Writing Introduction

There are only two (2) tasks for the Writing section on the CELPIP- General exam:

Task 1: Writing an Email (approximate time of 27 minutes)

Task 2: Responding to a Survey (an approximate time of 26 minutes)

The CELPIP raters use these criteria to assess written texts for this exam:

The above table was taken from CELPIP Instructor Training Manual 2019 issued by Paragon Testing

Content and Coherence

Number of ideas: Usually, in the context of an Email or Survey, the raters want 2 or 3 ideas or support sentences.

Quality of ideas: Quality here refers to how closely the idea connects with the context of the situation (‘true to everyday life’ is a good guide)

Organization of ideas: This refers to the proper order of ideas. If you are writing about an argument in a supermarket with a cashier; for example, you might start with ‘what the fight was about’ and then mention who won the argument and why, and not vice-versa (the opposite). Usually, there is a proper order or sequence to events.

Examples and supporting details: the raters will judge how appropriate your details are in your paragraphs – again: (‘true to everyday life’ is a good guide)

Vocabulary

Word Choice: words have meanings and the meanings of the words have to be appropriate to the context of the question prompt.

Suitable use of words and phrases: ‘suitable is used in 2 contexts: (1) suitable words and phrases in reference to the prompt question and (2) ‘suitable in terms of Parts of Speech (see appendix at end of this book). This criterion is slightly judgemental, so just keep your word choices close to the context you are writing about. Never use words you are unsure of.

Range of words and phrases: this refers to the synonymous language or the ability of the writer to write the same idea in a different way (i.e. – if you never repeat the word-for-word part of the question prompt or text that you have written previously in the text, you will score well in this criterion). For example, big, large, huge, massive, etc.

Precision and accuracy: Use exacting adjectives and appropriate nouns that accurately reference the meaning of what you are trying to communicate.

Readability

Format and paragraphing: These refer to the ‘format’ – for the Email and the Survey, always three (3) paragraphs: Email – (purpose, detail, outcome); Survey – (introduction, body, conclusion)  – (see the many examples that follow).

Connectors and transitions: These refer to ‘signal or transition’ words or discourse markers at the start of paragraphs or sentences – words like ‘First, Also, Next, Then, Finally, In conclusion, etc. – you are to use 2 or 3 per text to show that you can ‘signal’ to the reader a change in the text.

Grammar and sentence structure: You should be able to use at least three (3) different types of English sentences (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex) in your writing

Spelling and punctuation: Your score will decrease with the number of spelling or punctuation errors

Task fulfillment

Relevance: Your writing will be assessed as to whether or not your examples and support sentences are ‘relevant’ or applicable to the context of the question prompt. Your response should directly answer the prompt and not be ‘tangential’. This, too, is a slightly judgemental criterion.

Completeness: One question you can always ask about your writing is: ‘Did I answer the question?’ Completeness refers to a ‘complete’ answer whereby the appropriate topic introduction, topic sentence, support, and conclusion all work to answer the question prompt. Essentially, you must support your ideas with proper support and detail while following a proper format (see below)

Tone: Tone always has to remain even or the same. For example, if you are writing a letter of complaint (see examples in the Email section) ever use words that convey explicit negativity to a person – never write like this: you are a ‘terrible landlord’, this store ‘is pathetic’, or I will never recommend this ‘evil shop’ to my friends! You always have to remain professional – I disagree with the way our problems have been dealt with, this store is underachieving with regards to its service, I can not recommend this shop to my friends based on the way my complaint has been handled.

Word Count: On both writing tasks, try to be between 150 to 200 words, but never go over the word limit or your score may be lowered.