IB MYP Language Acquisition – Criterion D – Writing in response to multimodal texts Revision Notes

These revision notes cover criterion D (Writing) for IB MYP Language Acquisition, aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023). They suit MYP years 4 and 5 (no SL/HL split) and apply to school-based writing tasks and, for schools that enter eAssessment, the on-screen examination from the May 2023 and November 2023 sessions onwards. For full explanations and a model email, read the criterion D study guide first.

MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – and these notes cover a skill that the brief’s criteria name. Your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications and the level descriptors for your phase.

Test yourself afterwards with the criterion D practice questions. Related pages: criteria in practice revision notes, eAssessment exam preparation, MYP Language Acquisition hub and printable checklist.

Facts from the brief

Fact	What the brief says
Criterion D name	Writing
eAssessment objective	Writing in response to multimodal texts
eAssessment marks	24 (criteria A and B also 24 each)
Mark flexibility	Distribution may vary by no more than 3 marks from the blueprint
On-screen examination	Three tasks; may include any topic from the language acquisition list
Achievement levels	Eight (1–8) in four bands, for each criterion
Proficiency levels	Emergent, capable or proficient
Weighting	The four criteria are equally weighted

What criterion D asks for, in brief: language that suits the audience and purpose (home, classroom, formal and informal, social and academic language), and use of language, form, mode, medium and literary concepts to express ideas, values and opinions creatively and meaningfully.

Key terms

• Purpose – why the text exists: to inform, persuade, describe, explain, request, complain or reflect.
• Audience – who reads it, and your relationship with them.
• Form – the text type and its conventions (email, blog, article, diary, speech).
• Mode – how meaning is carried: written words, images, layout, sound.
• Medium – the channel: print, screen, social media.
• Register – the level of formality your language shows.
• Cohesion – language that links sentences and paragraphs: connectives and reference words.
• Coherence – whether the ideas make sense in a logical order. A text can use many connectives and still be incoherent.
• Range – variety of vocabulary, tenses and sentence types.
• Accuracy – control of grammar, spelling and word order.

Method in steps: from prompt to finished text

1. Decode – purpose, audience, text type, stimulus (PATS).
2. Choose the register from the audience. Write it at the top of your plan.
3. Mine the stimulus – list 3–4 facts or ideas, including what the image or layout adds.
4. Plan – one job per paragraph; include one paragraph that answers the reader’s likely doubt.
5. Write – topic sentence first in each paragraph; link with connectives.
6. Check – verbs, agreement, word order, spelling and accents, register.

Small worked reminders

Decoding. Prompt: “Your cousin is visiting your town for the first time. Write a message suggesting what to do at the weekend.” Purpose: to suggest and describe. Audience: a relative of your age. Text type: a message. Register: informal, familiar form of address, short friendly sentences.

Using, not copying, the stimulus. A leaflet says: “Free entry. Open 9–5. Over 200 species of butterfly.” Copying: “It is free entry. Open 9–5.” Using: “You won’t need to pay anything, and it’s open all day, so we could go after lunch and see hundreds of butterflies.”

One paragraph, one job. Topic sentence → reason → example or detail → link to the next paragraph. If a paragraph has two jobs, split it.

Answering the reader’s doubt. “You might think this would be expensive. However, …” This one move shows audience awareness and adds a contrast connective.

For the layout of each text type, see text types and conventions. For reading images and layout, see multimodal texts and visuals.

Connectives by function

Function	English	French	Spanish	German
Adding	furthermore, also	de plus, aussi	además, también	außerdem, auch
Contrasting	however, although	cependant, bien que	sin embargo, aunque	jedoch, obwohl
Cause	because	parce que	porque	weil
Result	therefore, so	donc	por lo tanto	deshalb
Example	for example	par exemple	por ejemplo	zum Beispiel
Sequencing	first, finally	d’abord, enfin	primero, por último	zuerst, schließlich

Grammar flags: French bien que takes the subjunctive. German weil and obwohl send the verb to the end of the clause; deshalb at the start puts the verb second. Learn each connective with a full example sentence.

Reference words avoid repetition: this, these, it, such a project, the idea. Use them to point back to a noun you have just used.

