French Cultural Institute of Seville

DELF B1 Production Ecrite

1) The proof

The written production test is, in theory, the third one taken, but in the DELF B1 exam, once Oral
Comprehension is finished, one can start with written comprehension or written production. It
consists of 1 exercise. It lasts 45 minutes and is evaluated out of 25 points. You cannot obtain less
than 5/25 points , in this case the student will be eliminated even if he or she passes the other parts
of the exam.

The objective of this test is to give your point of view (opinion) on a topic by writing a formal letter, a
message on an Internet forum or an article in a newspaper. The size of the production has to be 160
to 180 words , depending on whether one writes between 15 and 20 lines more or less. You have to
count the number of words on the day of the test because there is a place in the copy where you
have to write it down. However, what really matters is the content of the text. In this same the
student will have to present the advantages and/or disadvantages of something, present an event or
a place, present the problems and their solutions of something, etc. Everything that is on the DELF
B1 syllabus.

2) Types of production

There are four very important questions to ask yourself before you start writing:

- What type of production do I have to do ? A formal letter, a message, an article?

- Who do I write to? To readers of a newspaper, to the mayor of my city, to a group of

people, etc.?

- Why do I have to write? To give information, to ask for a change, to help someone, etc.?

- How am I going to do it? Giving advice, telling my personal experience, talking about the
advantages and disadvantages of something, etc.?

This information is obtained by carefully reading the statement; you must dedicate at least 5
minutes to it on the day of the test.

Let's look at an example:

Vous êtes journaliste et vous devez écrire pour une agence de voyages un article concernant votre
countries afin de convaincre les touristes français d'y come en visita.
Vous en ferez d'abord une présentation générale, puis vous vous décrirez le (ou les) site(s) à ne pas
manquer en insistant sur l'intérêt qu'il(s) peu(ven)t présenter pour des visitaurs étrangers .
Your text understanding from 160 to 180 mots will be constructed and consistent

a) The first thing to do is read the statement carefully and identify the important data to
perform the test (in colors). The student has to take at least 5 minutes to be sure of what
they have to do and write it down on a draft.

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 French Cultural Institute of Seville
Example: - What type of production: an article
- So that: convaincre les touristes français d'and come en visit
- Como: une présentation générale, puis vous décrirez le (ou les) site(s) à ne pas
manquer en insistant sur l'intérêt qu'il(s) peu(ven)t présenter pour des visitaurs étrangers .

b) Look for ideas related to the data, that is:

- General presentation of the country
- Description of various places of interest
- Insist on the advantages that one or more places have for French tourists.

In a draft, all the information is written down, then part of it will be chosen (if there is too much)
according to the relevance of the data or its relevance, we can make a table and write down all the
information.
General presentation of the Description of various places of Interest for tourists
country interest
Name, capital, location, number Name, location, particularity, That will make French tourists
of inhabitants, type of information related to the place impressed or have a different
government, basic geography in general. experience from another more
(coast, mountain ranges, etc.), common, or more touristy, place.
etc. They can be very special or very
simple things, such as the price
of something being very cheap
or it being a real experience with
natives. Concrete examples must
be given so that it is very easy
for the evaluator to understand
the ideas and/or
recommendations.

In the event that we have to present the advantages or disadvantages of a topic totally different from
this one, for example some ecological measures, we can continue making a table to note all the
relevant information:

Advantages/Pros/Problems Disadvantages/Cons/Solutions

- Argument 1 + example - Argument 1 + example

- Argument 2 + example - Argument 2 + example
- Argument 3 + example - Argument 3 + example

Once the student has all the information they can start writing the text in their draft.

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 French Cultural Institute of Seville

c) Write the draft without worrying about the matrix of the letter (its presentation), but taking
great care regarding the articulators (opposition, concession, cause, consequence, etc.),
because they are very important for the text to have coherence and cohesion. Once the draft
is finished, you can count the words to see if we have enough content.

d) Touch up the eraser. Once the words are counted, we can start improving the draft. If it is
too long, there may be too much information and part can be deleted or rephrased using
pronouns and/or shorter phrases. If it is too short, then it will be necessary to include one
more idea or an example to better explain an idea. It is necessary to verify that the
articulators are well used , that the grammar is fair (adjective agreements, verb conjugation,
etc.) and that the vocabulary is good (spelling, usage).

e) Write the production: only once the previous stages have been completed should the final
text be written (unless the student has wasted too much time in the other tests). We must be
very careful with the production matrix:

- If it is an article, there must be a title and a signature at the end (but not the student's
signature because the test is anonymous, some initials are enough, ex: FP)
- If it is a formal letter, there must be a recipient, a date, a topic, a person who sends the
letter and a signature at the end (anonymous).
- If it is a message in a forum , nothing is needed but a made-up name at the end of the
text.

Example:

-Formal letter-

François H. Séville, May 13, 2014

14 rue de l'avenir
75000 Paris

Courier of readers
newspaper Le Monde,
6 rue de Rivoli
75000 Paris

Object: _____________________________________

Madame, Monsieur,

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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 French Cultural Institute of Seville
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Signature (initials only)

-Article-

Article title

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Author

-Message in a forum-

Bonjour,

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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 French Cultural Institute of Seville

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Au revoir.

3) How to approve

Reading the statement is essential because it gives us all the information to do exactly what is
requested and nothing else.

You have to write down the ideas in a draft (table) to have the structure of the text very clear.

It is not written directly , first a text is written in a draft and then it is retouched and/or improved by
adding or removing things.

The text matrix has to be fair, that is, a line is skipped between each paragraph and a space is left to
begin each paragraph .

You have to use connectors and articulators of discourse : opposition/concession,

cause/consequence, relative pronouns, etc.

You don't start a sentence with “Aussi,…” but rather you start with “De plus,…”.

The student must write with clear letters, a text cannot be evaluated if it cannot be read!

Ideas are not evaluated (whether they are good or bad) but rather the student's ability to give their
point of view in French through writing is evaluated. However, extremist and/or racist comments or
any vulgar, violent comments or comments that go against human rights are not welcome.

You have to think in French and not in another language, words in English, Spanish or another
language are not accepted. If you do not remember a word, you will have to explain it in a longer
sentence so that it is clear. The student must not translate verbatim what he thinks but must write
in French with:
Sujet + verbe + complément + articulator + sujet + verbe + complément.

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