DELTA- Paper and Task Breakdown

 In my previous post (earlier today), I mentioned I had become super demoralized and stopped studying for DELTA.

Well, I'm back 宝贝。

Not super enthusiastic about it and to be honest, whenever I think about DELTA or study I start to feel stressed and a bit like I wanna cry. Like how math used to frustrate me so much I would literally cry.

Let's get started.

Test length: 3 and a half hours (you get a 30 minute break half way through to go cry in a bathroom somewhere)
Marks available: 200
Marks needed to pass: 100
Marks needed to pass with merit: 130
Marks needed to pass with distinction: 150 and absolutely no salvageable social life.

Paper one, task one. AKA, the super low marks part that eats time you don't fucking have.
Marks: 6, lowest mark giver
Task: Supply the right term for the definition provided. (NOT MATCHING, LIFE IS NOT THAT KIND)
Suggestions: Go read Thornbury's A-Z of ELT and try not choke on your own tears of boredom (or regret when you realize that simply studying for ANY of the other tasks would be more beneficial and help you prepare for this task at the same time)

Paper one, task two.
Marks: 12 (2 per definition, 1 per correct example for the correct definition)
Task: Correctly define four different terms and give an example with each.
Suggestions: homonym, homograph, allophone, homophone, hyponym...

Paper one, task three. AKA, when the test really starts.
Marks: 12 (two marks for each correctly identified language feature, two marks for each correct example for the correct feature **Always remember, your examples ain't shit if your original answer is wrong, no matter what)
Task: You'll get a productive task type (writing or speaking, duhhhh) and you'll be asked which language features learners at a particular level would need in order to complete this activity. They give you two of the more obvious language features and you have to state three others and provide FULL UTTERANCE examples.
Suggestions: Remember the full fucking utterance examples. Read carefully. READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY. Avoid stating any language features with modals unless you are just ridiculously confident. Give you answer in table form, like:

Feature:_____________________________|__Example:__________________________

1. Blablabla                                                        1. blablabla

etc..

You get the point.

Paper one, task four.
Marks: 20 (WOOO!) (three marks for each correctly ID'd strength or weakness, two marks for each example)
Task: You're gonna either get lucky or super unlucky here. You'll get an authentic text (written or transcribed authentic speaking, with phonemic script) produced by a student that is in some random genre format (letter, book review, speech, etc..), and you'll get a few categories (organization, appropriacy of style/genre, complexity of language, pronunciation, punctuation, etc..) that you have to use to state whether or not the this was the student's strength or weakness and cite examples.
Suggestions: Don't re-use examples. Say less, not more (the more you say, the more opportunities to fuck up. Be succinct.) Don't give only strengths or only weaknesses.

Paper one, task five. AKA the highest point giver
Marks: 50 (!!!) (Don't fuck around, this is the most important task of paper one, with one mark per each correct point made)
Task: You get an authentic text of any genre in the world (book review, poster, blog post, recipe, poem, wiki page, etc..), resist the urge to paper cut your own jugular, and analyze the ever living FUCK out of that text. The task is separated into four parts and only part a stipulates how many points you can make. Just keep making points in b, c, and d until you feel like you have fifty points. Expect to be asked a lot of MFP/MUP.
Suggestions: Grammar. Phonemic script. MODALS. GERUNDS. NOMINALIZATION. PARTICIPLES. Why? What do they do do? ADJUNCTS. Possible learner errors. GRAMMARGRAMMARGRAMMAR.

***Take a thirty minute break. Re-evaluate your life and life goals. Remember that teaching in Thailand doesn't require a DELTA.

Paper two, task one. AKA the whole reason you studied testing and assessment
Marks: 18 (two marks for each positive/negative identified, one mark for each 'how it applies to the learner')
Task: Relate the given test or exam to the learner. You'll get the test and a little blurb about the learner that would take the test. Note the test type, applications, positives, and negatives. Make six points and how they relate to the learner.
Suggestions: Look at all the ESL type tests you can find and evaluate them. Read the CEFR leveling of students. Direct and indirect testing types are good to know.

Paper two, task two.
Marks: 42 (second highest, two marks for each correct point in parts a and b, up to 12 marks, and in part c one mark for each assumption, one mark for each assumption explanation, and one mark for each correct reference to a relevant exercise)
Task: Identify the purpose of authentic ESL activities from a workbook, how they work together, and what assumptions the activities suggest about language learning. This is in three parts and the exercises will change depending on the part.
Suggestions: Practice via mock exams and taking a part course book exercises. Choose a good course book and not what might have been chosen by a school that only focuses on learning one skill (speaking, writing, reading, listening) at a time.

Paper two, task three. AKA the lucky dip
Marks: 40 (third highest, two marks for each correct point made for a total of thirty mark, a mark out of 5 is given for 'depth', this is doubled to a mark out of ten. Good luck.)
Task: Unpredictable. Some sort of ESL related input is given and you have to answer some questions about it. I've seen it as like two different teacher's opinions on L1 in the classroom and then you need to talk about what that says about the teacher's ESL teaching styles/assumptions about learning.
Suggestions: Read ESL theory.

Personal advice: If you think you did well, subtract your estimated score by 50.