Overview (CIE IGCSE English Language)

Question

Marks

Timing (including reading time)

Question 1(a-e)

15

15-20 minutes

Question 1(f)

15

20 minutes

Question 2(a-c)

10

15 minutes

Question 2(d)

15

20 minutes

Question 3

25

40 minutes

Question number

Type of question

What you are asked to do

Question 1(a-e)

Comprehension

Read Text A

Respond to a series of sub-questions

Question 1(f)

Summary

Read Text B

Write a summary of no more than 120 words based on the text

Question 2(a-c)

Short-answer questions

Read Text C

Respond to a series of sub-questions

Question 2(d)

Language task

Read Text C

Write 200-300 words in response to a question focused on certain paragraphs in Text C

Select three relevant examples of interesting uses of language from each of the paragraphs specified

Analyse these examples to show how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effects

Question 3

Extended response to reading

Read Text C

Write 250-350 words in response to the task

Use and develop ideas and details from Text C

Write in your own words in one of the following formats: letter, report, journal, speech, interview or article

AO1: read and respond in different ways to different types of text

Sub-objective

What this means

R1: demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings

• Show that you understand the obvious meanings communicated in a text

R2: demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes

• Show that you can recognise hints and suggestions in a text to understand the more hidden meanings and attitudes of the writer

R3: analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions, using appropriate support from the text

• Evaluate and analyse the facts, ideas and opinions you read by using, explaining and developing them
• Refer to supporting evidence from the text where appropriate, such as using quotations or references to the text

R4: demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers

• Show that you understand how a writer has influenced their reader through their use of language
• Consider the deliberate choices a writer has made and why they have made those choices

R5: select and use information for specific purposes

• Select and use relevant and appropriate information from a text to answer the different questions

AO2: write accurately and effectively, using Standard English appropriately

W1: articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined

• Write convincingly to convey real and imagined experience, thoughts and feelings

W2: organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect

• Sequence and connect the ideas and opinions effectively within your written response to interest and influence your reader

W3: use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context

• Use a range of appropriate vocabulary and sentence structures deliberately within each written response to achieve certain effects

W4: use register appropriate to context

• Vary your writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of the task

W5: make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar

• Write accurately, avoiding spelling, punctuation and grammar errors