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General Training
Writing Task 1
General Training Writing
• Task 1 – 20 minutes
• Minimum 150 words
• Letter – Formal/Informal/Semi-formal
• You are given a problem and you must write a letter explaining
a situation and/or requesting information or action.
• You may also have to talk about your needs, wants, like,
dislikes and/or to give opinions.
Key things to remember
• The ’tone’ of the letter must be appropriate (i.e. formal or informal)
• The purpose of the letter must be clear
• You must cover all of the points. Write an equal amount for each.
• The letter must be well-organized, with logically connected ideas.
• Try to use some good vocabulary, and try not to make too many mistakes
Grading Criteria
• Task achievement
• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical resource
• Grammar
Task achievement
Band 6 • presents a response that answers all parts of the question but may
have inaccurate or unfitting details
• Improper tone may also be apparent
Band 7 • will fully address the question and its bullet points.
• there may be some lack of depth in the response, but overall the letter
can be labeled ‘complete’.
Band 8 • write letters that explain with much greater depth the details of their
circumstances
• All areas communicate fluently and give the reader a complete
understanding of the writer’s purpose.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 6 • the message that the student wishes to convey is apparent, but their use of
cohesive devices may be awkward or sound robotic or unnatural.
• Clarity may be an issue at times, and the examiner may need to reread
sentences to understand what the student is trying to say.

Band 7 • students will display effective use of several cohesive devices although there
may be some slight awkwardness at times (due to poor word choices,
grammatical - not present at the band 6 level.

Band 8 • Students show almost no error in their ability to assemble, organize and
present logical thoughts.
• Their writing reads almost seamlessly
Lexical Resources
Band 6 • Inappropriate word choice
• Mistakes are common

Band 7 • A wider understanding of more specialized vocabulary than Band 6

• Make fewer mistakes among the prefix and suffix structures
• Minor wording errors may be present but they do not detract from the
reader’s understanding of the written text.

Band 8 • Writing are next to flawless in their word choices and word structure.
• Rare issues that do arise typically affect only very minor word types,
such as prepositions
Grammar
Band 6 • Grammatically accurate sentences less than 50% of the time

Band 7 • Grammatically accurate sentences at least 50% of the time

• grammatical issues that band 7 students have are not so severe as to
detract the reader’s understanding of the written text.

Band 8 • Grammatically accurate sentences almost all of the time

• Their sentence structures do not need to be overly complicated, but
they do need to read fluently and use appropriate transition phrases
with grammatical accuracy
Understanding the question
You have tickets for a sports event but won’t Background info
be able to attend.
Write a letter to a friend offering them the
tickets. In your letter, include: Instruction
- How you got the tickets
- Why you can’t attend
Letter details
- Why you think your friend will enjoy the
event
Question Types
1. A letter of request

You are working for a company. You need to take some time off work and want to ask
your manager about this.
Write a letter to your manager. In your letter
• Explain why you want to take time off work
• Give details of the amount of time you need
• Suggest how your work could be covered while you are away
Question Types
2. A letter of condolence

A pet belonging to a friend of yours recently passed away.

Write a letter to console your friend. In your letter include:
• your condolences
• what kind of animal it was
• something you think will raise your friend’s spirits
Question Types
3. A letter of appreciation

You were recently impressed by a staff member at a store.

Write a letter describing your appreciation. In your letter include:
• what the situation was
• how you were helped
• what you are going to do as a result of this good experience
Question Types
4. A letter of advice, feedback or suggestion

Write a letter to your local library suggesting something they could do to improve
their facility. In your letter include:
• a recount of a poor experience you had
• what you feel the library should change
• why you feel the library needs alteration
Question Types
5. A letter of apology

You were absent from an important event held by the company you work for.
Write a letter to apologize for this absence. Your letter should include:
• What the event was
• Why the event was important
• Why you were absent
Question Types
6. A letter of complaint

You have recently bought a piece of equipment for your kitchen but it did not work.
You phoned the shop but no action was taken.
Write a letter to the shop manager. In your letter
• Describe the problem with the equipment
• Explain what happened when you phoned the shop
• Say what you would like the manager to do.
Structure of the letter
1. Greeting
2. The statement of purpose
3. The situational details
4. Conclusion
5. The farewell
Structure of the letter
1. Greeting
This part will be given to you on the question paper.
Example- To whom it may concern,
Dear Sir or Madam…
You should start your letter with the salutation.

2. The statement of purpose

• Why you are writing this letter?
• Rewrite the background info and instruction.
• 1 to 2 sentences long
Structure of the letter
3. The situational details
• Expand letter details
• 3 to 4 sentences

4. Conclusion
• What you expect of this letter
• The outcome and action
• 3 to 4 sentences

5. The farewell
Close your letter.
• Example- Gratefully yours, Best wishes, Regards,
Greeting Dear Sir/Madam,
The statement of I am a third year history student and am writing to you regarding a problem I
purpose regularly encounter when I visit the assignment submission desk in the Lorne
Building.
Although the Lorne Building is a beautiful and historical campus landmark, it
does not provide access to disabled students. As the assignment submission desk
The situational is on the ninth floor of the building, my classmate, who is in a wheelchair, is
details unable to access it. This means that when- ever he wishes to hand in an
assignment, he must request a classmate do it for him. This, as I am sure you can
understand, is both tedious and embarrassing for him.
My friend is much too proud to contact you directly, so I am writing on his behalf.
I am access college resources as conveniently as everyone else. Perhaps this
Conclusion
could best be requesting that you promptly alter this building in a manner that
allows disabled students to accomplished through the installation of an elevator.

I look forward to hearing back from you soon, Ryan

The farewell
Things to avoid in writing Task 1 letters

• The main purpose of the letter isn't clear.

• You didn't cover all of the points.
• You wrote too much about one point, and neglected the others.
• You didn't separate your paragraphs clearly.
• You didn't get the 'tone' right (formal or informal).
• The letter doesn't 'flow' well because ideas are badly organized.