The document provides information about the two sections for the GCE O Level English Language exam - Directed Writing and Creative Writing. For Directed Writing, candidates will have 30-45 minutes to write 200-300 words responding to a compulsory writing task. They will be assessed on task fulfillment and language. For Creative Writing, candidates will have 45 minutes to 1 hour to write 350-500 words responding to one of five topics. They will be assessed on language and content. Both sections provide guidance on essay structure, language usage, and marking schemes.

1. GCE’ O Level
1123 ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2. Writing (Paper 1)
 Section 1
Directed Writing
 Section 2
Creative writing

3. Section 1
Directed writing

4. Directed writing
 Marks: 30
 Word Limit: 200- 300 words
 Time: 30- 45 min

5. Recap
 Section 1:
 Directed Writing (30 marks)
 Candidates are presented with one compulsory writing
task.
 Candidates write a response of 200–300 words.

6. Directed Writing
Types :
 Letters (formal & informal)
 Reports (informative, investigative)
 Accounts
 News report
 Magazine Articles
 Speeches (Persuasive & Informative)

7. Directed Writing
 Only one situation is set.
 Read the question carefully.
 Do not ignore any details and do not change
important facts in the situation.
 Elaborate all the content points provided as
each point is of 5 marks.

8. Directed Writing

9. Directed Writing
Your class has decided to celebrate the end of the school year
by visiting a place of interest. You are the class prefect. Your
teacher has asked you to write a letter to the parents of your
classmates to explain your plans.
Write your letter. You must include the following:
• when and where you are going and details of your travel
arrangements
• why your class has chosen this place and what you will do
there •
how the students in your class will benefit from the trip
Cover all three points above in detail. You should make sure
your letter is polite and informative. Start your letter ‘Dear
Parents,’ and remember to add an appropriate ending.
d of to explain your plans
Part 1 (Situation)
Part 2(Instructions)
Part 3 (Content
points)
Part 4( Suggestions)

10. Directed Writing
Consider the following questions:
1.Audience (Who am I writing for?)
public, principal, teacher, friend, company manager, town
council, police etc
2.Purpose (Why am I writing this?)
to explain, inform. instruct, convince and persuade, sell, give
an account of something I witnessed, to complain about
something, etc
3.Format (How is this piece to be written?)
report, letter, account, article. statement, review. speech etc
4.Language (What is the tone I should use?)
formal, informal, persuasive, suggestive, informative,
argumentative etc

11. Directed Writing
 Five paragraphs .
Introduction (reiterate the situation)
Body (elaborate the three content
points in
separate paragraphs)
Conclusion

12. Graphic organizer 5 paragraphs

13. Graphic organizer-5 paragraph

14. Five -paragraphs

15. Directed Writing
 Students should collect and read the
 samples of each type of function writing.
 Gather helpful phrases (opening and closing
phrases; starting of new paragraphs etc.).
 Practice such type of writing.
 Create your own situational writing questions.

16. Formal Letter
Helpful Phrases
Type of Letters Opening Closing
Complaint I am a resident of the
Bilal Town and I am
writing to complain
about...
I seriously hope that
you would look into the
complaints that I have
raised and remedy the
situation as soon as
possible.
Thank you.
Invitation On behalf of the school,
we would like to invite
you to our Annual
Speech and Prize
Giving Day to be held
on March 15th in the
school hall.
We sincerely hope that
you will accept our
invitation and we look
forward to your
presence on that day.
Thank you.

17. Marking Scheme
 Marks: 30
Task Fulfillment (Use Band Descriptor): 15 marks
Language (Use Band Descriptor) : 15 marks
 TF mark first at the end of the essay, then
language marks e.g. 10 + 12 = 22/ 30
 Candidates who address only two points must be
in Band 3 or below for TF.

20. Language
 Variety of Sentence Structures
 Appropriate /Correct Tenses
 Wide Vocabulary (no dead words ..avoid repetition)
 Accurate Punctuation
 Correct Spellings
 Linked Paragraphs (use connectors /conjunctions) etc

21. Task fulfillment
 A clear understanding of the ,purpose ,situation and
audience.
 Inclusion and elaboration of three content points
 Appropriate/correct format
 Suitable tone and register
 Apt beginning and ending
 Given information used to justify personal opinion

22. Section 2
Creative writing

23. Creative writing
 Marks: 30
 Word Limit: 350- 500words
 Time: 45min – 1 hour

24. Creative writing
 Types of Essay
Descriptive
Narrative
Argumentative
Discursive
Abstract / one word / themeless
Personal Opinion

25. Creative Writing
 Five topics are set.
 Candidates will choose any one of the five topics.
 They should read the questions carefully and
choose the topic which gives them the best chance
of writing an essay of the required length.
 It is advisable to make a plan.
 Planning or any rough work should be crossed out
with a pencil.

26. Creative writing
 Minimum 6 and maximum 10 paragraphs should be
formed.
 Introduction: The essay must have a good beginning
to capture the attention of the reader.
 Body: The middle section of the essay should convey
the main steps in the story or the details of the
description or the main points of the argument.

27. Creative writing
 Conclusion: Finally, the essay should have a strong
ending. It may provide the conclusion to an argument,
or it may move to the general view after some precise
description of details, or it may provide the climax or
round off a story.
 Use transitions to connect the points and paragraphs.

28. Marking Scheme
 The 'best fit' principle is applied, as in the following
table.
 Emphasis is on quality of Language; comments on
Content used to adjust mark within 8 Bands.

29. Creative writing

30. Language
 Variety of Sentence Structures
 Appropriate Tenses
 Wide Vocabulary
 Accurate Punctuation
 Correct Spellings
 Linked Paragraphs

31. Content Compositions should be interesting and consistently
relevant to the theme.
 Discursive and argumentative essays are well
developed, logical, based on facts and figures.
 Descriptive essays have well-developed imagery
(mental picture).
 Narratives are complex, sophisticated and may
contain devices such as flashbacks.

32. Reference:
www.cie.org.uk