INTRODUCTION slash/slashes. Information which may be included in the answer but which is not necessary for achieving the mark is put into brackets in the answer key.
• Phrasal verbs, e.g. come up with/get through to/build up • Advice language, e.g. Make sure you/You should/One good way is to
Answers which are not in the answer key
You could also ask ‘How does the speaker sound?’ to focus students on particular intonation patterns, indicating amusement, doubt, pleasure, enthusiasm and so on. There are numerous examples throughout the passages.
Answers can sometimes be correctly paraphrased in a number of ways. Occasionally, therefore, students will produce answers which are different from the key, and you need to decide if the answer is close enough to be marked right. Under these circumstances, you need to check whether the answer makes enough grammatical and contextual sense in terms of the question and the listening passage. Further hints are given below.
Vocabulary
Topic vocabulary can be developed by stopping the cassette when interesting lexical items come up. You can ask students to define the meaning of an item and/or to find words and expressions of similar meaning. Collocations can also be explored. For example, the topic of weather in Test 3, Part 2, Exercise 1 contains the common collocations torrential rain, high winds and freak thunderstorm. Students could be asked which of the three adjectives can collocate with the other two nouns (answer: freak), and which are not interchangeable.
Dealing with errors
Students may make specific grammar and spelling errors in writing their answers. In this case, you need to decide whether the errors affect the sense of the answer, as given in the key. Sometimes grammar or spelling errors occur because students are guessing answers: they have not understood the speaker or the question properly. At other times, they have genuinely understood the passage and question but are unable to write the answer completely accurately. You need to use your own judgement in awarding marks in these cases.
Grammar
Structural items can be analysed in a similar fashion. In Test 3, Part 3, Exercise 1 the speaker (an archaeologist) says She must have been important. You can ask ‘Does the speaker know for sure, or is he stating an opinion based on evidence?’ In Test 3, Part 1, Question 3 the speaker says I was told this town was great. You can ask ‘Do we know who told him?’, ‘Is it important who told him?’ to elicit more understanding of passive forms.
Marking spelling errors
The Listening Tests, as the exam itself, have tried to avoid targeting words for an answer which are problematic to spell. The word required cannot usually be copied from the rubric because a synonym will have been used. If students have misspelled a word, decide whether they are simply guessing the spelling and writing phonetically. For example, if the correct answer to a question is ‘lightning’, you may decide that the spelling ‘lightening’ should be allowed, not only because it is a homophone, but because, as a contrasting spelling, it is problematic – even native speakers could be confused. However, a student writing ‘light’ or ‘lighting’ should probably not be given the mark, as both the sound and sense are quite different. In deciding whether to allow a mark when a spelling mistake is made, it is also worth taking into account the complexity and frequency of the word in question. Homophones of common, simple words, such as writing flour when flower is
Advice on marking Like the actual exam, the Listening Tests require students to show a correct interpretation and comprehension of the passage in relation to specific questions. Comprehension is tested by using different words or phrases in the questions to those spoken on the tape. Students have to understand, not just lift or match, to get the answer right. Whether students have understood correctly is the key criterion to awarding the mark. Mark an answer correct when the right information has been extracted from the passage or the correct box ticked. Sometimes there is more than one possible answer to a question. This is shown in the answer key by the use of a 9