TKT: Module 1: Part 1

Language skills
by Russell Whitehead

Overview: These practice materials are designed to help you with

exams

Module 1: Part 1: Language skills. In these materials you will think

about the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing in terms
of subskills.
Time: 30–60 mins

Think about
If your students aren’t conscious of doing something in L1, then they will find it hard to
think about doing it in L2. If you want to focus on reading for detail, for example, then
start by discussing when they do this in L1 and why.

Notes for teacher trainers

• Depending on the time available, you can expand and develop the
considerations in a) and the idea of the first Think about. Give trainees a
few questions related to this to discuss in groups and then whole class.
• You can also develop the idea of the Think about point about cooking,
and extend this parallelism to other activities.
• Trainees should be encouraged to discuss their own English learning
needs detail, so that they apply the subskills to their own abilities
and needs.

Think about
Most of the time we combine various subskills together. For example, in a typical
phone call, we might speak with appropriate politeness, listen to specific information,
make written notes, etc.
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EXAMS / TKT Practice Paper / Module 1: Part 1

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 TKT: Module 1: Part 1
Language skills
by Russell Whitehead

Stage 1: Considering
EXAMS

a) Think about the following tasks. What language skills might you need to achieve them?
Make some notes next to each task.

Task Language skills

Writing a lesson plan brainstorming, note-taking

Planning a holiday

Marking students’
homework
Finding a phone number
in a directory
Phoning a parent

Preparing the school

newsletter
Arranging to go to a
restaurant with friends
Attending a seminar

Watching the news

Reading a story aloud

Reading the newspaper

Now check the suggested answers.

Stage 2: Experimenting

c) Reading subskills

Use these words to complete the sentences.

scan skimming topic sentence

1. If we read a text quickly to get the general idea of what it is about, we call this ___________ .
2. In order to read a text effectively, you need to be able to identify the ___________ of each section
or paragraph, as that contains the important information.
3. When you want to find out specific information from a text, you ___________ it.

Now check your answers. When do you use these skills in your everyday life?
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1: Part 1
Title
Language skills
Author
by Russell Whitehead

d) Listening subskills
subject
EXAMS title

Match the two parts of each sentence together.

1. To deduce meaning from context is to guess what an unknown word...

2. To listen for gist or global understanding is to understand...
3. To infer mood is to decide what speakers feel about something from...

A. ... how they speak rather than the exact words they use.
B. ... means by using the situation and other words to help you understand.
C. ... what the general meaning is.

Now check your answers.

e) Writing subskills

Use these words to complete the sentences.

coherence edit cohesive

1. To __________ is to correct mistakes and make improvements to a piece of writing.

2. It’s important to use __________ devices, for example conjunctions or lexical fields, to join a
text together.
3. The ideas or arguments of a text should fit clearly and smoothly together, and this is
called __________.

Now check your answers.

f) Speaking subskills

Can you fill in the missing letters to make words and complete these sentences?

1. If learners don’t know the exact word or expression they need, they can p_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to
explain their meaning with other words.
2. If learners are making mistakes while focusing on fluency in a speaking activity, they will often
not self-c_ _ _ _ _ _.
3. In conversation, the process of speaking and then allowing another person to speak is
called t_ _ _ – t_ _ _ _ _.

Now check your answers.

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 TKT: Module 1: Part 1
Language skills
by Russell Whitehead

g) Now try this part of a sample TKT exam task.

EXAMS

For questions 1-3, choose the correct word(s) to complete each statement.

1 Working out the overall meaning when reading is called __________.

A inferring attitude

B note-taking
C reading for gist

2 Producing a new version of a text is called __________.

A re-drafting
B evaluating
C proofreading

3 Reading and listening are called __________ skills.

A receptive
B interactive
C productive

Now check your answers.

Think about

‘I want to be better at cooking.’ This is a general statement, and perhaps it’s not
very helpful.
However, statements like these can be more practical: ‘I want to be better at using a
knife for slicing,’ or, ‘I want to be able to mix flavours together better.’
So, what about the learner who says, ‘I want to speak better English’?

Stage 3: Reflecting
Go through these materials again, and highlight the information that you found most
useful or surprising. Write a short summary of what you have learnt about skills
and subskills.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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EXAMS / TKT Practice Paper / Module 1: Part 1

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WORKSHEET
1: Part 1
Title
Language skills
Author
by Russell Whitehead

Set yourself this target

subject
EXAMS title

Think about your English. Choose one of the subskills mentioned in these materials that
you want to improve. Decide what you can do to improve it. Make doing this your target for
the next month or so.

Don’t forget
Practising each part improves the whole.

Suggestion for independent learning

To deepen your understanding of subskills, monitor your use of subskills in your L1 for the
next week. Try to notice what subskills you are using in everything you do.

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EXAMS / TKT Practice Paper / Module 1: Part 1

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TG orModule 1: Part 1
WORKSHEET
Language
Title skills
by Russell Whitehead
Author

Answer key
exams
subject title

Stage 1 a) suggested answers

Task Language skills

Writing a lesson plan brainstorming, note-taking, editing
Planning a holiday scanning, reading for specific information, note-taking
Marking students’ homework reading for gist, e.g. if looking at a story for a composition, or
detail, e.g. if checking for correct answers to exercises
Finding a phone number in a scanning, reading for specific information
directory
Phoning a parent turn-taking, paraphrasing, inferring attitude/feeling/mood,
listening for detail
Preparing the school newsletter planning, drafting, editing, proofreading
Arranging to go to a restaurant turn-taking, listening for specific information
with friends
Attending a seminar note-taking, listening for gist, listening for detail
Watching the news fluency, understanding intonation
Reading a story aloud using appropriate intonation, fluency
Reading the newspaper skimming for general interest, and also for specific information
in certain stories that are particularly relevant to you

Stage 2 c) answers Stage 2 e) answers

1. skimming 1. edit
2. topic sentence 2. cohesive
3. scan 3. coherence

Stage 2 d) answers Stage 2 f) answers

1. B 1. paraphrase
2. C 2. correct
3. A 3. turn-taking

Stage 2 g) answers

1. C
This is the correct answer. Attitude is not the overall meaning, and note-taking is not the
same as working out.
2. A
This is the correct answer. A draft is a version. You might evaluate first, in order to decide
what changes you will make in the re-drafting process. Proofreading is making small checks
and changes to spelling etc.
3. A
This is the correct answer. B and C are true of many types of speaking and writing.
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