STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

WRITING

TASK ACHIEVEMENT
STRENGTHS

 Word count: All the points required in the task are covered (within the minimum word count of 150 words)
 the target reader will be informed, i.e. the learner explains what happens, describes their suitcase, says what was in it
and asks the airline for action.
 The learner achieves the task fully by describing a person he admires (his mother) and saying why he admires her e.g,
description he says where she was born / what her background was / describes how she managed to get to university /
what she did once she had graduated AND reasons he admires her because she has reached all her goals / she has strong
principles / a good sense of humour / a positive attitude/is hardworking / she has fought against troubles

WEAKNESSES

 the request for action is too direct / inappropriate / abrupt, i.e. you have to find … which might result in the airline
being uncooperative
 the ending of the letter is abrupt / there is no signing off, e.g. Yours faithfully

EFFECT ON TARGET READER

STRENGTHS

 Reader is involved in the story and wants to find out what Louise decides in the end / involvement in Louise’s life
through nice interweaving of background personal information / sense of suspense achieved by not telling reader full
outcome of decision till very end e.g. she lived in a little house in the countryside, she was alone in the house, leaving
without her family, it was such a difficult decission to make, before she left

WEAKNESSES

 Some confusion/distraction due to some unintegrated direct speech / overuse of exclamation marks e.g. YES! Why
not! I’m always so busy….

ORGANISATION
STRENGTHS

 logical development / progression (letter), e.g.. introduction - background – situation – outcome required.
 The information is in a logical order e.g. he describes his mother's background, her life from past to now and then he
gives his reasons for admiring her
 Logical sequence of ideas e.g. description of her personal situation, description of the holiday, explanation of the
dilemma, the decision she made, the reasons for her decision, her husband’s reaction to the news, how she felt just
before she left.
  Logical/clear organization (report) e.g. for logical organisation title, statement of aims, introduction of the situation,
traditional food, factors for changes, conclusion OR
 Use of title / (sub-)headings / statement of aims / clear layout / paragraphs e.g. for the organisation features title
Changes in eating habits in Italy (line 1), sub-headings TRADITIONAL FOOD IN ITALY (line 5), FACTORS THAT HAVE
INFLUENCED ITALIAN HABITS TOWARDS FOOD (line 12), statement of aims The aims of this report are to … (line 2),
paragraphs paragraph 1 (lines 1-4) aims, paragraph 2 (lines 6-7) introduction of the situation; paragraph 3 (lines
 8-11) traditional food; paragraph 4 (lines 13-19) factors for changes.
 structure of a report e.g. introduction - reporting the data -giving recommendations - conclusion
 Signposting devices (to ogranise the findings of the report) .e.g. There are a number of reasons why there has been a
fall in numbers. The first has to do with recreational factors
 Semi-formal style conventions (for starting a report) e.g. this report will outlinethe the reasons for the fall in students
taking part in sport

WEAKNESSES

 No paragraphing to signpost his writing for the reader candidate needs to give an example of where a paragraph would
be inserted
 Poor paragraphing / one-sentence paragraphs e.g. paragraphs could be between lines 1-5 (background); lines 6-9 or 6-
18 (how she got to university & her subsequent career); lines 9-18 (her subsequent career); lines 19-25 (reasons why he
admires her)
 The learner needs to divide her writing into more paragraphs / there is a lack of paragraphing e.g. the text could be
divided into 3 paragraphs 1 description of the opportunity (lines 7); 2 consideration of the dilemma it posed & the
decision she made (lines 7-10); 3 the existing paragraph (lines 11-13) with how the story ended.
 Wrongly paragraphed conclusion e.g. conclusion should begin at line 21-22
 Organising ideas - very generic point, does not refer to a language feature. e.g. information about the different ideas
the learner has

COHESION
STRENGTHS

 Cohesion is generally goodthrough accurate use of conjunctions and referencing, e.g. so, because, but, and
 Good use of linkers / conjunctions / time markers / cohesive devices / discourse markers e.g. Although, when, So, so
that, Even thought, at that moment
 linking devices and phrases for cause and effect e.g. The fall in interest is due to the decrease in staff available
 Hedging devices (to give the writer’s opinion) e.g. it could be considered beneficial to include a selection of after-school
activities. (Specific to the text type (report – making recommendations – writer’s opinion).
 Discourse devices (to persuade the reader) .e.g. this idea would be extremely motivating for students

WEAKNESSES

 overuse (of coordinating conjunctions) which makes the text sound more spoken than written. He could use basic
linkers for contrast, e.g. although, however and addition, e.g. furthermore.

