AQA English/English Language Unit 1: Understanding & Producing Non-fiction Texts POSSIBLE WRITING TASKS FOUNDATION GCSE English AO3 Writing/GCSE English Language AO4 Writing   

Write clearly, effectively and imaginatively, using and adapting forms and selecting vocabulary appropriate to task and purpose in ways that engage the reader. Organise information and ideas into structured and sequenced sentences, paragraphs and whole texts, using a variety of linguistic and structural features to support cohesion and overall coherence. Use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate punctuation and spelling.

Section B: Writing (40 marks)  There are two writing questions and both questions have to be answered.  There are 16 marks for question 1 and 24 marks for question 2.  The first writing task is focused on a primary purpose of Writing to Inform.  The second writing task is focused on a primary purpose of Writing to Persuade.  Both tasks however, are designed to give candidates the opportunity to show their skills and imagination; opportunities to describe, explain or argue a point of view may well be embedded within the tasks.  Shorter Task - A maximum of 10 marks will be awarded for communication and organisation. A maximum of 6 marks will be awarded for using a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect with accurate punctuation and spelling.  Longer Task – A maximum of 16 marks will be awarded for communication and organisation. A maximum of 8 marks will be awarded for using a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect with accurate punctuation and spelling. Shorter Writing Tasks – Writing to Inform 1. Imagine that you are going to do work experience in a Wildlife Park or another visitor attraction. Write a letter to the Personnel Manager introduction yourself and informing him or her about what job you would like to do and why. (Sample Paper) 2. Write a letter to your headteacher explaining how to improve your school or college. Remember to:  write a letter  explain the things that would make your school or college better (January 2011) 3. Write a letter to a shop to  inform them about the present you bought from them  explain what went wrong with it. 4. Your local council has asked for suggestions for a new leisure facility for teenagers in your area. Write a letter suggesting an idea and why you think it would be good. 5. Is there an everyday activity which you hate doing? Write an article for a magazine explaining what it is and why you dislike it so much. 6. Imagine you are going to work in a veterinary surgery for work experience. Write a letter to the senior vet introducing yourself and informing him or her about what job you would like to do in the surgery and why.

7. Imagine you are helping to organise an end of year party at your school or college. Write a manager of a local hotel explaining what type of party you want and asking for information about their facilities and prices. 8. You have witnessed a car accident on your way to school caused by a dog running onto the road. The dog was not hurt but the car hit a lamp post and was damaged. You have been asked to write a statement about what you saw by the car owner, to send to the insurance company.

Mark Schemes – Shorter Writing Task A03, i, ii

Mark Band 3 ‘clarity’ ‘success’ 7-10 marks

Skills Communication  writes in a way which shows clarity of thought and communicates with success  engages the reader with more detailed informative and descriptive ideas  clearly states the purpose and intention of writing the letter e.g. by articulating ideas, schemes and plans, intentions  writes a formal letter, the tone of which is appropriately serious and which may show subtlety, begins to employ e.g. emphasis, assertion, reason,  emotive language  uses devices as appropriate  uses words effectively including discursive / informative markers e.g. ‘furthermore…’, ‘another point to make…’ Organisation of Ideas  employs paragraphs effectively in a whole text  begins to use a variety of structural features e.g. different paragraph lengths, dialogue, indented sections if appropriate  presents well thought-out ideas in sentences

Mark Band 2 ‘some’ ‘attempts’ 5 – 8 marks

Communication  communicates ideas with some success  engages the reader by presenting a point of view with some reasoning and persuasive ideas -though links in arguments may be tenuous, e.g. makes  reference to the issue and its implications  shows awareness of the purpose and intention of writing the article e.g. by stating a number of related ideas  register may vary between formal and colloquial or slang, the tone may be unvaried  uses some devices but not always appropriately  uses limited vocabulary but includes argumentative /persuasive markers Organisation of Ideas  uses paragraphs which may enhance meaning  some evidence of structural features, e.g. short paragraphs, dialogue if  appropriate

Mark Band 1 ‘limited’ 1 – 4 marks

Communication  communicates few ideas with limited success  engages the reader in a limited way by reference to one or two ideas, e.g. makes brief reference to the topic which reiterates the question  shows limited awareness of the purpose and intention of writing the article  e.g. by stating simple ideas  register may vary between formal and colloquial or slang, sustaining neither  use of devices such may not be appropriate or effective;  limited vocabulary evident with arbitrary or little use of argumentative



/persuasive markers

Organisation of Ideas  shows evidence of erratic paragraph structure  show limited variety of structural features, e.g. one-sentence  paragraphs, some punctuated dialogue if appropriate

0 marks

nothing worthy of credit

AO3, iii English AO4, iii English Language

Mark Band 3 5-6 marks

Mark Band 2 3-4 marks

Skills      

uses complex grammatical structures and punctuation with success organises writing using sentence demarcation accurately employs a variety of sentence forms to good effect including short sentences shows accuracy in the spelling of words from an ambitious vocabulary uses standard English appropriately



writes with control of agreement, punctuation and sentence construction organises writing using sentence demarcation which is mainly accurate employs a variety of sentence forms shows accuracy in the spelling of words in common use in an increasingly developed vocabulary uses standard English appropriately

    

Mark Band 1



1-2 marks

  

0 marks

writes with some control of agreement, punctuation and sentence construction organises writing using sentence demarcation which is sometimes accurate writes simple and some complex sentences shows accuracy in the spelling of words in common use uses standard English

nothing worthy of credit

Longer Writing Tasks – Writing to Persuade

1. You are going to write an article for your school newspaper persuading your readers that we should help homeless people. The article should be about where there are homeless people who they are and the situation they are in what we should do about it (Sample Paper) 2. Write the text for a leaflet to persuade young people in your area to take part in a sponsored event for charity. The leaflet should be about:  the sponsored event of your choice  which charity the event is for  why young people should support the charity. Remember to:

