Test Type Quantity Total Marks Timing

Assessment Package Introduction

Contents Quantity

Total marks

Timing

9

20

10–20 minutes

Grammar quiz (A/B)

9

15

10–20 minutes

Language in Focus quiz (A/B)

9

10

10–15 minutes

Dictation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Language in Focus and Use of English (A/B)

9

60

50–60 minutes

Writing

9

30

45–55 minutes

3

50

40–50 minutes

3

20

12–15 minutes per pair

Listening, Use of English and Reading (A/B)

1

60

40–50 minutes

Writing

1

30

45–55 minutes

1

20

12–15 minutes per pair

3

GSE score

60 minutes

Vocabulary quiz (A/B)

Test type

Unit test

Review test Listening, Reading and Use of English (A/B) Speaking (A/B/Teacher’s notes in Answer key) End-of-Year test

Speaking (A/B/Teacher’s notes in Answer key) Progress test Beginning, middle and end of course

© Pearson 2017

FOCUS 5

PHOTOCOPIABLE

page

1

Introduction Overview of package The Focus 5 Assessment Package provides a wide range of tests which can be used at different points in the course. Each level has: • 9 x A and B Vocabulary quizzes • 9 x A and B Grammar quizzes • 9 x Language in Focus quizzes • 9 x A and B Unit tests • 3 x A and B Review tests • 1 x A and B End-of-Year test Assessment of learning or Assessment for learning? Any test can be used either as assessment of learning or assessment for learning. Assessment of learning usually takes place after the learning has happened and provides information about what the student is achieving by giving a mark or a grade. You can also use the tests as assessment for learning by providing specific feedback on students’ strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions for improvement as part of the continual learning process. It is a combination of both types of assessment which can provide powerful tools for helping your students’ progress. Marking Writing and Speaking tests Writing and Speaking tests have detailed mark keys to help you mark consistently, and to help you give students meaningful feedback. If you have the mark scheme for the exam your students will ultimately take, you may prefer to refer to this. Whichever mark scheme you use, it can be very useful to go through it with your students before they take the test so they know what they are going to be marked against. You can then refer back to these marking criteria in your feedback. Versions of tests Most tests have two versions: A and B. Both are designed to be at exactly the same level of difficulty and feature the same task types, however, the test items in each are different. For listening tests, the tasks are different but the audio is the same in both A and B versions, making it easy to administer. You can use the A and B tests in two ways: • give half of the class A versions and half of the class B versions – this helps to deter cheating. • give all students the A test and then use the B test either for students who missed the test or as a re-test or remedial work for students whose score shows they need a little more work on the unit objectives.

Exam preparation As your students are going to be working towards their end of school exam, the tests also provide regular opportunities for them to try exam-style tasks in a low-stakes test environment, which should help them feel more confident going into the final exam. We would recommend using past papers or practice papers in addition as you get close to the date of the exam. Expected outcomes We would expect all students who have completed the instructional material to score at least 50%, and the best students to score 90–100% on any given test. We have deliberately included more challenging questions in each test so as to help you identify students performing above the level. Tests on paper The tests are provided in both PDF and Word format. We recommend using the PDF version, as they are. However, if you do need to edit the tests, this should be possible. The Unit, Review and End-of-Year tests have several parts to them, and each part is in a separate file. This helps makes them flexible, and allows you to assign only the parts you want to or have time to administer and mark. When you are marking papers, there is an extended answer key to help you explain why an answer is right or wrong, or which part of the text an answer can be found in. Tests on MyEnglishLab All of the Unit tests can be taken through the MyEnglishLab platform. On MyEnglishLab, all students take the A test. The B test becomes remediation for those students who need it. Most parts of the test are automatically scored, and students get instant detailed feedback showing them where they went wrong or how to improve if you have allowed a ‘try again’ option. The free-writing and speaking parts need to be teacher-graded. You assign each part separately, so you can choose whether to add these or not. Using Progress to track progress Progress is an optional addition to the Focus corpus. It is a standardised package of three tests that allows uniform testing and comparison of results to improve learning outcomes and accurately show learners’ progress. The tests can be conveniently taken either at school or at home, and results are delivered very quickly. Progress is scored on the Global Scale of English and empirically aligned to the CEFR to accurately measure small amounts of progress within a CEFR band. The test reports overall scores and scores by skill, highlighting strengths and weaknesses to help students and teachers focus learning. For more information see pearsonelt.com/progress

