Written production and interaction: guided composition or response
What this domain tests
The production task asks for a guided text of about 80–120 words, usually linked to the theme of the reading text: an opinion, a short article for the school paper, a message or a letter. The markers reward task achievement (all points covered), organisation, range of structures and vocabulary, and accuracy. Register matters: a letter to an institution is not written like a message to a friend.
Core rules
- Underline the points in the prompt and tick each one as you cover it; an uncovered point is a direct loss.
- Plan three short paragraphs: open by naming the topic, develop two arguments or one argument plus an example, close with a position or a wish.
- Use connectors to signpost: d'abord, ensuite, par exemple, cependant, en revanche, donc, enfin.
- Vary structures: a relative clause (qui/que/dont), a cause (parce que, puisque), a consequence (c'est pourquoi), a concession (bien que + subjunctive).
- Respect the word limit; around ten percent over or under is normally tolerated, but a very short text loses content marks.
- Choose the register: Madame, Monsieur … Cordialement for formal letters; Salut … À bientôt for a friend.
Worked example
Prompt: Votre lycée envisage de supprimer les sorties scolaires. Écrivez un court article (100–120 mots) pour le journal du lycée en donnant votre opinion. Opening: Depuis plusieurs années, les sorties scolaires rythment la vie de notre lycée. À mon avis, les supprimer serait une grave erreur. Reasoning: the first sentence sets the context without copying the prompt; the second states a thesis and uses the conditional serait to soften the claim. The body would give one concrete example (a museum visit that changed a student's choice of studies) and one concession (certes, ces sorties coûtent cher), then a conclusion.
Traps that cost marks
- Reproducing a memorised essay that does not answer the exact question.
- Writing one long block without paragraphs.
- Repeating je pense que in every sentence instead of varying.
- Mixing tu and vous in the same text.
- Spanish calques: assister à un cours (to attend), passer un examen (to take), rendre visite à (to visit a person).
- Leaving accents off or writing ca for ça.