Preparing for Cambridge English: Advanced Writing (from...

Preparing for Cambridge English: Advanced Writing (from 2015) 5Y09

PREPARING FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: ADVANCED WRITING (FROM 2015) 3

Handout: True or False?

Read through the following statements on the Cambridge English: Advanced Writing

paper and decide if they are True or False.

TRUE FALSE

A) The Writing test is 2 hours long.

B) There are two parts in the test.

C) Part 2 is worth twice as many marks as Part 1.

D) Candidates are required to write up to 260 words for Part 1,

and up to 220 words for Part 2.

E) Candidates write their answers in spaces on the question

paper.

F) The first part is a compulsory task.

G) In Part 1, candidates have to write a formal letter.

H) The input for Part 1 consists of a short text to read, and some

opinions that people have expressed on the topic.

I) For Part 1, candidates should choose two points from the

input, explain which of the two points is more important, and

give reasons for their opinion.

J) For Part 1, candidates must include the given opinions in their

essay.

K) In Part 2, candidates choose one task from a choice of three.

L) The Part 2 text types can include essays, letters/emails,

reports, reviews and proposals.

M) There is a task based on a set text.

N) Candidates’ answers are assessed according to four

separate assessment scales.


Handout: Task types: situations and purposes

1. Look at the situations described below. Decide which task type (A–E) you

would write for each situation (1–5).

A

an essay

B

a letter/email

C

a proposal

D

a report

E

a review

Situations:

1) Your boss wants to know which of two venues would be more suitable for the

annual staff conference.

2) Your student magazine wants people to write about films or concerts that they

have seen recently, so that other students can decide what they might be

interested in going to.

3) Your tutor has asked you to decide which facilities in your town you think are

more important and why, and should therefore receive funding from the local

council.

4) Your line manager wants to know what you feel you have achieved in the first

six months of your new role, and what support you still feel you need.

5) A friend is applying for a job and has asked you to provide a reference for the

company.

2. Match the purposes below to each of the situations above. There may be

more than one purpose for each.

Purposes:

a) describing

b) giving opinions

c) justifying opinions

d) persuading

e) making suggestions or recommendations

f) providing factual information

g) presenting an argument


Handout: Suggestions for student motivation

Here are some suggestions for motivating activities when dealing with the Part 1

essay task.

Brainstorm in small groups the ideas behind a typical Cambridge English:

Advanced Writing task, for example, a Part 1 essay discussing ways in which

adults can influence younger people’s behaviour, then elicit ideas from the whole

class.

Have a group discussion about which way is more effective and why.

Divide the class into three groups, and give each group one of the suggestions

from a Part 1 essay task – they have to come up with as many reasons as they

can to justify this, for example, why this is an effective way of influencing

behaviour. Then hold a debate.

Divide the class into three groups, and give each group one of the suggestions

from a Part 1 essay task – they have to come up with several pros and cons for

this suggestion. Then regroup the class into threes, with one person from each of

the original groups in their new groups. Ask them to present their ideas to each

other, then discuss which they think overall is the best suggestion, and why.

Come up with several reasons yourself why each of the suggestions from an

essay task is good or bad. Put each on a separate card, and ask the class to

match them to the suggestions.


Handout: Structuring an essay

There are many ways to start an essay. Match these types of introductions to the

examples on the right.

1) Using a rhetorical question on the topic

A) Adults can influence younger people in a good

way, but also in a bad way. There are various

possibilities how this can happen.

2) Using a general statement on the topic

B) Recently, I was surprised to see a group of

teenagers help a mother get her young baby and

her shopping onto a bus outside a busy shopping

centre. I realised that this isn’t the typical way that

teenagers behave.

3) Stating what you are going to discuss

C) Footballers behaving badly and politicians being

exposed for telling lies are certainly not examples

of good behaviour. But unfortunately this is the

sort of thing that can influence the younger

generation.

4) Giving provocative examples

D) Many people complain about the way the youth of

today behaves. But how should the younger

generation know what is right and what is wrong?

How should they know how to behave in the right

way?

5) Referring to a past experience that’s relevant to the topic

E) Many parents struggle with bringing up their

children into being responsible adults and are

unsure how to influence them. There are, of

course, many ways of influencing young adults,

and I want to present and discuss two of them:

giving rules to obey, and offering your children

advice.

How many ways of structuring the main body of the essay can you think of?

What are the features of a good conclusion?


