About the Revised CPE The Certificate of Proficiency in English (the CPE or Proficiency for short) was the first EFL exam to be introduced by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) way back in 1913. CPE underwent a major revision exercise which began two years ago and the first candidates will be taking the new CPE this December. The revision of the Proficiency is a natural development following on the heels of the FCE revision in 1996 and the CAE exam (introduced 11 years ago and updated in 1999). Both these exams, it is claimed, take into account recent developments in teaching and testing methodology. Now it is the turn of Proficiency to be brought into the 21st century, so we explore the role that CPE plays for today's learner and what new challenges teachers can expect to face this term. An important factor in the learner's mind when deciding
to take an exam is its currency for study or vocational purposes. CPE
is well recognised both in the UK and abroad, so what are the typical
benefits of passing the certificate? Firstly, CPE is recognised by just
about all British universities for satisfying English language requirements
and, according to UCLES literature "a growing number of universities
in the USA", where traditionally the TOEFL exam has greater recognition.
It is not just in the academic field that CPE is useful. Many companies
around the world where potential employees are required to demonstrate
a high level of language competence ask for CPE as evidence; furthermore,
ongoing staff development programmes may work towards the exam. Teachers
and academic counsellors who need to advise students can find more information
about the recognition of CPE from the following link: CPE has always been perceived as a tough exam (and one which would even alarm most native speakers), but what does having a pass in the revised CPE actually mean? New initiatives to standardise language qualifications - both nationally and internationally - are increasingly helpful in determining what a learner can be expected to do if he or she is at "CPE level". CPE, along with all UCLES exams, is now aligned with the five-level ALTE framework, with CPE corresponding to the highest level (Level Five) i.e. "approaching the competence of an educated native speaker". In the UK, the recent accreditation of CPE at Level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework for ESOL qualifications is good news also for school and college managers, because courses leading to these qualifications will be able to attract funding. The changes to CPE are nothing for teachers to worry about. The five-paper structure, which characterises the upper main suite exams, has been retained. While the old CPE had a strong literary focus, the updated version has texts from a wider range of sources including fiction and non-fiction, and also articles from journalism and advertising. The set text option (a choice of three books) has been kept for the Writing Paper, and this task will be familiar to those candidates who have taken the FCE in any case. The most interesting developments are in the Use of English paper, where there is strong evidence of the influence of recent research into lexis and corpora. A brand new task type appears in this Paper, called Gapped Sentences. CPE Use of English Part 5: Gapped sentences Source: CPE Handbook (for revised examination from December 2002) Note the way that this new task has an explicit focus on collocation, and the different contexts that a single word might appear in. The implications for preparing candidates are that they need exposure to a lot of language that appears in many different contexts. Another point worth commenting on is that throughout the revised Use of English paper the distinction between grammar and vocabulary is blurred. Even the traditional sentence transformation task has shifted slightly to test 'lexico-grammatical' items, or what are more commonly known as "lexical chunks", i.e. combinations of words that are predictable. Sample questions test items such as come to light and go according to plan. These changes are an acknowledgement of findings from corpus analysis, which tell us that language is far more formulaic and "chunky" then we realise. Grammatical accuracy is still important, of course, particularly in the Writing and Speaking Papers, not to mention the Paper 3 Summary task, but grammar and vocabulary are no longer treated as separate entities. How will this affect our teaching when we are preparing
learners for the new exam? In a very positive way, I believe. The challenge
for teachers will be in creating multiple encounters with words in interesting
and motivating ways, but the revised CPE throws down the gauntlet most
of all for the learner. Those who stand a good chance of passing the Proficiency
will be the ones who are prepared to invest in and use a good dictionary
for advanced learners (there are many excellent ones based on corpora)
and even a dictionary of collocations. They need to be active in recording
language themselves (whole expressions rather than individual words) not
only from their studies but when reading for pleasure. The most inquisitive
students could benefit from access to concordance software to explore
corpora on their own.
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