CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

MARK SCHEME for the October/November 2015 series

0510 ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

0510/12 Paper 1 (Reading and Writing – Core),
maximum raw mark 70

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of
the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not
indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began,
which would have considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner
Report for Teachers.

Cambridge will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge is publishing the mark schemes for the October/November 2015 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE®, Cambridge International A and AS Level components and some
Cambridge O Level components.

® IGCSE is the registered trademark of Cambridge International Examinations.

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IGCSE English as a Second Language Core tier Reading/Writing (Paper 1)

This component forms part of the Core tier assessment of IGCSE English as a Second Language and
tests the following Assessment Objectives:

AO1: Reading
R1 identify and retrieve facts and details
R2 understand and select relevant information
R3 recognise, understand ideas, opinions and attitudes and the connections between the related
ideas
R4 understand what is implied but not actually written, e.g. gist, relationships, writer’s
purpose/intention, writer’s feelings, situation or place

AO2: Writing
W1 communicate clearly, accurately and appropriately
W2 convey information and express opinions effectively
W3 employ and control a variety of grammatical structures
W4 demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of appropriate vocabulary
W5 observe conventions of paragraphing, punctuation and spelling
W6 employ appropriate register/style

Overview of exercises on Paper 1

Reading Marks for Writing Marks for Total
objectives reading objectives writing available
tested objectives tested objectives marks

Exercise 1 Reading (1) R1, R2 7 – 7

Exercise 2 Reading (2) R1, R2, R4 11 – 11

Exercise 3 Information R1, R2 10 W1, W5 4 14

transfer

Exercise 4 Note- R1, R2, R3 7 – 7

making

Exercise 5 Summary – W1, W2, W3, 5 5

W4, W5

Exercise 6 Writing (1) – W1, W2, W3, 13 13

W4, W5, W6

Exercise 7 Writing (2) – W1, W2, W3, 13 13

W4, W5, W6

70

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Exercise 1 Tablets in the Classroom

(a) students have their (own) tablet / schools give the students tablets [1]

(b) download music history encyclopaedia [1]

(c) (learn to) play an instrument without buying it [1]

(d) video connections / a feature that lets you interact with a class anywhere in the world [1]

(e) not so easy to lose / harder to lose

AND
(if you’re away from school), (teachers can) keep students up-to-date

ONE MARK FOR EACH CORRECT ANSWER [2]

(f) do not use paper / trees would be saved [1]

[Max total for exercise 1: 7 marks]

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Exercise 2 Silver

(a) (when) Europeans first went to America [1]

(b) more than 5000 years (ago) [1]

(c) highest: Kazakhstan 17 million (17 000 000) (of) troy ounces
AND
lowest: Iran 3 million (3 000 000) (of) troy ounces [1]

(d) jewellery / looking decorative [1]

(e) destroys bacteria’s ability to form chemical bonds / makes cells fall apart [1]

(f) promotes growth of new cells / it increases (rate of) healing [1]

(g) prevents bacteria from building up (in filters)

AND
cleans the water / filters bacteria

ONE MARK FOR EACH CORRECT DETAIL [2]

(h) water-borne illness [1]

(i) by silver-coated contacts/switch with silver covering [1]

(j) clears it / clears mist and ice / see clearly / driving safety [1]

[Max total for exercise 2: 11 marks]

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Exercise 3

Note: correct spelling is essential throughout the form-filling exercise.

Upper case letters required at the start of proper nouns.
The conventions of form-filling (i.e. instructions to underline, tick, circle, delete) must be observed
with total accuracy.

