ILTS World Language: French (252): Presentational Communication: Writing and Planned Speaking

The presentational domain tests planned, one-way production - written or spoken - for an audience. Expect prompts to write an email, a formal letter, a short article, a blog post, or a structured argument, and to narrate or describe in speech. Scoring weights task completion, text-type conventions, organization, and accuracy.

Core rules

• Identify the text type and its frame. A lettre formelle opens Madame, Monsieur, and closes Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. A courriel to a colleague is lighter but still closes with Cordialement or Bien à vous.
• Hold one register throughout. Mixing tu and vous in a single message is a standard penalty.
• Signal structure with French connectors: tout d'abord, ensuite, en outre, en revanche, par conséquent, en définitive.
• French typography: a space before !, ?, :, ; and inside « »; accents are never optional (élève, où versus ou).
• Argument pattern: thèse → two arguments with examples → concession (certes… mais) → conclusion.

Worked example

Task: rewrite « Salut, je peux pas venir à la réunion, je suis malade. À plus. » as a formal email. Model: « Madame, Monsieur, Je vous informe que, souffrant d'une grippe, je ne pourrai pas assister à la réunion de demain. Je vous prie de bien vouloir m'excuser pour ce contretemps. Cordialement, … » Reasoning: the greeting is replaced, je peux pas becomes the future je ne pourrai pas, the reason is nominalized into a participial phrase, an apology formula is added, and the casual sign-off is replaced by a conventional one.

Traps

Anglicisms (réaliser for to realize - use se rendre compte); a missing subjunctive after il faut que or bien que; English comma splices where French expects connectors; a formal greeting paired with a casual closing; dropped accents under time pressure.