Module One DELTA Online Preparation Course

Exam Guide: Paper 1 Task 5

Paper 1 Task 5 Learner text

Longer written response 25 minutes 27 marks

Learner An authentic spoken (transcribed) or written text produced
text by a learner is provided. Candidates analyse the main
strengths and weaknesses in the text based on a set of
specific areas, e.g. use of collocation, communicative
success, cohesion.

What this type of question involves

 You will be given a text written by a learner of English. It may be handwritten, “Mock
handwritten” (i.e. retyped using a handwriting-like computer font) or printed.

 You will be informed of

o the level of the student (using standard terms such as “pre-intermediate” rather than
CEF level descriptors
o the writing task that was set. This might be a one line task (e.g. Write an exciting
story set in a dark forest) or a longer task from a coursebook or exam paper.

 The text will have line numbers down the side so that you can refer to specific features in the
text when writing your answers.

 You will be given specific criteria within which to review some strengths and weaknesses of
the text.

 You will be asked to identify a weakness to prioritise for future teaching with reasons.
Is there a standard wording?

As far as we know, the wording is likely to be fairly consistent. Though the specific criteria you are
asked to focus on may vary.

The text for this task is reproduced on the opposite / next page. It was written by a learner in a/an
(name of level) class in response to the following task:

(The original writing task that was set to the learner – possibly including sub-tasks, word-count,
briefing notes, notes on potential audience etc)

a Identify three key strengths and three key weaknesses of the text. Provide an example of
each strength and weakness.

Your answer should focus on some the areas listed below:

(Areas listed may include some or all of the headings below – and/or others)

● Task achievement
● Appropriacy of genre and style
● Organisation
● Cohesion
● Punctuation
● Spelling
● Range of lexis
● Accuracy of lexis
● Range of grammar
● Accuracy of grammar

Write your answers in your answer booklet

Hints for doing this type of question

Part a

 Consider using a table format to easily place an example beside each strength / weakness
and avoid unnecessary repetition. e.g.

Strength Example

Weakness Example

This will also help you easily make a quick visual check as to whether you have addressed all
parts of the question i.e. three strengths and three weaknesses and given examples of each.

 Be simple, clear and accurate. You don’t need long commentaries. State the strength /
weakness. Give an example (with line number if appropriate). Make points concisely.
 Use the areas stated in the question as the first part of each line of your answer e.g.

Task achievement: The learner has failed to Line 12 “I wanted to buy some new book and
answer the second part of the question in pay for holiday.”
detail. He simply mentions the word “holiday”
as part of a list without describing it in any
detail.

 The vital word in the question is key. You are not just looking for any old random errors. You
are looking for important underlying issues. You may spot that these are “key” because they
are realised as errors more than once in the text e.g. seven mistakes in forming the present
perfect tense is likely to be a key issue – far more than one spelling error.
 Do not deal with areas not asked for. For example, accuracy of grammar may not be listed and
you would then not be expected to address it.
 Do not deal with more strengths / weaknesses than are asked for. This is considered as not
following the task instructions.

What do the headings mean? Some things to consider

Task Achievement: Did the learner actually do what was asked of him? How well was it done?
Did he do it all? What was missed? How did the achievement differ from how a competent
language user might do it?

Genre / style: Does the text reflect the layout, organisation, structure etc of a specific genre? What
would you expect to find in this genre? What elements have been achieved well? What elements
are poor or missing? Are there any examples of appropriate / inappropriate language for the
genre? Is the tone right? Has the writer taken attention of the potential reader?

Organisation: Is the text organised appropriately and well? Is it well-sequenced? Is there a logic
underlying it? Are layout features used effectively (e.g. headlines, sub-headings etc)? Is the
paragraphing well achieved?

Cohesion: How does the writer help the text to add together? Does he use linking devices (e.g.
conjunctions, relative clauses, referencing) well?
Punctuation: Which punctuation is used? Which avoided? Is it well-used? Are some items used
consistently incorrectly e.g. comma instead of full stop. Where does it help / interfere with the
meaning? Is capitalisation accurately used?

Spelling: Are there many errors? How much do they interfere with communication? Are there any
consistent issues?

Range & accuracy of grammar / lexis: Range refers to how wide the writer’s knowledge of lexis /
grammatical structures is (i.e. what they don’t know – or avoid - as well as what they know) .
Accuracy refers to whether what they write is correct or not)

Useful starting points

 Practise using the different assessment areas. Many teachers come onto the Delta course
mainly familiar with marking for grammatical and lexical accuracy. Get comfortable with
assessing things like “task achievement” and “appropriacy of genre”
Part b

 You need to follow the rubric carefully. You are only asked to pick out one weakness – but the
challenge is in picking one that seems to be a priority. In order to do this you need to consider
whether the thing you choose is really of deep and wider significance. For example, if you
have spotted one or two unconnected spelling mistakes, it would probably be inappropriate to
generalise from this into a need to focus on spelling in general. Look for errors and problems
that reflect what is probably a more important underlying problem.
 Generally Delta markers seem to be more comfortable giving marks for areas related to
discourse, genre, style, organisation /layout more than with discrete items of grammar or
vocabulary.
 You are asked to give reasons for your choice. Make sure that these aren’t circular e.g.”I
picked this because it’s an important problem to deal with”. It isn’t enough to say that they got
it wrong therefore it needs to be worked on.

Good areas to consider when listing reasons for picking areas

 Fulfilling task requirements

 Makes a negative impact on the reader / failure to communicate successfully
 Useful / appropriate to the learner’s personal needs, now or in the future
 Useful / appropriate in order to facilitate other learning later (e.g. past simple needed for
reported speech)
 Usefulness in other genres of writing or in other skills areas
 Typically suitable / unsuitable for teaching at this learner’s level – may appropriate for
learner to know at this stage – may be of wider use to other students in class
 Not dealing with it may lead to the error getting stuck (“fossilisation”) and being repeated
and never learnt

If you are given more information about the learner (e.g. who, where, age, kind of class, goals,
needs, wishes etc) then it may be appropriate to also consider:

 Importance of the work in relation to one or more of these contextual factors

Possible catch-you-out moments

 This is a question where it is very easy to miss out bits by mistake – or to do too much.
Check that you have given the asked-for number of strengths / weaknesses / examples /
reasons.
 Pick out key issues in part a and something worth being a priority in part b.
 Major causes of failing questions like this: (i) not providing the asked-for number of items (ii)
not giving important enough issues or solid enough reasons.