Handout: Part 2 tasks

2 There are plans to demolish an old and unused building in the town where you are a student. You feel that the building should be saved. You decide to write a proposal for the town council explaining why you think the building should be preserved, suggesting what could be done to modernise it and saying how the building could benefit the local people.

Write your proposal.

who: ................................................................................................................

why: ................................................................................................................

what: ................................................................................................................

how: ................................................................................................................

3 You have just finished a three-week study and work programme in an English-speaking country. You studied English language in the mornings and worked for a local company in the afternoons. The programme organiser has asked you to write a report about your experience. In your report, you should evaluate the programme, explaining which part of the programme was more useful, and suggest changes you would recommend for next year’s programme.

Write your report.

who: ................................................................................................................

why: ................................................................................................................

what: ................................................................................................................

how: ................................................................................................................


4 A travel website has asked you to write a review of a holiday resort you have been to, explaining what kinds of people the resort is likely to appeal to, and which aspects of the resort you would most recommend to other visitors. You should also suggest at least one way in which you feel the resort could be improved.

Write your review.

who: ................................................................................................................

why: ................................................................................................................

what: ................................................................................................................

how: ................................................................................................................


Handout: Sentence structure cards

1) Not only did I ...

2) Having done that, ...

3) What impressed me most ...

4) If it hadn’t been so ...

5) It can’t have been ...

6) By the time I ...

7) No sooner had we ...

8) If only ...


Handout: Sentence structure answers

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)


Handout: Classroom activities

Classroom activity: Focus on Part 1

Timing up to 75 minutes (if the writing activity is done during class time)

Materials worksheet: Part 1 task (this task can be found on Sample Paper 2 in

the Handbook for Teachers)

Rationale The aim of this activity is to motivate learners to write a Part 1 task, by

getting them to engage with the topic, brainstorm ideas and have a

discussion in groups. Learners look at a range of functional language

for expressing opinions, contrasting ideas and adding supporting

points or reasons. Then they produce their own answer to the

question.

Procedure

1. Ask learners in pairs to think about what writing involves. Ask them to note down

all the skills that are required in order to produce a written text (it doesn’t matter

which text type at this stage). Allow a minute or so for this.

2. Elicit some feedback from the class, e.g. coming up with ideas for the content;

organising the ideas; thinking about register, format and layout; choosing suitable

language; editing; proofing.

3. Write ‘who’, ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ on the board. Explain that these skills can be

summarised by thinking about four points: a writer needs to consider who the

target reader is, and why they are writing (what their purpose for writing is), in

order to be able to decide what to write and how to write it.

4. Give learners the worksheet: Part 1 task. In pairs, ask them to discuss the four

points (who, why, what and how) for this task.

5. Elicit from the class that the target reader is the teacher; they are writing because

the teacher has asked them to and because they heard a radio discussion on the

topic; they need to write about two ways that adults can influence younger

people’s behaviour, and which is most effective; they have to write it in the format

of an essay, using semi-formal or formal language, with an introduction,

paragraphs giving their opinions and reasons, then a conclusion.

6. Divide the class into small groups (3–4 learners). Ask them to brainstorm the

ways in which adults can influence younger people’s behaviour, and to note down

their ideas. Allow 2 minutes, then elicit ideas from the whole class.

7. Put the class into three groups, and give each group one of the suggestions from

the task (giving rules/setting an example/offering advice). If you have a large


class, then you can subdivide the three groups into smaller groups. Ask the

learners in their groups to come up with several pros and cons for their

suggestion. Allow 2 minutes, then regroup the class into threes, with one person

from each of the original groups in the new groups. Ask them to present their

ideas to each other, then discuss which they think overall is the best suggestion,

and why.

8. Elicit some feedback from one or two groups, asking learners to say which they

thought the best suggestion was, and why.

9. Ask learners what sort of functional language they used for this activity. Elicit that

they used language to give opinions, to contrast ideas, to add another

point/reason, and so on. Draw a table with three columns on the board, and put

‘give opinions’, ‘contrast ideas’ and ‘add another point/reason’ at the top of the

columns. Elicit a few examples that were actually used, and write them on the

board as they come up: e.g. for giving opinions: ‘I think ...’, ‘In my opinion ...’; for

contrasting ideas: ‘although’, ‘but’; for adding another point: ‘also’, ‘and’, etc. Ask

learners if they can come up with any more examples, and add them to the

columns on the board. Point out that it is a good idea to use a range of this type

of language in writing, but not to overuse it – this can make writing repetitive.

