Exam skills: Video playlist

In one of your English language exams, you’ll be tasked with writing a piece of non fiction. This might be a letter, a report, a speech, or an article. There are four main elements you should think about when creating a piece of non fiction - focus, content, structure, and language. Let’s take a look at an example question you might get in an exam:
“Young people deserve meals that are nutritious, tasty, and affordable. Schools should be providing better lunches, not wasting money on school trips.” Write a letter to the head teacher expressing your opinion on where extra funding for the school should go."

So let’s go back to our four elements and take a look at the first one. Focus means your main and most important opinion on the topic. Who is the audience or reader the text is aimed at? This will influence the language you use. What form of text do you need to write? A letter is structured differently to a speech or an article. And what is the purpose of the text? Are you trying to persuade, entertain, or inform your audience? In this case, the form is a letter. Your audience is your head teacher, and the purpose is to explain your opinion on the statement.

Next, you need to think about the content that you can use in the letter. What is your view on the topic? Why would you prefer more money to be spent on school meals or sports clubs? What do your friends and classmates think about any facts or statistics you may know that might help support your point? Once you have collected all these ideas, you need to think about the structure. An introduction should outline your opinion on the topic and explain to the audience why you are writing. The middle part of the text needs to make clear and interesting points about the topic, exploring the ideas you’ve had in more detail, arguing for your point of view.

And finally, the conclusion should summarise your opinion in a clear and powerful way, leaving your audience convinced, entertained, or informed as the purpose of the text intended. The language you use has an effect on your reader or audience, so you should tailor your language to suit them. For example, personnel experiences and humour can engage the audience. Persuasive devices such as rhetorical questions can help persuade the audience to agree with your point of view. You will also be marked on accurate spelling and using a variety of punctuation.

So, in summary, the key elements to think about are focus, content, structure, and language.