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February 2009

Learning your CAEs

Simon Haines, author of Cambridges Complete CAE, gives useful tips to teachers on preparing students for the CAE exam
Reading
Dont ask your students to do all their reading practice as homework (if they do it for homework, some of them read carefully, others do it at the bus stop and some dont do it at all, which means that you have very little control over how they read). Get them to do reading activities in class under your supervision. Students sometimes complain that there is not enough time to read all the material presented in the CAE reading paper. This may be because they have not had sufficient practice in reading under timed conditions. So, always give strict time limits for reading activities and stick to these. As the exam approaches, adjust the time limits to the time they would actually have for each task around 18 minutes so that they get used to managing their time effectively.

Speaking
In relation to part 1 of the CAE speaking exam, make sure students know the topics they will be asked about: their own lives, their families, education, leisure time activities, likes and dislikes etc. Although these topics are predictable, dont get students to learn answers by heart, but do make sure that they have prepared the vocabulary they are likely to need for each topic. It is important that students conversation with the examiner is as natural as possible. In relation to parts 3 and 4 of the exam, which involve pairs of students interacting, train them to share the talking time available. Give them practice in conversational strategies such as turn-taking, showing they are listening to their partner, interrupting politely and eliciting a partners opinions. It is important that individuals do not speak for too long. In relation to part 4, get students to think laterally and come up with a variety of ideas in answer to questions. Make sure students realise that there are no right or wrong answers to examiners questions. Examiners are interested how they express, justify and expand on their opinions.

gRaMMaR
By the time students reach CAE level, they will have encountered all but the most obscure formalities of English grammar. They will have worked through some grammar many times, but this does not mean that the language they produce is error-free. At this stage, therefore, focus primarily on areas of grammar which are known to cause problems. Obviously, as a teacher you know best the errors your own students make, but supplement this knowledge by referring to corpus material which analyses errors made by exam candidates worldwide. (Complete FCE and Complete CAE both make extensive use of the Cambridge Esol Learner Corpus related to grammar and vocabulary.) In the CAE exam, students do not have to do grammar exercises as such, but they do have to produce grammatically accurate spoken and written language. In addition to working through a grammar revision syllabus, focus students attention on different ways of achieving particular language aims. For example, focus on ways of linking their ideas in different grammatical ways, by means of relative clauses, participle clauses, conjunctions or apposition. This combining of aspects of grammar in new ways can provide students with language choices.

WRiting
Get your students used to making written plans for their writing. If theyre going to write for homework, ask them to work with a partner in class beforehand to plan their writing. Before they make any plans, they should always identify the target reader(s) and the purpose of the task. Train your students to treat writing activities as a sort of roleplay where they have to imagine they are the writer, writing to the imaginary target reader. When students have produced plans, get their feedback and discuss the task with the whole class before they go away to do their homework. Remind them to follow their plans when they write. Get students to look carefully at your corrections to their writing and encourage them to keep a section of their notebook for mistakes and corrections. Remind students to update their lists after every writing task. Example entries: Mistake the first bad impression our guest had kids details the collocation is make a (bad/good) impression on sb. kids is too informal here Correction the first bad impression made on our guests children

VoCabulaRy
A wide vocabulary range is essential for success at CAE. Students receptive vocabulary will always be greater than their productive vocabulary, so the fact that they understand a word when they hear it or read it in context does not mean that they will be able to use it in their own speaking or writing. Dont expect students to learn all the unfamiliar words in a reading text or a recording; instead focus on a limited number of useful words and phrases. (The teachers notes for Complete FCE and Complete CAE provide photocopiable word lists which include twenty-five or so of the most useful words and phrases from each unit of the course.) Encourage students, whenever possible, to learn vocabulary in chunks. These will include collocations (run a business), common compounds (a fashion designer), prepositional phrases (under an assumed identity) and conversational idioms (I can honestly say). Suggest that students organise their vocabulary notebooks in a way which helps them to record, learn and re-use words and phrases. For many students the best way of organising vocabulary is by topic.

expoSuRe to language outSide the ClaSSRooM

A good course book and practice test materials are essential, but impress upon students the benefits of going beyond the book, that is, of reading and listening extensively outside the classroom. Not everything they will need to know to pass the exam is contained either in their course book or in what you provide as additional classroom activities. To reach a genuinely advanced level, your students need a wider exposure to the language than you can give in the few hours a week of contact time they have with you. In addition to traditional extra materials newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes, etc. suggest particular internet websites which will provide students with exposure to high quality language. MSN Messenger and other social networking sites can also provide students with regular opportunities to interact with English users all over the world.

Proudly presenting

THE COMPLETE PICTURE

Contains a model practice test from Cambridge ESOL Highlights typical mistakes made by exam candidates as revealed by the Cambridge Learner Corpus Includes extra photocopiable tests and activities in the Teachers Book Integrates exam practice into each unit Comes with a FREE interactive CD-ROM

www.cambridge.org/elt/exams