Cambridge DELTA questions- answers please!
“Dear Alex,
I recently read your reflection on the Delta course on Tefl.net and as a prospective Delta trainee I was quite inspired by what you’d written. I have some doubts about the course so I’d like to ask your opinion on a few things, I hope you’ll be able to advise me.
Firstly, although I do have sufficient teaching experience I have never been on any training courses and have not yet started the pre-reading. I was told at interview that I could still do the course but would have to buckle down, yet at the same time that waiting another year to give me time to prepare would be pointless. What’s your opinion on this? Would a year of preparation, pre-reading, attending courses etc. make the Delta more mangeable? Or could I fit in the pre-reading now in the two months I have before the course and be ready all the same?
Did you have to research a specialist area for your extended assignment (this is now the case with Module 3)? How did you choose your area and manage to collect samples of data from the students? Did this take up a lot of your time on the course? I am concerned as I think we are supposed to prepare this in advance but as I’m not currently teaching I won’t be able to choose a group of students and collect data from them until the course starts.
Where did you take the Delta? Was it the intensive course? Did your trainers devote lots of time to exam preparation? How much time did you spend on revision?
One last thing, would you advise buying all the essential books or just one or two and then borrowing the rest from the library?
Thanks in advance for your time, I really appreciate it. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Will try to find time to put my own answers in comments below tomorrow, so that gives you all 24 hours to get in there first!
August 15th, 2010 at 6:26 am
I’ll try to answer the questions one by one:
- If I was you, I’d ignore them and indeed delay a year to get ahead on your reading etc. You might be able to scrape through just searching indexes and reading the bits you need for your assignments and the exam, but you’ll get a lot more out of it if you have read some books through before. All that depends on you being the kind of person who will be motivated to do that all year, of course, rather than just someone like me who will still leave it till the last two months…As you don’t have a Cert, that might be a good place to start.
- Sorry, there was nothing like Module 3 back when I did it and don’t have any particular knowledge of it as was only a DELTA tutor for Module 2
- I did a nine month course going to a centre twice a week. I think this is still the best way if you can, as long as you don’t have a job that will distract you too much from your studies, as it gives you time to really absorb what you read, think about it and experiment with it. Some distance DELTAs allow you to spread your course out like this, which is much better than squeezing modules into 8 weeks or so. The only reason to do an intensive, in my opinion, is being between jobs, needing a qualification in a hurry (e.g. to get a promotion) , or because you know you won’t be able to concentrate on the course otherwise.
- I’d buy About Language and Sound Foundations, and borrow the rest as you need them. Online subscriptions to English Teaching Professional, Modern English Teacher and ELTJournal are probably the next most useful things.
August 16th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Module 3 is based on research into a specialist area. You choose a so-called specialism – it could be anything from YL to exams or ILEC – and write a 5 part essay of about 4500 words incorporating:
1) Background research of into the chosen area
2) Research into needs analysis and diagnostic testing techniques and principles
3) Course Design
4) Research into the principles of course assessment and evaluation, focused on your specific course
5) A conclusion summing it all up.
For mine, I chose FCE Use of English part 3, as I happened to have a group who were doing it and who had just taken a mock exam. A handy diagnostic indeed. I’d also taught a lot of FCE classes and found that UoE was always tricky for students, so it seemed like a good area to look into.
It can take as much time as you are prepared to give it. On my course, it took me about 3 weeks, but another candidate gave it at least 4 months of intense work. This was, in the end, not reflected in the final grades. It depends on you and how you work.
You do not need to teach the course you design. It would, however, be much better to have a group of learners from whom you could use to collect initial data. It makes it easier for you – it’s never as easy as people think to just make up results of things. My 16-year old self found that out in biology…
There is more information on the Cambridge website:
– http://www.cambridgeesol.org/assets/pdf/delta_fact_sheets_module3.pdf
– http://www.cambridgeesol.org/assets/pdf/delta_module3_specifications.pdf
Hope all this helps.
August 16th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Hi Alex and Chris,
Thank you so much for your advice on this, you’ve really helped to give me a good picture of what the course might be like.
