CAE Writing (2015): Tasks Overview

There are several types of text a candidate has to be able to write for CAE:  an essay, a report, a proposal, a review, a formal letter and an informal letter. Each of them requires that candidates follow rather strict conventions including areas such as layout and format (what it looks like and how it is structured); register (how formal it is); functions (the purpose of the text). From the table below you can learn who each text type might be written for, what register is most appropriate in every situation, which functions candidates might be expected to fulfil and which skills it is advisable to practice for achieving success in every type of writing.

Task Type	Target Reader	Register	Functions	Things to practise
An essay	An academic tutor	Formal or neutral	- Present an argument and give reasons for it; - agree or disagree; - give opinion; - judge prioritie	- Effective planning and paragraphing; - linking ideas
A letter / an e-mail	- director of a company / school principal - the editor - a peer	- extremely formal - relatively formal - informal	- narrate personal experience; - give factual information; - give advice; - describe places; - reassure;    - correct a misunderstanding - justify a course of actions etc.;	- letter-writing conventions; - formal vs informal style
A proposal	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members); - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal         - extremely formal	- make polite recommendations and suggestions; - persuade; - evaluate;	- a proposal format; headings
A report	- a peer group (such as colleagues or club members);     - a supervisor (such as a boss or a college principal)	- less formal             - extremely formal	- describe a situation; - evaluate to what extent a particular aim has been achieved; - make recommendations and suggestions (suggest an alternative course of action);	- a report format (headings) - specific vocabulary areas such as transport,     leisure and entertainment;
A review	readers of a magazine or a web site	- neutral or context-dependent	- describe; - explain; - give an opinion; - make a recommendation	- read as wide a range of reviews as possible for holidays, books TV programmes, consumer goods; - adjectives to describe and explain