Student Profile Form

Section A: Personal details

Full name: Rosalind Drew 1

Address: 94 Helston Drive Denmead PO56 5AQ 1

Contact telephone number: 079350742 1

Occupation: DELETE part- time student 1

What is your main hobby? sailing 1

Please state preference regarding the language of the visiting student:

UNDERLINE Spanish 1

Section B: Family details:

Please provide names and jobs held by the senior members of the household:

Derek (Drew) – architect 1

Jane (Drew) – social worker 1

Number of brothers/sisters living at home CIRCLE none 1

Where did you see the foreign student programme advertised? (local) newspaper 1

[Max. total for Sections A and B: 10 marks]

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Section C [Max. total for Section C: 4 marks ]

In the space below write one sentence about your home, and one sentence explaining what you
want to achieve by having a foreign student stay with you.

Sentences must be written from the point of view of Rosalind.

Sample Sentence 1: My home has three bedrooms and is by the sea.

Sample Sentence 2: I want to be able to improve my Spanish language skills.

LANGUAGE MARKS
For each sentence, award up to 2 marks as follows:

2 marks: proper sentence construction; correct spelling, punctuation and grammar; gives the
information asked for

1 mark: proper sentence construction; 1–3 errors of punctuation, spelling or grammar (without
obscuring meaning); gives the information asked for

0 marks: more than 3 errors of punctuation / spelling / grammar, and/or does not give the
information asked for; and/or not a proper sentence; and/or meaning obscure

Absence of a full stop at the end should be considered as 1 punctuation error.

Absence of an upper case letter at the beginning should be considered as 1 punctuation error.
Omission of a word in a sentence should be considered as 1 grammar error.

[Max total for exercise 3: 14 marks]

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Exercise 4 Precious Objects

Objects taken by the residents of Pompeii and possible reasons for their choice.
[Max 4 marks for this heading]

1 keys – (hoping to) return home

2 charm bracelet – good luck
3 medical kit – save his tools / help the wounded
4 statuette of (Egyptian) goddess – (to look at) when praying
5 bangles – protection against evil eye / protection from bad fortune

Objects taken by modern disaster survivors and reasons for their choice.
[Max 3 marks for this heading]

6 parrot – companion
7 televisions – expensive
8 torch – light the way
9 first aid kit / medical kit – help others

[Max total for exercise 4: 7 marks]

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Exercise 5 Precious objects: summary

LANGUAGE: up to 5 marks

0 marks: no understanding of the task / no relevant content / meaning completely obscure

due to serious language inaccuracies

1 mark: copying without discrimination from text / multiple language inaccuracies

2 marks: heavy reliance on language from the text with no attempt to organise and sequence
points cohesively / limited language expression making meaning at times unclear

3 marks: some reliance on language from the text, but with an attempt to organise and
sequence points cohesively / language satisfactory, but with some inaccuracies

4 marks: good attempt to use own words and to organise and sequence points cohesively /
generally good control of language

5 marks: good, concise summary style / very good attempt to use own words and to organise
and sequence points cohesively

[Max total for exercise 5: 5 marks]

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Exercise 6: Brother’s birthday party

Exercise 7: Homework

The following general instructions, and table of marking criteria, apply to both exercises.

1 Award the answer a mark for content (C) [out of 7] and a mark for language (L) [out of 6] in
accordance with the General Criteria table that follows.

2 Content covers relevance (i.e. whether the piece fulfils the task and the awareness of
purpose/audience/register) and the development of ideas (i.e. the detail/explanation
provided and how enjoyable it is to read).

3 Language covers style (i.e. complexity of vocabulary and sentence structure) and accuracy
(of grammar, spelling, punctuation and use of paragraphs).

4 When deciding on a mark for content or language, first of all decide which mark band is most
appropriate. There will not necessarily be an exact fit. Then decide between 2 marks within
that mark band. Use the lower mark if it only just makes it into the band and the upper mark if
it fulfils all the requirements of the band but doesn’t quite make it into the band above.

5 When deciding on a mark for content, look at both relevance and development of ideas.
First ask yourself whether the writing fulfils the task, in terms of points to be covered and the
length. If it does, it will be in at least the 4–5 mark band.

