1.	Introduction to ESB
2.	ESB Skills For Life
3.	The Four Sections
4.	How The Accessment Is Conducted
5.	ESB ESOL : Skills For Life and the ESOL CORE Curriculum
6.	Additional Information
7.	Key Features
8.	Appendices

Introduction to ESB

AIMS

Her words are true, not only for native speakers, but also for those who learn English as an additional Language.

RANGE OF QUALIFICATIONS

ESB qualifications
• Junior and Senior (Graded Examination in Spoken English) - Entry Level to Level 3
• Speaking and Listening for Adult Learners - Level 1 to Level 4
• Vocational and Professional - Level 1 to Level 5
• Oral Communication Skills - Pre-Entry and Entry Level
• EAL for Schools - Pre-Entry to Level 2
• EAL/ESOL (Spoken Communication and Presentation) - Pre-Entry to Level 3
• ESOL Skills for Life - Entry 1 to Level 2

ESB ESOL: Skills for Life

THE NEW ESOL QUALIFICATION

The need for a new qualification arises from the government’s policy to improve the basic skills of the population of the UK. The Skills for Life initiative addresses the literacy and numeracy needs of the native speaker, and also the language needs of the many people living in Britain for whom English is an acquired language. A national curriculum for ESOL, entitled the ESOL CORE CURRICULUM, was published in 2001. ESB’s former ESOL qualification (ESB ESOL/EAL title) was broadly aligned to this document in 2002, but the new qualification is based on and closely follows the new Curriculum (see page 6). Tutors are strongly recommended to obtain a copy of the Curriculum (see Appendix 3). ESB offers its new qualification as a single mode single unit ESOL qualification.

• These qualifications contribute to the Government’s Skills for Life initiative by providing an assessment of ESOL which is designed around the standards for adult literacy and the ESOL curriculum. They are designed to cover the standards and curriculum with sufficient range, breadth and depth to properly reflect the use of the English language in real world situations, appropriate to the needs of the client group mentioned above and the NQF level in question.

• The underpinning rationale of the ESB / ESOL series is to develop the communicative confidence and competence of speakers of other languages in using the English language. ESB recognises that when English is an acquired language, the route to oral competence and effective communication is different from that of a native speaker. The assessment is the end point of a period of study and practice in which an individual has improved his or her ability to communicate information, engage in discussion, listen and respond appropriately.

• Preparation for the qualification helps to develop learner independence. ESB recognises the importance of offering a qualification that requires no specific knowledge or educational background. The assessment tasks are designed to be genuinely communicative situations that students will encounter in their everyday lives. In Section 2 a candidate chooses his/her own topics to share, and at higher levels must research these topics and prepare suitable visual aids and notes.

• The assessment tasks enable the candidate to demonstrate the language and communicative skills he/she has acquired and is developing, in a range of formal and informal registers and contexts in daily, social, educational and working life.

• The candidate is assessed as both speaker and active listener within a group. This reflects communication in everyday life where speaking and listening are almost always used together.

• The ESB approach also provides the tutor with the opportunity to create an integrated syllabus and to develop a student’s speaking and listening skills in a meaningful and natural way.

An ESB candidate for this qualification may be anyone who speaks English as an acquired language, for example:

• a member of settled community, including those from the Asian subcontinent and Hong Kong
• a refugee or asylum seeker
• a migrant worker who works or has settled in the UK for most of his/her life
• a partner or spouse of learners from all over the world who may have been settled for a number of years and who need English to participate in the local community.
• a learner who has had part of his/her school education in Britain but who wants to continue to improve English language skills to support employment or higher education aims.
• an overseas visitor to the UK attending courses which use the UK ESOL Core Curriculum.
• someone under 16 following a specific ESOL/EAL language programme either within or outside school.

ESOL learners are very diverse. Students have different cultural, educational and employment backgrounds and their needs vary enormously. Many students work long or irregular hours and find it difficult to attend classes. ESB assessors understand and are sympathetic to these diversities.

ESB ESOL is designed to ensure that Every Student can Benefit

All assessment is external, carried out on-site at user centres throughout the UK and overseas by a trained team of visiting assessors. All ESB assessors are independent of the centres they visit. In addition, they are rigorously trained and moderated following QCA guidelines. Assessment takes place within a participating peer group as candidate interaction is an integral part of the assessment. Each session requires a minimum of three and a maximum of six candidates, to give candidates the opportunity to demonstrate listening and responding skills as well as competence as an individual speaker. Each candidate is assessed and awarded a mark for each section of the syllabus. Every candidate receives a written report form with results and guidance within five days of the assessment (UK). All successful candidates receive a certificate, giving syllabus title and level achieved, within approximately six weeks.

Each section is marked separately. The marks are combined to give a pass or unsuccessful grade. The candidate’s marks are given on the report form so that he or she can see individual strengths or weaknesses. The candidate may be unsuccessful in one section but still achieve a pass. A pass is unlikely where a candidate fails in more than one section.