Register markers

Signal	Formal	Informal
Opening	Dear Mr / Ms + surname	Hi + first name
Closing	Yours sincerely / Kind regards	See you soon / Bye
Address	Polite form (vous, usted, Sie)	Familiar form (tu, tú, du)
Contractions	Avoid	Normal
Requests	“Would it be possible to…?”	“Can you…?”
Vocabulary	Precise, neutral	Everyday, sometimes slang
Punctuation	Few exclamation marks	Exclamations allowed

Register is a scale: informal → neutral → formal. Neutral suits a school newsletter or an article for a general audience.

Range upgrades

Basic	Upgraded	What changed
It is good.	It is worthwhile because it teaches lasting skills.	Precise adjective + reason
I went. It was fun.	When I went last month, I enjoyed it more than I expected.	Subordinate clause + comparison
We can do it.	If the school agreed, we could run it in May.	Conditional sentence
People throw things away.	Many objects that could be repaired end up in the bin.	Relative clause + precise noun
I think…	In my view… / I am convinced that…	Varied opinion phrases

Rule: use range you can control. An accurate simple sentence beats an inaccurate complex one.

By proficiency level (a reasonable aim, not IB wording)

• Emergent – short, accurate sentences on familiar topics; basic connectives (and, but, because); present tense secure, some past.
• Capable – clear paragraphs; reasons and examples; more than one time frame; some complex sentences; register mostly consistent.
• Proficient – precise word choice; varied structures; idiom used naturally; register fully controlled; ideas, values and opinions developed.

Check these against the descriptors your teacher gives you.

Must-know distinctions

• Purpose vs audience – purpose is why; audience is who. Both decide the register.
• Register vs tone – register is formality; tone is attitude (enthusiastic, critical, sympathetic). A formal letter can be angry.
• Cohesion vs coherence – cohesion is the linking language; coherence is the logic underneath.
• Using vs copying the stimulus – use its ideas and facts in your own words; do not lift whole phrases.
• Range vs accuracy – range is variety; accuracy is control. Aim for both, but never sacrifice meaning.

Quick self-test

1. What name does the brief’s eAssessment blueprint give to the criterion D objective?
2. How many marks does criterion D carry in the blueprint?
3. By how many marks may the distribution vary from the blueprint?
4. Name four kinds of language the brief lists as examples for criterion D.
5. What do the letters PATS stand for in the decoding grid?
6. Which is the odd one out, and why: furthermore, also, however, in addition?
7. Give the polite form of “you” in French, Spanish and German.
8. Rewrite formally: “Can you let me know asap?”
9. What is the difference between cohesion and coherence?
10. Upgrade for range: “The event was good. Lots of people came.”
11. What happens to the verb after German weil?
12. How many achievement levels and bands does each criterion have?

Answers

1. Writing in response to multimodal texts.
2. 24 marks.
3. No more than 3 marks.
4. Any four of: language used at home; the language of the classroom; formal exchanges; informal exchanges; social language; academic language.
5. Purpose, audience, text type, stimulus.
6. However – it signals contrast; the others add a point.
7. Vous (French), usted (Spanish), Sie (German).
8. For example: “I would be grateful if you could reply at your earliest convenience.”
9. Cohesion is the linking language on the surface; coherence is whether the ideas follow logically.
10. For example: “The event was a real success, because so many people came that we ran out of chairs.”
11. It moves to the end of the clause.
12. Eight levels (1–8) in four bands.

Where marks are usually lost

• Answering the topic but not the task: a description when the prompt asked you to persuade.
• Ignoring the reader: an email to a head of school written as if to a friend.
• Register drift, such as a formal letter that ends “Thanks, bye!”
• Mixing polite and familiar forms of address, including in verb endings and possessives.
• Copying chunks of the stimulus instead of reusing its ideas in your own words.
• Ignoring the image or layout of a multimodal stimulus when it offers a useful idea.
• One block of text with no paragraphs, so the organisation cannot be seen.
• Connectives that contradict the logic, such as therefore before an unrelated point.
• Over-ambitious structures full of errors that block meaning.
• No time left to check verbs, agreement and accents.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Language acquisition, from 2020 (first eAssessment May 2023/November 2023). These notes follow the brief’s description of criterion D, its eight achievement levels in four bands, and its eAssessment blueprint. Task-specific clarifications and level descriptors come from your school.