10. Ask learners to write their response to the Part 1 task, using any of the ideas

discussed as a class, and to focus on using a good range of language for giving

opinions, contrasting ideas, and adding points. Allow at least 30 minutes. This

stage can also be done as homework if you prefer.

11. As learners finish writing, ask them to spend a few minutes checking their own

work. Then put learners in pairs, as they finish, and ask them to swap their

essays with each other. Tell them to read each other’s work, and to write three

comments at the end: one positive comment, and two constructive suggestions

as to how the learner could improve it. Point out the suggestions should be

written in a positive way, rather than being critical.

12. Learners take back their work, read the comments, and spend a few minutes

making improvements to their work.

13. Collect in the essays so you can read and mark them.


Worksheet: Part 1 task

who: ...........................................................................................................................

why: ...........................................................................................................................

what: ...........................................................................................................................

how: ...........................................................................................................................


Classroom activity: Holiday resort review

Timing up to 75 minutes (if the writing activity is done during class time)

Materials worksheets: Normal and extreme adjectives (cut up into cards, one

set per pair); Holiday resort review; Review sample answer

Rationale The aim of this activity is to motivate learners to write a review and

develop general writing skills in an integrated skills lesson.

Procedure

1. As a quick warmer, ask learners to think about their last holiday. Ask them to

briefly tell the person next to them where they went, and what it was like – allow

just a minute or two for this stage.

2. Now ask learners to imagine they are going to a place they have never been to

before. Ask them how they could find out about the place beforehand – either to

decide whether or not to go, or just to prepare themselves for their holiday. Elicit

suggestions, including the fact that they could read reviews (e.g. in a travel

magazine or online). Write ‘Review of a holiday resort’ on the board.

3. Now ask them to think about what kind of information might be included in a

review of a holiday resort. Ask them to brainstorm some ideas in pairs, then elicit

ideas from the group, and write them on the board, e.g. a description of the hotel,

the activities, the staff, the food, and so on.

4. Write two or three sentences on the board, e.g. The staff were friendly. The view

from our room was beautiful. It was exciting to go scuba diving. Point out that

there is nothing wrong with these sentences, but they could be improved – at

Cambridge English: Advanced level, learners need to show that they can produce

better language than this. Ask learners how they could improve the language

used in these sentences – elicit ideas, e.g. using more extreme/interesting

adjectives (e.g. stunning, thrilling); using adverbs too (e.g. absolutely stunning);

using more complex language, e.g. adding clauses, and so on.

5. Tell learners they are going to look at using more extreme/interesting adjectives

first. They are going to do a vocabulary activity, which involves matching pairs of

words – one of each pair is a ‘normal’ adjective, e.g. ‘beautiful’; the other is a

more extreme/interesting adjective, e.g. ‘stunning’. Divide learners into pairs, and

give each pair of learners a cut-up set of adjectives (from worksheet: Normal

and extreme adjectives), which they have to match up. Allow a few minutes,

and while they are matching the pairs, monitor closely, and point out any pairs of

words that are incorrect.


6. Check the answers as a group, and ask learners if they have any questions. If

many of the words are new, it is also a good idea to focus on their pronunciation

– drill the words by modelling them yourself, then getting the class (or groups and

individuals) to repeat. Make sure learners produce the word stress correctly when

they repeat.

7. Ask learners how they can make an extreme adjective even stronger – elicit that

they can add an adverb before it. Ask if you can say ‘very stunning’ (no – as ‘very’

is used to qualify a ‘normal’ adjective) – it would be ‘absolutely stunning’.

8. Practise using adverbs and extreme adjectives for a few minutes, by asking

learners questions about their last holiday, such as ‘What was the weather like?’;

‘What was the view from your window like?’; and so on. You can also ask some

questions using ‘normal’ adjectives, e.g. ‘Was the view nice?’ and elicit answers

using ‘extreme’ adjectives. Make sure you focus on word stress while doing this,

i.e. ‘It was absolutely stunning!’ You could extend this stage by letting learners

ask each other some more questions in their pairs, while you monitor to check

that they are using the language correctly.

9. Now write ‘who?’; ‘why?’; ‘what?’; ‘how?’ on the board. Give each learner a copy

of the Part 2 task on worksheet: Holiday resort review, and ask them to read

the question and in pairs, to discuss who the target reader for this task is, and

why they are writing it (what their purpose for writing is), what they need to write,

and how to write it. Allow a minute or so, then elicit their ideas.

