For Teachers

September 6th, 2013

9/6/13

The Examination for the Certificate of Competency in

English (ECCE)— A complete language proficiency

assessment for high-intermediate level learners of

English—ideal for those whose employers require

evidence of their English language ability.

9/6/13

CaMLA: Who We Are

9/6/13

CaMLA – Main Suite of Tests

9/6/13

What is the ECCE test?

High-intermediate level

Targets B2 level of the CEFR

What is its purpose?

To measure language proficiency for

academic and professional purposes

9/6/13

Who are typical test takers?

Teenagers

Young Adults

Adults

9/6/13

How long is it?

2 hours and 45 minutes

How often is it available?

Four times per year:

March, May, September, December

9/6/13

Content

• Educational, Occupational, Personal

& Public Situations

• Range of Topics

• Fairness and Bias Review

9/6/13

Format

• Paper/pencil based

• Multiple-choice questions

(Listening, Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading)

• Constructed response tasks

(Speaking, Writing)

9/6/13

Format (cont.)

Section 1:

Speaking, 15 minutes

Section 2:

Listening, 30 minutes

Section 3:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading (GVR),

90 minutes

Section 4:

Writing, 30 minutes

9/6/13

Section 1: Speaking Task

• Four-stage interaction w/ examiner

• Picture prompt

• 15 minutes

9/6/13

Format of the Speaking Task

• Stage 1: Introduction

• Stage 2: Gather information

• Stage 3: Present and defend choice

• Stage 4: Discussion of topic in detail

9/6/13

Skills elicited by the ECCE speaking task:

• Ask and answer questions

• Provide suggestions or recommendations

• Present a decision

• Justify a decision

• Discuss a topic

9/6/13

Sample Speaking Prompt

9/6/13

Speaking Examiner’s Information

9/6/13

Evaluation of the speaking test

• Rating scale is a five-band measure (A to E),

and is used by the examiner to assign a

score

• Score is based on test taker’s overall

communicative effectiveness; linguistic

resources (range and accuracy of vocabulary

and grammar); and delivery and intelligibility

9/6/13

Section 2: Listening

50 multiple-choice items; 30 minutes

Two parts:

• Short Dialogues

• Short Talks

9/6/13

Listening Skills:

• Understand main idea and purpose

• Synthesize ideas

• Identify supporting detail

• Understand vocabulary

• Make inferences

• Understand pragmatic implications

and rhetorical functions

9/6/13

Listening Task Part 1 Input

• Short conversation comprising up to five turns

Speaker 1: “Do you remember if we turned off all the lights before we left?”

Speaker 2: “I got the kitchen light on my way out, but I don’t know about the

living room.”

Speaker 1: “No, I got that. And I left the porch light on on purpose.”

Speaker 2: “Oh good, I’m glad you remembered that.”

Question: Where is the light still on?

9/6/13

Listening Task Part 1 Response:

9/6/13

Listening Part 2 Input

• Short talks

• Approximately 1½ minutes

• Only one speaker

9/6/13

Part 2 Short Talk Responses The test taker hears and reads the questions.

All answer choices are also printed in the test book:

a. perform in concert

b. attend five events

c. write a research paper

d. compose a piece of music

a. a list of possible things to see

b. a list of all class assignments

c. a program from a performance

d. the school’s website address

a. to get the students’ money refunded

b. to give a discount on another concert

c. to prove the students went to a show

d. to create a class collection

a. the assignment requirements

b. the teacher’s schedule

c. information about the musicians

d. a list of local performances

“What is each student supposed to

do?”

“What information did the teacher

hand out?”

“Why does the teacher want the

ticket stubs?”

“What information can be found on

the website?”

9/6/13

Part 2 Short Talk Responses (cont’d)

a. to invite the students to a performance

b. to describe an event

c. to explain an assignment

d. to announce a new website

a. The students’ responses should be thoughtful.

b. The students’ responses should be lengthy.

c. The students’ responses should be entertaining.

d. The students’ responses should include pictures.

“Why is the teacher talking to the

class?”

“What does the teacher mean when

he says:

9/6/13

Section 3: Reading (GVR)

Three subsections:

• Grammar

• Vocabulary

• Reading

Multiple choice

100 questions in total; 90 minutes

9/6/13

Grammar – Subskills Tested

• 35 items

• Grammatical features of written

English

9/6/13

Grammar task format of input

• 1–2 sentences

• Word or phrase

• Up to two grammatical features

Format of the response options

• Four answer choices; one correct answer

9/6/13

Sample Grammar Item

The most important question ______ when

buying a car is not necessarily its price.

a. asks

b. to ask

c. is asked

d. be asked

9/6/13

Vocabulary – Skills Tested

• Lexical range

• Lexical control

• Vocabulary knowledge

9/6/13

Format of the Vocabulary Input

• 1–2 sentences with word or lexical

chunk removed

• Educational, occupational, & social

settings

Format of the Response Options

• Multiple choice

• Four options; one correct answer

9/6/13

Sample Vocabulary Item

Lauren should report the ________ that happened this

morning to the school principal.

