LES 1 Examentraining - Uitleg Centraal Examen Havo 5

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• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Central English Exam
Havo 5 - May 2024

Today:

- Some info about the central English exam

- Some info about the types of questions on the central exam

Periode 4:
- Exam Strategies
- Text types + question types

Today's goals:

• I know what to expect from the central exam in May
• I know what type of questions types are included in the exam
• I can categorise questions into 4 question types
• I know the functions of the questions that appear on the exam

From now on, you bring to class:

• exam booklet (you'll receive one in a bit)
  
• dictionaries NL-EN + EN-NL (leave them in your locker)
  
• 4 different colours of highlighters

1. When is the final English exam?

1. May 17th
2. May 20th
3. May 21st
4. May 22nd

2. How long do you have for the final English exam?

1. 2 hours regular, 2,5 hours extra time
2. 2,5 hours regular, 3 hours extra time
3. 3 hours regular, 3,5 hours extra time
4. 3,5 hours regular, 4 hours extra time

3. English is always at the same time, when?

1. 9:00-11:30
2. 13:30-16:00

4. On average, how many texts are included?

1. 8-10
2. 10-12
3. 12-14
4. 14-16

5. On average, how many questions are included in the final exam?

1. 30-35
2. 35-40
3. 40-45
4. 45-50

6. Which of the following sources is most used in the final English exams?

1. The Economist
2. The New York Times
3. The Washington Post
4. The Guardian

7. Which types of texts are not included in the final English exam?

1. Letters
2. Interviews
3. Advertisements
4. Reviews

9. What tools are you allowed to bring?

1. nothing
2. dictionary English-mother tongue
3. dictionary English+mother tongue, mother tongue-English
4. dictionary English-mother tongue + mother tongue-English + English-English

8. What types of questions appear least often on final English exams?

1. Open Questions
2. Fill in the gap questions
3. Multiple Choice questions
4. True/False questions

Final English Exam ( HAVO 2024

- May 21st, 13:30-16:00
- Reading

-  10-12 texts, 40-45 questions
- 80% of the texts are 'scientific' articles & opinion pieces

- Other texts are letters or book fragments

- Mostly multiple choice questions about the function
  of a paragraph of the main idea
 

Facts:

- high language level, higher question level
- CITO doest NOT test English skills, but reading strategies/tricks

- Native speakers / bilingual students still make 4 or 5 errors.
- you'll need dictionaries EN-NL, NL-EN + NL-NL

- Some questions are made extra difficult to force you to look up words. 

Top 5 tips:

1.  Think of the answer yourself before  reading answer options

2. Only base answer on content of text, not own knowledge of topic
3. Underline parts of the text that answer question 

4. Next to the underlined part, write down the number of the question

Types of questions:

- Multiple Choice                
- True/False             
- Gap-fill                         
- Quotes                           
- Open questions 

Different goals of questions:

1. Main idea of the paragraph

2. Specific information

3. Function of a text/paragraph

4. Writer's tone

4. Connecting text with:

• signal words
  
• dictionary words
  
• function words

1. Main idea of the paragraph:

2. Finding specific information:

3. Function or Tone:

- Function:


- Tone:

4. Gap-fill questions:

- signal words

- positive/negative
dictionary words

- function words

Examen

Training

Today:

• I can identify text types
  
• I know the steps to approaching an exam question

You'll now receive your exam booklet

TASK:

• Look at all the questions
• Highlight every question with the right colour:
  
  

- Yellow = essence / main idea of paragraph

- Green = specific information
- Blue =  function paragraph / author's opinion / author's tone
- Pink = vocabulary (function words/ signal words / dictionary words)

Let's zoom in on vocabulary questions

TASK:

• Look at all the pink vocabulary questions
• Behind every pink question, write down if they focus on:
  
  

- signal words

- function words
- dictionary words

Which question types do you struggle with most?

1. gap filling
2. essence of text
3. specific information
4. author tone/function text

Gap fill

Steps:

1. Read sentence/paragraph before gap.

Is text positive/negative? Write down.

2. Read sentence with gap AND the sentence after

Understand the paragraph BEFORE the gap and the paragraph WITH the gap

3. Look at answer options: 
Signal words? --> write the relationship between pieces of texts (reason/result, contrast, comparison, etc.) 

