Study Guide
Field 120: Cantonese CST
Presentational Writing
Review the IME tutorial video 
and the IME instructions for Cantonese 
. The IME instruction document will be available to you during the actual test.
Directions for Presentational Writing Assignment
For the Presentational Writing section of the test, you will write an essay in the target language in response to an assignment.
Read the assignment carefully before you begin to write. Think about how you will organize your essay. You should use your time to plan, write, review, and edit your essay. Your final essay must be typed in the on-screen response box presented with the assignment.
For this assignment, you will type your response in the target language using Input Method Editor (IME) technology. You may access specific instructions for IME use by selecting the
button above the response box. Note that because the default input language is set as English, you will need to select the target language before you begin typing by clicking on the
arrow in the language selection box at the top left corner of the screen.
Your response will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- APPROPRIATENESS: The extent to which the response is an essay written in the candidate's own words, demonstrates engagement with the provided passage, establishes a position on the issue presented in the question, and uses language, style, and sociocultural conventions appropriate for the assignment (task, context, and specified audience)
- SUPPORT: The extent to which the response supports the established position with information (appropriately cited details, quotations, and paraphrases) from the provided passage and the candidate's own ideas or examples
- ORGANIZATION: The extent to which the response is a well-organized and coherent essay that communicates clear ideas, develops a logical conclusion, and uses cohesive devices to connect sentences
- GRAMMAR: The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames, sentence structures, and mechanics (i.e., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and diacritical marks)
- VOCABULARY: The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate vocabulary and academic and idiomatic language
Your response will be evaluated on the criteria above, not on the position you take. Your response must be written in your own words. With the exception of appropriately identified quotations and paraphrases from the passage, your writing must be your own.
You may use the erasable notebooklet provided to take notes; however, you will be scored only on the response that you type in the response box for the assignment.
Select the Next button to continue.
Sample Presentational Writing Assignment
Competency 0003
Presentational Writing
Use the passage that appears on the "Passage" tab to complete the assignment below.
对你来说，准备留学的最好方案是什么？
對你來說，準備留學的最好方案是什麼？
In response to the question above and using the passage provided, write in Chinese (simplified or traditional characters) a well-organized and coherent essay for an audience of educated adults. In your essay, you must:
- state your position on the issue presented in the question;
- support your position by:
- citing relevant details from the passage, and
- providing your own relevant ideas or examples; and
- develop a conclusion that follows from and supports the ideas presented in your essay.
Your response must be written in your own words. With the exception of appropriately identified quotations and paraphrases from the passage, your writing must be your own.
Use the passage below from an article published on the Web site 《雅虎香港》 to complete the assignment that appears on the "Assignment" tab.
[Simplified]
出国留学备战攻略
首届中学文凭试 (DSE1) 放榜后，不少对升读大学未有太大信心的考生，在等待联招结果公布之余，亦会积极考虑海外留学这条升学出路。现时全球已有超过130间高等院校欢迎香港学生以DSE考试成绩申请入学，有意到海外升学的考生，应先了解策划海外升学大计必须留意的事项，并与家人详细商讨，便能够事半功倍。
香港辅导教师协会主席何玉芬（Esther）认为，海外升学对考生及家人来说，都是一个重大的决定，特别是海外升学涉及学费及住宿费等开支，对不少家庭来说都是一项较为吃力的负担。「因此我建议有意留学的考生，先与家人详细商讨，了解家长的负担能力，与家人达成共识后才再作部署。」
[Traditional]
出國留學備戰攻略
首屆中學文憑試 (DSE1) 放榜後，不少對升讀大學未有太大信心的考生，在等待聯招結果公布之餘，亦會積極考慮海外留學這條升學出路。現時全球已有超過130間高等院校歡迎香港學生以DSE考試成績申請入學，有意到海外升學的考生，應先了解策劃海外升學大計必須留意的事項，並與家人詳細商討，便能夠事半功倍。
香港輔導教師協會主席何玉芬（Esther）認為，海外升學對考生及家人來說，都是一個重大的決定，特別是海外升學涉及學費及住宿費等開支，對不少家庭來說都是一項較為吃力的負擔。「因此我建議有意留學的考生，先與家人詳細商討，了解家長的負擔能力，與家人達成共識後才再作部署。」
_______________________
1DSE: Diploma of Secondary Education
_______________________
Excerpt from the Yahoo Hong Kong New article entitled "出國留學備戰攻略" Reprinted with permission from Yahoo. 2015 Yahoo. YAHOO! and the YAHOO! logo are trademarks of Yahoo.
Sample Strong Response to Presentational Writing Assignment
Note: The sample strong response for the presentational writing assignment is an example of a response that a candidate might write. While the sample response demonstrates effective presentational writing skills, it could contain typical errors that candidates may produce in composing an essay in the target language. Please see the rationale following the response (coming soon) for more details.
