Paper 4 The Continuous Writing Paper

1. Paper 4The Continuous Writing Paper Key issues, using the mark scheme and suggested strategies

2. The Continuous Writing Paper • 2 pieces of writing in 75 minutes, 110-140 words in length • 25 marks available per question • Communication– 5 marks (20%) points must be in correct tense • Quality of Language – 15 marks (60%) • General Impression– 5 marks (20%) dictated by Language mark

3. Question 1 types • "Point of view" questions • Describe something e.g. your school / region etc. • Give and justify your opinion about it • Talk about the advantages / disadvantages • Say whether you are for or against it • This could be in the form of… • A letter to a friend (informal) • A letter to a French school or family (e.g. about an exchange) • A letter to a magazine or newspaper • An article • Text type features counted for language marks e.g. letter openings / endings • Could affect General Impression mark

4. Question 1 types • Specific letters • Job applications (explain why you want the job, why you are capable & when you are free) • Formal letters to hotels • Letters of complaint e.g. about a stay in a hotel) • Letters explaining you have left something at the hotel • Persuasive letters (e.g. persuade a family to visit you by giving information about your house, region, climate and what you need to bring) • Explanatory letters (e.g. a family is coming to visit you and you need to change the dates of the visit because you have had an accident)

5. Question 2s • Always requires the use of past tenses • Description of past events (have to describe at least 3 things that happened using accurate grammar to get communication marks) • Describe someone else’s reactions e.g. « my parents were surprised » • Describe your reactions / whether you liked / disliked something

6. Key features of mark scheme • 140 words max • If the task is a letter, addresses and dates do not count towards the total word count. • The definition of a word is “a group of letters surrounded by a space” • A group of letters containing a hyphen or apostrophe is regarded as one word. • L’homme = one word • La dame = two words • Qu’est-ce que c’est = three word • Il y a = three words • Y a-t-il…? = two words • All numbers count as one word whether written as figures or words • 21 = one word • Vingt et un = one word

7. Key features of mark scheme • Marking units • Verbs • Noun + adjective • Noun + preposition • Adverbs • Conjunctions • Zero marks for • Nouns (but do get mark if possessive is used) • Très, bien, et, mais • Faulty gender & agreement • Tolerances • Use of accents (except -er in perfect tense) hyphens and punctuation • Accept declared gender (not name on front) • Lots of moderation essential… • Top 10 common mistakes • Top 15 features to include

8. Suggestions for improving continuous writing skills • Languages online • Year 10 spelling improvement programme • GCSE silly mistakes from essays • Verb busters • Intensive translation work using mini-whiteboards • Encourage lower ability students to stick to basic structures (e.g. regular -ER verbs in perfect tense) and learn “bonus phrases” • IGCSE style tasks in formal assessments from Year 7 • “Correct the mistakes” exercises • Peer marking focusing on 1-2 elements from mark scheme • Lots of practice papers and log sheet for mistakes (with tallies)