Review
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Language A · 4EA1
Component 1 | Section B: Transactional Writing
Description, evaluation and recommendation in one piece — and the marks are in the evaluation, which is what most reviews leave out.
Specification coverage
Component 1, Section B — Transactional Writing. The specification names six transactional text types, and this is one of them.
Assessment objectives: AO4, AO5. Suggested learning time: 60 minutes.
Required knowledge
- Section B is worth 45 marks — half of Component 1 and 30% of the qualification
- The task gives a specified audience, form or purpose, and all three are assessed
- AO4 rewards communication and the adaptation of form, tone and register; AO5 rewards vocabulary, sentence structures, paragraphing and technical accuracy
- Conventions of this form: Enough description for a reader who has not experienced the subject
Required skills
- Adapt form, tone and register to a specified audience and purpose
- Plan a structure before writing
- Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures with accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation
How it is examined
- One 45-mark writing task from a choice of two
Common mistakes
- Summarising the plot or the event for most of the piece.
- Praising everything, which makes the review worthless as a recommendation.
- Never stating who would enjoy it, which is the review's actual purpose.
- Running out of time and finishing mid-argument, which damages AO4 badly.