(1) ESOL Exemplars

Welcome to

This pack is an innovative collection of learners’ speech, writing

and reading texts with line-by-line commentaries on the evidence

of language use that they display. Designed for teachers and

trainers, each exemplar is linked to the National Standards by

detailed comment on all relevant aspects. The project was

commissioned and developed by the Adult Basic Skills Strategy

Unit and supported by an advisory group drawn from ESOL

awarding bodies and QCA consultants. Its aim is to aid

practitioners in understanding ‘levelness’ – the level of a learner’s

language – by real-life demonstrations. These pieces of learners’

work cover a wide range of contexts. They are not intended to

illustrate the whole range of skills needed to show level

achievement, but demonstrate graphically how particular

skills are evidenced.

ESOLESOL Exemplars

for

Speaking and Listening

Reading

Writing

from Entry 1 to Level 2

A resource for teachers

ESOL_Exemplars_Intro.indd AESOL_Exemplars_Intro.indd A 25/06/2009 12:1125/06/2009 12:11

AcknowledgementsThe Awarding Bodies Consultative Group, comprising

Cambridge ESOL, City and Guilds/Pitman, English Speaking

Board, Edexcel, National Open College Network and Trinity

College representatives, put signifi cant and eff ective eff orts

during a very busy time into reviewing, trialling with

practitioners and shaping the exemplars.

School of English Studies, University of Nottingham,

for providing linguistic expertise underpinning the

commentaries on all exemplar material. City and Islington

College for recordings and speaking and listening tasks. The

College of North West London, City and Islington

College, Croydon Continuing Education and Training

Service, Flo-Joe, Liverpool Community College,

Newcastle College, and Wirral Metropolitan College,

for reading and writing texts and tasks. Many thanks to the

teachers and learners who agreed for their work to be

published here. Texts for Reading E1 Exemplar 1, E2 Exemplar

1, E3 Exemplar 1 from the Talent Pathfi nders web site www.

talent.ac.uk. Illustration of teddy bear courtesy of www.

teddybeargallery.net. Thanks to the following for permission

to reproduce their copyright material:

Reading E3 Exemplar 2 – Mersey Travel

Reading L2 Exemplar 1 – Boystuff and SIMKey

Reading L2 Exemplar 2 – Times Newspapers and Dorothy

Walker

Writing E2 Exemplar 2 – Language and Literacy Unit Plus.

Thanks to the cations and Curriculum Authority

for developing the exemplar concept to complement work

on the accreditation of new ESOL qualifi cations and for

subsequent active involvement with the work of the

Consultative Group.

Thanks to NATECLA and ESOL Pathfi nders for facilitating

comments and communication in the sector.

This publication was developed by Robcaro as part of the

Alphaplus/BTL/Robcaro consortium.

Further copies of this publication can be obtained from:

LSIS publications

Telephone 0845 270 2238

Fax 0845 838 1207

E-mail [email protected]

Please quote ref: EXESOL

Extracts from this document may be reproduced for non-

commercial education or training purposes on condition that

the source is acknowledged.

© Crown Copyright 2004

Produced by the Department for Education and Skills

Page 1

ContentsIntroduction 2

Project outline 2

Disclaimer 2

Rationale and purpose 2

Speaking and Listening exemplars 3

Reading exemplars 3

Writing exemplars 3

Text types and their defi nition 3

List of texts (including conversations) 4

List of texts 6

Coverage of skills 7

Complexity of language 7

Grammatical accuracy 7

Drafting 7

Engage in discussion 7

Annotations and their headings 7

Annotated example – Speaking and Listening 8Annotated example – Reading 10Annotated example – Writing 12Speaking and Listening exemplars 14

