Overview (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Language)
Revision Note
Written by: Deb Orrock
Reviewed by: Kate Lee
Coursework Overview
Component 3 of the English Literature course is the coursework portfolio. The Paper 1 exam is compulsory, but you will then either be sitting a Paper 2 exam or completing the IGCSE by doing a coursework portfolio.
Component 3 overview
The coursework component allows you the freedom and scope to improve your writing skills over a period of time (rather than in timed exam conditions), choose topics of personal interest to you, and to edit, revise and correct your work independently so that you are able to submit something of the highest possible quality.
You will complete three written assignments and your portfolio as a whole is worth 80 marks. Each assignment should be about 500-800 words in length, and consist of:
Assignment 1: Writing to discuss, argue or persuade in response to a text or texts
Assignment 2: Writing to describe
Assignment 3: Writing to narrate
The marks are broken down as follows:
Total marks for writing = 65
Total marks for reading = 15 (Assignment 1 only)
Your work can be handwritten or word-processed, and your portfolio must include the first draft of one of the three assignments submitted. The portfolio must also include the text(s) used for Assignment 1.
Component 3 breakdown
Question | What you are asked to do |
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Assignment 1 | This is a piece of directed writing in response to a text or texts |
Texts should be about two sides of A4 in total, and may consist of facts, opinions and/or arguments which can be selected, analysed and evaluated, and integrated into your own views | |
You will be required to evaluate and develop the information in the text(s) - using some of the same skills as in Paper 1 Question 3 | |
You will be asked to create a discursive/argumentative/persuasive response, using your own words, in one of the following formats: speech, letter or article | |
Assignment 2 | This is a piece of descriptive writing |
You are required to develop ideas and images which create a convincing, well-defined picture, with varieties of focus | |
Assignment 3 | This is a piece of narrative writing |
You are require to craft a well-defined plot and develop this with features of fiction writing, such as setting and characterisation |
What skills are being assessed
There are only two assessment objectives for this IGCSE, each worth 50% of your overall grade. These are then divided into sub-objectives. Because the majority of marks in the coursework portfolio come from writing, the table below starts with AO2:
AO2: write accurately and effectively, using Standard English appropriately | Sub-objective | What this means |
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W1: articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined |
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W2: organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect |
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W3: use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context |
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W4: use register appropriate to context |
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W5: make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar |
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AO1: read and respond in different ways to different types of text | Sub-objective | What this means |
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R1: demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings |
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R2: demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes |
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R3: analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions, using appropriate support from the text |
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R4: demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers |
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R5: select and use information for specific purposes |
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You can find detailed notes on how to answer each question on this paper in the following revision guides:
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