Québec Sec 5 FSL Enriched (635-520) cheat sheet

Turn-taking formula: state a position, invite a response ("What's your read on this?"), then acknowledge before disagreeing ("Fair point, though…"). Each turn should contain at least one content idea, not only agreement noises.

Three repair moves when meaning breaks down: (1) paraphrase your own point ("What I mean is…"), (2) ask a targeted clarification question ("Do you mean X or Y?"), (3) confirm understanding by restating the partner's idea in your own words.

Functional exponents to memorize as chunks: opinion ("It seems to me that…"), hedging ("I'd say roughly…"), partial agreement ("I see your point, but…"), interruption ("Sorry to jump in, but…"), closing ("So, to sum up…").

Register decision rule: contractions ("don't", "it's") and phrasal verbs suit informal discussion; modal hedging ("would", "could", "might") and full forms suit formal or unfamiliar-audience exchanges.

Pronunciation targets that carry meaning: final consonant clusters ("asked", "texts"), -ed endings (/t/ after voiceless sounds, /d/ after voiced, /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/), and sentence stress on the information word rather than every word.

Interaction strategies: fill a pause with a stalling phrase ("That's a good question - let me think") instead of silence; use back-channelling ("right", "mm-hm", "I see") to signal active listening.

Fluency is measured by sustained speech and linked ideas, not by zero errors; self-correction is acceptable when it is quick and does not break the message.

For a discussion task, plan three moves before speaking: an opening claim, one supporting example or reason, and a question back to the partner.

Audience rule: informal writing (a message to a friend) allows contractions, idioms and sentence fragments; formal writing (a letter of complaint, a report) requires full forms, impersonal tone and no slang.

Paragraph structure: topic sentence stating the point, two to four supporting sentences with reasons or examples, and a closing sentence that links to the next paragraph. One idea per paragraph.

Cohesion devices to deploy deliberately: pronoun reference ("this", "such a move"), lexical chains (repeat a key noun or use a synonym), and connectors classified by function - addition (moreover), contrast (however), cause (therefore), sequence (subsequently).

Punctuation rules that examiners check: comma after an introductory phrase, no comma splice between two independent clauses (use a full stop, semicolon or conjunction), apostrophe for possession and contractions only.

Formal-letter frame: salutation ("Dear Ms Roy,"), statement of purpose in the first line, supporting details in logical order, a clear request or expected outcome, closing ("Yours sincerely," when the name is known).

Editing pass order: content and organization first, then sentence structure, then grammar and agreement, then spelling and punctuation. Correcting surface errors before fixing structure wastes the pass.

Verb-tense consistency: narrative uses past simple for events with past continuous for background; expository and opinion writing uses present simple for general truths.

Word-count management: outline before drafting, allocate one paragraph per required point, and cut repetition rather than content when over length.

Skimming versus scanning decision rule: skimming for gist when asked about main idea, purpose or tone; scanning for a specific detail, name, date or number. Never read every word for a detail question.

Question-type mapping: literal questions are answered by a stated detail; inferential questions require combining two or more stated facts; evaluation questions require judging the author's stance or the effect of a device.

Text-type cues: a news article leads with the most important information (inverted pyramid); an opinion piece signals stance through evaluative adjectives and modal verbs; a short story builds meaning through setting, character action and dialogue.

Literary devices to identify and name: simile (comparison with like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, hyperbole, irony (statement meaning the opposite of its words), foreshadowing, symbol.

Vocabulary in context: use surrounding syntax and cohesion to infer an unknown word - check whether it is defined by a following clause, contrasted by "but", or illustrated by an example.

Reference tracking: pronouns and demonstratives ("it", "they", "this", "the former") point back or forward; when a question asks what a pronoun refers to, locate the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits grammatically and semantically.

Author's purpose is stated as a verb: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to describe, to warn, to satirize. Tone is stated as an adjective: critical, nostalgic, ironic, neutral, admiring.

Justify every answer with a line reference or a paraphrase of the text; an answer that cannot be traced to the text is a guess.

Reinvestment means transferring content and language from a source text into a new task (summary, letter, debate position, poster) while changing form, audience or purpose - not copying sentences.

Summary procedure: identify the controlling idea, select two or three key supports, delete examples and repetition, then rewrite in your own words with a reporting frame ("The article argues that…").

