Year 11 IGCSE English as a Second Language

Revision Guide
The Cambrdige IGCSE English as a Second Language examination is taken at
extended level by all students at St Georges and consists of 2 aers!
"aer 2! #eading and $riting
"aer %! Listening
Paper 2: Reading and Writing : 2 hours
This aer is &orth '() of your overall grade and consists of ' exercises*
+ou must ans&er all ,uestions!
Exercises - and 2! #eading Skills
In these exercises you &ill have 2 reading comrehension exercises based on
brochures.adverts and ne&saer.maga/ine texts* There are usually about
0 ,uestions er exercise* 1uestion formats are short2ans&er for exercise -
&ith either short2ans&er.true2false.multile choice for exercises 2 and 3*
Exercises 3! Information Transfer
This is a ne& activity as art of the change in syllabus* +ou &ill need to
comlete a form.notes temlate based on the information rovided in the
,uestion aer*
Exercise %! 4ote2making
+ou &ill need to make brief notes under sulied headings related to a text
in the ,uestion aer*
Exercises 5! Summary $riting
6or this activity you &ill need to &rite a short summary 7usually about -((
&ords8 based on an asect of a rinted text in the ,uestion aer*
Exercises 0 and '! $riting
There are no& only 2 &riting activities 7reviously 38* +ou &ill need to &rite
aroximately -5(22(( &ords for each exercise* +our &riting &ill be based
on a short romt based on ictures or &ritten comments* The audience9
urose and form of the 2 exercises &ill be different*
Total ar!s "or Paper 2: #$
%dvice on ti&e &anage&ent: There is a lot to get though in :ust 2 hours so
you &ill need to manage your time carefully* ;s a general rule the exercises
get more difficult so exercises -9 2 and 3 shouldnt take u more than 25
minutes of your time* The note taking should then take roughly -( minutes
&hilst the summary needs longer < some&here in the region of 2( minutes*
+ou should then send about 25 minutes on each of the &riting activity
leaving you -( minutes checking time*
Paper $: Listening
This aer is &orth 3() of your overall grade*
The listening aer lasts about %5 minutes* +ou &ill need to listen to a
number of conversations.dialogues.intervie&s and &ill be re,uired to &rite
your ans&ers in the saces rovided in the ,uestion booklet* +ou &ill hear
each extract t&ice and &ill be given some time to read the ,uestions before
you listen* +ou should make sure that you al&ays do this as it &ill hel you to
understand in advance &hat you are going to be listening to and &hat
information you are listening for*
Total ar!s "or Paper $: '(
Paper ) : *ral
+our oral examination &ill take lace during the second half of the Sring
Term* The first 223 minutes of the exam is a =&arm u session and is not
given a grade* +ou &ill then be given an oral toic from the examiner and a
fe& minutes to read through the instructions.ideas and reare your
resonse* The conversation that follo&s lasts about 02> minutes and may
lead onto other9 more general toics*
+our erformance in the oral exam &ill be a given a number grade9 searate
from your overall IGCSE grade* - is the highest mark and 5 is the lo&est*
Reading S!ills
The reading comrehensions can be based on a
brochure.advertisement.ne&saer articles.maga/ine articles* Study the
,uestions and ictures.hotos.diagrams.headings for clues to meaning* ;sk
yourself &here is the text from and &hat is it likely to be about?
#ead the text very carefully +e"ore ans&ering the ,uestions* @ont &orry
too much about &ords that you dont understand in the text! try to &ork
them out from context* If you still dont understand9 dont &orry*
Anderstanding that one &ord may not even be necessary in order to give the
right ans&er*
4o& read the ,uestions carefully* The ,uestions often use different &ords
and hrases to the ones given in the text* This is because the examiner is
looking for understanding of meaning 9 not :ust matching &ords together*
Study the ,uestion carefully and find evidence for the ans&er by checking
back to the text* @o 4BT try to ans&er any ,uestions from your memory of
&hat &as &ritten in the text alone* ;ns&er everything < even if you are not
sure*
The right ans&er to the ,uestion is one that contains the correct
information* Information can sometimes be coied from the text and it is
not necessary to use your o&n &ords in this art of the exam* ;ns&ers can
be very brief < sometimes a fe& &ords are enough*
If you are asked a ,uestion such as Co& much**?.Co& manyD?.Co& longD?
re,uiring information about measurements9 times9 costs9 ercentages9 your
ans&er must be secific*
6or examle!
