Succeeding at the Federal Public Service Writing Skills Tests
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Government and public service
Essentials You Need to Take the Test with Confidence
Many government departments require their staff to have writing skills competency before being considered for promotion and advancement. Are you going to take the government Writing Skills Test (Level 3) in English, but struggle with punctuation, spelling, capitalization, sentence sequencing, and vocabulary? Do you want to understand difficult grammatical problems so you can approach the test with confidence?
This workshop will introduce you to English grammar and vocabulary and prepare you for success not only on the test but also in your future career.
This is a hands-on and lively course that includes many opportunities to practice and improve your writing skills. You will receive a manual designed specifically for Canadian English and leave with a practice exam that you can take and correct on your own time later.
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Recognize the most commonly misspelled words in Canadian English
- Use Canadian English punctuation correctly
- Understand when to capitalize words according to Government of Canada style
- Make subjects agree with verbs
- Identify the logical relationship between sentences and sequence them effectively
- Identify synonymous and antonymous English words
- Take the Writing Skills Test with confidence
The WST (B305) – Level 3 – Multiple Choice Test
- Understanding the goals and structure of the test
- Recognizing mistakes examinees make
- Learning tips to prepare for the test
Spelling
- Learn general principles of spelling in Canadian English: understanding when to use double letters; hyphenate; use er, re, or or endings; drop the letter e before a suffix; use c or s ; drop the letter y; use the “i before e” rule; and other special problems
- Discover the most commonly misspelled English words
- Practice identifying misspelled words with sample questions
Punctuation and Capitalization
- Learn how and why to apply Canadian punctuation conventions.
- Learn more about comma use generally and in restrictive and non-restrictive clauses and phrases
- Learn how to punctuate lists
- Discover simple rules for using colons and semicolons
- Use double and single quotation marks correctly
- Know when to use Prime Minister or prime minister.
- Practice identifying punctuation and capitalization mistakes with sample questions
Grammar
- Learn the structure of English sentences: subject, verb, object
- Ensure that there is subject-verb agreement, even with intervening words
- Discover the eight parts of speech
- Learn to use pronouns properly in the nominative, objectives, and possessive cases
- Use the three kinds of conjunctions appropriately
- Learn how to use which and that correctly in Canadian English
- Practice identifying grammatical mistakes with sample questions
Sentence sequencing
- Understand the importance of building arguments
- Learn the types of logical relationships between sentences
- Discover the importance and order of personal, demonstrative, and relative pronouns
- Practice logical sequencing with sample questions
Vocabulary
- Learn the difference between antonyms and synonyms
- Understand and recognize commonly confused words
- Practise identifying antonyms and synonyms with sample questions
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Anyone who plans to take the WST (B305) test (Level 3).
The advantages of team sessions
- Learn and grow together as a team
- Location and time of your choice
- Sessions can be customized to fit your objectives
- Surprisingly cost effective
Submit your interest