ACCURACY AND RANGE OF GRAMMAR

STRENGTHS

 reasonable control /Good range / accurate use of of modals in the present, e.g. can’t go, have to find, can you look, /
should be spend, had to answer, would loose, which should be spent, she could go
 Modality to maintain politeness e.g. it might be a good idea to install some new football pitches.
 range of tenses, e.g. present simple I come,present prefect I’ve been, past simple I stayed, past continuous I was
travelling /
  Accurate use of present perfect OR present perfect and past simple e.g. After she spent time teaching in the University
she had a great offer, ... she has reached all her goals, ... and she has always followed
 range of forms e.g. questions Can you look for it?, negatives I can’t go
 some successful complex sentences (through use of conjunctions) e.g. … because ..., … so …
 Accurate use of present participles / participle clauses / sub-ordinating clauses / multi-clause sentences /complex
sentences e.g. telling her that she had won, including half-board, leaving her without her family
 Accurate use of complex clauses / use of linkers/discourse markers e.g. complex clauses Although it is known … (lines 6-
7), In order to have a good result … (lines 10-11), Even if the 80% of people still prefer … (lines 13-14), Although Italian
habits… (lines 21-22) e,g, linkers Although (line 6, 21), In order to (line 10), Even if (line 13), Another factor is (line
Moreover (line 18)
 Accurate use of passives e.g it is known (line 6), to be cooked (line 8), Preservatives and colourants are not used (line 9),
are fully taken (line 9), it has also been revieled (line 20)

WEAKNESSES

 use of past simple (instead of bare infinitive) after auxiliaries (in the past) e.g. don’t found, couldn’t found. There are a
lot of surface errors, possibly caused by a lack of proofreading.
 Use of past continuous e.g. Then, we was searching a job
 Use of articles e.g. finished the High School, the University, when she found the job
 Misuse of prepositions e.g. Study a degree, to pay the University
 Misuse of possessives / possessive adjectives / pronouns e.g. with his three years old triplet daughters and his
Husband, when recived a telephone call, or would loose everything, leaving her without her family
 Incorrect word order e.g. are remarcably changing (line 7), It has been also reviled (line 20), grandparents do not
 teach any more their traditional recipes (line 18)

ACCURACY OF SPELLINING
 many basic words misspelt e.g. trevlling, thay, spook, colore, thir, peper, airbot, friend, dgree, weels, please

RANGE AND ACCURACY OF LEXIS

STRENGTHS

 Some accurate and sophisticated phrases / collocations are used e.g. very successful woman, reached all her goals, very
strong principles, good sense of humour, a positive attitude
 Collocations/fixed expressions/lexical chunks/set phrases / food/topic related lexis e.g. preservatives (line 9),
colourants (line 9), ingredients (line 10), a considerable amount (line 8), a totally different (line 14), get the message that
‘food is fun’ across to the people (line 15), allude to (line 16), due to (their job responsibilities) (line 17), traditional recipes
(line 18), I don’t totally agree with (line 22)
 Compound nouns related (to sporting sporting activities) (not relevant to the level: Advanced) e.g.swimming pools
would be a good addition.
 lexis specific (to writing reports) e.g. the report was conducted
 Lexis specific to the task e.g. after-school sports club
 Formulaic expressions (to justify opinions) e.g. one of the reasons why the facilities are below-standard is the lack of
recreational areas
 Language to make recommendations e.g. a wide selection of DVDs should be made available for students to borrow

WEAKNESSES

 Overuse/repetition (of after / after that) e.g. lines 10, 11, 13, 15
 Mistakes in spelling of vocabulary e.g. decession, recived, telephon, loose, ones, helpfull, even thought (rather than even
though) , her self (rather than herself)
  Misuse of collocations/fixed expressions/lexical chunks/set phrases e.g. take pround of (line 6), to obtain for a totally
different option (line 14), thrown by big companies (line 15), job responsibilities (line 17), the family lost its worth (lines
18-19)
 Language to be more formal - super generic point, e.g. avoid at all costs! Example, It might be helpful to...- would have
made a good example for hedging
 Students will need to be very aware of the types of conventions necessary fort hem to be able to write a report in order
to make the report the appropriate style - Too wordy, to generic and not specific at all. Save time! e.g. we have come to
this conclusion because - generic example.