Vocabulary quizzes

Review tests

There are nine A and B Vocabulary quizzes, which test the vocabulary taught in each vocabulary lesson in the Student’s Book. Depending on the quiz, they should take between 10 and 20 minutes each. The Vocabulary quizzes can be used at the end of a lesson, for homework, as a review at the beginning of the next lesson or later in the unit as quick revision. Grammar quizzes There are nine A and B Grammar quizzes, which test the grammar taught in each grammar lesson in the Student’s Book. Each Grammar quiz is roughly half a page and, depending on the quiz, should take between 10 and 20 minutes. The Grammar quizzes can be used at the end of a lesson, for homework, as a review at the beginning of the next lesson or later in the unit as quick revision. Language in Focus quizzes There are nine A and B Language in Focus quizzes, which test items found in the Use of English part of the exam and which are taught in each Language in Focus section of the Student's Book. Each quiz is roughly half a page and should take between 10 and 15 minutes. The Language in Focus quizzes can be used at the end of a lesson, for homework, as a review at the beginning of the next lesson or later in the unit as quick revision. Unit tests There are nine Unit tests. These should be administered after each respective unit review. Each test has two parts: Dictation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Language in Focus and Use of English; Writing. Dictation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Language in Focus and Use of English papers have A and B versions. There is only one version of the Writing task. Please note that the writing tasks have two word limits: 220-260 and 300-350 words. This reflects a similar pattern running across both the Student's Book and Workbook and is meant to stretch students' writing skills towards the requirements of higher level exams such as Proficiency (CPE). You can assign all or none of these, depending on the time available. If you are including the listening test, it is best to run the listening audio first, and then students can do the other sections in their own time. The tests will take approximately: • Dictation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Language in Focus and Use of English: 50-60 minutes • Writing: 45-55 minutes The Unit test score as a whole is out of 90 marks. The parts of the test are split as follows: • Dictation, Vocabulary, Grammar, Language in Focus and Use of English: 60 marks • Writing: 30 marks

There are three Review tests (one every three units). These are cumulative achievement tests, and so test the learning objectives from all units so far in the course: Review test 1: Units 1–3 Review test 2: Units 1–6 Review test 3: Units 1–9 Depending on your school year, you may wish to do all of these or just some of them. Each test has two parts: Listening, Reading and Use of English; Speaking. Listening, Reading and Use of English papers have A and B versions. Students do the Speaking tasks in pairs: there are separate materials for students A and B for all three tests. Notes for the teacher with questions are incorporated into the Answer key. As with the Units tests, you can assign all or none of the parts of the test, depending on the time available. The tests will take approximately: • Listening, Reading and Use of English: 40–50 minutes • Speaking: 12–15 minutes per pair of students The Review tests as a whole are scored out of 70 marks. The parts of the test are split as follows: • Listening, Reading and Use of English: 50 marks • Speaking: 20 marks End-of-Year test The End-of-Year test provides a skills-based test covering learning objectives from the whole course. The test has three parts: Listening, Use of English and Reading; Writing; Speaking. The Listening, Use of English and Reading paper has A and B versions. There is only one version of the Writing task though with two task types to choose from. Students do the Speaking tasks in pairs, and there are separate materials for students A and B (in separate files), as well as notes for the teacher with questions, which are incorporated into the Answer key. You can assign all or none of the parts of the test, depending on the time available. The tests will take approximately: • Listening, Use of English and Reading: 40–50 minutes • Writing: 45–55 minutes • Speaking: 12–15 minutes per pair of students The End-of-Year test as a whole is scored out of 110 marks. The parts of the test are split as follows: • Listening, Use of English and Reading: 60 marks • Writing: 30 marks • Speaking: 20 marks