FCE Information for teachers 1

What is oxfordenglishtesting.com?
Its a website that gives students and teachers of English access to interactive
practice tests.
Its where students who have bought OUP materials can access online practice
tests via a MultiROM, and buy more if they wish.
What do the online FCE practice tests consist of?
The FCE online practice tests reflect what happens in the real exam, in the same
way as printed practice tests from Oxford University Press. The practice tests are
complete and full length. For an overview of the content of FCE, see page 4.
Students do not print the tests in order to do them. They take them online and they
are marked automatically online. In addition, there is a range of help features that
students can call on while they are doing the test. These include dictionary look-up,
exam tips, audio scripts, the ability to mark and change individual answers, and get
feedback on answers. See page 3 for more details on these features.
The combination of online marking and help features makes the practice tests ideal
for self-study at home or in the classroom.
How do students take an online practice test?
Students can do a practice test in their own time wherever they have access to a
computer and the Internet. They will need an email address and to be online when
they do the tests.
Students have access to the test for 365 days from the time payment is received,
or from the time they start the test.
Students do not have to do the whole test at one time. They can answer and then
mark a question, a part, a paper, or the whole test. All their answers are automatically
saved when they leave the site, and they can come back to the test at any time. They
can also skip questions and come back to them later.
Students can monitor their progress via the Test Overview, which records
questions not attempted, attempted but not marked, right and wrong answers, and
questions that cannot be marked online. Students can also print the Test Overview
and Results page. After 365 days they have to submit the test for final marking.
Marking the practice test
The system can automatically mark the FCE Reading, Use of English, and
Listening papers.
Where students are asked to key in their answers, the automatic marking system
will only accept words that are spelt correctly. Answers may be typed in upper
case or lower case, but not a mixture of the two (e.g. CORRECT ANSWER and
correct answer are acceptable, but not Correct answer, unless at the start of a
sentence, or a proper name). Both British and American spelling are accepted.
oxford english testing.com
oxford english testing.com
oxford english testing.com
Information for teachers about online FCE practice
tests from www.oxford english testing.com
FCE Information for teachers 2
When students take their answer from a text provided, they should make sure they
copy the word exactly.
The system cannot automatically mark the FCE Writing and Speaking papers.
However, these parts of the test are provided online, along with exam tips, sample
answers for the Writing paper, and useful language for the Speaking paper, in order
to provide practice of the complete test. The Speaking papers are also available
as downloadable PDFs via the link from the learning resources section of the
My Tests page.
As the system cannot automatically mark the FCE Writing and Speaking papers
online, the default result will exclude these papers. The result the students see
includes totals for each of the marked parts and a percentage. It also gives an
indication as to whether the score is equivalent to a pass or not.
For the Writing paper, your students can enter their answers online, and have the
choice of printing them or emailing them to you for marking. They can then enter
the marks you give them on the Results page, after they have submitted all their
answers for final marking. Their final score will then be adjusted to take these
marks into account.
If you wish, you can also conduct the Speaking test with students and they can
enter their marks on the Results page on the website. Their final score will then
be adjusted to take these marks into account.If students want to enter marks for
Writing and Speaking they need to enter them at the same time.
Finally, it is important to remember that these are practice tests, not the real exam,
and so the final mark is only an indication of how your students might perform in
the real exam.
See pages 56 for more information on assessing the Writing paper and pages 78
for more information on assessing the Speaking paper.
Where can I find out more about oxfordenglishtesting.com?
For more help, click on the Support tab on the website, www.oxfordenglishtesting.com.
Youll find a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) covering
technical issues, registering, buying tests, doing tests, and other topics. There is a
demo on the homepage of the website that will give you a clear understanding of
the site and the practice tests. You can also contact us at
customerservice.eltonline@oup.com
FCE Information for teachers 3
Features of the online practice tests
Exam tips There is a tip on how to answer every question type.
Dictionary look-up Students can look up the meaning of any word in the practice test.
They just double click it and a definition will pop up from the Oxford
Advanced Learners Dictionary. They will need to have pop-up
windows enabled.
Instant marking and feedback When a student has answered a question, they can mark it straight
away to see whether they got it right. If the answer was wrong, they
can get Feedback to find out why it was wrong.
Change your answer or
try again
Students can then go back and have another go as many times as
they like. Understanding why they answered a question incorrectly
helps them think more clearly about a similar question next time.
Save and come back later Students dont have to complete a Paper in one go. When they
log out it saves what theyve done. They can come back to it at
any time. Students have 365 days before they have to submit the
practice test for final marking. The My tests page tells students how
many days they have left to access the test.
Mark individual answers, a
part, a paper, or the whole test
However much students have done of the practice test, they can
mark it and see how well theyre doing.
