5 Key Elements for Scoring High in PTE-A Writing Test

The PTE Academic exam tests a candidate’s communication skills for academic purposes. The skills include reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This article will cover important information on Boosting your Overall PTE Exam Score by enhancing your writing skills.

Candidates often find the writing section of the PTE-A Writing Test challenging, as it demands a comprehensive skill-set to write a well-formed structure.

A well-written essay has five key elements that make it engaging for the readers: Vocabulary, cohesion, coherence, connectors, and written discourse.

But, before we discuss these elements in detail, let us see the tasks that contribute to the PTE Writing Score.

The Following Tasks Assess Your Writing Skills in the PTE Exam

Summarise Written Text:

It is the first part of the writing module. Candidates will be given 1 to 3 paragraphs to summarise, and they will have 10 minutes to write a summary. Note that you have to summarise the text in one sentence only.

Essay:

You will write one or more essays on a given topic in PTE-A Writing Test. You have to write an essay explaining using a variety of sentence structures, grammar, and rich vocabulary.

Summarise Spoken Text:

This is an essential task in listening and writing sections. An audio recording will be played, and you have to summarise the information played in the audio in your own words. However, unlike summarising written text, you can write more than one sentence to summarise the information.

Now, we will see how the appropriate use of the above vital elements can improve your PTE-A Writing Test score:

1. Vocabulary

Vocabulary plays a crucial role in enhancing your linguistic skills. You must learn to express your views using different words. Repeating the same words can result in a poor writing score. Hence, it would help if you displayed a wide range of less common words while ensuring that you do not change the sentence’s meaning. An excellent way to demonstrate rich vocabulary is by using synonyms and antonyms for words.

2. Cohesion

Cohesion in a language links text elements that give meaning to the sentence by holding the text together. Cohesive devices such as connectors, linking words, and phrases can be used to give sense to your composition.

Here are some of the cohesive devices that can help stick text elements together.

• Adding Ideas: ‘furthermore’, ‘in addition to’
• Contrasting Ideas: ‘however’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘let’s not forget the fact that’
• Stating Examples: ‘for instance’, ‘for example’, ‘to illustrate this’
• Explaining Results: ‘consequently’, ‘as a result’
• Maintaining the Sequence: ‘firstly’, ‘next’, ‘to begin with’
• Providing Explanations: ‘because of’, ‘due to’
• Concluding Ideas: ‘in conclusion’, ‘to sum up

However, excessive use of cohesive devices will make the text unclear and confuse the examiner. Overuse of linking words in your essay may not sound natural.

3. Coherence

Coherence refers to how you organise and structure your essay. In simple words, it suggests to the examiner that you have logically placed ideas in your text.

When you write, plan your essay in a way it will precisely express your ideas to the examiner. Always structure your thoughts in a logical sequence. Incorrect placement of sentences may not be helpful as it will fail to convey the correct meaning of the text.

Follow the below tips to effectively use coherence skills in your essay:

• Use different paragraphs for different ideas.
• Use linking phrases to connect paragraphs.
• Follow the logical sequence in your article.

The following essay structure gives a glimpse of coherence skills for an advantage-disadvantage essay:

• Introduction: Paraphrase the question and present your opinion/views on the same
• Body Paragraph 1: Give one or two advantages and explain them in detail
• Body Paragraph 2: Give disadvantages and explain in detail with example
• Conclusion: Summarise your statements, and finish the essay restating your point of view.

4. Connectors

Connectors are words that demonstrate the connection between different sentences and paragraphs. With the proper use of connectors, your essay becomes easy to understand and more logical. Below are frequently-used English connectors: Because, Thus, For example, Therefore, as a result, consequently, in fact, as a matter of fact, similarly, additionally, etc.

To see the importance of connectors, try writing an essay without using connectors and read it again. You will soon realise the difference connectors make in your essay.

5. Written Discourse

Written discourse is expressing your ideas in a logical flow. The following factors determine Your written discourse:

• Content: A thoughtful essay must have relevant content. This means that your response should cover all the tasks asked in the questions and be to the point.
• Structure, Development of Ideas: Develop your thoughts in a way that is easy to understand and presented in a logical sequence. Use cohesive devices to write a well-structured and descriptive essay.
• General Linguistic Range: Include a variety of sentences in your writing. Your essay should blend simple, compound, and complex sentences.
• Grammar: The use of correct grammar is crucial for any linguistic skill. The use of word form determines your written discourse score without any ambiguity.
• Vocabulary: Express your thoughts with proper word choice giving precise meaning to your sentence.

Simple Tips for Using These Elements Effectively in Your Writing

Below are a few tips that will enhance your writing skills:

1. Write short and simple sentences.
2. Do not repeat the exact words; use synonyms instead.
3. Write content that is relevant to the topic sentence.
4. Plan and prepare a clear structure to express your ideas.
5. Give a clear introduction and end your essay with the proper conclusion.

Conclusion

Writing an engaging and logically sound essay is Very Important for Successful Results in the PTE Exam. Your PTE-A Writing Test score depends upon how well you use the above-mentioned key elements in your composition. You should practice writing sample essays and get some help to check your work to analyse your strengths and weaknesses. If you include the above vital elements in your essay precisely, you will get great success in the PTE-A Writing Test.