The following is a general overview of what is the Enriched English as a Second Language (EESL) Ministerial exam and what should be done to prepare for it. The task will be to write a feature article.
A feature article is similar to a news story but it gives writers the possibility to look at an issue or a problem from a specific point of view, also called the angle. As the author, you will have to use this angle and present many sides of it in order to:
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Inform your audience
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Make them reflect on the issue
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Generate emotions by giving a lot of details
Visit the following concept sheets to learn more about:
Stay on this page to learn more about:
There are many things you can do on your own before receiving the official preparation booklet from the Ministry of Education.
Here’s a proposed timeline in multiple steps to help you prepare:
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Step 1 |
Learning basic concepts |
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Step 2 |
Learning about structure elements |
• The headline and secondary headline |
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Step 3 |
Testing Your Knowledge |
• Select a topic of your liking and research more details about it |
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Step 4 |
Adjusting Your Style |
• Choose another topic and research it |
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Step 5 |
The Official Preparation Booklet in May |
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Step 6 |
The EESL Ministerial Exam in June |
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To learn more about the structure of the feature article click here.
To have an example of a feature article click here.
The official preparation booklet will be handed out about a week before the exam. It contains various texts on specific topic.
Start by:
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Reading the texts
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Identifying the common topic covered in them.
This booklet contains a guiding question:
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Annotate the text and use note taking strategies to identify anything that could help answering this question.
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Do not write complete paragraphs when annotating.
The guiding question is not the angle of the feature article. It is simply there to guide your preparation. However, the guiding question can help you anticipate what the prescribed angle will be.
You will receive the official angle on the day of the exam only.
To learn more about the angle, click here. (coming soon)
A few days after receiving the booklet, an audio recording will be played in class. Take out your preparation booklet and:
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listen carefully to the audio while keeping in mind the guiding question to take additional notes in your booklet.
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share your findings and understandings with a small group of friends.
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add more notes in your booklet following the discussion.
You must bring the preparation booklet to the exam. You will receive the writing booklet and final copy booklet on the day of the examination.
You will get the opportunity to listen to the audio recording one last time. Note down anything that you might have missed the first time around.
Remember that the information you've reviewed, your notes, and the audio recording will guide the development of your feature article, based on the angle given in the writing booklet.
You will have 3 hours to write a feature article of approximately 400 words.
Here’s a checklist to make sure everything is present in your feature article:
2 competencies are evaluated:
The criterion is called, “Use of knowledge from texts in a reinvestment task.”
The focus is on your ability to analyze a topic. The difficulty comes from doing it from a prescribed angle. Which means, you have to adapt your overview in order to cover everything that could be relevant to the topic under this angle.
The criteria is called, “Content and formulation of the message.”
The focus is on your ability to formulate your message appropriately using an idiomatic language and appropriate register. Your text must be almost error-free and be easy to follow.