Meerkeuzevragen

- Let hierbij wat de schrijver zegt in de tekst. Meestal gaat het over een specifiek onderwerp, bijvoorbeeld: ‘Wat zegt de schrijver over …?’ en ‘Wat wordt er duidelijk gemaakt in alinea …?’.

- Ook wordt er vaak gevraagd naar de toon van de schrijver. Dit is veel gevoelsmatig, maar woorden kunnen ook wijzen op een kritische toon of een sarcastische toon.

- Zorg dat je alle woorden uit de vraag en antwoordmogelijkheden snapt.

- Maak onderscheid tussen positieve (+), negatieve (-) en neutrale (+-) antwoorden.

- Bekijk de overgebleven antwoorden nauwkeurig en bekijk of ze overeenkomen met de (toon van de) tekst.

- Ga op zoek naar het verschil tussen twee op elkaar lijkende antwoordmogelijkheden.

- Als je het niet weet: Geef het antwoord dat het meest overeenkomt met de inhoud, toon of hoofdgedachte van de tekst.

- Lees ook de zinnen voor en na de passage waarover de tekst gaat.

- Questions guide you : ‘Wat zegt de schrijver over …?’ en ‘Wat wordt er duidelijk gemaakt in alinea 3?’.

- Author's tone: subjective words in text can mean a sarcastic  or critical tone  

- Understand all the words in the question 

- Limit answer options by figuring out which are  negative or positive  or neutral

- Find the difference between similar options

 - No clue? Choose answer that matches tone or essence of text

- Gap question? Read two sentences before and after gap!\

Multiple choice questions

Open questions

• Waarom…?

-Look for signal words that point to reason/result (consequently, therefore, as a result)

 

• Twee of meer (oorzaken/redenen/voorbeelden/…)

- Look for signal words that point to an addition  (firstly, moreover, besides, as well)

 

• Juist of onjuist/wel of niet waar:

- Find most literal answer in text

- Look for detail: be aware that in the text, it could be transformed to a negative sentence 

- If it isn't there, the answer is incorrect (even if some parts imply things) 

- Does it say onjuist/juist? Answer with onjuist/juist. Does it say goed/fout? Using the wrong word is missing out on points

 

• Own answer:

 - Translate as literally as possible: it helps you stay close to the text

- Answer in English when it is asked. In all other cases: answer in Dutch

- If you get 3 points, give 3 answers.

- Use taalvraag strategies!

 

• Quoting:

- Read question carefully

- Find the sentence that is closes to the question.
- Look for signal words!,

- Put paragraph numbers behind quote

- Figure out if you need to quote part of a sentence or a full sentence

Moving on to text types...

1. Book fragment
2. Review
3. Essay
4. Interview

1. Review
2. Letter
3. Essay
4. Interview

What type of text was this previous text?

Tips for specific question types

Which words are positive, which are negative?

1. A+ B+ C- D-
2. A+ B- C- D+
3. A- B- C+ D+
4. A- B+ C+ D -

Steps of approaching texts

1.  Get a general idea (look at headings, illustrations and captions)
2. What type of text is it?

3. Read question (but not the answer options!)

4. Think of what the question aims for (essence, specifics, function/tone, vocab)

5. Think of answer yourself

6. Choose option that is closest to your own answer

Step 1: idea of contents

• illustrations
• heading
• sub-heading
• source

Step 1: Look at text 1 in your booklet.
From the 'outside', what
do you think the contents are about?

Step 2: types of texts

•  Article: opinion piece or news article
•  Review
  
•  Book fragment
  
•  Letter
  
•  Interview

Step 2:
Look at text 2. What text type
are you dealing with?
tip: read the last sentence!

Step 3: read question 2 (text 2), but not the answer options

• in what part of the text can you find your answer?
• do you know what "speculation" means? 

Step 4: What does this question 2 look for (text 2)?

1. essence of text
2. specific information
3. function / tone
4. vocabulary

Step 5: read text (1)
+ try to answer the question using your own answer

NOW you can choose the right answer option!
so... which answer is it?

Now read question 2 (text 1)
What is the right answer?

Let's discuss...

Now read question 2 (text 2)
What is the right answer?

Let's discuss...