Integrated Read-and-Write: Accuracy and Task Completion in a Host-Family Email
Ms. Kobayashi is scoring an integrated read-and-write item. Students read this notice: 'Host families will meet students at the north exit of Okayama Station at 6:40 p.m. on July 28. Dinner will be at 7:30. Please tell us before July 20 if you have any food allergies.' They must write a 25–35-word email that (1) confirms the meeting time and place, (2) states one food allergy, and (3) asks one question about dinner. Candidate draft: 'Dear Mr. Brown, I will meet you at the south exit at 6:40 p.m. on July 28. I am allergic to eggs. Is dinner at 7:30? Thank you. Yuki.' The draft is 31 words. It meets the word limit and two content points, but the place is wrong and the question simply checks information already in the notice. Ms. Kobayashi must decide how to score content, language, and task completion, and how to give feedback that does not reward copied notice language as a genuine question.
1. Identify which required content points the draft meets and which it fails. Explain why the wrong exit is a serious content error, not a minor spelling slip.
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The draft meets the time (6:40 p.m.), states an allergy (eggs), stays within 25–35 words, and includes a polite closing. It fails the place: the notice says north exit, but the draft says south exit. The question 'Is dinner at 7:30?' is grammatically a question about dinner, but it only checks information already given in the notice, so it is weak task completion. The wrong exit is serious because the host family will wait at a specific place; a south/north mix-up could leave the student and family looking in different places. This is an information-transfer error, not a spelling error, and it should affect the content score.
2. Rewrite the draft in 25–35 words so it meets all three points and asks a genuine question. Count the words.
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Model: 'Dear Mr. Brown, I will meet you at the north exit at 6:40 p.m. on July 28. I am allergic to eggs. Should I bring anything for dinner? Thank you. Yuki.' Count: Dear(1) Mr.(2) Brown,(3) I(4) will(5) meet(6) you(7) at(8) the(9) north(10) exit(11) at(12) 6:40(13) p.m.(14) on(15) July(16) 28.(17) I(18) am(19) allergic(20) to(21) eggs.(22) Should(23) I(24) bring(25) anything(26) for(27) dinner?(28) Thank(29) you.(30) Yuki.(31) The rewrite corrects the exit, keeps the allergy, and asks for new information rather than repeating the dinner time from the notice.
3. Explain why a 25-word response with all three points should outscore a 35-word response with one wrong detail. Refer to the task's purpose.
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The task's purpose is practical communication: the host family needs the correct meeting place, time, allergy information, and a useful question. A 25-word response that supplies all of these is more successful than a 35-word response that contains a wrong exit. Word count is a constraint, not a quality score; staying inside the limit does not compensate for a content error that could cause a real problem. Ms. Kobayashi should score content first with a checklist (time, place, allergy, genuine dinner question), then language, and only then note whether the word limit was respected. A copied notice sentence such as 'Is dinner at 7:30?' should not receive full credit as a question unless the rubric specifically accepts confirmation questions.