Please refer to our ESOL Skills for Life syllabus booklet for more information on procedures.

No previous knowledge is required for Entry 1. However, for many candidates this is the first external assessment. ESB offers a Pre-Entry assessment, which encourages slower learners and provides an opportunity to experience formal language assessment. It should be noted that this Pre-entry level is not part of the Skills for Life initiative. At other levels, the candidate must have the skills, knowledge and understanding to meet the specified outcomes for that level by the assessment date. He/she must have the potential (as advised by his/her tutor) to securely meet the outcome of the preceding NQF level.

The table Appendix 2 shows the alignment of the ESB /ESOL qualification against the National Qualification Framework (NQF) and other standards and scales. It shows how candidates can progress through the levels. The table Appendix 1 (CONTENT SUMMARY GRID SHOWING PROGRESSION) shows in more detail how the sections and tasks assess a candidate’s progression from the lowest to the highest level. Each level is closely linked to the ESOL Core Curriculum.

	The qualification is suitable for students: - On an ESOL course (which may be discrete or embedded) - On GNVQ programmes - On GCSE programmes - On Access programmes - On other language support programmes in education or in the workplace …….who wish to improve speaking and listening skills for a variety of reasons

Qualifications may be taken at any point in the year and should be booked three months in advance to guarantee the date of your choice.

Restrictions: Candidates may not enter for more than one ESB assessment qualification on any one occasion of assessment nor take another ESB Skills for Life qualification within three months of the assessment.
Guided learning hours: The recommended 100-125 hours per level per mode are a guide only. ESB recognises the different needs of the learner, and context of the delivery. Tutors should ensure that before entering any candidate, he or she is ready for the level.

• The qualification follows a similar pattern through each Entry Level, each having four sections exploring different skills.
• The specifications outline the tasks in each section at each level; the assessment criteria show what is being assessed in each task.
• In addition, each specification is clearly cross referenced to the ESOL Core Curriculum so that candidates and centres / tutors can integrate the assessment into learning programmes.
• As the candidate develops skills acquired through knowledge and understanding, each section becomes more complex and challenging both in the communicative skills required and in the knowledge and understanding required to achieve the task successfully.
• At each stage of the examination each candidate is being assessed on what he or she knows and can do.
• Each level has a list of functions, samples of which are assessed in different parts of the assessment. For example, at Entry 3: section 2, a candidate might narrate events in the past, give factual accounts, express feelings, likes and dislikes, and confirm information, or at Entry 1:section 3, a candidate might describe health and symptoms, spell words aloud, check back.

The Four Sections

ONE: Communicating personal information
Giving and asking for personal information is a function of language used in everyday life in many different situations. This task helps put the candidate at ease and provides evidence of the ability to ask for and give information with increasingly extended responses and independence and in a wider range of situations as the levels progress.

TWO: Communicating information of shared interest.
Extended discourse is a part of our educational, social, work and professional lives. At the lowest level, the candidate shares prepared information, gaining confidence in the ability to communicate with a listening group. At higher levels the candidate is expected to give a more organised discourse. Preparing for a talk at any level can have a positive effect in the classroom: candidates can plan, research, read and write around their chosen topic. It should be noted that at entry levels, the candidate is not required to have reading or writing skills to perform this task. Some students, however, like to use notes they have written as prompts to support their talk.
Candidates are given a choice of tasks. Each requires them to express statements of fact and use grammar, vocabulary and communication skills appropriately within structured spoken discourse. At lower levels this can be very simple (e.g. describing an object) while at higher levels the candidate might, for example, give a simple presentation with suitable discourse structure.

THREE: Communicating in everyday situations
This task assesses the candidate’s ability to speak and listen in a variety of situations from simple everyday life (e.g. telling the time) to problem solving situations (e.g. making a complaint). These tasks give the candidate the opportunity to show how he/she can adapt speech to suit the situation and use an increasing range of phrases, grammar structures, and pronunciation features to convey meaning appropriately.

FOUR: Communicating opinions and feelings / listening and responding
The aim of this part of the test is to assess a candidate’s ability to interact within a group of two or more people. The candidates listen to a text appropriate to the level, either read by the assessor or presented on audio-tape or video. The candidates are then directed by the assessor to discuss the issues raised in the text. At the lowest levels, the candidates are expected to show that they have listened and understood by expressing their own opinions very simply (e.g. listen to a simple discussion about the traffic in a city and express own opinion). At higher levels, the candidates will have a more complex task to perform involving reasoning and with regard to the formality and purpose of the situation (e.g. listen to news items and discuss the issues raised in one of them).

How The Assessment Is Conducted

• Each candidate is assessed as an individual and the time allowed in the specification is for each student.
• Up to six candidates can be assessed at one time. Where students are paired or in groups of three, the timing for each should be added together. For example: Entry 3: section 1,
                           • 6 students, (3 pairs or 2 groups of 3) the total time would be 12 minutes
• The class teacher is expected to be present and observe the assessment.

