Examination Syllabus Classic IESOL A2
A2 Language Specification
Discourse
Functions Grammar Topics
markers
A1 +
• Adjectives – comparative – use
of than and definite article
• Asking for and giving • Adjectives – superlative – use • Clothes
directions of definite article • Daily life
• Giving personal information • Adverbial phrases of time, • Entertainment and
• Giving and obtaining simple place and frequency – media
information including word order • Health, medicine
• Greetings & farewells • Adverbs of frequency and exercise
• Introductions • Articles – with countable and • Language
• Giving thanks uncountable nouns • People
• Telling the time • Countable and Uncountable; • Personal feelings,
• Understanding and using much/many opinions and
numbers • Future Time (will and going to) experiences
• Understanding and using • Gerunds • Personal
prices • Going to A1+ identification
• Describing habits and • Imperatives • Places and buildings
routines • Linkers:
• Modals – can/could • School and study
• Describing past experiences sequential –
• Modals – have to • Services
• Describing people past time
• Modals – should • Shopping
• Describing places • Past Continuous • Social interaction
• Describing things • Past Simple • Sport
• Expressing obligation and • Phrasal verbs – common • Transport
necessity • Possessives – use of ‘s; s’ • Travel and holidays
• Expressing feelings in simple • Prepositional phrases (place, • Weather
terms time and movement) • Work and jobs
• Making and responding to • Prepositions of time: on/in/at
requests • Present Continuous
• Making and responding to • Present Continuous for future
suggestions • Present perfect
• Agreeing and disagreeing • Questions
• Verb + ing/infinitive: like/
want-would like
• Wh-questions in past
• Zero and 1st Conditional
GA QUALIFICATION SPECIFICATION ESOL INTERNATIONAL (CLASSIC) V2 ADAPTED
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A2 Communicative Functions & Notions
• Greet
• Respond to greetings
• Take leave
• Give personal information
• Ask for personal details
• Describe self and others
• Ask for descriptions of people
• Describe places and things
• Ask for descriptions of places and things
• Compare people, places, things
• Make comparative questions
• Describe daily routines and regular activities
• Ask about regular or daily routines
• Narrate—talk about past events (1st person narrative)
• Narrate—talk about past events (3rd person narrative)
• Ask about past events
• Talk about future plans, arrangements and intentions
• Ask about future plans and intentions
• Express need
• Make requests—ask for something face-to-face or on the telephone
• Respond to formal and informal requests for something
• Make requests—ask someone to do something in formal and informal situations
• Respond to formal and informal requests to do something
• Make requests—ask for directions
• Respond to requests for directions
• Make requests—ask for permission formally
• Respond to formal requests for permission
• Ask about people’s feelings, opinions, interests, wishes, hopes
• Respond to questions about preference
• Ask for clarification and explanation
• Respond to requests for clarification
• Respond to requests for explanations
• Respond for requests for directions
• Check back
• Express likes and dislikes with reasons, and cause and effect
• Express views, with reasons, and cause and effect
• Express wishes and hopes
• Apologise, and give reason
• Express thanks gratefully
• Give warnings
• Express possession
• Ask about possession
• Offer
• Insist politely
• Persuade
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A2 Key Language Items
• Word order in compound sentences, e.g.: subject – verb –
(object) + and/but + subject – verb – (object)
• There was/were/there is going to be
• Clauses joined with conjunctions and/but/or
• A limited range of common verbs + –ing form
Simple & compound sentences • Verb + infinitive with and without to
• Wh– questions
• Comparative questions
• Alternative questions
• Question words when, what time, how often, why,
• How and expressions
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Simple noun phrases
• Object and reflexive pronouns
Noun phrase • Determiners of quantity – any, many
• Use of articles including: definite article and zero article with
uncountable nouns; definite article with superlatives
• Possessive s and possessive pronouns
• Simple present tense of: regular transitive and intransitive verbs
• With frequency adverbs and phrases
• Simple past tense of regular and common irregular verbs with
time markers such as ago
Verb forms and time markers in • Future time using: present continuous; use of time markers
statements, interrogatives,
modals and forms with similar meaning: must to express
negatives
and short forms obligation; mustn’t to express prohibition; have to, had to;
express need; could to make requests; couldn’t to express
impossibility
• Use of simple modal adverbs: possibly, probably, perhaps
• Very common phrasal verbs
• Adjectives and adjective word order
Adjectives
• Comparatives, regular and common irregular forms
• Prepositions and prepositional phrases of place and time
• Adverbs and simple adverbial phrases including:
sequencing: (after that); of time and place (in the
Adverbs and prepositional
morning, at the bus stop); of frequency: (always,
phrases
sometimes); of manner (carefully, quickly)
• Word order with adverbs and adverbial phrases
• Use of intensifiers, e.g. Really, quite, so
• Adverbs to indicate sequence – first, finally
Discourse
• Use of substitution markers to structure spoken discourse