Introduction 14

Contents 15

E1 Exemplar 1 Mounir – Conversation with new teacher 16

E1 Exemplar 2 Mounir and Elizabeth – Classroom task 18

E1 Exemplar 3 Djamila, Jenny, Clementine – Description of couscous pot 20

E2 Exemplar 1 Jade – Personal history 22

E2 Exemplar 2 Jade – Future plans 24

E2 Exemplar 3 Adeline, Kumrije, Gilson – Smoking discussion 26

E3 Exemplar 1 Dino and Enrique – Directions and Ecuador 28

E3 Exemplar 2 Fuensanta and Geraldo – Mobile phone instructions 30

E3 Exemplar 3 Juan, Nicolas, Ana, Sylvie, Luca – Congestion charge 32

L1 Exemplar 1 Jadwiga, Miguel, Alexia – Restaurant interview 34

L1 Exemplar 2 Alexia and Jadwiga – Tenants’ complaint 36

L1 Exemplar 3 Lilo, Leonora, Fernando, Marta – Desert island 38

L2 Exemplar 1 Paul and Steve – Neighbours’ negotiation 40

L2 Exemplar 2 Mirosh, teachers – Job interview restaurant manager 42

L2 Exemplar 3 Abdul – Presentation on Liberia 44

Reading exemplars 46Introduction 46

Contents 47

E1 Exemplar 1 Learning centre timetable 48

E1 Exemplar 2 Zohra’s baby 50

E2 Exemplar 1 My name is Lynette 52

E2 Exemplar 2 Mustafa’s story 54

E3 Exemplar 1 Skin care products 56

E3 Exemplar 2 Travel information 58

L1 Exemplar 1 Interview techniques 60

L1 Exemplar 2 Mullah Nasruddin and the candle 62

L2 Exemplar 1 Simkey web page 64

L2 Exemplar 2 The English patient 66

Writing exemplars 68Introduction 68

Contents 69

E1 Exemplar 1 My country is Eritrea 70

E1 Exemplar 2 Christmas card 72

E1 Exemplar 3 E-mail to Marie 74

E1 Exemplar 4 Sickness note 76

E2 Exemplar 1 Living in London 78

E2 Exemplar 2 Coming to the UK 80

E2 Exemplar 3 Directions 82

E3 Exemplar 1 Half-day tour 84

E3 Exemplar 2 Lord of the Rings 86

E3 Exemplar 3 Shift notes 88

L1 Exemplar 1 Letter of complaint 90

L1 Exemplar 2 Being overweight 92

L1 Exemplar 3 Management consultant’s report 94

L2 Exemplar 1 Information for new employees 96

L2 Exemplar 2 Failings of education 98

L2 Exemplar 3 College catering report 100

ESOL_Exemplars_Intro.indd 1ESOL_Exemplars_Intro.indd 1 25/06/2009 12:1125/06/2009 12:11

Project outlineThis exemplifi cation project was commissioned by the

Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit to support the teaching

and assessment of ESOL. The development of national

standards for adult literacy, a national adult ESOL core

curriculum and a national teacher training

programme have made it possible to establish a

common understanding of what constitutes

progression in ESOL, both in teaching and learning

and in assessment.

The exemplars presented here support the

establishment and growth of this common

understanding, for practitioners, awarding bodies and

all those involved in ESOL provision and assessment.

This understanding is achieved by illustrating the use

of English at each of the NQF levels covered by the

standards and the curriculum.

Exemplars can of course illustrate only a small amount

of what is actually involved in speaking and listening,

reading and writing. The exemplars off ered in this

publication demonstrate some but not all aspects of

the skills, knowledge and understanding required at a

given level.

The contexts similarly aim to be representative, but are

by no means comprehensive. Certain types of

common writing and speaking and listening are not

included, and thus some skills are not covered. ‘A total

of 16 Speaking and Listening exemplars, 15 Writing

exemplars and ten Reading exemplars have been

compiled to cover a selection of skills.

To ensure that the exemplars were aligned with new

developments in ESOL awards, an awarding body

consultative group was established at the outset of

the project and has met regularly throughout.

These exemplars are presented here in a way that is

designed to make them easily accessible to busy

practitioners. Each is arranged, with its annotations,

across a double-page spread, so that all details are

visible at once.

The text lies in the centre of each double-page. Boxes

around it pick up the three areas of each mode – text,

sentence and word focus for Reading and for Writing;

speak to communicate, listen and respond, and

engage in discussion for Speaking and Listening.

Additional line-by-line annotations point out features

of language in the ESOL core curriculum.

