Course Content
Paper 1 Reading
• Demonstrate understanding of written texts, and of the words and phrases within them • Summarise and use material for a specific context • Develop, analyse and evaluate facts, ideas and opinions • Demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve their effects and influence readers • Select appropriate information for specific purposes • Recognise and respond to linguistic devices, figurative language and imagery. In developing reading skills, candidates should engage with a range of genres and text types from the twentieth and/or twenty-first centuries, including literature, fiction and non-fiction, and other forms of writing, such as discursive essays, reviews and articles. This study should include focus on writers’ use of language and style and the ways in which writers achieve effects and influence readers. Candidates should study how influence may include fact, ideas, perspectives, opinions and bias. Candidates will be assessed on their ability to: Demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers Select and use information for specific purposes.
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Comprehension Task
06:23
Summary Task
06:41
Short-Answer Questions
Language Task
Extended Response to Reading
Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
• Express what is thought, felt and imagined • Organise and convey facts, ideas and opinions effectively • Demonstrate a varied vocabulary appropriate to the context • Demonstrate an effective use of sentence structures • Demonstrate an understanding of audience, purpose and form • Demonstrate accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar. As developing writers themselves, candidates should be introduced to a range of writing skills, including the ability to create and compose texts with a variety of forms and purposes, e.g. descriptive, narrative, discursive, argumentative and persuasive. This study should include a focus on the following text types: letter, report, article, journal, speech, interview and summary. Candidates will be assessed on their ability to: Use register appropriate to context Make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
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Discursive/Argumentative/ Persuasive Speech (Directed Writing)
Letter Writing (Directed Writing)
Article Writing (Directed Writing)
Descriptive Writing (Composition)
Narrative Writing (Composition)
Paper 3 Speaking (Component 4)
• Describe and reflect on the experience, and express what is thought, felt and imagined • Organise and convey facts, ideas and opinions effectively • Understand and convey complex ideas • Communicate with clarity, focus and purpose • Communicate appropriately for the context • Engage appropriately in conversation. Candidates should explore a range of speaking and listening skills, including the ability to participate in engaging conversations and to respond spontaneously to questions and prompts. This study should include a focus on presentation skills in employing and organising content, and language devices, such as irony, tone and emphasis. Candidates will be assessed on their ability to: Use register appropriate to the context Listen and respond appropriately in conversation
Paper 4 Listening (Component 4)
• Describe and reflect on the experience, and express what is thought, felt and imagined • Organise and convey facts, ideas and opinions effectively • Understand and convey complex ideas • Communicate with clarity, focus and purpose • Communicate appropriately for the context • Engage appropriately in conversation. Candidates should explore a range of speaking and listening skills, including the ability to participate in engaging conversations and to respond spontaneously to questions and prompts. This study should include a focus on presentation skills in employing and organising content, and language devices, such as irony, tone and emphasis. Candidates will be assessed on their ability to: Use register appropriate to the context Listen and respond appropriately in conversation
IGCSE English – First Language (0500)
About Lesson

Summary Task

 

 

 

A passage will be given, on which you are required to write a summary.

 

What is a summary?

 

 

The formal definition is: a brief statement or account of the main points of something. And that’s exactly what you have to do. Identify the main, relevant points and write them in your own words in an organized manner.

 

This is the part of the paper I, personally, had the most trouble with. It is not as easy as it looks. So, let’s get to it.

 

 

 

  • Read the question properly.

 

  • What exactly do you have to write a summary on. In the question, they could specify one or more detail. So you need to write the summary on just those details. Leave out the rest.

 

 

 

  • ex 5.1
  • See the emboldened part? That”s what you have to focus on.

  • Read the passage.

 

  • As you go, underline the points that you need to include in your summary, that are relevant and important to the question.

 

 

 

ex 5.2

 

 

 

 

  • Write the summary.

 

 

  • That’s easier said than done. You have got all your points, now you need to collate and organise it into one write-up using your own words.

 

 

  • Write a one-line introduction that tells the examiner what you’re writing a summary on. Keep it short. In the example above, you could start the summary by writing : Poon Lim, a ship-wreck victim, managed to survive an astounding 133 days on an island all alone.

 

  • Start organising the points. You could do it chronologically, advantage-disadvantage format or problem-solution format- whatever works for the task at hand. In the example above, writing points in their chronological order seems to be the right choice since it’s a narrative type of article.

 

  • Use connectives, lots of them, to organise your points and add a sense of continuity. Some examples are: Firstly/Secondly/Thirdly, In Addition/Also/Furthermore, Consequently/As a result, Thus/Hence etc.

 

  • Use your own words. Use synonyms of word in the passage, if possible. In the example above, the phrase ‘invented ways to find food and water’ can be changed to ‘came up with a system to obtain food and water’.

 

  • You don’t have to write a conclusion. If the question asked you to write the summary on the entire passage, then maybe a conclusion would be fitting. But in questions like the one above, it is irrelevant to the question.

 

  • Stick to the word limit. For the extended paper you have to write at least 100 word but not more than 120 words. For the core paper you need to write at least 70 word but not more than 80 words. Don’t write too much; scrap unnecessary points not relevant to the question; cut short words.

 

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