Text version of Structure and Language Note image
Structure and Language Notes
Use these notes when scoring writing against the categories for structure and language. The notes provide guidance on structural and language features that you might look for in the writing. They are not intended as a definitive list: other features may be used effectively to support the overall purpose of recounting an event.
Prompts: • Whanau and family time • Time with friends • What I did well
Purpose To recount
.. a personal event
Structural features
- Orientation — an opening statement/s that introduces the context: the participants (who), the event/place (what) and when it took place (when)
- Body — a sequence of events
- Personal comment or reflection (e.g., 'I had a great day)
Language features
- Action verbs (climbed, played, swam)
- Past tense
- Connectives showing time sequence (first, then, next)
- Nouns related to the event-specific people, places and happenings1
- Descriptive or emotive terms
- Use of first-person pronouns (I, we)
1Look for the presence of appropriate vocabulary only. The quality/precision of word choice is assessed separately in the vocabulary aspect.