10. Next, give out the copy of a sample answer for this task on worksheet: Review

sample answer. Ask learners to read it quite quickly, then to discuss in pairs if

this writer has done everything that the question asked them to. Elicit that the

answer is fine, but point out that this is a fairly bland description of a holiday

resort, as the language used in it isn’t very interesting or particularly good for a

Cambridge English: Advanced learner. Tell them that you would like them to

cross out and amend any language that they can improve, in particular by

thinking about using a wider range of adjectives and adverbs. Tell them that they

can focus on other parts of speech, as well as sentence structures, linking words,

and so on, if they like.

11. Monitor carefully while learners are making changes to the sample answer, and

give suggestions if necessary. As learners finish, put them in small groups and

ask them to compare their ideas – point out that there is no right or wrong answer

to this activity, as there are many ways of expressing different ideas. Ask them to

comment on each other’s improvements, and give constructive suggestions as

well.


12. To finish this activity, ask learners to write their own review of a place they have

been to. This can be done in class (allow at least 30 minutes) or as homework.

Before you collect in their work, ask pairs of learners to swap their writing with

each other. Tell them to read each other’s work, and to write three comments at

the end: one positive comment, and two constructive suggestions as to how it

could be improved. Point out the suggestions should be written in a positive way,

rather than being critical. Learners then take back their work, read the comments,

and spend a few minutes making improvements to their work.


Worksheet: Normal and extreme adjectives

hot

sweltering

cold

freezing

angry

livid

interesting

fascinating

bad

awful

big

huge

hungry

starving

frightened

petrified

tired

exhausted

small

minute

good

wonderful

dirty

filthy

tasty

delicious

wet

drenched

shocked

horrified

surprised

astonished

funny

hilarious

happy

delighted


Worksheet: Holiday resort review

Have you been on holiday recently?

We would like you to send us a review of a holiday resort you have been to,

explaining what kinds of people the resort is likely to appeal to, and which aspects of

the resort you would most recommend to other visitors. You should also suggest at

least one way in which you feel the resort could be improved.

The most interesting reviews will be published in next month’s magazine!

World Traveller magazine

who: ...........................................................................................................................

why: ...........................................................................................................................

what: ...........................................................................................................................

how: ...........................................................................................................................


Worksheet: Review sample answer

Our dream holiday

Have you ever imagined yourself sitting under a palm tree with a nice cool drink and

lots of clear blue water in front of you?

I had this experience last year, when my family decided to have a dream holiday and

we chose the Dominican Republic, and more specifically Punta Cana, as our

destination.

We had lots of resorts to choose from, but finally we chose Palladium resort, which is

a big, beautiful complex of villas, each with their own terrace. It’s the perfect place for

families, especially those with young children.

There are six restaurants at the resort, offering many different kinds of food. But the

best thing is the pool – big, clean, with sun beds right next to the water. If you come

to the Palladium resort, it’s a must. The only problem was that the pool wasn’t open

in the evenings – that would really have been good.

I had the chance to try scuba diving in the sea, and I can tell you that it was the most

exciting experience. Swimming along with lots of little creatures around you in the

water, and seeing the beautiful colours of the fish and the corals, was a dream come

true.

There are also lots of places to visit, like cacao and coffee farms in the mountains.

We went there in a big old truck, which had a very noisy engine. It was a good

experience to see the farms, and we also learned something about the history of the

island on these trips.

Overall, this was a wonderful holiday, and if you get the chance to go to the

Palladium resort, then you won’t regret it!


Classroom activity: Task types, situations and purposes in the Cambridge English: Advanced Writing paper

Timing 30 minutes

Materials worksheet: Task types: situations and purposes

Rationale The aim of this activity is:

to increase learners’ awareness of the task types used in the

Writing paper

to increase learners’ awareness of the typical situations in which

these text types are used

to highlight the main purposes of each text type.

Procedure

1. Ask learners to quickly note down all the things they have written in the last few

days, and the reasons why they wrote them. Give an example or two to start

them off, e.g. writing a list of food to buy from the supermarket; writing an email to

invite a friend to a party.

2. Work around the room, eliciting a different example from each learner. Point out

the range of different things we write in real life.

3. Give out the worksheet: Task types: situations and purposes. The five task

types at the top of the page are all tasks that are included in the Writing paper.

Learners need to:

decide which task type would be required for each of the situations.

match the purposes listed at the bottom of the page to each situation.

4. Allow learners to work together and discuss their answers. After a few minutes,

elicit the answers for each situation (see key to worksheet, below).