Paraphrase techniques: change word class (verb to noun), swap synonyms, reverse clause order, and merge or split sentences. Keep technical terms that have no accurate substitute.

Strategy cycle for any task: plan (identify task, audience, format), monitor (check while producing that the format and register are respected), evaluate (reread against the criteria and revise).

Resource use: a dictionary is for confirming a guess or checking a collocation, not for translating word by word; bilingual dictionary entries must be checked against the sentence's part of speech.

Text-to-task transfer checklist: What is the source's main claim? Which two details support it? What format does the task require? What register does the audience require?

Graphic organizers serve reinvestment: a two-column chart (source idea / my application) or a cause-effect chain makes the transfer explicit and keeps the new text organized.

When reinvesting into an oral or written opinion, attribute the source idea ("According to the text…") and then add your own position - the task usually requires both.

Verb-form decision rule: present perfect for past action with present relevance or no stated time ("I have finished"); past simple for a finished action with a stated past time ("I finished yesterday").

Conditionals: zero (present fact), first (real future, if + present, will), second (unreal present, if + past, would), third (unreal past, if + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

Reported speech backshift: present becomes past, will becomes would, can becomes could; time and place words shift (now → then, today → that day, here → there) unless the reporting is immediate.

Relative clauses: defining clauses take no commas and allow "that"; non-defining clauses take commas and forbid "that" ("My brother, who lives in Lévis, …").

Passive formation: be + past participle, with the object promoted to subject; use it when the agent is unknown, obvious or unimportant, and keep the tense of the original active verb.

Subject-verb agreement traps: collective nouns (the team) take a singular verb in North American usage; expressions like "each of", "neither of" take a singular verb; "the number of" is singular while "a number of" is plural.

Word-formation and collocation: build families with prefixes and suffixes (succeed, success, successful, successfully) and learn nouns with their verb collocations (make a decision, take responsibility, pay attention).

Register markers: formal writing avoids contractions, slang and vague quantifiers ("a lot of" → "many", "stuff" → "material"), and prefers nominalization ("the decision was made" rather than "they decided").

Common French-influence errors to check: "informations" (uncountable → information), "actually" meaning currently (use currently), "I am agree" (→ I agree), and missing third-person -s in the present simple.

Turn-taking formula: state a position, invite a response ("What's your read on this?"), then acknowledge before disagreeing ("Fair point, though…"). Each turn should contain at least one content idea, not only agreement noises.

Three repair moves when meaning breaks down: (1) paraphrase your own point ("What I mean is…"), (2) ask a targeted clarification question ("Do you mean X or Y?"), (3) confirm understanding by restating the partner's idea in your own words.

Functional exponents to memorize as chunks: opinion ("It seems to me that…"), hedging ("I'd say roughly…"), partial agreement ("I see your point, but…"), interruption ("Sorry to jump in, but…"), closing ("So, to sum up…").

Register decision rule: contractions ("don't", "it's") and phrasal verbs suit informal discussion; modal hedging ("would", "could", "might") and full forms suit formal or unfamiliar-audience exchanges.

Pronunciation targets that carry meaning: final consonant clusters ("asked", "texts"), -ed endings (/t/ after voiceless sounds, /d/ after voiced, /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/), and sentence stress on the information word rather than every word.

Interaction strategies: fill a pause with a stalling phrase ("That's a good question - let me think") instead of silence; use back-channelling ("right", "mm-hm", "I see") to signal active listening.

Fluency is measured by sustained speech and linked ideas, not by zero errors; self-correction is acceptable when it is quick and does not break the message.

For a discussion task, plan three moves before speaking: an opening claim, one supporting example or reason, and a question back to the partner.

Audience rule: informal writing (a message to a friend) allows contractions, idioms and sentence fragments; formal writing (a letter of complaint, a report) requires full forms, impersonal tone and no slang.

Paragraph structure: topic sentence stating the point, two to four supporting sentences with reasons or examples, and a closing sentence that links to the next paragraph. One idea per paragraph.

Cohesion devices to deploy deliberately: pronoun reference ("this", "such a move"), lexical chains (repeat a key noun or use a synonym), and connectors classified by function - addition (moreover), contrast (however), cause (therefore), sequence (subsequently).

Punctuation rules that examiners check: comma after an introductory phrase, no comma splice between two independent clauses (use a full stop, semicolon or conjunction), apostrophe for possession and contractions only.