DisclaimerThe exemplars do:

● show the work of learners who are mainly secure

in a level, but also have skills which may be below

or above that level

● comment on how far various learners have

achieved the learning outcomes in the ESOL

curriculum in relation to a particular level

● provide a practical demonstration of a reasonable

range of skills across the three modes: speaking

and listening; reading and writing

● show some of the features of progression in

language acquisition and development

● for Speaking and Listening, present interactions

showing ESOL levels in a range of contexts

● demonstrate how reading texts demand diff erent

degrees and types of skills at the fi ve levels

● for Writing, show handwritten and typed texts in

their fi nal drafts in some of the main genres at all

levels.

The exemplars do not:

● demonstrate the skills needed to reach a level

● model excellence at a level

● represent ‘model’ tasks or assignments

● represent models for assessment

● represent ‘model’ answers or performance.

Rationale and purpose Each text (Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing) is

chosen to exhibit ‘levelness’ – characteristic features

that allow an assessor to make judgements about the

level of the text within the fi ve levels of the National

Standards.

Levelness‘Levelness’ is a term that reached wide acceptance

during the process of developing the ESOL Skills for

Life awards. It refers to the ways in which a text or

interaction demonstrate that the language is at Entry

1, 2, 3, Level 1 or Level 2 (or in some cases Level 3).

Note that the grammatical accuracy of Level 2 writing

is likely to be higher than that of Level 2 speaking,

which usually requires instant performance whereas

writing can go through several drafts. The order of the

exemplars within each level does not refl ect

improvement within that level.

ESOL Exemplars Introduction Page 2


Page 3

Speaking and Listening exemplarsA theme of ‘personal information’ runs through the

Speaking and Listening exemplars. from E1 to L2. This

theme helps to demonstrate increasing complexity

through the levels. Progression is shown by

increasingly demanding contexts, situations, subjects

and language. The levels are not solely about doing

similar things better, but about doing diff erent and

more diffi cult things, so at higher levels the personal

information is interwoven and more complex in

nature as well as in expression.

At E1 Mounir delivers information about himself and

asks personal questions of a teacher, while at L2

Mirosh is responding to questions in a challenging job

interview with two native speakers.

In between these two extremes the personal

information texts cover the following contexts:

E2 – personal and family history, migration, asylum; E3

– discovering a person’s background and country

information; L1 – discussing background in a job

induction.

The other texts at each level cover a range of other

types. The aim here is to give an indication of overall

range while not seeking to match all the descriptors.

The other text types evince diff erent sorts of language

in terms of lexis, discourse, grammar and function.

At E1 there is a classroom situation with instructions

and clarifi cation, plus the description of a couscous

pot, an everyday description exercise. At E2 there are a

discussion on career aims and courses and a

discussion on smoking. At E3 there is an explanation

of a technical process and the associated checking

back and corrections. There is also a discussion of the

London congestion charge. At L1 there is a persuasive

conversation among tenants on problems in a fl at and

then discussion with the landlord expressing

dissatisfaction. This is balanced by a discussion on

objects to bring to a desert island. Finally at L2 a pair

of neighbours hold a conversation focusing on a

potentially diffi cult negotiation about dustbins, and a

Liberian gives a presentation on the history and

politics of his country.

Conventions: line numbers are supplied and

triangular brackets <> identify where two speakers

speak at once.

Reading exemplarsThese exemplars diff er from the Speaking and

Listening and the Writing exemplars in that no actual

learner language is involved. Reading is a receptive

language mode and cannot be exemplifi ed in the

same way as a productive mode.

Instead, the exemplars show the type of text that

learners at the various levels should engage with

successfully and the language features that may

evidence their skills. This ensures a consistent layout

for the exemplars.

The text types or genres are as follows:

At E1 there are a greeting card and a learning centre

timetable. At E2 there are two personal narrative and

descriptive texts – from a teacher and a learner. At E3

there are a vocational course handout and a travel

information leafl et. At L1 there are a folk story and a

textbook extract. At L2 there are a webpage

advertisement and a magazine article.

