Aims of the seminar

• to discuss the advantages of BEC

• to familiarise participants with the content of BEC

• to provide some guidance on candidate preparation

Outline of the seminar

• Introduction to Cambridge ESOL and BEC

• Overview of Cambridge ESOL business English

tests

• Why take BEC exams?

• Levels, grades and papers

• BEC skill by skill

• Questions and answers

Introduction to Cambridge ESOL

• largest testing agency for British English

• full range of examinations taken worldwide

• recognition of Cambridge ESOL certificates

• department of the university

• exams for learners of English since 1913

Cambridge ESOL Business English Provision - BEC

• internationally recognised, certificated exams

• three levels

• tests English language in four skills

• no specialist business knowledge

• set in context of international business

• working/preparing to work in international business

• ability to communicate for essential business needs

Why take BEC exams?

• strong growth

• rigorous quality control

• wide suitability

• wide business context

• value for study and business career

• international recognition for work and study

Levels

Cambridge ESOL Levels Council of Europe Levels

VantageBEC Vantage B2

Effective ProficiencyBEC Higher C1CAE

FCE

B1 ThresholdBEC Preliminary PET

MasteryC2CPE

A2 WaystageKET

Question Paper Production Process

Vetting and editing of material

Revision

Rejection

Question paper construction

Commissioning of material for question papers

Materials bank

Pretest construction

Item analysis

Pretesting

Benefits of Pretesting

• familiarises students and teachers with the exams

• provides students with exam practice

• teachers’ comments on content and difficulty

influence design and content of exams

• students receive scores and comments

• shows levels of students in relation to exam

Grades

• one overall grade

• each skill counts for 25%

• profile of performance

• Preliminary: two pass grades

• Vantage and Higher: three pass grades

Reference No

To be quoted on all correspondence

Business English CertificatesENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGEStatement of results

Session March 2002

Candidate Name

Place of entry

QualificationBusiness English Certificate - Vantage PAPER PROFILE Result B

Pass

Exceptional

Good

Borderline

Weak

Listening

Reading SpeakingWriting

8

PapersPreliminary Vantage Higher

Reading1 hr

30 mins*

1 hr 1 hr

Writing 45 mins 1 hr 10 mins

Listening 40 mins 40 mins 40 mins

Speaking 12 mins** 14 mins** 16 mins**

* combined Reading and Writing Test ** (2 candidates)

• 5 tasks

• variety of ‘input’ and ‘output’

• tests different types of reading

Vantage Reading

Vantage Writing

Part 1

• Internal company communication

Part 2

• Piece of business correspondence, report or proposal

• instructions printed and on CD

• all texts heard twice

• 30 minutes Listening

• 10 minutes ‘transfer time’

• 3 tasks

Vantage Listening

Speaking

• 2 candidates

• 2 examiners

– interlocutor

– assessor

Vantage Speaking• Part 1 Conversation with interlocutor

• Part 2 Mini-presentation

• Part 3 i) Two-way conversationbetween candidates

ii) Further prompting from interlocutor

• 6 tasks

• variety of ‘input’ and ‘output’

• tests different types of reading

Higher Reading

Higher Writing

Part 1

• Report based on graphic input

Part 2

• Report or proposal or correspondence(candidate chooses)

• instructions printed and on CD

• all texts heard twice

• 30 minutes listening

• 10 minutes ‘transfer time’

• 3 tasks

Higher Listening

Speaking

• 2 candidates

• 2 examiners

– interlocutor

– assessor

Higher Speaking

• Part 1 Conversation with interlocutor

• Part 2 Mini-presentation

• Part 3 i) Two-way discussionbetween candidates

ii) Further prompting from interlocutor

7Y04.BEC-I.002

Authorised Cambridge ESOL CentreIETLS Test Centre

BKC-IHTel/Fax: (495) 604 4584E-mail: exams@bkc.ru

http://www.bkc.ru/exams/BKC-IH Language School - since 1992!

www.bkc.ru

www.CambridgeESOL.orgwww.CambridgeESOL.org