Study Guide
Field 126: Japanese CST
Presentational Writing
Review the IME tutorial video 
and the IME instructions for Japanese 
. 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.
ネット依存を防ぐために、親や学校が子供のスマホやパソコン使用を規制すべきだと思いますか。
In response to the question above and using the passage provided, write in Japanese 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 in the newspaper 『読売新聞』 to complete the assignment that appears on the "Assignment" tab.
ゲームや電子メールなどの使用をやめられなくなる「インターネット依存」の中高生が、約５２万人に上るとの推計が、
厚生労働省 1研究班の調査でまとまった。[. . .]
こうしたネット依存では、約６割が
睡眠障害 に陥 って2いる。深夜ネットに熱中し、昼夜逆転になりがちだからだ。不登校、引きこもりになることもある。[. . .]
食事が不規則になるための栄養失調や、同じ姿勢を長時間とることで血栓ができるエコノミークラス症候群もみられる。依存が強いほど気分の落ち込みも増える。
[. . .]
ネットでは、「人から認められたい」「人とつながりたい」という心理も働くのだろう。
例えば、グループ参加の戦闘系などのゲームは、長く続けるほど上達する。仲間からの称賛や、達成感や
高揚感 3を得たいために、ずるずると身を任せ、抜け出せなくなる例が少なくない。ＬＩＮＥ（ライン）、チャットによる会話では、すぐ返信しないと仲間外れになると思い、画面から目を離せなくなってしまう。
現代では、ネットは仕事や日々の生活に欠かせない通信手段だ。スマホは急激に普及している。それに伴い、ネット依存は今後も増える可能性が大きい。
学校では、パソコンを使った授業の際に、機器の操作法だけでなく、依存の危険性や、スマホとの付き合い方も学ばせるべきだ。
スマホやパソコンを子供に与える際、使用する時間や目的について、親子でルールを決めることも大切と言えよう。
_______________________
1Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare
2suffer from
3excitement
_______________________
The Yomiuri Shimbun. Aug. 21, 2013.
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.
私は親や学校が子どものスマホやパソコン使用を規制するべきだと思います。というのも、ゲームや電子メールなどをやりはじめたら自分ではすぐにやめるのはむずかしいと思うからです。子どもたちにとって一番近い存在である親や学校は、子どもがネット依存になるのを最も効果的に防ぐことができると思います。例えば、毎日の生活の中でネット時間を増やさないようにしたり、目的を決めさせるなどといったことができます。
ゲームやメールをやっていると時間があっという間にたってしまうことがあります。ねる前にちょっとだけ、と思ってやりはじめたのが何時間にもなった、ということは珍しいではありません。だから、ネット依存の子どもたちが睡眠障害や不登校などをおこすのはよくわかります。
ネットのせいでよいこともたくさんあります。いろんな情報をすぐ手に入れられたり、とても簡単に人とのコミュニケーションがとれたりすることです。一方で、ネット依存が心身に与える悪い影響もたくさんあります。子どもたちの中ではラインを使ったイジメも大きな問題です。
スマホは今、どんどん増えていて、ネットを使わないようにすることは無理です。そこで、どう付き合っていくかが大切になってきています。親や学校が子どもたちにネット依存の危険性やネットとのじょうずな付き合い方を教え、それを友だち同士でシェアすることができるようになれば、ネット依存に苦しむ人のいない社会を作っていけるのではないかと思います。
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 an incorrect use of an "i-adjective" in conjugating to the negative present tense (珍しいでは instead of 珍しくは), and an incorrect word choice (せい which is used to deliver negative results, instead of おかげ, which is used to deliver positive results). The use of basic Kanji characters is consistent throughout the response with a few exceptions (むずかしい instead of 難しい, ねる instead of 寝る, and じょうず instead of 上手).
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. |