These texts show functions including information,

greeting, description, narrative, explanation, argument

and persuasion.

Conventions: paragraphs are numbered where there

are paragraphs. Annotated text is emboldened if the

annotation applies only to part of a line. Annotations

linked to lines that do not have emboldened text

apply to all the text in the line.

Writing exemplarsAt E1 there are four short pieces of writing – personal

information, e-mail greeting, Christmas Card greetings

and a note to a teacher. Otherwise there are three

texts per level, with the text types designed to show

the relevant range within and across levels. They

include important functions such as instruction,

narrative, description, persuasion, complaint and

argument, and important types of writing such as e-

mails, formal and informal letters, essays, articles,

reports and job information.

Conventions: paragraphs are numbered where

there are paragraphs. Annotated text is emboldened

if the annotation applies only to part of a line.

Annotations linked to lines that do not have

emboldened text apply to all the text in the line.

Text types and their defi nitionAll texts are defi ned in terms of:

● what is being talked/written about (activity/subject

content)

● who is talking (social interaction/roles and

relationships – Speaking and Listening)

or

● what is the context (Reading and Writing)

● what kind of talk/language (eg conversation/story/

commentary on actions/information leafl et/fi lm

review)

These headings are used in each exemplar.



List of texts (including conversations)Texts are listed here by:

● level and title

● type (genre in

Reading and Writing

or the context of the

interaction in

Speaking and

Listening)

● high-level language

functions.

Speaking and Listening

Level Title Type Functions

Entry 1 1 Mounir – Conversation with a new teacher Teacher and learner exchanging information and

opinions about a college

Personal information

2 Mounir and Elizabeth – Classroom task Learners undertaking learning tasks – a worksheet Instructions and clarifi cation

3 Djamila, Jenny, Clementine – Description of couscous

pot

Description of couscous pot Description, explanation, request for

clarifi cation

Entry 2 1 Jade – Personal history A learner explains her background Personal information

2 Jade – Future plans A learner describes her plans to be a receptionist and

shows her knowledge

Opinions and ideas

3 Adeline, Kumrije, Gilson – Smoking discussion Three learners discuss the merits and drawbacks of

smoking

Contribution to discussion

Entry 3 1 Dino and Enrique – Directions and Ecuador A learner discusses Ecuador, his country, and gives

directions

Personal and factual information, directions

2 Fuensanta and Geraldo – Mobile phone instructions A learner explains features of a mobile phone to

another learner

Explanations, checking back and

clarifi cation

3 Juan, Nicolas, Ana, Sylvie, Luca – Congestion charge Discussion of the London traffi c congestion charge Contribution to discussion

Level 1 1 Jadwiga, Miguel, Alexia – Restaurant interview A potential kitchen porter learns about the job Personal information, persuasion and

seeking information

2 Alexia and Jadwiga – Tenants’ complaint A tenant persuades another to complain to the

landlord; she resists their eff orts

Persuasion and argument

3 Lilo, Leonora, Fernando, Marta – Desert island Learners discuss what they would bring to a desert island Contribution to discussion

Level 2 1 Paul and Steve – Neighbours’ negotiation Two neighbours discuss a problem with rubbish Social language, personal information and

persuasion

2 Mirosh – Job interview, restaurant manager A potential restaurant manager argues his case Persuasion, challenge and negotiation

3 Abdul – Presentation on Liberia A Liberian explains the history and politics of his country Formal presentation


Page 5

Reading


Entry 1 1 Learning centre timetable Timetable Information

2 Zohra’s baby Greetings card Greetings

Entry 2 1 My name is Lynette Personal story Description and narrative

2 Mustafa’s story Personal story Description and narrative

Entry 3 1 Skin-care products College handout Explanation

2 Travel information Leafl et Information

Level 1 1 Interviewing techniques Textbook extract Discursive

2 Mullah Nasruddin and the candle Folk story Narrative with dialogue

Level 2 1 SIMKey web page Web advertisement Persuasion

2 The English patient Newspaper article Case study and argument



List of textsTexts are listed here by:

● level and title

● type (genre in

Reading and Writing

or the context of the

interaction in

Speaking and

Listening)

● high-level language

functions.