SECTION 1:
• The assessor will ask candidates to make pairs or threes
• Each candidate asks for and expresses personal information as directed by the assessor
• Should there be an imbalance of communication, the assessor may ask additional questions, although at higher levels, candidates should be more aware of each other’s needs and the balance of communication.

SECTION 2:
• Each candidate should prepare his/her talk before the assessment day. At lower levels this will simply mean choosing a topic and any visual aid. At higher levels, candidates are encouraged to use notes, visual aids, OHP, or other technology to aid the presentation, and the communication of information and ideas. N.B. Visual aids should not be passed around the room.
• Each candidate in turn gives his/her talk to the listening group. At E1, the assessor will then ask the listening group and the candidate questions relating to the talk. At other levels, the candidate group should respond to the talk with questions, either to seek more information or to clarify points of misunderstanding. Listening is part of the assessment.

N.B. It should be noted that the candidate is assessed on communicative competence and not on the choice of any visual aids.

SECTION 3:
• The candidate should be able to use a range of functions as listed in the syllabus. The assessor will choose two or more from the range for the purpose of assessment. These may be either formal or informal. At Entry 3, the candidate may be required to make a phone call as well as communicate face to face.
• Candidates will be paired and a situation outlined to them by the assessor. Each should ensure that he/she fully understands the instructions, using language appropriate to the assessment level, and seeking clarification where necessary.
• The specification indicates clearly when the tutor is involved.

SECTION 4:
• Candidates work together as a group and listen to a text which may be read by the assessor, or delivered on audio tape or video. The activity following depends on the level of the specification but each level will require the candidate to listen to detail and gist and make a personal response. The specification and assessment criteria indicate the focus of the tasks at each level.

Vocabulary
The ESOL Core Curriculum contains a list of suggested vocabulary for Entry 1. At other levels, there is no specific vocabulary. The tasks are designed so that candidates can demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary and use it appropriately throughout the whole assessment.

ESB ESOL: Skills for Life and the ESOL CORE CURRICULUM

The UK government has committed itself to improving national literacy standards, and National Standards were published in 2000. This qualification is based on the ESOL CORE CURRICULUM, produced to provide a framework for English language teaching. It defines the skills, knowledge and understanding that non-native speakers need in order to demonstrate achievement of the National Standards. The document has been widely welcomed in the UK. (Appendix. 3 gives details on where to access the National Standards and/or obtain a copy of the ESOL Core Curriculum)

	These qualifications are designed to assess achievement of the National Standards, which consist of three parts:              The standard: a description of what a candidate can do The descriptor: objective criteria for assessing level and performance Component knowledge, skills and understanding: these outline what the learner needs to acquire in order to meet the criteria in the descriptors and thus achieve the standard at  that level For ease of use, the curriculum has a reference system; this system is used in the ESB Skills for Life Qualification.

ESB Skills for Life: Speaking and Listening covers three of the six standards at each level.
• Speak to communicate (Sc)
• Engage in Discussion (Sd)
• Listen and respond. (Lr)
The descriptors and the component skills and knowledge form the basis of the assessment criteria. The relevant reference codes are used throughout the syllabus and assessment criteria.
            e.g. Typical reference: Sc/E2 - Speak to Communicate, Entry 2
            Sc/E2.1a - Speak to Communicate, Entry 2, descriptor 1a

The ESOL Core Curriculum also includes other helpful information such as:
• examples of situations and the language that might be used for each of the descriptors
• ideas for teaching
• key grammatical structures at each level
• a list of typical communicative functions at each level
• information about formality and informality in English
• strategies for independent learning.

When preparing candidates for ESB assessments, tutors and course planners will be able to link the assessment into any scheme of work based on the ESOL core curriculum.

Additional Information

SPIRITUAL, MORAL, ETHICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES; HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS; AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES; EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS

The study of English language offers ample opportunity to address any or all of these issues through choice of context, topic and texts. In ESB ESOL, each section allows the candidate to explore cultural differences from the use of body language through to the expression and discussion of complex belief systems and moral values.

ESB is committed to meeting the needs of all those with particular assessment requirements. More information can be found in the ESOL Skills for Life sylllabus booklet.

Key Features

	• Assesses against the ESOL Core Curriculum • Each candidate receives a written report • No specific subject knowledge is required. • No specific materials required • At entry levels, no literacy is required • Candidates work with a supportive peer group and discuss / listen to matters of common interest • Cross-cultural differences are explored in the talks and everyday functional situations • The programme and assessment cater for spiky profiles • Assessors are trained to conduct the assessment in a supportive and encouraging manner • The programme and assessment have a positive effect on teaching and learning • Every candidate receives a written report • Assessment can be made in any place, at any time* * subject to assessor availability

click here to view the appendices