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  5. External assessment: Paper 2

External assessment: Paper 2

Paper 2 is designed to assess students’ receptive skills and focuses on listening and reading. Students read or listen to the texts provided and answer corresponding questions.

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Both the reading and the listening sections include three authentic texts which increase in difficulty level. You should aim to expose students to a variety of original texts whose intended audience is native speakers of the target language. Read on to better understand how you can support students in their preparation for paper 2!

Strategies to help students with paper 2

  • Watch out for these typical student errors!

Here are some common mistakes students make during the Paper 2 reading section. The table below summarizes these and provides possible solutions:

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  • Familiarize students with pauses in the listening component!

Pauses in the listening component are rather long, as seen in the table below. These pauses can be a challenge for students. We know a bored student can easily get distracted! Practice this with students in your classroom so they can better cope with pauses come exam time.

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Paper 2 question types

Now that you are clear on the structure of Paper 2 in language B, give it a go! Have fun designing a variety of assessments for your students using the different text types provided in the listening and reading exemplars here!

Disclaimer: This guide has been produced independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle’s resources seek to encourage sharing of perspectives and innovative ideas for classroom teaching & learning. They are not intended to be replacements for official IB guides and publications. Views and opinions expressed by the authors of these resources are personal and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance from your school’s IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing ideas and strategies shared within these resources in your classroom.