Audio scripts These are available for all parts of the Listening test. Reading the
Audio script will help students understand any areas they didnt
understand when they were listening.
Sample answers for essay
questions in the Writing paper
Students can see Sample answers after theyve written their
own. Theyve been written by real students, and will give them a
good idea of whats expected. What they write will not be marked
automatically. If you would like to mark your students essay, tell
them and they can either print it off to give to you, or email it to you.
When youve marked it, they can enter the mark on their Results
page. It does not matter if they do not enter a mark for the essay.
The final marks will be adjusted to take that into account.
Useful language for the
Speaking paper
Students get sample Speaking papers and Useful language to help
them practise offline. If you want to assess your students they can
print the Speaking paper from the My tests page, and ask you to do
the Speaking paper with them. As with the Writing paper, you can
give them a mark and they can enter the mark on the Results page.
However, if you dont, their final marks will be adjusted to take that
into account.
Results page Remember this is a practice test not the real exam. Students will see
their score by paper and part and as a percentage. This will only be
an indication as to whether their score is equivalent to a pass or not.
Try a sample test first You can try out a short version of a practice test yourself. Go to
oxfordenglishtesting.com and click on Try. You can also ask your
local OUP office for a demo.
FCE Information for teachers 4
FCE content and overview
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Paper Content Test focus Marks
Paper 1
READING
30 questions
1 hour
Part 1 A text followed by eight multiple-choice questions.
Part 2 A text from which seven sentences have been
removed and placed in jumbled order, together
with an additional sentence, after the text.
Part 3 A text or several short texts preceded by 15
multiple-matching questions.
Candidates are expected
to show understanding of
specific information, text
organization features,
tone, and text structure.
40 marks
(20% of the total
score)
Parts 1 and 2:
2 marks per
correct answer
Part 3: 1 mark
per correct
answer
Paper 2
WRITING
2 questions
1 hour 20
minutes
Part 1 One compulsory question.
Part 2 Candidates choose one task from a choice of five
questions (including the set text options).
Candidates are expected
to be able to write non-
specialized text types
such as an article, an
essay, a letter, an email,
a report, a review,
or a short story, with
a focus on advising,
apologizing, comparing,
describing, explaining,
expressing opinions,
justifying, persuading,
recommending,
suggesting.
40 marks
(20% of the total
score)
20 marks per
question
Paper 3
USE OF
ENGLISH
42 questions
45 minutes
Part 1 A modified cloze test containing 12 gaps and
followed by 12 multiple-choice items.
Part 2 A modified open cloze test containing 12 gaps.
Part 3 A text containing 10 gaps. Each gap corresponds
to a word. The stems of the missing words are
given beside the text, and must be changed to
form the missing word.
Part 4 Eight separate questions, each with a lead-in
sentence and a gapped second sentence to be
completed in two to five words, one of which is a
given key word.
Candidates are expected
to demonstrate the ability
to apply their knowledge
of the language system
by completing a number
of tasks.
50 marks
(20% of the total
score)
Parts 1, 2, 3: 1
mark per correct
answer
Part 4: up to
2 marks per
correct answer
Paper 4
LISTENING
30 questions
About 45
minutes
Part 1 A series of eight unrelated short extracts from
monologues or exchanges between interacting
speakers. There is one multiple-choice question
per extract.
Part 2 A monologue or text involving interacting
speakers, with a sentence completion task which
has 10 questions.
Part 3 Five short related monologues, with five multiple-
matching questions.
Part 4 A monologue or text involving interacting
speakers, with seven multiple-choice questions.
Candidates are expected
to be able to show
understanding of attitude,
detail, function, genre,
gist, main idea, opinion,
place, purpose, situation,
specific information,
relationship, topic,
agreement, etc.
30 marks
(20% of the total
score)
1 mark per
correct answer
Paper 5
SPEAKING
4 parts
14 minutes
Part 1 A conversation between the interlocutor and each
candidate (spoken questions).
Part 2 An individual long turn for each candidate, with a
brief response from the second candidate (visual
and written stimuli, with spoken instructions).
Part 3 A two-way conversation between candidates
(visual and written stimuli, with spoken
instructions).
Part 4 A discussion on topics related to Part 3 (spoken
questions).
Candidates are expected
to be able to respond to
questions and to interact
in conversational English.
40 marks
(20% of the total
score)
Marked
according
to global
achievement and
four analytical
criteria.
FCE Information for teachers 5
Preparing for the Writing paper
In Part 1 of the Writing paper students write a letter or email. In Part 2 they write
either an article, an essay, a letter, a report, a review, or a story, one task to be
selected from a choice of five.
Below are some suggestions for ways in which you can prepare your students to
achieve top marks in the Writing paper.
