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DEMONSTRATION ONLY: This demonstration presents an abbreviated version of the complete MTEL course. Click 'Next' at the bottom of the screen or make a selection from the links on the left to begin. Not all links are available for the demo.
0012 Demonstrate the Ability to Prepare a Well-organized and Focused Piece of Writing for a Given Purpose and Audience, Using Standard English Conventions
The Composition Exercise section of the Writing subtest also requires you to write an essay in addition to responding to short-answer items and writing a summary. You are asked to prepare a multiple-paragraph composition of approximately 300 to 600 words on an assigned topic.
Your composition should effectively communicate a whole message to the specified audience for the stated purpose. You will be assessed on your ability to express, organize, and support opinions and ideas. You will not be assessed on the position you express.
Since you have a total of four hours to complete both the Reading and Writing sections of the MTEL, you should allocate approximately 1-2 hours to complete the task of writing your essay. This is a guideline, however, and each writer should allocate his time accordingly depending on his strengths or weaknesses.
Graders will evaluate essays based on the following criteria:
| Appropriateness: |
The extent to which the candidate addresses the topic and uses language and style appropriate to the given audience, purpose, and occasion. |
Mechanical Conventions: |
The extent to which words are spelled correctly and the response follows the conventions of punctuation and capitalization. |
Usage: |
The extent to which the writing shows care and precision in word choice and is free of usage errors. |
Sentence Structure: |
The effectiveness of the sentence structure and the extent to which the sentences are free of structural errors. |
| Focus and Unity: |
The clarity with which the response states and maintains focus on the main idea or point of view. |
| Organization: |
The clarity of the writing and the logical sequence of ideas. |
| Development: |
The extent to which the response provides statements of appropriate depth, specificity, and/or accuracy. |
The final version of your composition should conform to the conventions of edited American English, should be written legibly, and should be your own original work.
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