The name that sounded right: exact transcription in Listening Part 2
You teach a Saturday class of nine children aged 7-8 who have been learning English for about 15 months. You run a full Pre A1 Starters Listening mock. In Part 2 the recording gives details of a new swimming class and spells the teacher's name letter by letter: J-O-H-N. Wei, aged 7, writes 'JON'. He gets the other four items right: Tuesday, 4.30, 8 lessons and Dolphins. Elsewhere in the same paper he writes 'G' where the recording says 'J', and he loses one item in Part 1 because he is still writing when the next name is said. His mother has asked whether he is 'nearly at Movers level' because he speaks confidently at home. You have the scripts in front of you and 20 minutes before the next lesson. The school asks you to write one comment on each script and one action for the next three lessons.
1. Decide whether Wei's 'JON' should be marked correct, and explain what the item is actually testing.
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What the item tests. The letters are dictated one at a time, so nothing here depends on the child knowing how 'John' is spelt. The skill is holding a short letter sequence and transcribing it as heard.
What the error shows. 'JON' contains three of the four letters in the right order. That is not a spelling error in the ordinary sense. Two explanations fit:
- he lost attention part-way through the sequence; or
- he wrote from the sound of the name rather than from the letters, and /h/ is silent in 'John'.
Decision. Mark it incorrect. The item exists precisely to check exact transcription, and awarding the mark would hide the behaviour the item is designed to sample. But record the error type as listening/attention, not spelling, so the written comment and the next lesson target the real problem.
Separate issue. 'G' for 'J' is different and more basic: letter-name confusion, which needs letter work, not more spelling practice. Keep the two error types on separate lines of your record.
2. Give one action for the next three lessons and state the evidence that would show it is working.
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Action: a five-minute letter dictation at the start of each lesson.
- Six to eight letters, always including Wei's confusions (G/J, A/E/I, M/N).
- Children write on whiteboards and hold them up; you see errors immediately.
- Say each letter twice for two weeks, then once.
- Teach the routine 'hear it, say it back in your head, then write' - children whisper the whole sequence back before writing.
Why this and not spelling lists. Wei's problem is holding and transcribing a sequence, so practice must be sequence-shaped. Spelling lists would train a different skill and would not touch the 'G'/'J' confusion.
Evidence to collect. A simple tally sheet with two columns: letter-name confusion and sequence errors. On two fresh form-filling tasks with new names (for example 'Sarah', 'Ben', 'Green'), look for 4/5 exact, including one name with a letter that is not pronounced in speech (the H in Sarah). Letter-name confusion should fall before sequence errors do; if it does not, the dictation set is too wide and should shrink to three letters.
3. How would you answer the mother's question about Movers?
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Use evidence, not impressions. Speaking confidently at home in a familiar setting is not the same as performing in a test, and it is Listening evidence that is in front of you.
What the script actually shows. Wei can locate the information in a short recording and write it: four of five items correct, including a time (4.30) and a number (8). That is solid Pre A1 work. It does not yet show the longer texts, more complex Part 2 forms and faster pace of A1 Movers.
What to tell her. Be concrete and positive: he is doing well at this level, his one weakness is copying letters that are dictated, and there is a three-lesson plan for it. Say what you will look at before any decision - two fresh listening tasks and a speaking sample in class - and give a date for that conversation rather than a vague 'soon'. If she pushes for a level decision, explain that moving up is decided on the four skills together, not on confidence at home, and that a child who is placed too high tends to lose the confidence that made the question arise.