TEF Canada Writing Task A Examples: Continue the Article (2026)

TEF Canada Writing Task A is the first of two tasks in the Expression ecrite exam. You read the opening of a short news item and continue it in the same journalistic style. According to Le francais des affaires, the writing paper runs 60 minutes and contains two open-ended tasks: Section A needs 80+ words in roughly 25 minutes, and Section B needs 200+ words in the remaining time. Section A is scored as part of the 0 to 450 writing scale.

What is TEF Canada Writing Task A?

Section A is a controlled article-continuation task of at least 80 words. Le francais des affaires lists the writing paper as 2 tasks across 60 minutes, with Section A as the shorter first task at roughly 25 minutes. It checks whether you can extend a news opening with coherent, accurate detail.

The prompt gives you the start of a news story. Your job is not to summarize it. You continue it in the same tone, which means names, dates, places, causes, reactions, and consequences. A strong response usually has three compact paragraphs: the main development, the cause or context, then a consequence or next step.

Why does register matter so much here? An examiner reads dozens of scripts, and a journalistic, neutral voice signals control. Slipping into "I think" or dramatic storytelling breaks the task type fast.

• Keep the register journalistic and neutral throughout.
• Add new information that fits the prompt logically.
• Use past tenses for reported events, present tense for current impact.
• Do not invent extreme details that contradict the opening.

For broader timing across both writing tasks, see the 30-day TEF and TCF study plan.

What does a full Task A answer look like?

A model Task A answer fits four moves into 80+ words: event, detail, reaction, consequence. Each move needs only one or two sentences. The goal is controlled development, not a long narrative. We've found that scripts which add concrete, new facts in every sentence read far stronger than fluent but empty ones.

Here is a worked example. The prompt opening: "Une bibliotheque municipale d'Ottawa a lance des cercles de conversation en francais pour les nouveaux arrivants." A strong continuation, about 95 words, looks like this:

La premiere seance a reuni 42 residents, venus de trois organismes d'accueil du quartier. Les organisateurs expliquent avoir cree le programme apres une hausse des demandes d'inscription en septembre. Selon la coordinatrice, la frequentation depasse les previsions, et plusieurs participants reviennent chaque semaine. Face a cette affluence, la bibliotheque ajoutera un groupe le samedi des le mois prochain. Une seconde animatrice sera recrutee pour encadrer les debutants. La municipalite etudie desormais l'extension du dispositif a deux autres succursales d'ici l'automne.

Notice how every sentence delivers information the reader did not have. If your continuation only restates the opening with synonyms, the response looks thin even when the French is accurate.

Move	Question to answer	Example detail from the model
Event	What happened next?	The first session drew 42 residents.
Detail	Who or where?	They came from three local settlement agencies.
Reaction	What did someone say?	The coordinator said turnout beat forecasts.
Consequence	What changes now?	A Saturday group and two more branches are planned.

Which mistakes lower a Task A response?

Most score leaks in the roughly 25-minute Section A come from format drift, missing new information, and unstable tenses. The minimum is only 80 words, so a single off-topic paragraph hurts the whole script. A tight, controlled 95 words beats a rushed, padded answer almost every time.

The most common drift is writing an opinion response. That belongs in Section B, not Section A. Another frequent issue is a generic opening such as "de nos jours" that ignores the news item entirely. A third is overusing direct speech: one short reported reaction helps, but a full dialogue turns the script into a scene.

Did you leave time to proofread? Gender agreement, accents, and verb endings are quick wins that examiners notice immediately.

• Avoid first-person opinion unless the prompt clearly asks for it.
• Do not copy the prompt sentence as your first sentence.
• Do not pad past the point where the story is complete.
• Keep 2 minutes to check agreement, accents, and tense.

How should you practice Task A?

A productive Task A drill takes about 32 minutes: 3 to plan, 25 to write under exam timing, and 4 to annotate. That cycle is short enough to repeat several times a week while still leaving room for Section B work. Le francais des affaires offers four official sample papers, one per skill, worth pairing with timed reps.

Start with one prompt. Before writing, list four facts you'll add. After writing, label each sentence with its role: event, context, reaction, or result. If two sentences share a role, revise one. If no sentence delivers a consequence, add one. That makes the article feel complete without wasting words.

Use TEF Canada writing practice when you want AI rubric feedback on task completion, coherence, vocabulary, and grammar. Pair it with the CLB conversion tool to track your target band.