Opis:

The results of the mock Matura exam organized by Macmillan this spring do not leave much space for enthusiasm. While this year's takers can cope reasonably well with most close-ended tasks, they are clearly challenged by open-ended tasks. These, as we know, require a deeper understanding of input texts, higher-level processing skills, not to mention the increased level of overall linguistic competence.

In order to provide our students with the necessary help, we need two types of resources: well-designed strategies and a sufficient amount of time. In my session, I am going to demonstrate an effective approach towards long-term exam preparation. I will present specific ideas on how to aid students' cognitive development as well as their language skills, which in turn will enable them to deal with the more demanding new Matura tasks. The good news is that if we consider the whole 4-year preparation cycle, we do have time. What we need to realize, though, is that the new exam calls for a rather radical transformation of our teaching strategies, starting this school year; the change is indeed now.