2 hours and -( minutes 74BT about 2 hours8
3*5km 74BT 3*58
The tri costs E%F 74BT %F8
The ,uestions usually follo& the se,uence of the text* Some ,uestions have
t&o arts to them* This is sho&n by the layout of the ,uestion and9 in this
case9 you must find both ieces of information to get the mark* The number
of marks allocated to each ,uestion is sho&n in brackets follo&ing the
,uestion and you should make careful note of this*
,o-.tic!ing /uestions 0&ultiple choice1true."alse2
#ead the text through carefully before trying to ans&er the ,uestions9 as
the ,uestions may test your understanding of links in the text* Gox2ticking
,uestions are based on information in the text and they cannot be ans&ered
from guess&ork*
#ead through all the distractors before deciding on the best ans&er to a
multile choice ,uestion* #emember! all the distractors are made to look
correct* Check the text for evidence before making a choice*
Reading and Writing S!ills
In"or&ation Trans"er
#ead the text carefully before beginning to comlete the form* #emember
to follo& all the instructions very carefully* Hake sure that you understand
and look out for the follo&ing instructions!
$rite in caitals
Tick.circle.delete. cross out.ut a cross in.insert.
Sign.signature
Su&&ar3 Writing
In this activity you &ill need to &rite a summary using about -(( &ords* +ou
are told that you must use your o&n &ords as far as ossible*
Study the ,uestion first and underline e-actl3 4hat 3ou need to do5 +ou
&ill not be asked to &rite a summary of the &hole text < only a certain
asect of it9 so make very sure you are clear 4hat part o" the te-t 3ou are
+eing as!ed to su&&arise5
4o& read the text highlighting or underlining the relevant arts of it that
you &ill need to roduce your summary* Ioin these ideas together into a
coherent aragrah using your o&n &ords and hrases* Count the number of
&ords* If you have &ritten more than -2( &ords9 the examiner &ill cross out
and ignore anything you have &ritten after -2( &ords9 so you &ill lose marks*
In this case9 you should reread the summary and cross out any unnecessary
&ords*
6ote Ta!ing
In this activity the same rules aly as for aroaching the summary* This
time9 though9 you are asked to &rite notes9 rather than full sentences* +ou
&ill need to make notes under headings given9 so you need to look very
carefully at the headings and highlight or underline the relevant arts of the
text* There is no &ord limit and you do not need to use your o&n &ords*
$hen you have finished9 it is useful to check your clarity by asking yourself9
Could someone reading these notes understand them9 even though they have
not seen the original text?
Writing S!ills
+ou may be asked to &rite a formal.informal letter9an article for a
school.teenage maga/ine* +ou are usually given a visual stimulus eg* a
icture.hotos.ma to hel you imagine the situation* #ead through the
,uestions carefully underlining the key &ords* Identify your audience9
urose and form* The instructions may also include some =romts* These
&ill hel you structure your letter.article and should be used*
+our &riting is marked on your general ability to exress yourself in English*
Bne or t&o selling or grammar mistakes are not going to dramatically affect
your grade if the overall imression is very ositive* +our &riting should
sho& an interesting range of language used9 a good degree of accuracy and it
should also be lively and interesting to read9 &ith a good sense of audience9
urose and form*
It is &orth trying to be a little ambitious* Take some risks to make your
&riting more interesting by using comlex structures and sohisticated
vocabulary*
Try to use examles and ideas from your o&n life &hen ans&ering the
,uestion* This &ill hel make your &riting seem more authentic and &ill bring
your &riting more alive too*
+ou must cover all arts of the ,uestion and lan your ideas before you
&rite* +ou must &rite legibly and make sure you leave time to check your
&riting for selling.unctuation.vocabulary and aragrahing*
So&e di""erent t3pes o" 4riting:
Letters
These are by far the most fre,uent &riting activities that come u on the
IGCSE aer and you should be &ell reared to &rite some form of letter*
This may be "or&al or in"or&al and it is very imortant you kno& &ho you
are &riting to so that your style is aroriate for your audience*
6or both tyes of letters9 you should learn some aroriate oening and
closing remarks by heart* Gelo& are some examles9 but &e have studied
much more than these over the course of the t&o year course* "art of your
revision should be to list and learn the &ords.hrases.vocabulary that &ill
hel you to &rite in a sohisticated &ay*
In"or&al Letters
In an informal letter9 you are &riting to someone you kno& very &ell9
someone the same age as you or a friend* +our address and date should
go in the to right hand corner9 use an informal greeting 7@ear Simon9 D8
Gegin &ith a tyical informal oening remark9 such as
Co& are you? . Co& are things?. Thanks for your last letter.it &as
great to hear all your ne&s. Cave you recovered from the exams yet?