Writing


Entry 1 1 My country is Eritrea Personal history Description and feelings

2 Christmas card Greeting card Greeting

3 My house Personal e-mail Greeting

4 Sickness note Note to teacher Apology and request

Entry 2 1 Coming to the UK Learner writing Description and narrative

2 Living in London Personal letter Description

3 Directions Directions to learner’s home Directions

Entry 3 1 Half-day tour Advertising leafl et Persuasive text

2 Lord of the Rings Film review Opinions and ideas

3 Shift notes Notes of offi ce events and plans Narrative, instructions and explanations

Level 1 1 A letter of complaint Formal letter Complaint

2 Obesity Learner essay Argument and description

3 Management consultant’s report Report and notice on takeover and modernisation of

insurance company

Persuasion, proposals and explanations

Level 2 1 Information for new employees Information leafl et Information and persuasion

2 Failings of education Magazine article Discursive

3 College catering report Report of survey into college catering Argument and description


Page 7

Coverage of skillsThough some texts include two drafts, exemplars like

these cannot demonstrate skills such as the use of

reference material or the full process of drafting. There

are also limits on how far the exemplars can

demonstrate listening and reading for gist and for

detail, and the spoken language skills shown in a long

discussion. Hence the list below shows the areas

which the exemplars do not cover.

● Engage in discussion Sd – some apects of

multi-party discussions

Listen and respond Lr – gist or detail

Text focus: reading comprehension Rt – gist

or detail

Word focus: vocabulary, word recognition

and phonics Rw – use of reference material

Text focus: writing composition Wt – some

aspects of drafting

Word focus: vocabulary, spelling and

handwriting Ww – use of reference material.

Complexity of languageGrammatical complexity is not a matter of clauses

alone. Most complexity in formal English involves

complex noun phrases with pre- and post-

modifi cation. Examples of complex clause structures

and complex noun phrase construction in spoken

discourse are shown on pages 284–5 and 346–7 of

the core curriculum.

Issues of complexity aff ect many texts, and

complexity is of course relative. One text is more or

less complex than another and complexity is also

aff ected by such matters as a learner’s knowledge of

content, the relative interpretability of the text and so

on. However, it is still worth underlining that much

complexity in English is patterned by clause structure.

That is, that a main clause plus a subordinate clause is

normally more complex than a main clause. But a

main clause plus an embedded participial clause plus

two subordinate clauses is more complex than a main

clause plus a subordinate clause. And a main clause

itself can be complex if there are noun phrases which

have lots of pre- and post-modifi ers.

Noun phrases can be a major source of complexity in

English, something highlighted in the description of

formal and informal English in the core curriculum.

Noun phrase complexity is associated with formal

written English but clausal complexity can aff ect both

informal and formal English. ESOL learners at L1 and

L2 especially need to be able to handle complexity in

reading and writing.

Good examples of the complexity issue raised above

occur in the Information for new employees text (L2

writing exemplar 1) where the writer employs a

number of ‘complex’ noun phrases (the essential

information about our restaurant that will be helpful; the

shift schedule for next week; any requests for changes or

substitutions). Here the syntax is straightforward but

information is complexly packed into noun phrases –

all entirely appropriate for an information-giving genre.

Grammatical accuracyThere is no fi xed correlation between grammatical

accuracy and level in the exemplars but the general

aim is to show that, whereas grammatical inaccuracy

may interfere with communication at E1, it must never

do so at L2. At this level it is the speaker’s standing as

a user of English rather than their communication

skills that suff ers when the grammar is inadequate.

The annotations and the specifi c grammar comments

for each exemplar demonstrate how grammatical

aspects contribute to meaning and to levelness.

Engage in discussionIn the exemplars the assumption is that all the

conversations in which participants show evidence of

responding to an interlocutor provide evidence that

they have achieved Sd1a, Social interaction, and that

evidence for this normally occurs throughout the

interaction. Some features of social interaction that

would occur in a longer dialogue are omitted in order

to accommodate a transcript of each dialogue or

monologue and notes on our pages.

