, implication, text
organisation (exemplification, reference)
Text structure, cohesion & coherence Part 6 Cohesion, coherence, text structure
Specific information, detail, opinion & attitude Part 7 Detail, opinion, specific information, implication
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
12. Writing
2008 Part One 2015 Part One
Letter / email Essay
120-150 Words 140 – 190 words
3 or 4 content points
2 content points & candidate’s
own idea
Approx. 160 words of input Shorter, question based input
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
13. Writing
2008 Part Two 2015 Part Two
Five possible questions
(including 2 “book” questions)
Three possible questions
(no “book” questions)
article, essay, letter,
report, review, story
article, email/letter,
report, review
120 - 180 words 140 – 190 words
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
14. Listening
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
15. Listening
In part three, the multiple matching, there are
now 8 possible options to choose from, as
opposed to 6 previously.
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
16. Speaking
2008 2015
Part 1 3 mins 2 mins
Part 2
4 mins
(1 min answer / 20 second response)
4 mins
(1 min answer / 30 second response)
Part 3
3 mins
visual based prompt
discuss & decide
2 min & 1 min
text based prompt
discuss (2 mins) & decide (1 min)
Part 4 4 mins
4 mins
Now with added speculation...
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
17. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 4 – 8 question key word
transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
18. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 5 – 8 question key word
transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
19. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 5 – 8 question key word
transformations
2015 Reading & Use of
English: (90 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word
Transformations
Part 5 – 7 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 4 texts with 4 cross text
multiple matching questions
Part 7 – 6 question text insertion
Part 8 – 10 question multiple
matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
20. Reading & Use of English
2015 Reading & Use of English: (90 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word Transformations
Part 5 – 7 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 4 texts with 4 cross text multiple matching questions
Part 7 – 6 question text insertion
Part 8 – 10 question multiple matching
1 min
35 secs
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
21. Reading & Use of English
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
22. Reading & Use of English
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
23. Writing
2008 Part One 2015 Part One
article / letter / report / proposal Essay
180-220 Words 220 – 260 words
3 or 4 content points
Choose 2 content points from 3
options. “notes” also available
Up to 150 words of input Length not specified
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
24. Writing
2008 Part Two 2015 Part Two
Five possible questions
(including 2 “book” questions)
Three possible questions
(no “book” questions)
article, competition entry,
contribution, essay, information
sheet, letter, proposal
report, review, story
letter, proposal
report, review
220 - 260 words 220 – 260 words
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
25. Listening
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
26. Listening
In part four, the focus has been expanded from:
“Gist, attitude, main points, interpreting context”
to also include:
“opinion, purpose and speaker feeling”.
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
27. Speaking
2008 2015
Part 1 3 mins 2 mins
Part 2
4 mins
(1 min answer / 20 second response)
Choose 2 of the 3 pictures
4 mins
(1 min answer / 30 second response)
Choose 2 of the 3 pictures
Part 3
3 mins
visual based prompt
discuss & decide
2 min & 1 min
text based prompt
discuss (2 mins) & decide (1 min)
Part 4 4 mins
5 mins
Now with added speculation...
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
28. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
29. meaning
behind
words
greater
lexical
focus / range
essay
writing skills
focus
on
function
critical
thinking
skills
discourse
patterns &
structures
discussion
&
decision
deeper text
evaluation
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
30. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
31. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
32. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014
33. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014