Study Guide

Field 126: Japanese CST
Presentational Writing

Review the IME tutorial video and the IME instructions for Japanese PDF document. 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 IME Help 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 down arrow in the language selection box at the top left corner of the screen.

Your response will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

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
tabs that read assignment and passage

Use the passage that appears on the "Passage" tab to complete the assignment below.

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:

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.

tabs that read assignment and passage

Use the passage below from an article published in the newspaper to complete the assignment that appears on the "Assignment" tab.

[. . .]

[. . .]

[. . .]

_______________________

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.

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 ( instead of ), and an incorrect word choice ( which is used to deliver negative results, instead of , which is used to deliver positive results). The use of basic Kanji characters is consistent throughout the response with a few exceptions ( instead of , instead of , and instead of ).

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.