Question Type: Writing Task

Examples and explanations: Writing Task

What is being tested?

In this task you will type an essay in response to a given topic. Your essay will be assessed on the basis of two criteria - content and organization, and grammatical and linguistic richness and accuracy. You must address the given topic, maintain a logical sequence of sentences, and use appropriate linking words, a high linguistic register, vocabulary suited to the topic, and complex and accurate grammatical structures. You should produce a clear and coherent passage that presents your ideas in rich and precise language. All the skills required for this task are those needed for proper academic and professional writing in English.

Instructions

At the beginning of the Writing Task, you will be given instructions of this type:

Write in response to the topic presented.

write 90-120 words

relate to the topic

use appropriate vocabulary

use correct grammar, capitalization and punctuation

your response should be well organized

Examples and explanations

Below are sample essay topics and several examples of essays written in response. Each example is followed by an assessment based on the two dimensions mentioned above, and brief explanations. The assessments do not refer to all the problems in an essay, nor do they suggest corrections.

Topic 1

Do you think the government should provide money for programs to encourage people to participate in sports and exercise? Explain your position.

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Response A (22 words):
Governments should provide money for programs that encourage people to participate in sports and exercise because this encourages them to be active.

Level: Weak
The essay is too short.

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Response B (120 words):
No, I don’t think the government should provide money for programs to encourage people to participate in sports and exercise for several reasons. The first one is that Israel, unlike other countries, needs to spend a lot of money on security and the Israeli army in order to keep us safe. In Israel there are a lot of poor people and I think our contry should invest in them, the health system, and a lot of other more important areas.
I’m not saying that sports and doing exercise aren’t important, but people can walk outside, run, and do other activities for free. Therefore if staying fit and healthy is enough important to those people, they won’t need the financiel support.

Level: Excellent
The essay meets all the criteria in terms of content and organization. The grammatical structure, richness, and variety of vocabulary are good. There is appropriate use of linking words and complex sentence structures. There are a few minor errors: spelling (“contry,” “financiel”) and word order (“enough important”).

Topic 2

What job would you like to have? Explain your choice.

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Response C (118 words):
the job that i like to have is a horse guide for speical education society. firstly , the reason that i want to have this job is that it can give me a lot of satisfaction to treat someone via the horse and to see his progress and improvment in his dialy life . secondly , i think that horse can give a lot of benefits to special education human like self confiedence and pyshical improvent , and i will be glad to be the one that make this think happen . horse is a speical animal that can understand our body langunge good this is what make the horse a animal that can helps to us .

Level: Average
The essay meets most of the criteria in terms of content and organization. There is use of a varied vocabulary, but sometimes it is not used appropriately (“society,” “human,” “good”). Linking words (“firstly,” “secondly”) and complex sentence structures are used. There are quite a few spelling mistakes (“speical,” “improvent”), and no use of capital letters at all. There are grammatical structure issues (“the job that I like to have,” “that can helps to us”) and no use of the definite article (“that horse can give”).

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Response D (90 words):
Most of the people they are not worked the job that they like it, but its not impossible to work in the job that you like it. even garbage can like job
when was child i was very like the phones i was all the time make call phone to anyone that i get his number, i grow up and sucsses to have a job in Hotmobile company, its a great word according to me.
At The End, i hope for every one to sucsses to have a job th

Level: Weak
The first and last sentences describe other people’s jobs, rather than, as stated in the topic, a job the writer would be interested in. The writer’s intention is unclear. The vocabulary is limited and not varied, and some words are used inappropriately (“sucsses”). There are grammatical errors in verb tenses (“they are not worked the job,” “make call phone”), in pronouns (“they like it,” “you like it”), and also in spelling (“word”). The word “I” is written without a capital letter, and there is incorrect use of a capital letter in “The End.” The entire second paragraph consists of one sentence, and it is too long.

Topic 3

Which famous person would you invite to speak at a meeting? Explain your answer.

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Response E (97 words):
The persons who’s impressed me is Leo Messi.
He’s is in my opinion the best footballplayer in the world .
when he was child he had a developmental problem . He was too short because of a conginital problem.
although he was not beloved between his classmates he appeared his ultra ordinary skills in football and surprised his teachers in school . So Let them to talk to his father to pay attention for this highly skilled playing.
So i will ask him to give me secret of his power to achive and reach my future goals.

Level: Average
The essay is not clearly connected to the topic, although it can be assumed that the writer’s admiration for Leo Messi is the reason he would like to invite him to a meeting. It is not clear why the writer recommends talking to Messi’s father. The sentences appear in a logical order, but the paragraph format is not used correctly. There is an attempt to use a varied and rich vocabulary (“conginital,” “beloved,” “classmates”), but the chosen words are not always appropriate (“appeared”), and sometimes a non English word appears (“ultra ordinary”). There are several grammar mistakes (“persons,” “He’s is”), incorrect prepositions (“between,” “attention for”), spelling errors (“conginital,” “achive”), and missing articles (“child,” “secret”). Sometimes a capital letter is missing (“when”), and sometimes one appears in the middle of a sentence (“Let”).

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Response F (106 words):
If I was given the opportunity to invite a famous person to speak at a meeting, I would choose someone who could speak about business and finance. The person would have to be very knowledgeable in this field, prefferably someone whose success is a result of this knowlege. for this reason I would choose to invite Jeff Bezos. He is a man who without a doubt is a expert in business and finance. After all, he did become, for a brief period of time, the world’s richest man, thanks to his expertise in investment. I really admire him and think many people would benefit from his advice.

Level: Excellent
The response meets all the criteria in terms of content and organization. There are a few minor issues of various types: spelling mistakes (“knowlege,” “prefferably”), problems with articles (“a expert”), and a missing capital letter (“for this reason”).