Key to worksheet

Task types – situations and purposes:

1) C: a proposal – a, b, c, d, e and f

2) E: a review– a, b, c, e and f

3) A: an essay– a, b, c and g

4) D: a report– a, b, c, e and f

5) B: a letter/email – a, b, c, d and f

To check understanding, ask a few questions as follows:

Which of these text types would you write for your boss? (B, C, D, E)

Which of these text types could be about a book you have read? (B, E)


Which of these text types is likely to have an introduction and conclusion? (A, C)

Which of these text types should have an opening salutation and closing

phrasing? (B)

Which of these text types should include description and evaluation? (C, D, E)

Which of these text types would be written about a product or service? (C, D, E)

Which of these text types might include headings? (C, D)


Worksheet: Task types: situations and purposes

Look at the situations described below. Decide which task type (A–E) you

would write for each situation (1–5).

A

an essay

B

a letter/email

C

a proposal

D

a report

E

a review

Situations:

1) Your boss wants to know which of two venues would be more suitable for the

annual staff conference.

2) Your student magazine wants people to write about films or concerts that they

have seen recently, so that other students can decide what they might be

interested in going to.

3) Your tutor has asked you to decide which facilities in your town you think are

more important and why, and should therefore receive funding from the local

council.

4) Your line manager wants to know what you feel you have achieved in the first six

months of your new role, and what support you still feel you need.

5) A friend is applying for a job and has asked you to provide a reference for the

company.

Match the purposes below to each of the situations above. There may be more

than one purpose for each.

Purposes:

a) describing

b) giving opinions

c) justifying opinions

d) persuading

e) making suggestions or recommendations

f) providing factual information

g) presenting an argument


Classroom activity: Sentence structure development (proposal)

Timing 30–40 minutes

Materials worksheets: Sentence structure cards (cut up, enough for one card

per student); Sentence structure answers

Rationale This activity focuses on the proposal task and looks at ways that

students can improve and develop their sentence structure.

Procedure

1. Show students the sample task: Proposal (see below) on a slide or on the board

and give them time to discuss ideas for the content of the text in small groups.

Elicit these ideas and write them up on the board.

2. Tell learners that they are going to revise some useful structures they can use in

the proposal.

3. Give out worksheet: Sentence structure answers and distribute the cards from

worksheet: Sentence structure cards so that each student has one card. You

will need to make further cards depending on the number of students in your

class. Give the students up to 2 minutes to complete the sentence in a way

relevant to the proposal and write the sentence on the answer sheet.

4. After 2 minutes, clap your hands. Each student must pass their card to the next

person and then write a new sentence with the new structure on their card.

5. Repeat this three times (or more if you wish).

6. In feedback, collect examples from the answer worksheets from the class and

encourage self/peer correction if there are errors.

7. In class or for homework, the students must write the proposal, using as many

of the sentences as possible.

Sample task: Proposal

There are plans to demolish an old and unused building in the town where you are a

student. You feel that the building should be saved. You decide to write a proposal

for the town council explaining why you think the building should be preserved,

suggesting what could be done to modernise it and saying how the building could

benefit the local people.

Extension

This activity can easily be adapted for any task/text type. Make a list of several

structures relevant to the text type that your students have learned or that you have

focused on in class. Create cards, one per student, with the beginning of a different

sentence on each card (or if you have a large class, divide them into two groups, and

make two sets of cards). Each ‘sentence starter’ should use a different structure.


Worksheet: Sentence structure cards

1) Not only should the building ...

2) In order to …

3) What needs to be considered is ...

4) Despite its age and condition …

5) In addition to this …

6) If the building is to be saved …

7) It is considered to be …

8) Modernisation could benefit local people by …


Worksheet: Sentence structure answers

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)


Writing checklist

When you have finished writing, check it carefully!

Have you answered the question?!

Will your writing have the right effect on the target reader?

Have you used appropriate language for the task – e.g. is it too formal, or too

informal?

Is your layout clear, and have you used paragraphs?

Are your ideas in a logical order, and are they well linked?

Have you avoided repeating ideas and/or language?

Have you included some examples of more complex vocabulary and grammar?

Is your writing accurate? Think about the following points:

Is your spelling correct?

Have you used correct punctuation?

Is your word order correct?

Have you used articles where necessary?

Do verbs and subjects agree? (e.g. it has, not it have)

Have you avoided using double subjects? (e.g. the postman, he ...)

Are your verb tenses correct?


Notes

Preparing for Cambridge English: Advanced Writing (from...

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