[Simplified]
有很多对在本地升学没有太大信心的考生，往往都有申请出国留学的念头。本人觉得出国留学未尝不是一个好主意，但是想出国留学的学生首先要慎重考虑自己的经济条件是否能够承担得起这笔巨大的开支。不要只为随着潮流而出国留学，也不要因为无法在国内升学而冲动的申请到外国留学。因为出国留学除了费用昂贵以外，还要考虑语言不通的问题。
打算出国留学的学生要考虑的事甚多。在自己或者家里的经济条件不允许的情况下，最好看看是否能够申请到奖学金来资助留学的学费，住宿费，以及生活费。或许可以考虑在留学期间，在学校附近打工，帮补一下。
除此之外，还要考虑到出国留学的目的，要选修什么专业会有更多机会能帮助你回国以后找工作，可以让你受益匪浅。如果学到一枝之长，回国能给你带来不错的回报，花费多一点也是值得的。正如香港辅导教师协会主席何玉芬所认为，“海外升学对考生及家人来说都是一项较为吃力的负担，建议考生先与家人详细商讨”。
由此可见，出国留学一定要从长计议，好好规划自己出国的方案，否则得不偿失。
[Traditional]
有很多對在本地升學沒有太大信心的考生，往往都有申請出國留學的念頭。本人覺得出國留學未嘗不是一個好主意，但是想出國留學的學生首先要慎重考慮自己的經濟條件是否能夠承擔得起這筆巨大的開支。不要只為隨著潮流而出國留學，也不要因為無法在國內升學而衝動的申請到外國留學。因為出國留學除了費用昂貴以外，還要考慮語言不通的問題。
打算出國留學的學生要考慮的事甚多。在自己或者家裡的經濟條件不允許的情況下，最好看看是否能夠申請到獎學金來資助留學的學費，住宿費，以及生活費。或許可以考慮在留學期間，在學校附近打工，幫補一下。
除此之外，還要考慮到出國留學的目的，要選修什麼專業會有更多機會能幫助你回國以後找工作，可以讓你受益匪淺。如果學到一枝之長，回國能給你帶來不錯的回報，花費多一點也是值得的。正如香港輔導教師協會主席何玉芬所認為，“海外升學對考生及家人來說都是一項較為吃力的負擔，建議考生先與家人詳細商討”。
由此可見，出國留學一定要從長計議，好好規劃自己出國的方案，否則得不償失。
Rationale for Sample Strong Response to Presentational Writing Assignment
The response is a largely coherent essay that communicates clear ideas and develops a conclusion. The candidate establishes a clear position on the issue presented in the question and largely supports the established position with relevant information from the passage, as well as his or her own relevant ideas and examples. Overall, the response demonstrates a good level of engagement with the passage.
The essay is largely written in the candidate's own words and uses a range of vocabulary and idiomatic language, as well as a style and sociocultural conventions appropriate for the assignment. Ideas are expressed and connected through the use of a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames, sentence structures, mechanics, and cohesive devices. Errors are minor and do not interfere with comprehensibility. Examples of such errors include the incorrect use of the "de" particle in the first paragraph. The particle 的 was used, which should be used before a noun, instead of the appropriate particle 地, which should have been used before the verb 申请 (to apply). In the third paragraph, there is a character error in the idiomatic expression 一枝之长 / 一枝之長, which, in the context of the response, should be 一技能之长 / 一技能之長. The expression should mean "one skill you excel in" or "one skill you are good at." The character 技 (branch) was used instead of the characters 技能 (skill).
Performance Characteristics for Presentational Writing Assignment
The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the Presentational Writing assignment.
| APPROPRIATENESS | The extent to which the response is an essay written in the candidate's own words, demonstrates engagement with the provided passage, establishes a position on the issue presented in the question, and uses language, style, and sociocultural conventions appropriate for the assignment (task, context, and specified audience) |
|---|---|
| SUPPORT | The extent to which the response supports the established position with information (appropriately cited details, quotations, and paraphrases) from the provided passage and the candidate's own ideas or examples |
| ORGANIZATION | The extent to which the response is a well-organized and coherent essay that communicates clear ideas, develops a logical conclusion, and uses cohesive devices to connect sentences |
| GRAMMAR | The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate grammatical constructions, time frames, sentence structures, and mechanics (i.e., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and diacritical marks) |
| VOCABULARY | The extent to which the response uses a range of appropriate vocabulary and academic and idiomatic language |
Score Scale for Presentational Writing Assignment
A score will be assigned to the response to the Presentational Writing assignment according to the following score scale.
| Score Point | Score Point Description |
|---|---|
| 4 | The "4" response demonstrates effective presentational writing skills. |
| 3 | The "3" response demonstrates generally effective presentational writing skills. |
| 2 | The "2" response demonstrates partially effective presentational writing skills. |
| 1 | The "1" response demonstrates ineffective presentational writing skills. |
| U | The response is unscorable because it is merely a repetition of the assignment, not related to the assignment, not primarily in the target language, or not of sufficient length to score. |
| B | There is no response to the assignment. |