Perhaps there are still questions you've still to post here about the marking, but I thought

I'd go through some of the questions teachers often ask.

Paper 1 Q1f Summary - people often ask how many summary points does a candidate
need to include to achieve the top level. There is no set number of points, other than for
the top level it would have to be a good number (70%+ of the available points asa rough
guide, but this is not definitive). It is not just the number of points, but how succinctly the
candidate has included those points and how successfully they have used their own
words that contribute to the overall mark. Summary writing needs practice so perhaps
you could make suggestions here as to what you do in class?

Paper 1 Q2d Writer's Effects - teachers and candidates often seem to be fazed by this
question, but I think it is perfectly accessible. Firstly, candidates need to make sure that
they make just three choices from each of the two paragraphs, so six overall. More than
that is wasting their time and can dilute their mark. The whole focus of this question is on
implicit meanings. Listing or identifying the language features used (metaphor,
personification, etc) won't gain any marks. Weaker candidates should focus on at least
giving the explicit meaning of the word or short phrase they have selected. This could get
them a potential 6/15. Choices should not be lengthy sentences or sections, they should
be single words or short phrases. Lengthy choices often contain more than one
possibility in the MS and this can again dilute their potential mark.

An effective series of lessons I used for Writer's Effects involved songs. Without
digressing too much, this came about because often when it came to studying poetry
learners were negative and thought poetry would be difficult.

I would select a contemporary song in the charts, one that I knew they would all know. I
would play it in class and then ask my class what the song was about. Unsurprisingly, they
could all tell me the story of the song and the themes it contained. I would hand out
copies of the lyrics and ask them, either in pairs or small groups, to indicate where these
messages were clear. They could do it easily. Slowly it dawned upon them that this was
the same as looking at poetry as songs are just poetry put to music.

They could understand implicit meaning, far more easily than they thought. Talking about
implicit meaning thereafter was much more fruitful as my learners reaslised it was
accessible, sometimes it was hard and required thought and discussion, but it was
accessible. Perhaps you could try something similar with your learners, obviously using
an appropriate song for your country and culture.
Paper 1, Q3 - there are several keys to performing well in this question (other than
reading it carefully - as with all questions!).

Firstly, what is the text type required - is it a letter, or an interview, or an article, etc? Make
sure that the learner responds using the correct text type. By the way, a letter in theIGCSE
exam does not require addresses, it might in O level papers, but not in IGCSE.

Secondly, there will always be three bullet points which the candidate should address.
Addressing all three bp's satisfactorily should, in most cases, mean a minimum mark of
7/15. Not addressing all three will mostly mean a maximum Reading mark of 6/15.

Thirdly, having addressed all three bp's as fully as possible, where the candidate can
achieve top marks is through development of their points. This development should be
tethered to the text. That means that candidates should not make up things that are
unlikely or implausible; their development should relate directly to the text and be
sensible. For instance, a response about a ballet dancer might sensibly include
development that he/she had sore feet from so much dancing, or that the costume was
ill-fitting, etc. Stay focused on the text is the key.

Paper 2, Q1 and Coursework, Assignment 1 - a little like the notes for paper 1, Q3,
above, the most important thing with these two questions is to stay focused on the text/s
the candidate is addressing. Do not digress on to something unrelated or made up. Do
not, for instance, make up statistics to try and prove a point.

What gains marks for both of these questions is evaluation and development. Candidates
should address what the main points of the article are and then tell us, the examiners or
moderators, what they feel about them. We want to see what their point of view is -
preferably not simply repeating what their teacher's p.o.v is, nor their parents. If they can
develop their evaluative points, again by making sure this development is tethered to the
text, then even better. Particularly for coursework, Ass 1, the response should not be a
rant about the writer, the response should focus on the ideas expressed in the article/text.

Paper 2, Q2 Descriptive and Coursework Ass 2 Descriptive - as you will no doubt

already know, the biggest issue with descriptive writing is that candidates often tend to
turn them in to narratives. An exercise I used to use was to get learners, especially in
pairs, to read through their partners work and highlight if anything happened. If
something happened there was a good chance it was becoming a narartive. Similarly, I
would ask them to circle if the words 'then', 'but', 'so' were used. These are dangerous
words in descriptive writing as they commonly lead to narrative writing.
Many teachers will encourage learners to focus on using the senses when writing
descriptively. That is safe and fine. Some like the idea of using the scene as if it's a
photograph, so: describe what you see in the photograph.

The other point I'd make about descriptive writing is that it will obviously involve the use
of adjectives. This does not mean that the piece needs to be swamped with all the
adjectives the candidate knows. Like baking a cake, you will ruin it by excess of one
ingredient. Use adjectives selectively and, personally, I would avoid using them in threes
before a noun; it comes across as contrived and artificial.

Paper 2, Q3 Narrative and Coursework, Ass 3 Narrative - I would repeat the point
about adjectives from above. The more that a candidate can write a story in which they
have personal experience, then they are more likely to perform well. The more original
the better. When candidates write narratives 'borrowing' ideas from movies,. books or tv,
then that writing often becomes very clichéd and predictable.

Please ban any narratives in your classwroom where a character wakes up from a dream
or when it all suddenly goes dark/black, or when they score the winning goal/points in
the final minute of any sport. It is difficult to makes these styles original.

In the exam, they should focus on no more than 1-2 or two things 'happening', no more
than 2-3 characters, who should be developed, rounded characters, not flat characters
inconsequential to the plot, and they should have a satisfactory ending (nothing from the
previous paragraph!). This may mean they leave the ending as a cliffhanger or open-
ended rather than a contrived and ridiculous ending that might undermine previously
good development of the narrative.