Study Guide
Field 127: Mandarin CST
Presentational Writing
Review the IME tutorial video 
and the IME instructions for Mandarin 
. 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.
你认为胡同应该被拆掉盖高楼还是应该作为文物保留下来？
你認為胡同應該被拆掉蓋高樓還是應該作為文物保留下來？
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 《释文解字》 to complete the assignment that appears on the "Assignment" tab.
[Simplified]
有了四合院儿，才有了胡同。有了胡同，北京的每一部份才是活的。这些年来，人们对老北京文化有了更多认识。[…]
有人说为了老北京的风土人情，胡同不能再动了。可是反对的人说，人多地少，平面化的四合院儿用地多，市里地价过高就是这个原因。还有人认为，现在说什么也没用了。 如果几十年前把老北京当成一个文物，就没有现在这些事儿了。我想问的是，你们说的是真的么？有可能实现么？
去年，有人通过对比一九四九年的地图，发现五十多年来，市里大部份的胡同没了，百分之八十的四合院儿没了。从元代有胡同到现在，七百多年过去了。 胡同，还有多少个明天？
[Traditional]
有了四合院兒，才有了胡同。有了胡同，北京的每一部份才是活的。這些年來，人們對老北京文化有了更多認識。 […]
有人說為了老北京的風土人情，胡同不能再動了。可是反對的人說，人多地少，平面化的四合院兒用地多，市里地價過高就是這個原因。還有人認為，現在說什麼也沒用了。 如果幾十年前把老北京當成一個文物，就沒有現在這些事兒了。我想問的是，你們說的是真的麼？有可能實現麼？
去年，有人通過對比一九四九年的地圖，發現五十多年來，市里大部份的胡同沒了，百分之八十的四合院兒沒了。從元代有胡同到現在，七百多年過去了。胡同，還有多少個明天？
_______________________
Hsu, Joanna. "Beijing's Disappearing Neighborhoods" (1.1 / 370) Chinese Voices Project. http://clavisinica.com/voices.html. Copyright Clavis Sinica.
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]
北京的建设又要体现出现代化发展的一面， 规划出符合发展建设拥有高楼大厦的新城区，又要保留属于这座城市原有的风貌文化。 我觉得保留并完善老北京旧城区的四合院和胡同更为重要。
胡同从元代开始到现在已经有七百多年的历史了。可是现有的四合院和胡同已经不多了，它们已经成为文物了。“有人通过和一九四九年的地图比，发现五十多年来，市里大部份的胡同没了，百分之八十的四合院儿没了。”去过北京的人都知道北京并不缺高楼大厦，北京的楼再盖也不会成为世界上独一无二的城市；而北京的胡同，北京的四合院，却是世界上独一无二的。我们为什么要为了追随“潮流”而放弃手中已有的无价之宝呢？
比如文章中所说的“有了四合院，才有了胡同。有了胡同，北京的每一部分才是活的。”胡同的存在是北京的精神，它的去留不仅是文物保护的问题，也不是房地产开发的问题， 而是一个文明的问题， 因此我们应该向有关部门呼吁传统的四合院和胡同不能再拆下去了，要让它们继续留在那些现代化高楼之间， 因为就是这些四合院和胡同承载了北京人对家的浓浓眷恋，成为古老的北京具有永恒魅力的标志。
[Traditional]
北京的建設又要體現出現代化發展的一面， 規劃出符合發展建設擁有高樓大廈的新城區，又要保留屬於這座城市原有的風貌文化。 我覺得保留並完善老北京舊城區的四合院和胡同更為重要。
胡同從元代開始到現在已經有七百多年的歷史了。可是現有的四合院和胡同已經不多了，它們已經成為文物了。“有人通過和一九四九年的地圖比，發現五十多年來，市里大部份的胡同沒了，百分之八十的四合院兒沒了。”去過北京的人都知道北京並不缺高樓大廈，北京的樓再蓋也不會成為世界上獨一無二的城市；而北京的胡同，北京的四合院，卻是世界上獨一無二的。我們為什麼要為了追隨“潮流”而放棄手中已有的無價之寶呢？
比如文章中所說的“有了四合院，才有了胡同。有了胡同，北京的每一部分才是活的。”胡同的存在是北京的精神，它的去留不僅是文物保護的問題，也不是房地產開發的問題， 而是一個文明的問題， 因此我們應該向有關部門呼籲傳統的四合院和胡同不能再拆下去了，要讓它們繼續留在那些現代化高樓之間， 因為就是這些四合院和胡同承載了北京人對家的濃濃眷戀，成為古老的北京具有永恆魅力的標誌。
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 又...又 (both...and) instead of the more appropriate conjunctions 既...也, the use of a colloquial expression 觉得 / 覺得 (believe/feel) instead of the appropriate written form 认为 / 認為, a vocabulary error 和...比 (to compare) instead of 对比 / 對比 (to contrast), and the incorrect choice of expression 比如 (for example) instead of the more appropriate 正如 (just like).
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. |