Im sorry I havent &ritten in a &hile9 but Ive been so busy here &ith
school &ork.exams
End &ith a tyical informal remark9 such as
$ell9 Im sorry but Ive got to go no&.Thats all for no&9 but &rite back
soon &ith all your ne&s. Send my best &ishes to your arents
6inally9 sign off aroriately* In an informal letter9 you could use
+ours.Love.Gest &ishes.#egards J your first name only
7or&al Letters
6ormal letters are &ritten to someone you do not kno& very &ell or
someone in authority* +our &riting style should therefore be olite and
formal*
In a formal letter you &rite your address in the to right hand corner
and the date underneath it* Bn the left hand side9 you should &rite the
address of the erson you are &riting to*
+ou should begin the letter &ith a formal greeting!
@ear Hrs Hurray9 7if you kno& the name of the erson you are &riting to8
@ear Sir.Hadam9 7if you do not kno& the name of the erson you are
&riting to8
;gain9 oening remarks should be formal!
I am &riting &ith regard to.I am &riting to exress my vie&s
regarding.I am &riting in resonse to.I am &riting to bring to your
attention. I am &riting to exress my dissatisfaction &ith**
Closing remarks should also be formal!
"lease do not hesitate to contact me.I look for&ard to receiving your
rely.I hoe that you &ill take my vie&s and suggestions into
consideration.Thank you for taking the time to read my letter
+ou should end your letter
+ours sincerely J full name 7&hen you have used the ersons name8
+ours faithfully J full name 7&hen you have begun &ith Sir.Hadam8
*pinion Essa3s
It is very likely that in one of the &riting activities9 you &ill be asked to
give your oinion on a toic* This could be in a letter to the editor of a
maga/ine in resonse to something you have read9 it could be an article
&ritten for your school maga/ine9 it could be a letter to your local council
exressing your vie&s on a roosed ro:ect.roblem in your area*
In these kinds of essays you must sho& a good a&areness of your
audience urose and form*
The most imortant thing is to organise your oints &ell9 exress yourself
clearly using aragrahs and linking &ords* Learn the follo&ing by heartK
8se"ul lin!ing 4ords and phrases:
To list and add points: in the first lace.to start.to begin
&ith.secondly.thirdly.finally.in addition 7to this8.
furthermore.moreover.besides
To introduce or list advantages: the main.first.most imortant
advantage ofD.one.another.an additional advantage ofD.one oint of
vie& in favour ofD.it is often suggested.believed.argued
thatD.some.many eole suggest.argue.feel thatD.some.many
eole are in favour ofD.are convinced thatD
To introduce or list disadvantages: the main.most imortant
disadvantage.dra&back ofD.one.another.an additional disadvantage
ofD.one oint.argument againstDsome.many eole are againstD etc
To e-a&ples1reasons1results: for examle.instance. such as.like.in
articular.therefore.for this reason.because.as.since.as a resultD
To sho4 contrast: on the other
hand.ho&ever.still.but.nonetheless.nevertheless.although.even
though.desite.in site of 7the fact that8 etc*
To &a!e suggestions: a useful suggestion &ould be to.another
solutionD.stes.measures should be taken in order to solve.deal &ith
To introduce a conclusion: in conclusion.to conclude.to sum u.all in
all.finally.lastly.all things considered.taking everything into
account.consideration etc*