Exam skills: Video playlist

In your English language exams, you’ll be asked to evaluate or write a non fiction text. Non fiction is writing that is based on real life events and consists of factual information and opinions about them. There are many different types of nonfiction texts. In this video. We’ll look at articles, speeches, and letters. Different types of nonfiction texts have distinct rules around how they should be written. An article is usually found in a magazine, in a newspaper or online. They often give a balanced factual account of a topic, or they sometimes give an opinion about a particular point of view or idea. The language choices a writer makes will be influenced by the purpose of the article, and the audience who will read it. For an informative news article or sports report, you may want to use direct factual language. For an opinion piece such as a travel article or review, you could use more descriptive or emotive language to affect the reader. The structure of an article will usually feature a memorable headline that sums up the topic or opinion of the article, an engaging opening that outlines the main point of the article, a detailed middle section that explores the topic in more detail and a conclusion that summarises the writer’s purpose. Now let’s take a look at a speech. A speech is written to be communicated verbally to an audience, often to persuade them towards a particular point of view. The language used in a speech can be persuasive, humorous, or personal, and will often address the audience directly by using the pronoun you. Structurally, they usually have an engaging and motivational opening that is followed by an argument or opinion that could include opposite viewpoints. They usually end with a memorable conclusion that sums up the main purpose of the speech. A letter is another type of non fiction text. It is usually used to communicate with an individual reader. Letters have a well-established structural form. The language used will be standard English, but the tone of the language will depend on the purpose of the letter. Most letters start with ‘Dear followed by the name of the recipient you’re writing to. The opening paragraph will outline the purpose of the letter and the conclusion will summarise the main points or make any requests the writer may have. A letter is usually ended with ‘Your sincerely’ if you know the name of the person you’re writing to and ‘Yours faithfully’ if you don’t.