Budget about one mark per minute, write semi-notes not essays, read the rubric literally, and give a specific example for every point. No example, no mark.
2012 format
Written by a long-serving Cambridge Diploma tutor and assessor, but for the 2012 exam. Mark allocations, task numbers and timings must be checked against the current Delta Handbook for Tutors and Candidates. Numbering already conflicts with Pinard (2013).
Tasks 1–2: terminology (Part 1)
- Exact term, one per definition; name the general concept (“an affricate”), not the example.
- Defining: a clear definition (2 marks) + one example (1). Don’t just rephrase the term.
- Leave gaps and return to them. Make term/definition/example cards; drill on Quizlet.
Task 3: subskills or language features for an activity (Part 2)
- “Feature: example” layout; exactly three points.
- Mix categories (one discourse, one structural/functional, one lexical) to avoid overlap.
- Level check: would a B1 learner actually use “I wonder if you’d mind…”? If not, it fails.
- Don’t split one area (requests) into several points; don’t repeat points.
Learner text: strengths and weaknesses (Part 3)
- Use only the rubric’s categories (task achievement, organisation/cohesion, register, lexis, grammar, spelling/punctuation, pronunciation).
- “Key” = recurrent, not a single slip.
- Layout: category → specific feature → text example (“/θ/ → /s/, e.g. /sʌndə/”).
- Justify the priority weakness by its effect on communication.
Genre and language analysis (Part 4)
- Genre features need a description + a quoted example.
- Analyse only the categories the rubric names (form / meaning / use / pronunciation / learner problems).
- Form: word class, tense, aspect, voice, affix spelling. Pronunciation: phonemic citation form, then connected speech. No phonemic script, no mark.
- Use: syntactic, semantic, stylistic, discourse (e.g. given–new).
- Daily 10-minute language-analysis drill. Books: Lewis, The English Verb; Thornbury, About Language; McCarthy, Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers; Carter & McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English.
Connections
DELTA Module 1 Paper 2 - task-by-task technique · DELTA Module 1 - exam technique by task (old format) · About Language - Scott Thornbury