Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) Enabling Skills and Cross-Skill Competencies Syllabus

Enabling Skills and Cross-Skill Competencies syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Enabling Skills and Cross-Skill Competencies in Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Grammar and Sentence Mastery

   3 topics

   • Tense and Aspect
     • Consistent tense use in writing and speaking
   • Sentence Structure
     • Simple, compound and complex sentences
     • Subordination and relative clauses
   • Common Error Avoidance
     • Articles, prepositions and agreement errors
2. 2

   Vocabulary Development

   3 topics

   • Academic Word List
     • High-frequency academic vocabulary
   • Collocations and Phrases
     • Natural word partnerships for fill-in tasks
   • Synonyms and Paraphrasing
     • Restating ideas for summary and essay tasks
3. 3

   Pronunciation and Oral Fluency

   3 topics

   • Segmental Features
     • Individual vowel and consonant sounds
   • Suprasegmental Features
     • Stress, rhythm and intonation
   • Fluency Building
     • Reducing hesitation and improving flow
4. 4

   Spelling and Written Discourse

   3 topics

   • Spelling Accuracy
     • Commonly misspelt academic words
   • Written Discourse Quality
     • Logical development and cohesion across paragraphs
   • Editing and Proofreading
     • Self-correction techniques within time limits

Enabling Skills and Cross-Skill Competencies flashcards for Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)

21 of 51 cards from the Enabling Skills and Cross-Skill Competencies deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In English grammar, what is the difference between 'tense' and 'aspect'?

   Tense locates an event in time (past, present, future). Aspect describes the internal time structure of the event, e.g. whether it is completed (perfect) or ongoing (progressive/continuous).

2. Name the four aspects of the English verb system and give their basic structures.

   Simple (base/V-ed), Progressive (be + V-ing), Perfect (have + past participle), and Perfect Progressive (have been + V-ing).

3. What is the present perfect used for, and what time markers signal it?

   It links a past action to the present (result or relevance now, or an action continuing up to now). Markers: 'just', 'already', 'yet', 'ever', 'never', 'since', 'for', 'so far'.

4. Contrast the past simple and present perfect in academic writing.

   Past simple states a finished action at a definite past time ('In 2010 researchers found...'). Present perfect reports findings with current relevance and no specific time ('Studies have shown...').

5. When is the past perfect ('had + past participle') used?

   To show that one past action occurred before another past action, establishing sequence: 'The experiment had ended before the data were lost.'

6. In a PTE 'Write Essay' task, which tense is generally used to state general truths and present arguments?

   The present simple, because it expresses facts, generalisations, and stable opinions ('Technology improves productivity').

7. What are the three basic components of a complete English sentence (independent clause)?

   A subject, a finite verb, and (where the verb requires it) a complement/object, expressing a complete thought.

8. Define and distinguish simple, compound, and complex sentences.

   Simple: one independent clause. Compound: two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinator (FANBOYS) or semicolon. Complex: one independent clause plus at least one dependent (subordinate) clause.

9. What is a compound-complex sentence?

   A sentence with at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, e.g. 'Although costs rose, profits grew, and the firm expanded.'

10. What does the acronym FANBOYS stand for in coordinating conjunctions?

    For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

11. What punctuation rule applies when a dependent clause begins a sentence?

    A comma follows the introductory dependent clause: 'Because demand fell, prices dropped.' No comma is normally needed when the dependent clause comes second.

12. What is a comma splice, and how can it be corrected?

    A comma splice joins two independent clauses with only a comma. Fix it by using a period, a semicolon, a coordinating conjunction with the comma, or by subordinating one clause.

13. What is a run-on (fused) sentence?

    Two or more independent clauses joined with no punctuation or conjunction, e.g. 'The test is hard students study.' It must be separated or correctly connected.

14. What is a sentence fragment, and why is it an error?

    A fragment is a group of words punctuated as a sentence but lacking a subject, a finite verb, or a complete thought. It is an error because it does not form a full independent clause.

15. What is subject-verb agreement, and give a tricky example.

    The verb must match the subject in number/person. Tricky: with 'Each of the students', the verb is singular ('Each of the students is'), because the head 'each' is singular.

16. What is a dangling modifier, and how is it fixed?

    A modifier whose implied subject does not match the sentence's subject, e.g. 'Walking home, the rain started.' Fix by naming the correct subject: 'Walking home, I felt the rain start.'

17. List three common article (a/an/the) errors learners make in academic English.

    (1) Omitting 'the' before specific/unique nouns; (2) using 'a/an' before uncountable nouns ('an information'); (3) omitting articles before singular countable nouns.

18. What is parallel structure (parallelism), and why does it matter?

    Coordinated items must share the same grammatical form, e.g. 'reading, writing, and speaking' (all gerunds). It improves clarity and is scored under grammar/coherence.

19. What is the Academic Word List (AWL)?

    A list compiled by Averil Coxhead of 570 word families that occur frequently across academic texts but are not in the most common 2000 words of general English.

20. How is the Academic Word List organised, and how many sublists does it have?

    It is divided into 10 sublists ordered by frequency; Sublist 1 contains the most frequent word families and Sublist 10 the least frequent.

21. Define 'word family' as used in the Academic Word List.

    A headword plus its inflected and derived forms, e.g. 'analyse' includes analyses, analysed, analysing, analysis, analyst, analytical, analytically.

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