6 When deciding on a mark for language, look at both the style and the accuracy of the
language. A useful starting point would be first to determine whether errors intrude. If they do
not, it will be in at least the 4–5 mark band.

7 The use of paragraphs should not be the primary basis of deciding which mark band the
work is in. Look first at the language used and once you have decided on the appropriate
mark band, you can use the paragraphing as a factor in helping you to decide whether the
work warrants the upper or lower mark in the mark band.

8 If the essay is considerably shorter than the stated word length, fewer than 70 words, it
should be put in mark band 2–3 for content or lower for not fulfilling the task. The language
mark is likely to be affected and is unlikely to be more than one band higher than the content
mark.

9 If the essay is totally irrelevant and has nothing to do with the question asked, it should be
given 0 marks for Content and Language, even if it is enjoyable to read and fluent.

10 If the essay is partly relevant and therefore in mark band 2–3, the full range of marks for
language is available.

[Max total for exercise 6: 13 marks]

[Max total for exercise 7: 13 marks]

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GENERAL CRITERIA FOR MARKING EXERCISES 6 and 7 (Core tier)

Mark CONTENT: relevance and Mark LANGUAGE: style and accuracy

band development of ideas band (AO: W1, W3, W4, W5)
(AO: W1, W2, W6)

6–7 Effective: 6 Competent:

Relevance: Style:
Fulfils the task, with appropriate Sentences show some style and
register and a good sense of purpose ambitious language. However, there may
and audience. be some awkwardness making reading
Award 7 marks. less enjoyable.
Fulfils the task, with appropriate Award 6 marks.
register and some sense of purpose
and audience. Accuracy:
Award 6 marks. Generally accurate with frustrating errors.
Appropriate use of paragraphing.
Development of ideas: Award 6 marks.
Ideas are developed at appropriate
length. Engages reader’s interest.

4–5 Largely relevant: 4–5 Satisfactory:

Relevance: Style:
Fulfils the task. A satisfactory attempt Mainly simple structures and vocabulary
has been made to address the topic, but sometimes attempting a wider range
but there may be digressions. of language.
Award 5 marks. Award 5 marks.
Does not quite fulfil the task although
there are some positive qualities. There Mainly simple structures and vocabulary.
may be digressions. Award 4 marks.
Award 4 marks.
Accuracy:
Development of ideas: Meaning is clear and of a safe standard.
Material is satisfactorily developed at Grammatical errors occur when
appropriate length. attempting more ambitious language.
Paragraphs are used, showing some
coherence.
Award 5 marks.

Meaning is generally clear. Simple

structures are usually sound. Errors do
not interfere with communication.
Paragraphs are used but without
coherence or unity.
Award 4 marks.

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2–3 Partly relevant: 2–3 Errors intrude:

Relevance: Style:
Partly relevant and some engagement Simple structures and vocabulary.
with the task. Inappropriate register,
showing insufficient awareness of Accuracy:
purpose and / or audience. Meaning is sometimes in doubt. Frequent
Award 3 marks. errors do not seriously impair
communication.
Partly relevant and limited engagement Award 3 marks.
with the task. Inappropriate register,
showing insufficient awareness of Meaning is often in doubt. Frequent,
purpose and / or audience. distracting errors which slow down
Award 2 marks. reading.
Award 2 marks.
Development of ideas:
Supplies some detail but the effect is
incomplete and repetitive.

0–1 Little relevance: 0–1 Hard to understand:

Very limited engagement with task, but Multiple types of error in grammar /
this is mostly hidden by density of error. spelling / word usage / punctuation
Award 1 mark. throughout, which mostly make it difficult
to understand. Occasionally, sense can
No engagement with the task or any be deciphered.
engagement with task is completely Award 1 mark.
hidden by density of error.
Award 0 marks. Density of error completely obscures
meaning. Whole sections impossible to
If essay is completely irrelevant, no recognise as pieces of English writing.
mark can be given for language. Award 0 marks.

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