 

write a leaflet use language and techniques to persuade. (January 2011)

3. Explain why you would or would not like your local town to be a car-free zone. Think about:  The advantages of getting rid of cars  The disadvantages of getting rid of cars  How you feel about cars in your local town  The overall effect of the change on your lifestyle 4. Your Headteacher has asked for suggestions for someone you know to visit the school and talk to your year group. Write a letter to him or her suggesting someone and persuading the Head why this person would be suitable. 5. A tourist magazine has a section called ‘Visit this beach.’ Write an article for it in which you persuade readers to visit a beach you have chosen. You will need to describe the beach and what makes it so great. 6. Explain why you would or would not enjoy having a dog. Consider:  the advantages of having a dog  the disadvantages of having one  how you feel about dogs  the effect of a dog on your lifestyle

Mark Schemes – Longer Writing Tasks AO3, i, ii English AO4, i, ii English Language

Mark Band 3 ‘clear’ ‘success’ 11-16 marks

Skills

Communication  writes in a way which shows clarity of thought and communicates with success  engages the reader with more detailed argument and persuasive ideas, e.g. makes reference to consequences, implications  clearly states the purpose and intention of writing the article e.g. by articulating ideas, concerns, issues  writes a formal article, the tone of which is appropriately serious and which may show subtlety, begins to employ e.g. emphasis, assertion, reason, emotive language  uses devices such as the rhetorical question, lists, hyperbole as appropriate  uses words effectively including argumentative/ persuasive markers e.g. ‘‘Furthermore’, ‘Alternatively’ Organisation of Ideas  employs paragraphs effectively in a whole text  uses a variety of structural features e.g. different paragraph lengths, dialogue, indented sections if appropriate  presents well thought out ideas in sentences

Mark Band 2 ‘some’ 5-10 marks

Communication  communicates ideas with some success  engages the reader by presenting a point of view with some reasoning and persuasive ideas -though links in arguments may be tenuous, e.g. makes reference to the issue and its implications  shows awareness of the purpose and intention of writing the article e.g. by stating a number of related ideas  register may vary between formal and colloquial or slang, the tone may be unvaried  uses some devices such as the rhetorical question, lists, exaggeration but not always appropriately  uses limited vocabulary but includes argumentative /persuasive

markers Organisation of Ideas  uses paragraphs which may enhance meaning  some evidence of structural features, e.g. short paragraphs, dialogue if appropriate

Mark Band 1 ‘limited’ 1-4 marks

Communication  communicates few ideas with limited success  engages the reader in a limited way by reference to one or two ideas, e.g. makes brief reference to the topic which reiterates the question  shows limited awareness of the purpose and intention of writing the article e.g. by stating simple ideas  register may vary between formal and colloquial or slang, sustaining neither  use of devices such as the rhetorical question and lists may not be appropriate or effective;  limited vocabulary evident with arbitrary or little use of argumentative /persuasive markers Organisation of Ideas  shows evidence of erratic paragraph structure  show limited variety of structural features, e.g. one-sentence paragraphs, some punctuated dialogue if appropriate

0 marks

nothing worthy of credit

AO3,iii English AO4,iii English Language

Skills   

Mark Band 3 6-8 marks

  

Mark Band 2



3-5 marks

   

Mark Band 1



0-2 marks

  

0 marks

uses complex grammatical structures and punctuation with success organises writing using sentence demarcation accurately employs a variety of sentence forms to good effect including short sentences shows accuracy in the spelling of words from an ambitious vocabulary; uses standard English appropriately writes with control of agreement, punctuation and sentence construction organises writing using sentence demarcation which is mainly accurate; employs a variety of sentence forms shows accuracy in the spelling of words in common use in an increasingly developed vocabulary uses standard English appropriately writes with some control of agreement, punctuation and sentence construction organises writing using sentence demarcation which is sometimes accurate writes simple and some complex sentences shows accuracy in the spelling of words in common use uses standard English

nothing worthy of credit

Examiner’s Report January 2011

Section B: Writing Question 6 The letter-writing task was generally well handled and candidates responded with enthusiasm. Some had clearly practised writing to inform and were determined to inform, though the task itself asked for explanation. Those who did engage with the required purpose were able to choose two or three key areas for improvement and explain in detail their reasons why. These letters were much more successful and engaging and able to move into Band 3. Less successful were the list like responses which were then very limited with regard to purpose. Most candidates were able to structure the letters in a conventional format, though a surprising number wrote in a rather inappropriate register for their head teacher, with cheery salutations such as ‘Hello’ and ‘Hiya’. Nevertheless, this task was well handled by the majority. One area of concern was that some of the letters were lengthy and bearing in mind the weighting of the writing questions, this may have disadvantaged some candidates from performing as well on the more developed response required for Question 7. Question 7 The charity leaflet task clearly engaged candidates who were well prepared and practised. They wrote engaging and at times emotive texts, employing a whole range of persuasive language features. These were a pleasure to read. Their success was also due to the fact that they chose a specific event such as a Fun Run or a Cycle Ride. Less successful were those who wrote informative, promotional responses for Fetes and Funfairs, which did not closely match the task or the purpose or indeed the audience. Other students relied heavily on the source material and did not respond to the word ‘event’ in the question. Their requests for monthly donations for a specific charity meant that the purpose was addressed but not the task and that the links to audience were tenuous. On a general note, however, it was clear that there was a certain degree of immaturity in many of the responses. Though this is to be expected with a new modular examination, it did seem that most candidates would have benefitted from more teaching of the actual new specification and more experience and expertise in both the comprehension of non fiction texts and their creative production before being required to sit their public examination in the subject.