After writing the initial blog post on Part 1 of the FCE Exam, I was requested to write another blog post offering advice for students and offer some insight for teachers to answer Part 2 of the FCE Examination. As detailed in my previous blog post, the written element of the FCE Examination is split into two parts. Part 1 is aimed at getting students to write a letter or email using a variety of prompts, whilst the second part is aimed for more individual and autonomous written work in the exam. There are normally four questions in the examination, with the final question split between two sub-questions (only one sub-question need answering). Nevertheless, students are expected to write between 120-180 words for this part. Below, there is sample of the questions expected in the FCE Examination.
When looking at the questions from the sample examination questions above, it requires the student to write on particular topics (either with the style of an essay or report). Question 2 & 3 are recommended for students to answer as, although no prompts are necessarily provided, it provides the student some foundation of topic to follow. For example, when students answer Question 2, they could brainstorm areas of importance and prepare their written answers. Areas that could be included in the essay could be:
- Languages that the student speaks
- Why people learn languages
- Reason/motivation for learning languages
- Importance with languages
Students could think about areas that they might talk about if they were discussing this topic in class. However, the student should organise their ideas effectively. When writing an essay, effective organisation should include a beginning, middle and an end (or in more English friendly terms; an introduction, a conclusion and some important points to add in the middle of the essay). For example, a good essay could start with the following:
- Introduction – I have been studying languages since I was young, and started learning French when I was at school at the age of 12.
- Middle – Nonetheless, many people learn languages for many different reasons; to get a new job, to communicate with friends, to get a promotion. However, if people are not that motivated in learning a language, they will not succeed in that chosen new language that they are going to study. I was not that keen on learning French at secondary school and consequently did not become very good at French. These days I am still not keen on learning French. Yet when I moved to South Korea, I had a very good reason to learn Korean and mastered this new language to some proficient degree. It is important for learners of languages to see some reason to learn a language, otherwise the learning of the language will become stale and boring.
- Conclusion – These days, learning languages could be considered important if it is related to your job and has some reason to a student on a personal level. I guess people should try to learn any number of languages, as this will open up new ideas, ways of thinking, improve understanding of cultures, etc. Nevertheless, it is up to personal preference whether a student decides on learning one foriegn language or several. What is important is that the learner enjoys their experience and journey along the way.
As noted above, the essay is split up into several parts and the ideas suggested above are included. Within the conclusion of the essay, the question is then answered but is linked to the other sections of the essay. With this type of question, it is important for the student to plan their answer and use the following to improve the readability of the answer:
- Linking one sentence to another – Unmotivation of language learning related to a real life experience (French language learning).
- Usage of discourse markers – It is important for students to learn how to use discourse markers (however, nevertheless, nonetheless, also, in addition, etc) effectively in written English. Discourse markers are important as they are to illustrate logical relationships and sequence within writing.
- Number of words – Don’t write too much. It is simple and expected, but students do make this mistake by writing too much. Remember, the KISS statement from my previous blog post – Keep It Simple Silly.
The third question offers students to write about their home country. It is simple enough and most students (given the chance), would be more than happy to talk/write about their own country – I know I would. Students should follow a similar style to Question 2 when writing this question and they should also try to keep the report on topic. What topics would you write about if you were given the opportunity to write about your country? The topics that you may have thought up of could have included places to visit as well as where to eat. For students, it makes sense for them to make a quick note of famous places to visit as well as places to eat. Once there are some ideas noted down, students should try to put things into order (as illustrated with the above example), and then write in a suitable and effective manner.
The fourth question is based upon a story for students to write. The only prompt in the example examination, only provides students with a sentence to continue. This sentence provides students the opportunity to write creatively. Students should only attempt to answer this question, should they feel confident about answering it. Normally, from a marking perspective, most students attempt question two and three. Question four is only attempted in rare occassions. When attempted, it is either very good or the candidate has made a pig’s ear of it. As with Question 4, Question 5 should only be attempted if the student is feeling confident about answering it. This question is aimed at the book and movie of two popular titles, in this case Jurassic Park and The Woman in White. Students should feel comfortable when answering these questions and confident when using comparitive/superlative language. Again, as a marker, not many students attempt this question.
I hope the advice offered in this post is useful to some and that some teachers are able to learn more about Part 2 of the written element of the FCE Examination.
The solution to this problem is to avoid too many points in your writing. Every article, essay, or term paper should be able to be summarized in a single point. This is your thesis or argument. We've all heard this before, but often writers try to write about four or five points, when one, clearly explained, is better. No matter what you are writing, there should be a single focus in what you are trying to say.
I did yesterday the FCE test. I have a doubt about the part 2 of the Writing. I wrote a report, but at the beginning of the first paragraph I used “Dear manager, I'm sending this report to…”. As the question said “write a report to the manager”, I used expressions like “I suggest you” throughtout the text. At the end of the text, I was too nervous and I comitted a mistake: “Everyone are…”. How punishments will I probably receive for those errors?
Fabio
Thank you for message. Written exams are looked at in their entirety , meaning the whole exam will be marked.
Obviously the examiner will be checking to see if the question is answered and that errors do not make communication difficult. If there are some errors, is one able to convey their message?
Regards,
Martin
I did the FCE Exam and I did very well. I am just worried about one thing. In the second part of the writing paper, I chose to write a letter of application, but I forgot to put the number of the question. Do you think they will correct it and discount some points or they won't give my grade just because I forgot the number?
This is so nice, I’ve also read your previous blog (The part 1) that was nice too, with reference to your previous and this blog I could buildup better writing skills in me and could do better in my b1 test. Thank you so much.