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On the day of the DELF B2 exam, the written production test can take a variety of forms: the formal letter, le "courrier des lecteurs"Â or the argumentative essay. And that's exactly what we're going to focus on in this article. I've helped dozens of people from all over the world to successfully prepare for the DELF and DALF exams, and I'd like to share my experience with you!
Contents :
What is a DELF essay?
The plan and different parts of the essay
An example of a subject
An example of an argumentative essay
The evaluation grid
Advice and recommendations
What is a DELF essay?
The essay is an exercise in which you have to answer a question by expressing your opinion and arguing. As with the other 3 papers in the exam, the essay is worth 25 points, with a minimum mark of 5/25 (a mark of less than 5 is eliminatory). You will have 60 minutes to write a text of at least 250 words.
The plan and different parts of the essay
The argumentative DELF essay follows a precise plan and must be clear and organized. It must contain 3 parts:
an introduction, which sets out the problem to be addressed, i.e. the question to be answered in the essay;
a development in 2 or 3 parts, with arguments and examples;
a conclusion in which you respond to the problematic announced in the introduction.
Your essay should contrast the 2 parts (pros/cons, advantages/disadvantages, yes/no, causes/consequences) or detail several aspects of the same theme.
In the introduction, you present the theme and introduce the subject with a general approach. Then you announce the problem. This may be the question given in the subject, or a question you develop yourself.
The development consists of 2 or 3 balanced (more or less equal) parts. You can't make one part a page long and the other a few lines, so you need to have more or less the same number of arguments in each part. The aim is to set out your arguments and counter-arguments, illustrated by  concrete examples. You can, of course, use personal examples, but you can also cite scientific studies, current events, etc.
The conclusion is a summary of your development and should not introduce new arguments. It is used to respond to the problematic, in a "clear-cut" way (you are in favor OR against), or with nuances ("I agree, but...").
An example of a subject
Le tĂ©lĂ©travail sâest Ă©normĂ©ment dĂ©veloppĂ© ces derniĂšres annĂ©es grĂące Ă la technologie. Plus pratique, moins stressant et bon pour lâĂ©cologie, le travail Ă distance sĂ©duit mais certains tĂ©lĂ©travailleurs se sentent isolĂ©s et coupĂ©s des relations sociales. Et vous, que pensez-vous du tĂ©lĂ©travail ? (250 mots).
An example of an argumentative DELF essay
J'ai répondu à la question pour vous montrer un exemple d'essai du DELF B2. Le texte en gris ne doit pas apparaßtre sur votre feuille d'examen. Je les ai ajoutées pour que vous voyiez les différentes parties du texte.
J'ai choisi le plan avantages/inconvĂ©nients car je pense que c'est le plus adaptĂ© pour rĂ©pondre Ă cette question, mais vous ĂȘtes bien sĂ»r libre de choisir le plan de votre choix.
(Introduction) Depuis la pandémie de COVID qui a bouleversé le monde en 2020, le travail à distance (ou "télétravail") a pris une place immense dans la vie des salariés. Cette nouvelle maniÚre de travailler a transformé nos vies, mais est-ce pour le meilleur ou pour le pire ?
(Developement - First part: advantages) DÚs la mise en place du premier confinement, les salariés qui le pouvaient ont dû travailler chez eux et de nombreux avantages se sont présentés. Tout d'abord, le télétravail offre une certaine flexibilité, ce qui permet de mieux adapter ses horaires à sa vie personnelle. Les rendez-vous médicaux au milieu de l'aprÚs-midi, l'école des enfants ou la réception des colis ne posent désormais plus problÚme puisqu'on peut facilement faire une pause quand on le souhaite.
Par ailleurs, le fait de ne plus avoir à se déplacer au bureau présente aussi des avantages écologiques et économiques puisque ça permet de réduire le temps de transport, les coûts mais aussi la pollution liée aux transports.
(Developement - Second part: disadvantages)Toutefois, le télétravail a aussi des inconvénients. PremiÚrement, quand on travaille à la maison, la vie privée et la vie professionnelle se mélangent, et la limite n'est plus aussi claire qu'auparavant. Les horaires plus flexibles ont en effet tendance à augmenter le temps de travail total.
De plus, certains salariĂ©s qui avaient l'habitude de cĂŽtoyer leurs collĂšgues au bureau se sentent aujourd'hui isolĂ©s. On ne dĂ©jeune plus avec son Ă©quipe mais seul, on ne parle plus Ă un ĂȘtre humain mais Ă un Ă©cran, et on ne passe plus de temps ensemble Ă la sortie du travail.
(Conclusion) Le télétravail offre donc de nombreux avantages mais n'est pas adapté à toutes les professions et à tous les salariés. Chacun devrait pouvoir choisir le mode de travail qui lui convient le mieux (présentiel, télétravail ou hybride). 293 mots
The evaluation grid
The DELF B2 written production assessment grid is the same for all candidates and all markers. You can consult it here.
The examiner will assess you on different criteria, each worth 5 points:
La réalisation de la tùche (task completion): Did you follow the instructions? Did you do what you were asked to do?
La cohérence et la cohésion (coherence and cohesion): Does your text make sense? Is it clear and well-organized?
L'adéquation sociolinguistique (sociolinguistic suitability): Is your language adapted to the exercise? Do you use the right level of language?
Le lexique (lexicon): Is the vocabulary you use appropriate? Is it varied?
La morphosyntaxe (morphosyntax): here, the examiner evaluates grammar and sentence structure.
As you can see, vocabulary and grammar account for 10 points out of 25, i.e. less than half. Your main aim in the DELF B2 written production test is to adapt your essay to the instructions, not just to write a text in perfect French!
Advice et recommendations
Set aside 5 minutes at the end of the test to reread and correct your essay!
Don't write your entire essay on your rough draft! You don't have time to make a rough draft and copy everything onto your exam paper. Use your rough draft to write your plan, your main ideas and a few examples.
Don't write too many words: you're asked to write "250 words minimum", which means you can write more. But I don't recommend that you write an extremely long essay, for several reasons: 1. You don't have the time. 2. Writing more words means you can potentially make more mistakes (and therefore lose points). 3. Writing more than 250 words won't necessarily earn you more words. The proofreader doesn't evaluate you on the length of the text as long as it respects the instructions (minimum 250 words).
Use linking words (logical connectors) to articulate your essay and make it clear and pleasant to read.
Leave some space between the parts of your essay: without reading the text, the marker will already be able to see that it is well organized and contains the required parts.
Each argument should be supported by an example (from your own experience or from current events, for example).
Remember to count and write down the number of words at the end of your essay.
Need help?
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