I’ve actually decided to accept the place on the full-time Delta course (crazy I know!) as timing/location/my motivation just seem right, and am getting quite into the pre-reading, as vast as it is! Although I don’t know exactly what/in how much depth I should be reading. Apart from using the syllabus/module specifications as a guide, would you recommend studying any areas in particular?
Chris – thanks for explaining Module 3. Did you do the intensive/full-time course? I don’t know how I will go about doing the research/needs analysis/course design when I won’t have classes that are actually “mine” as the school will provide them for us. I’m concerned that this restriction might compromise my result, but I presume the school must have a way of overcoming this!
If you have any more suggestions on how to prepare for the course and make the most of the pre-reading time I would really appreciate it! Thanks again!
August 18th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Hi Alex and everyone,
Do you have any opinions about “the distance DELTA”?
I’m attracted to it because it will allow me to continue working whilst I complete it and work at my own pace (module by module).
It’s run through International House and the British Council so I’m assuming that it’s credible. Do you have any thoughts or opinions?
Many thanks.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Hi David
I’ve just signed up for the modular distance DELTA with IH. One of my colleagues is currently doing it – she’s completed modules 1 and 3 and is just about to start module 2. Another colleague has just completed the one year distance DELTA – both continued working full-time. After seeing the stress levels between my two colleagues I decided that the modular DELTA would be best for me. My colleague working on the modular DELTA felt she had more time to do extra reading if she wanted, and had capacity to allocate extra study time where she needed to. On the other hand, my colleague studying the one year DELTA was in a perpetual state of panic and stress, frequently working until the early hours of the morning to complete assignments, struggling to find time to speak to her mentor and then having to work a full timetable (mainly kids) in the evenings. Although she is happy she did the one year DELTA, she is glad it’s over and now feels she wants to go back and re-read a lot of the books from the course because she doesn’t feel she learned as much as she could have – she still managed to pass with two Merits and a Distinction – well done her!
My colleagues say that although IH can be a little disorganised at times, the course is generally well run (though wonder why the modular course is more expensive!).
Both of my colleagues have enjoyed the course and think it’s well worth doing it!
August 20th, 2010 at 9:20 am
A thread I started a while ago on the DELTA has had a couple of interesting additions
Did you enjoy the DELTA? http://eltworld.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=38728#38728
August 20th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Louise – I did the part-time delta, working full-time simultaneously. I found the work load to be more than manageable, if you had good time management. Of course, I don’t have good time management, but any time issuses I had I know were down to my own poor organisation. If you do it like I did, you have much more time than the intensive version (but you can, of course, do lots of pre-reading); if you do it distance, I’d think you have more time again. It all comes down to how you well you manage your time and how much you stress about these things. I did it at an IH and two excellent tutors.
David – I know one person doing the distance delta and he tells me it works fine for him. It seems to definitely be credible and as equally weighted as any other method of doing delta, as it should be. There are lots of forums (fora?) to visit and other online things to read. He says he barely does so, but that the option is there. The only issue I’d have doing it that way would be the lack of immediate support from tutors or peers, if you needed it. Again, I think it all comes down to how you work and your current employment/educational context.
Hope this is useful.
August 27th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I was over the moon when I passed modules 1 & 2 first time. I included ‘activates schemata and lowers the affective filter’ in nearly every question in Mod 1 and passed with merit! That’s my hot tip tp any ‘deltees’ taking the exam.
I could do with some help myself now though. As I took mod 3 later (due to full time job + new promotion with lots of responsibility), I thought I would receive the same level of guidance as my peers did whilst attending sessions at Bath Uni. Actually, Bath uni are quite happy to rid their hands of you after finishing input sessions and had no time to look at my mod 3. It took the tutor 6 weeks to give me feedback on part I alone!
I went alone and did my best, but was referred, of course :o( Just as my life had started again… Anyway, I’ve just got my examiver’s report back and need to totally redo the part II ‘needs analysis’. Does anyone have a good example of that section or know where to find one? The tutors are useless and all on holiday. I absolutely do not recommend Bath for doing the Delta.
Thanks