Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

FUNDAMENTALS WRITING ASSESSMENT 1

Looking for a job!

Students…
 Use a basic set of grammar structures.
 Copy familiar words and short phrases about everyday objects
and set phrases.
 Describe simple items with basic personal details.

1. Think about:

1. What’s your occupation? Do you

like your job?

2. Do you think it is difficult to get

a job in your city? Why?

3. What is your ideal job?

Job: Work, occupation.

To get: To obtain (in this context).

2. Words matter!

To do well in this lesson, it is necessary to learn a number of words. Please complete

the following exercise. At the end, you will have increased your vocabulary.

2.1. Underline the expression that best matches the idea of the boldfaced word or
phrase. Have a dictionary at hand!

a. Valentina has a job interview in a big company.

-A meeting to get a job - A conversation about a person’s life

b. My boss is hiring new chefs for her restaurant.

- Choose a person for a job - Listen to employees’ comments.

c. Michael’s bother works in a mom-and-pop bakery.

-Business with pop music - Small business

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

d. Look! There is a job vacancy in an important hospital.

-Job vacations - Job offer

2.2. Match the word on the left with the meaning on the right. Write in the
parenthesis the corresponding letter.

Word Meaning
1 Staff ( ) a Work the usual hours
2 Part-time job ( ) b Work time per day (morning/afternoon/night)
3 Full-time job ( ) c The people who work in a company.
4 Shift ( ) d Work less hours than usual

3. Read a bit!

Read the following text about “Looking for a job!” Alicia is a chef; she wants a new job
and there is a new restaurant in the city.

I’m Alicia. I’m 27 years old and I’m a chef in

a mom-and-pop restaurant in my town. It’s
my best-friend’s restaurant. We have typical
Colombian food.

Next year, I’m planning to move to a big city

and get a job as a chef. My friend Natalia
lives in that city. She needs new staff for her
restaurant but, it’s a part-time job. I want a
full-time job because I need the money, so
I don’t want to accept the position.

I read the newspaper every morning and I check my e-mail to look for job vacancies.
There is an e-mail from a new international restaurant. They are hiring chefs for the
morning shift and I love it because I’m a morning person. Tomorrow, I’m traveling to the
city for the job interview with the boss of the restaurant. I hope to get this job!

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

4. Grammar and composition

In this session you find grammar elements and composition strategies that help you
with your writing production. Read the explanation; this is important for the next
step!

SENTENCE STRUCTURE
There are different elements you need to take into account when writing in English.

1. Capitalization.
2. Punctuation.
3. Sentence structure.
4. Type of sentence

Let’s take a look of all of them!

CAPITALIZATION RULES

1. The first word of a sentence.

2. Names and proper nouns.
3. The first word of a quote. (Ex. His mom always says, “You
have to get a job.”)

4. Days, months, and holidays, but not seasons.

 Correct: I love Mondays!
 Incorrect: His grandpa doesn’t like Winter.
5. Cities, countries, nationalities, and languages.
6. The pronoun ‘I’.

4.1. Circle all the words that need to be capitalized.

my friend natalia is a businesswoman. she works in a big company in the city called
“foodies”. she lives with her husband, albert; he is the manager of the company. they are
helping me to get a job as a chef. for winter, i want to visit them and celebrate christmas
with my friends.
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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

SENTENCE ORDER
A sentence follows Subject+ Verb+ Object word order.
Natalia (subject) works (verb) in a big company (Object).
TIPS:
 A sentence contains a subject and it is only mentioned once.
Natalia she has a job interview.
 A sentence contains a verb.
I a chef
I am a chef √

4.2. Describe your occupation. What do you do? What about your relatives? What
do they do?

Sentence 1.

Sentence 2.

Sentence 3.

Sentence 4.

TYPES OF SENTENCE

Simple sentences: They have only one clause. Ex. I read the newspaper every morning.
Compound sentences: It has two or more clauses. Ex. (I’m planning to move) and (get a job as a chef).
To join compound sentences, we can use coordinating conjunctions.

I’m planning to move and get a job as a chef.

The common coordinating conjunctions are called:

And (Ex. Albert works in the morning and studies in the afternoon)
But (Ex. I like my job but it’s only part-time)
Or (Ex. They want to work in a restaurant or in a mom-and-pop bakery)

4.3. Let’s write compound sentences! Connect the sentences 1, 2, 3 and 4 using
coordinating conjunctions.

So now you are ready for your final composition. Let’s write something!

I&D Team 2019