Interpersonal and Presentational Writing
This domain combines two modes. Interpersonal writing is interactive: you reply to a message, email, note, or post, answer all parts of the prompt, ask a relevant question, and use register appropriate to the audience. Presentational writing is one-way: you organize an essay, report, story, or formal letter for an audience that is not immediately responding. Both require accurate characters, punctuation, and cohesive devices, but they are scored differently: interpersonal tasks reward task completion and interaction; presentational tasks reward structure and development.
Core rules and concepts
- Match text type: email has greeting/subject/closing; note is brief; essay has thesis and paragraphs.
- Control register: 您 for formal addressee, 你 for peers; 请/麻烦 for requests; 此致敬礼 in formal letters; 亲爱的 in personal letters, not business.
- Answer every bullet, then add one elaboration or question to sustain interaction in interpersonal tasks.
- Use connectors: 首先, 其次, 另外, 然而, 因此, 总之. Avoid stringing short sentences with 然后.
- Check character accuracy and punctuation: 。，、；：？！“” are not interchangeable with English marks.
Worked example
Prompt: Write an email to your teacher asking for an extension and proposing a new deadline. Reasoning: This is interpersonal and formal. Greet with 老师您好; state the request indirectly (我想请您...), give a brief reason, apologize (真不好意思), propose a specific date, ask for confirmation, and close (谢谢您！学生...). Include a question such as 您看可以吗？ A presentational essay on 'deadlines' would fail the task even with better grammar.
Traps
Writing an essay when the prompt asks for an email; forgetting the proposed date or confirmation question; mixing 你/您; using spoken fillers; literal English punctuation; ignoring one bullet.