Utterances, clauses and sentencesIt is common in discussions of language for the term

‘sentence’ to be used. A sentence is the unit within which

a single clause or a sequence of clauses occurs. It is a

widely used and useful term and is the principal term

used for such structures in the Adult ESOL Curriculum.

In the case of Speaking and Listening the term

‘sentence’ is retained in most commentaries, especially

at the less advanced levels. However, in all but the

most formal contexts, when we speak we typically

speak in utterance units not sentences. Across

speaking turns this involves structures that have clear

functions and purposes and which involve single

subordinate clauses that are not sentences, eg:

[A and B are discussing applications for a job]

A: Well actually one person has applied.

B: Um.

A: Which is great. [Reinforces the topic.]

B: Though it’s all relative, of course. [Evaluates comment.]

When we take extended turns such as telling a story, it

is probable too that we will chain several utterance

units together in a long sequence.

In the context of Speaking and Listening, bear in mind

that the term ‘utterance’ is in many ways a less familiar

but more accurate descriptive term.


ESOL Exemplars Annotated example – Speaking and Listening Page 8

Each Speaking and Listening item has the following components:

Summary – shows in a nutshell how the conversation

exemplifi es the level and refers to component skills

Task – explains who is

talking, what is said and

what kind of

conversation it is

Brief to learners – the

original instructions to

the learners who

roleplayed the

conversations

Speak to communicate;

Listen and respond;

Engage in discussion

– these are tables

showing the level

descriptors and

component skills in

relation to relevant lines

of the conversation

Transcript – a broad

transcription of the

learners’ speech into

English words with

punctuation as for

written language.

Length of audio

Level

Mode

Speaker’s initial

Number of exemplar in level:

1, 2 or 3 – does not denote increasing skill

Names of speakers

Topic


Page 9

A list of level descriptors and component skills for the

dialogue or monolgue

Grammar – notes on how

the grammatical

strengths and weaknesses

exemplify the level

Pronunciation – notes on

how the phonological

aspects of the

conversation exemplify

the level

In-text annotations –

notes on individual

utterances which

demonstrate the level

Audio on CD and cassette –

the original conversation as

transcribed and annotated.

Speak to communicate;

Listen and respond;

Engage in discussion

– these are tables

showing the level

descriptors and

component skills in

relation to relevant lines

of the conversation


ESOL Exemplars Annotated example – Reading

Level

Page 10

The Reading items have the following components:

ModeNumber of exemplar in level:

1 or 2 – does not denote increasing skill Topic

Summary – shows how

the tasks and the text

exemplify the level and

refers to component

skills with text, sentence

and word focus; also

indicates key language

functions

Task – who the writer

and the audience are,

what the context is and

what kind of language

is used

Sentence focus – shows

how the sentence level

descriptors are

evidenced

Word focus –

shows how the word

level descriptors are

evidenced

Text – reading passages

to demonstrate

evidence of level


notes on individual

language items which

may be used to

demonstrate the level.


Page 11

A list of level descriptors and component skills for the text

Text focus –

shows how the text

level descriptors are

evidenced

Grammar – notes on

how the grammatical

strengths and weakness

exemplify the level



descriptors are

evidenced


ESOL Exemplars Annotated example – Writing Page 12

The Writing items have the following components:

ModeNumber of exemplar in level:

1, 2 or 3 – does not denote increasing skillTopic

Summary – shows how

the tasks and the text

exemplify the level and

refers to component

skills with text, sentence

and word focus; also

indicates key language

functions

Task – who the writer

and the audience are,

what the context is and

what kind of language

is used



descriptors are

evidenced

Word focus – shows how

the sentence level

descriptors are

evidenced

Text – written

composition to

demonstrate evidence

of level


notes on individual

language items which

may be used to

demonstrate the level.

Sentence focus at right

Level


Page 13

A list of level descriptors and component skills for the text

Grammar – notes on

how the grammatical

strengths and weakness

exemplify the level

Original text as laid out

by learner, where

relevant

Text focus – shows how

the text level

descriptors are

evidenced

Learner’s fi rst draft,

where relevant


Documents

(1) ESOL Exemplars