The document summarizes information about the upcoming MELS exam for Secondary 4 students, including: 1) The exam will evaluate competencies 1 (oral interaction) and 3 (writing skills). Competency 2 will include evaluations from previous assignments. 2) The oral exam will take place in May and the writing exam is scheduled for June 5th from 9-11am. 3) The writing exam will require students to write an opinion text of at least 225 words on a given topic. The text should include an introduction, arguments supported by facts/details, and a conclusion.

1. SEC.5 - MELS EXAM
Secondary 4-Enriched English

2. The competencies
• The MELS exam evaluates competencies 1
and 3 (Interacting orally in English and
Writing and producing texts.)
• Competency 2 (reinvesting understanding of
texts) will comprise of some of the
evaluations you completed for Much Ado
About Nothing and most of the evaluations
you completed for Of Mice and Men.

3. The dates
• The C1 evaluation takes place at the
end of May. You will be pulled out of
class, in teams of four, and you will
have to discuss a given topic.
• The C3 evaluation takes place on June
5th, 2013 from 9:00-11:00 (2 hours)

4. The preparation
• You will get a preparation booklet, a
few days before the oral evaluation. It
will contain texts and questions that
will help you prepare for the exam.
• This booklet must be filled out but it
will not be evaluated.

5. The speaking evaluation

6. The written production
• Your written production will be an
opinion text.
• The MELS requests a word-count of 225
words.
• You may produce a longer text but any
text shorter than the minimum word-
count of 225 is an automatic fail.

7. The opinion text – the structure
The introduction:
Starts with a general statement to bring up the topic.
States the problematic situation.
States the writer’s opinion (thesis statement).
States the aspects on which the writer will base his/her
arguments. – OPTIONAL IN A SHORTER TEXT
The body:
Each argument must be supported by facts and/or details (based on the
articles in the preparation booklet OR based on other RELEVANT facts or
examples), reasons, arguments, examples and personal experience.
The body should have one or two paragraphs (one per argument)
depending on length of text.
The conclusion:
In the conclusion, the writer should sum up his/her main reasons for
his/her opinion.
The writer can also finish with one last argument to strengthen his/her
point. This last argument does not need to be supported like in the body
of the text (the argument should be strong enough to stand on its own).

8. The written production – Opinion text

9. The practice
Read the following article:

10. The practice
• In pairs, write a strong introduction paragraph on the
following topic:
Based on recent young drivers statistics, should the
government impose an 11 o’clock driving curfew for
drivers aged 16 to 24?

11. The practice
• Finish the text individually (body and conclusion).
Based on recent young drivers statistics, should the
government impose an 11 o’clock driving curfew for
drivers aged 16 to 24?