The Use of English Paper

To many students, the association they make with the use of English paper is grammar, grammar and more grammar. It is hardly fair as two of the five sections (the multiple choice cloze and word formation) have strong lexical foundations. However, it is understandable to an extent, as for many students their language learning experience prior to joining an FCE class did not always reflect the make up of this paper. Current classroom practice tends to combine the teaching of new vocabulary with reading and not with structural/grammatical points.

The FCE exam highlights the need for teaching words and grammar through an integrated approach. See how the Watch Out box on page 44 of the coursebook compares the uses of after, afterwards and after that. When students have seen one of these words in context and are then asked to use it, they can, through clever substitution, produce a grammatically correct sentence. However, when confronted with a choice of the three in a different context, the selection of the correct word(s) may not be that easy. This is basically because the subtler differences have not been highlighted. You will find the Watch Out boxes provide an excellent way to identify and teach commonly confused words (a full listing of them can be found on page 207).

You could try this little test with students:

Ask them how many of the words below they know.

You will probably find it is most, if not all, of them. Then ask them to write sentences with the words in both columns. You might find they have made one or two mistakes. If you then ask them to complete your own sentences where you have removed one of the above words, the chances are there will be more mistakes. This being the case, you can emphasise the fact that there is more to being able to use a word than knowing its meaning (in this particular case it shows the need for understanding transitiveness and intransitiveness.)

Returning to an earlier point concerning an integrated approach to language teaching, it is very easy to see that many tasks in the course book relate directly to an exam task. However, the reading (and in some cases the listening) exercises can be effective ways of exploiting new words. Vocabulary in context helps to make the meaning clear, which can then be used as building block for word formation. For example, if the word ‘interview’ came up in a reading exercise, you could draw students’ attention to the different uses of it (verb and noun) and words from it (interviewer and interviewee). Then you could examine the verbs it commonly collocates with (do, have, grant, give) and the differences in meaning.

This is just one way to give your classes an integrated approach and you will find that your course book is already conducive to this. However, the range of tasks in paper 3 is not limited to those of vocabulary and a forthcoming article provides practical ideas for developing item identification for all five sections.

For more ideas on how to teach exam classes visit the Longman Exams site.