a. position

b. incident

c. involvement

d. condition

9/6/13

Sample Vocabulary Item

The house sold for a large _______.

a. amount

b. size

c. cost

d. quantity

9/6/13

Reading

• 2 short reading passages

• 2 sets of 4 short, related texts

• 30 multiple-choice questions

9/6/13

Reading Skills

• Understand main idea

• Identify purpose

• Identify supporting details

• Understand vocabulary in context

• Infer rhetorical function

• Draw conclusions

9/6/13

Format of the Reading Input (part 1)

• Self-contained passage

• Formal written context

• > 225 words in length

Format of the Response Options

• 5 multiple-choice items

• Four options; one correct answer

9/6/13

Sample Reading Passage (part 1)

This passage is about animal behavior.

In order to deal with their environment, animals depend not only on

instinct and individual learning but also on something called social

learning. One famous example of social learning was observed

among a group of macaque monkeys in Japan. In the 1950s,

researchers noticed a young monkey washing the sand off a sweet

potato in a stream before eating it. Over time, this behavior spread

to other monkeys of the group, and today, potato washing among

the macaques is common.

Biologists report another example of social learning on an island in

the U.S. state of Virginia. They noticed herring gulls using hard

paved roads to crack open clamshells in order to get at the clam

meat. The gulls take clams out of a river, fly two hundred meters to

a road and then drop the clams onto the pavement.

9/6/13

Sample Reading (cont.)

For over three years, the biologists collected and measured

thousands of these broken clamshells. The gulls seem to prefer

medium-sized clams, about three inches wide. The researchers

think that a shell smaller than three inches isn’t worth the energy

needed to drop it because it doesn’t contain much meat. A large

clam has more meat but is too heavy to carry. As the birds grow

older, they seem to get better at calculating the right clam size and

the most efficient dropping height.

There are five species of gulls on the island, but only the herring

gulls drop clams. The biologists are not certain how the herring

gulls first learned to do this, but think that herring gulls may be

able to learn from one another. The other gull species on the

island, however, do not appear to be capable of social learning.

9/6/13

Sample Reading Items (pt. 1)

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

a. to explain the differences between social learning,

individual learning, and instinct

b. to compare macaque monkeys and herring gulls

c. to show how researchers observe wild animals

d. to show that some animals use social learning

2. According to the passage, what did the herring gulls learn to do?

a. break clamshells

b. carry heavy clams

c. wash their food

d. find clams in the river

9/6/13

Format of the Reading Input (part 2) • Four thematically related passages (labeled Section A to D)

- Sections A & B: text found in newspaper/newsletter and

other advertising materials

- Section C: prose from genres such as press releases

and correspondence

- Section D: prose of up to four paragraphs

Format of the Response Options • 10 multiple-choice items

• Four options; one correct answer

9/6/13

Sample Reading Set (part 2)

9/6/13

Sample Reading (cont.)

9/6/13

Sample Reading Items (pt. 2)

1. What is the main purpose of section A?

a. to find out who needs volunteers

b. to get help with a company event

c. to encourage people to attend an event

d. to announce the time of a company picnic

2. Which sections include information about a company event?

a. A, B, and C

b. A, B, and D

c. A, C, and D

d. B, C, and D

9/6/13

Section 4: Writing Task

• Letter or essay

• Based on short excerpt from

newspaper article

• 30 minutes

9/6/13

Skills measured by the ECCE

writing tasks:

• Topic development

• Organization of content

• Connections between ideas

• Grammatical ability

• Vocabulary use

9/6/13

Format of the Writing Task:

• short excerpt from newspaper article

• a letter or essay

• provide opinion about situation/issue

9/6/13

Sample Writing Prompt

9/6/13

Composition evaluated by 2 raters:

• clarity and overall effectiveness

• topic development

• organization

• range, accuracy, and appropriateness

of grammar and vocabulary

9/6/13

ECCE Five Levels of Performance

Listening &

GVR

Writing &

Speaking

High Pass (HP) 840-1000 A

Pass (P) 750-835 B

Low Pass (LP) 650-745 C

Borderline Fail (BF) 610-645 D

Fail (F) 0-605 E

Scores and Reports

9/6/13

Test results

Official report sent

directly from CaMLA

Results within two

months after taking

exam

Results valid for life

Scores and Reports (cont.)

9/6/13

• Rigorous quality procedures

followed during item and test form

development

• Administered following

standardized procedures, including

strict security measures

• Certified raters of writing and

speaking tests

Quality

9/6/13

• Statistical methods used to ensure that

scores are comparable across forms

• Consistently high test reliability

• Statistical reports online

• ECCE-related research and publications

online

Quality

9/6/13

• Free sample test online

• Practice materials available for purchase

Quality Test-Taker Support

9/6/13

• Recognizing organizations from

12 countries

• Growing recognition around the

world

Recognition

9/6/13

For more information on ECCE and other

CaMLA test products and services,

please visit our website: