Developing General Writing Levels 1 and 2 Skills
Developing General Writing Skills
Text types used in the exam are drawn from the Adult ESOL Core Curriculum and can include, for example, forms, questionnaires, descriptions, accounts, emails, letters, narratives, instructions, reports, explanations, proposals, articles, leaflets and information sheets. These task types reflect the kind of writing people do at this level as part of their daily lives, in education, at work and at leisure.
Each type of writing reflects our different purposes for writing, e.g. giving information, making a complaint, offering advice or responding to what someone else has said. The target reader will also differ from task to task and consequently, the register and style of writing.
Candidates need to develop the ability to communicate information, ideas and opinions, clearly using length, format and style appropriate to purpose and audience in a wide range of documents.
Students need to be encouraged to ask the following questions when responding to a writing task.
- Who am I writing to? (E.g. the Principal of the college)
- Why am I writing? (E.g. to suggest how funds are spent)
- What am I writing? (E.g. a proposal)
After candidates are able to make a basic analysis of a task, they need to look at the language and organisation required by the task. The points below outline the main areas for students to consider.
- Content
What are the points to be included? It is useful to underline these in the task instructions to serve as a checklist. - Register/style
This will depend on the target reader. Candidates need to be aware of when formality is needed and when a more conversational tone can be adopted. - Accuracy and range of language
It is important that candidates are aware that at this level, they are required to demonstrate their knowledge of a wide range of language features. High marks will not be awarded for accurate English that is limited in its range. - Format/organisation
Candidates need to demonstrate their knowledge of the conventions of different text types, e.g. the format of a report. - Functions of language
Different tasks focus on different functional language and so candidates need to have practice writing for different purposes e.g. to complain, to recommend etc.
Candidates should be encouraged to check their writing carefully. This can become regular classroom practice by only underlining students’ errors so that they practise self-correction.