Ensure that students are familiar with the range of task types and topics so that
they can identify those which match their own interests and experience.
Train students to read the questions carefully, underlining the most important
parts. They should make sure they include all the content points as missing one
of them out means that the task is not adequately achieved. This will result in
students being penalized.
Students should make sure they write approximately the right number of
words. If they write too little, it is likely that the task has not been successfully
completed; overlong pieces of writing may involve irrelevance, repetition, or poor
organization.
Students need to think carefully about the target reader for each task and try to
write in an appropriate style and tone.
Give your students plenty of practice in planning and structuring their writing so
that the flow of their ideas is logical and easy to follow. For example, they need
to be able to write in paragraphs and use a variety of linking words, such as
Furthermore, Moreover, Anyway, etc.
Encourage your students to use a range of complex language. Even if they
make some mistakes, they will get credit for the complex language attempted,
as long as the mistakes do not impede communication.
Remind students that in the email tasks they will be expected to write
grammatically correct sentences with accurate spelling and punctuation in a
style suited to the situation and target reader. The abbreviated language used in
text messages will not be considered appropriate to the task.
Give your students plenty of practice in writing the types of texts they will find in
the exam. For example, they need to be able to open and close both formal and
informal letters appropriately; they need to be able to write in a report format and
construct an essay and a short story. They should also be encouraged to read a
wide range of reviews to help them write their own review.
Assessing the Writing paper
Students answers should be assessed with reference to two mark schemes: one
based on the overall impression; the other on the requirements of the particular task.
The General Impression Mark Scheme (see page 6) refers to the content,
organization and cohesion, range of structures and vocabulary, accuracy, register
and format, and the target reader indicated in the task. The Task Specific Mark
Scheme focuses on criteria specific to each particular task. The sample answers
included on the website for each Writing paper summarize the expected content of
each question and provide a band score on the General Impression Mark Scheme.
It should be remembered that the assessments provided in the sample answers
can only offer an indication of performance in the real exam.
FCE Information for teachers 6
General Impression Mark Scheme
BAND 5
For a Band 5 to be awarded, the candidates writing fully achieves the desired
effect on the target reader. All the content points required in the task are included
and expanded appropriately. Ideas are organized effectively, with the use of
a variety of linking devices and a wide range of structure and vocabulary. The
language is well developed, and any errors that do occur are minimal and
perhaps due to ambitious attempts at more complex language. Register and
format which is consistently appropriate to the purpose of the task and the
audience is used.
BAND 4
For a Band 4 to be awarded, the candidates writing achieves the desired effect
on the target reader. All the content points required in the task are included.
Ideas are clearly organized, with the use of suitable linking devices and a good
range of structure and vocabulary. Generally, the language is accurate, and
any errors that do occur are mainly due to attempts at more complex language.
Register and format which is, on the whole, appropriate to the purpose of the
task and the audience is used.
BAND 3
For a Band 3 to be awarded, the candidates writing, on the whole, achieves the
desired effect on the target reader. All the content points required in the task are
included. Ideas are organized adequately, with the use of simple linking devices
and an adequate range of structure and vocabulary. A number of errors may
be present, but they do not impede communication. A reasonable, if not always
successful, attempt is made at register and format which is appropriate to the
purpose of the task and the audience.
BAND 2
For a Band 2 to be awarded, the candidates writing does not clearly
communicate the message to the target reader. Some content points required
in the task are inadequately covered or omitted, and/or there is some irrelevant
material. Ideas are inadequately organized, linking devices are rarely used,
and the range of structure and vocabulary is limited. Errors distract the reader
and may obscure communication at times. Attempts at appropriate register and
format are unsuccessful or inconsistent.
BAND 1
For a Band 1 to be awarded, the candidates writing has a very negative
effect on the target reader. There is notable omission of content points and/or
considerable irrelevance, possibly due to misinterpretation of the task. There is
a lack of organization or linking devices, and there is little evidence of language
control. The range of structure and vocabulary is narrow, and frequent errors
obscure communication. There is little or no awareness of appropriate register
and format.
BAND 0
For a Band zero to be awarded, there is either too little language for assessment
or the candidates writing is totally irrelevant or totally illegible.
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FCE Information for teachers 7
Preparing for the Speaking paper
See page 4 for an overview of the contents of the Speaking paper. Below is a brief
summary of each part of the test and suggestions for ways in which students can
prepare for them.
Part 1
Students answer a range of questions about their everyday life, for example sports,
travel and holidays, work experience, etc.
Encourage your students to look for opportunities to socialize with English
speakers, if possible. In class, they could role-play social occasions in which they
meet new people, e.g. parties, train journeys, starting a new job. Students could
brainstorm possible questions from the categories above. The different groups
could then answer each others questions.
