FCE Essay writing

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Today's aims

• At the end of today's class, you will know exactly how to write an FCE Essay, and how the essay is marked.

How is your writing marked
in the Cambridge exams?

We are going to watch a short clip (approx 10 minutes). The clip will play automatically, and there will be questions for you to answer while you are watching!

01:03

What is the lowest mark you need to pass the test?

01:43

If I add information to my essay that is irrelevant to the task, can I still get 5 points?

1. Yes
2. No

02:06

How many prompts are you given in the task?

1. 2
2. 3
3. 4
4. None

03:29

Planning is important.

1. Yes!
2. Sometimes, it depends on the task.
3. Nope.

04:22

What is Ms vdK's response when you do not use paragraphs?

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

05:30

What is the correct structure?

1. Statement - Example - Explanation
2. Statement - Explanation - Example
3. Explanation - Example - Statement
4. Explanation - Statement - Example

10:48

It's best to be safe and use easier grammar and vocabulary which I know is correct than to use some more complex structures which I may use incorrectly.

1. Yes, absolutely!
2. It depends on the context.
3. No, use complex structures too!

So, in summary...

Content

Focuses on how well you fulfilled the task

• Did you answer the questions fully?
• Did you write 140-190 words?
• Were all of the points relevant to the question?

Communicative achievement

Focuses on how appropriate your writing is to the task

• Is your writing easy to understand?
• Does the writing hold the attention of the reader?
• Format? (No sub-headings in an essay)
• Register (formal - semi formal)

Organisation

Focuses on the way you put your writing together

• Are the ideas well organised and well linked?
  
• Did you use appropriate paragraphs to organise and present ideas?
  
• Did you use discourse markers (Firstly, ....Secondly,..... As a result, etc.)?

Language

Focuses on grammar, vocabulary and range and accuracy

• Did you use a wide range of vocabulary?
• Did you use synonyms to avoid repetition?
• Did you use idioms?
• Did you spell and form the words correctly?
• Did you use a wide range of grammar structures?

How much do you remember?

Choose the best option:
In Part One of the exam (Essay), you...

1. can write whatever you want.
2. must deal with three points given in the task
3. must deal with 3 points, one of which is your own idea

When writing an essay, which of these things is NOT true?

1. Use sub-headings
2. Use formal language
3. Give a counter-argument
4. Use contractions

How many paragraphs do you have in an essay?

1. 3
2. 5
3. 2
4. 4

In an FCE essay you can use words like
awesome, gonna, kinda, etc.

1. No, you have to use formal English.
2. Yeah, of course you can, dude!
3. What does formal mean?
4. It depends on the topic.

I can't believe ____ leaving ____ bike ____!

1. their, there, they're
2. they're, there, their
3. they're, their, there
4. there, their, they're

Which is correct?

1. popular
2. populair
3. populer
4. poppular

Let's get to work!