Formal-letter frame: salutation ("Dear Ms Roy,"), statement of purpose in the first line, supporting details in logical order, a clear request or expected outcome, closing ("Yours sincerely," when the name is known).

Editing pass order: content and organization first, then sentence structure, then grammar and agreement, then spelling and punctuation. Correcting surface errors before fixing structure wastes the pass.

Verb-tense consistency: narrative uses past simple for events with past continuous for background; expository and opinion writing uses present simple for general truths.

Word-count management: outline before drafting, allocate one paragraph per required point, and cut repetition rather than content when over length.

Skimming versus scanning decision rule: skimming for gist when asked about main idea, purpose or tone; scanning for a specific detail, name, date or number. Never read every word for a detail question.

Question-type mapping: literal questions are answered by a stated detail; inferential questions require combining two or more stated facts; evaluation questions require judging the author's stance or the effect of a device.

Text-type cues: a news article leads with the most important information (inverted pyramid); an opinion piece signals stance through evaluative adjectives and modal verbs; a short story builds meaning through setting, character action and dialogue.

Literary devices to identify and name: simile (comparison with like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, hyperbole, irony (statement meaning the opposite of its words), foreshadowing, symbol.

Vocabulary in context: use surrounding syntax and cohesion to infer an unknown word - check whether it is defined by a following clause, contrasted by "but", or illustrated by an example.

Reference tracking: pronouns and demonstratives ("it", "they", "this", "the former") point back or forward; when a question asks what a pronoun refers to, locate the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits grammatically and semantically.

Author's purpose is stated as a verb: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to describe, to warn, to satirize. Tone is stated as an adjective: critical, nostalgic, ironic, neutral, admiring.

Justify every answer with a line reference or a paraphrase of the text; an answer that cannot be traced to the text is a guess.

Reinvestment means transferring content and language from a source text into a new task (summary, letter, debate position, poster) while changing form, audience or purpose - not copying sentences.

Summary procedure: identify the controlling idea, select two or three key supports, delete examples and repetition, then rewrite in your own words with a reporting frame ("The article argues that…").

Paraphrase techniques: change word class (verb to noun), swap synonyms, reverse clause order, and merge or split sentences. Keep technical terms that have no accurate substitute.

Strategy cycle for any task: plan (identify task, audience, format), monitor (check while producing that the format and register are respected), evaluate (reread against the criteria and revise).

Resource use: a dictionary is for confirming a guess or checking a collocation, not for translating word by word; bilingual dictionary entries must be checked against the sentence's part of speech.

Text-to-task transfer checklist: What is the source's main claim? Which two details support it? What format does the task require? What register does the audience require?

Graphic organizers serve reinvestment: a two-column chart (source idea / my application) or a cause-effect chain makes the transfer explicit and keeps the new text organized.

When reinvesting into an oral or written opinion, attribute the source idea ("According to the text…") and then add your own position - the task usually requires both.

Verb-form decision rule: present perfect for past action with present relevance or no stated time ("I have finished"); past simple for a finished action with a stated past time ("I finished yesterday").

Conditionals: zero (present fact), first (real future, if + present, will), second (unreal present, if + past, would), third (unreal past, if + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

Reported speech backshift: present becomes past, will becomes would, can becomes could; time and place words shift (now → then, today → that day, here → there) unless the reporting is immediate.

Relative clauses: defining clauses take no commas and allow "that"; non-defining clauses take commas and forbid "that" ("My brother, who lives in Lévis, …").

Passive formation: be + past participle, with the object promoted to subject; use it when the agent is unknown, obvious or unimportant, and keep the tense of the original active verb.

Subject-verb agreement traps: collective nouns (the team) take a singular verb in North American usage; expressions like "each of", "neither of" take a singular verb; "the number of" is singular while "a number of" is plural.

Word-formation and collocation: build families with prefixes and suffixes (succeed, success, successful, successfully) and learn nouns with their verb collocations (make a decision, take responsibility, pay attention).

Register markers: formal writing avoids contractions, slang and vague quantifiers ("a lot of" → "many", "stuff" → "material"), and prefers nominalization ("the decision was made" rather than "they decided").

Common French-influence errors to check: "informations" (uncountable → information), "actually" meaning currently (use currently), "I am agree" (→ I agree), and missing third-person -s in the present simple.