PUNCTUATION
WEAKNESSES

 Capitalisation (of ordinary nouns and pronouns) e.g. the North-West of Spain, When my mother finished the High School
He wanted to Study a Degree
 Inaccurate use/omission of commas OR use of full stops instead of commas e.g. The person that I particularly admire, is
my mother; In this place, the most part of the people; Then. We was searching; Now. She is; incredible person. no because

WHICH WEAKNESS TO PRIORITISE, GIVE REASON

 the learner’s level
 the learner’s exams and future study needs
 the learner’s job needs
 fossilization of error
 transfer to other genres
 transfer to other skills
 specific to the learner’s context
 specific to the communicative purpose / success of the text (i.e. reference to genre in its own right)
 the effect on the reader
 easy to rectify, therefore motivating

SPEAKING

TASK ACHIEVEMENT AND EFFECT ON TARGET READER

STRENGTHS

 Main events in the narrative are expressed in sequence / the narrative is coherently told / the listener would be able
to follow the narrative e.g. The man goes into the shop, puts the radio in his bag, it turned on, he ran away, the police
caught him
 The learner describes the picture as required e.g. he describes the man he’s very sad, he confuse himself
 self-corrects / fills pauses / uses compensation strategies e.g. .. er ..., about ...er...one radio...er...which

RANGE AND ACCURACY OF GRAMMAR

STRENGTHS

 Accurate use of past simple AND/OR past continuous tenses e.g. he realised the man was trying
  Accurate use of articles e.g. a man with a jacket followed by man with the jacket
 Good use of relative clauses / subordinate time clauses e.g. a shop where arrived a man, one radio which was at the
top ... when the owner was trying to take it, when the man started to run away
 Accurate use of linkers e.g. so, then, and, but
 Errors in verb patterns / verb structures e.g. start to singing, trying to stole
 Appropriate/accurate/good control of subject-verb agreement / there is/are e.g. there is a man, there is a bag, There is
a place ... there is a guitar. There are two chairs.
 Good control of singular + plurals (nouns) e.g. bag, place, guitar, glass, keys, clothes, water

WEAKNESSES

 Wrong preposition e.g. mistake that put on the button, arrive to the street, asked to the owner, arrived to the street
 Overuse (of the reflexive himself) e.g. a man is very disturbed himself, he confuse himself

RANGE OF LEXIS
STRENGTHS

 Good collocations/chunks use e.g. made the mistake, run away, at the top of the, had the opportunity

ACCURACY AND RANGE OF LEXIS

WEAKNESSES

 Limited/inaccurate for level e.g. bag (briefcase), put on the button (switch it on), furniture (shelf), take it (get it down, lift
it down), singing (playing)
 Lack of synonyms (to refer to the man) / whilst it is usual in a spoken text to repeat lexis, the repeated use of (the man
with the jacket) creates a negative effect on the listener e.g. after the man with the jacket is first used in line 1, it is
repeated in lines 2, 5, 8, 9 / learner could use the robber, the thief

PRONUNCIATION
STRENGTHS

 Word stress is accurate / sentence stress generally placed correctly on the content words, not function words e.g.
jacket, owner, button, radio, furniture, mistake, away, arrived, policeman, opportunity
 Linking / elision e.g. the opportunity / ðiːj ɑːpɔːt…/ and a /, /ənə/ that the / ðætə/
 Linking / catenation / liaison (between final consonant and initial vowel) / intrusion/intrusive linking / linking ‘r’ e.g.
there is a, bag is open, here is a
 Good use of schwa / weak form / /W/ (in indefinite articles) e.g. a bread (machine), /Wbred/
 Good production of diphthongs / əʊ / and/or / ɔɪ / e.g. clothes, open and boiling

WEAKNESSES

 Weak forms / not using schwa e.g. to, was, at, and, arrived
 Inconsistent pronunciation of the (regular) past simple forms the / -ed endings / tends to pronounce final syllable e.g.
arrived /æraɪvd /, realised /reɪəlaɪzɪd /
 Errors pronouncing diphthongs / confusion between /eɪ/ and /e/ OR replaces /ɪə/ with /iː/ or /e/ OR confuses /eə/
with /e/ e.g. /eˆ/ and /e/ very /veɪrɪ/; place /ples/; bread /breɪd/; table /tebəl/
 Wrong word stress / equal stress on all syllables .eg. ‘con’fuse, ‘machine, ‘materials, arran’ged, clo’thes
 No contracted forms, especially with (there’s, there’re) e,g, there is a man, There are two chairs

WHICH WEAKNESS TO PRIORITISE, GIVE REASON

 the learner’s level
 the learner’s exams and future study needs
 the learner’s job needs
 fossilisation of error
 transfer to other genres
 transfer to other skills
 to make them sound more fluent / useful in the real world
 specific to the communicative purpose / success of the text (i.e. reference to genre in its own right)
 the effect on the listener
 easy to rectify, therefore motivating