The formal letter that misses the task
A Level 2 writing assessment asks students to choose one prompt and write at least 150 words. The chosen prompt is: 'Write a post for your class blog about a recent school exchange. Say what you did, one thing that surprised you, advice for next year's students, and whether you think exchanges should be compulsory.' A student chooses to write a formal letter to the principal instead, because they have memorised 'Madame, Monsieur' and a formal closing. Their draft is 210 words. It includes 'Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées' and repeated sentences such as 'J'ai fait un voyage' and 'C'était très bien'. It does not include the surprise, the advice, or the opinion. The student uses present and passé composé but no future. The teacher points out that two bullet points are missing and the register does not match the prompt. The student replies: 'But it's longer and more formal, so it should get more marks.'
1. Identify the task-type and register problems, and explain why they matter in this assessment.
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The prompt asks for a blog post for a class blog: an informal text addressed to peers, with a first-person voice, a greeting or hook, and a sign-off suitable for a blog. The student has written a formal letter to the principal, which changes the audience, purpose and tone. 'Madame, Monsieur' and 'Je vous prie d'agréer...' are not wrong French, but they are wrong for the task: they address a superior in an administrative context, not classmates in a blog. Register matters because the assessment rewards communication for a purpose and audience, not formality in the abstract. The student has also missed two required bullet points - the surprise and the advice/opinion - so the text does not fulfil the task. Length beyond 150 words does not compensate: 210 words of repeated content ('J'ai fait un voyage', 'C'était très bien') show limited range rather than development. The formal closing may even make the mismatch more obvious because it signals a different text type from the one requested.
2. Draft a revised plan showing how all four bullet points could be covered in about 150 words, with one future structure and one opinion phrase.
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Plan (blog post, informal):
- Opening (1 sentence): 'Salut à tous ! Je viens de rentrer de mon échange scolaire à Nantes et je veux vous raconter.' - establishes blog voice and audience.
- What I did (2 sentences): 'J'ai passé une semaine dans un lycée français. J'ai suivi des cours et j'ai visité les Machines de l'île avec ma correspondante.' - past narration.
- Surprise (2 sentences): 'Ce qui m'a surpris, c'est que les cours commencent à 8 h et finissent à 18 h. En plus, les élèves tutoient les profs dans certains cours.' - 'ce qui m'a surpris' directly signals the bullet point.
- Advice (2 sentences): 'Si tu y vas l'année prochaine, pense à apporter un adaptateur et n'aie pas peur de parler français. Tu devras aussi goûter les crêpes !' - future/imperative advice.
- Opinion (1–2 sentences): 'À mon avis, les échanges devraient être obligatoires parce qu'on apprend beaucoup sur soi-même.' - opinion phrase plus justification.
- Sign-off: 'À plus !' - informal register. This covers all four points, uses past, future and opinion language, and stays close to 150 words.
3. Explain how assessment criteria would likely judge the original draft, using specific examples.
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The draft would likely be judged mainly on task fulfilment, organisation, and language range/accuracy, not on length or formality. Task fulfilment: two of the four required points are absent, so the student cannot access the full range for communication. The formal letter does not match the requested blog post, which affects audience and purpose. Organisation: the formal opening and closing frame a text that does not develop the required ideas; repetition of 'J'ai fait un voyage' and 'C'était très bien' shows little progression. Language range: the student uses present and passé composé, but no future for the advice, and the vocabulary is repetitive. Accuracy: the memorised formulas may be accurate, but accuracy does not compensate for missing content. A stronger 150-word blog post with all four points, one future structure and one justified opinion would meet the criteria better than a 210-word formal letter that answers only half the prompt. The practical lesson is to check the draft against the bullet points and the text type before polishing sentences.