Students should not use prepared speeches as they might not be appropriate for
the question asked.
Part 2
Students compare two thematically linked photographs and answer a question
about their partners photographs.
Teach your students to listen carefully to the instructions and to carry them out.
They should listen carefully to the instructions which follow the words and say and
read the question accompanying the photographs. If they do not do this they may
miss the focus of the task and not produce a wide enough range of language, or
they may find it difficult to speak for the full minute.
Students sometimes find that a minute is quite a long time to talk. Give your
students practice at talking for a minute about a given topic. You could use topics
and visuals in FCE coursebooks for this. You could also use thematically linked
pairs of photographs from magazines or encourage students to bring their own
photographs to class. For example, you might choose photographs of two different
types of holiday and ask your students to compare the photographs and say what
people would enjoy about a holiday in each of the different places.
Give your students plenty of practice in organizing an extended turn and in linking
their ideas together.
Students are not expected to give detailed descriptions of each picture. They are
asked to compare the pictures and to give their reaction to them. Get your students
to work in pairs or small groups and to share their ideas about what they might
say about a pair of photographs. Encourage them to practise ways of expressing
similarity and difference, e.g. one similarity is that ...; In this picture theres
whereas in the other theres and to use comparatives and linking words
effectively.
Part 3
This is a two-way conversation between two students, who use spoken instructions
and written and visual stimuli to carry out a decision-making task.
It is very important for candidates to interact with each other when they carry out
the Part 3 task. All classroom discussion in pairs and small groups, therefore,
provides excellent preparation.
Give your students plenty of practice in discussion tasks in which they are expected
to make positive contributions to move the discussion forward. They should be
able to respond to each others contributions by agreeing, disagreeing politely,
and questioning each other. They should be able to express and justify opinions.
In classroom activities, one student in each group could be made responsible for
ensuring that every member of the group gets an equal opportunity to speak, so
that the students become alerted to the importance of turn-taking.
FCE Information for teachers 8
Part 4
In this part of the test students discuss further the topics introduced in Part 3.
Encourage your students to give full answers to the questions asked, for example
by giving reasons for their answers. Let your students practise asking each
other for their opinions on everyday situations and current events. Classroom
discussions in pairs and small groups provide excellent preparation.
In order to raise awareness of the types of questions asked and of effective ways
of answering them, it may be helpful to give pairs of students different topics and
to ask each pair to think of six discussion questions for their topic. These sets of
questions could then be exchanged by the different pairs and discussed.
Remind students that there are no right answers to the questions and candidates
will not be judged on their opinions, only on the language they use to express
them. It is quite acceptable for candidates to admit to not knowing much about a
particular question, but they should be taught to expand on their views wherever
possible and should be discouraged from making responses such as I dont know,
Im not sure or I havent thought about that.
Assessing the Speaking paper
A total of 40 marks are allocated in the Speaking test, making 20% of the total
score for the whole examination.
Assessment is based on performance in the whole test, and is not related to
performance in particular parts of the test. Students are assessed on their own
performance, and not in relation to each other.
Marks are awarded by the assessor, who does not take part in the test, according
to four analytical criteria: Grammar and Vocabulary, Discourse Management,
Pronunciation, and Interactive Communication. The interlocutor, who conducts the
test, gives a mark for Global Achievement.
Grammar and Vocabulary
This refers to the accurate and appropriate use of a range of grammatical forms
and vocabulary. Performance is viewed in terms of the overall effectiveness of
the language used in spoken interaction.
Discourse Management
This refers to the candidates ability to link utterances together to form coherent
speech, without undue hesitation. The utterances should be relevant to the tasks
and should be arranged logically to develop the themes or arguments required
by the tasks.
Pronunciation
This refers to the candidates ability to produce intelligible utterances to fulfil
the task requirements. This includes stress and intonation as well as individual
sounds. Examiners put themselves in the position of a non-ESOL specialist and
assess the overall impact of the pronunciation and the degree of effort required
to understand the candidate.
FCE Information for teachers 9
Interactive Communication
This refers to the candidates ability to take an active part in the development of
the discourse. This requires an ability to participate in the range of interactive
situations in the test and to develop discussions on a range of topics by initiating
and responding appropriately. This also refers to the deployment of strategies to
maintain interaction at an appropriate level throughout the test so that the tasks
can be fulfilled.
Global Achievement
This refers to the candidates overall effectiveness in dealing with the tasks
in the four separate parts of the FCE Speaking test. The global mark is an
independent impression mark which reflects the assessment of the candidates
performance from the interlocutors perspective.
FCE Speaking test analytical criteria reproduced with the permission of Cambridge ESOL.
Go to http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/general-english/fce.html
for more information about the FCE exam, and why it might benefit you.