What's the difference between Delta Modules 1 and 2 prep courses?

Believe it or not, some Cambridge centers around the world treat these two modules as one. And in my personal opinion, they shouldn't!!! (Yes, 3 exclamation marks!)

I'll explain.

Module 2 focuses on your ability to do research, your knowledge of theory related practice, your lesson planning and teaching skills. Basically, you need to write an essay (more like a "mini-dissertation"), a very complete lesson plan (a document of 8 to15 pages for a one-hour lesson), and then teach that lesson while being observed and assessed.

Module 1 is a three-hour exam. It tests your knowledge of teaching, learning, second language acquisition, your command of the English language (both with systems and skills), applied linguistics (which means you can identify, investigate, and offer solutions to language-related real-life problems), terminology, language learning methods and approaches, some psychology in education, pedagogy, and of course, because it's an exam, your nerves and time management.

You see the different scenarios?

So, for module 2, you should be prepared to put theory into practice. Ideally, what your tutor or external assessor will be observing and what Cambridge's criteria is. You should have a good notion of how to write a decent background essay (even how to quote or reference authors), where to find info, but mostly: how to link the theory with your class. Not only theory. But practical aspects of classroom and time management, and your options of what to teach. The good old "teach the students, not the plan".

For module 1, you should be familiarized with what the questions are like. It's no good to have a session on speaking or lexis, and you have no idea how those will be tested in the exam. What kind of question? In which format? How should you organize your answers? Most centers give you beautiful sessions on theory, but little on how you should answer those questions. BTW, the exam is still handwritten, you need to practice that you.

A personal story: I took my Delta in 2009 at International House London, and I love that place, I look up to those professionals and it was worth every penny, however, I'm not sure if it was because I was the second group to take the modular Delta (which was implemented in 2008 - oh, and when the name changed from DELTA to Delta) and no one was really sure of what they were doing or how to prepared candidates for this new format, but I thought I had practically no support or guidance for the exam and Module 3. So, don't trust centers or courses that promise 2 in 1, that doesn't work!