01.5 — Assessment (Foundations; writing to ATHENA)

Course Laboratory A2 → B1 English Boost
1

Important

  • This is a writing assessment. You do not post it in the forum. You write to ATHENA directly.
  • You are responsible for telling ATHENA exactly what to check and how to help you.

Task A — Dialogue (required)

  • Write a 12‑turn small‑talk dialogue that covers three topics: weather, weekend, plans.
  • Include at least 8 target frames and 3 backchannels.
  • Include at least 1 softener (maybe, a bit, just).
  • End with a polite close.

Task B — Short text (required)

  • Write a 100–130 word “About me” small‑talk text.
  • Include 3 frequency words (always/often/sometimes/usually/never) and 2 preferences (I like…, I love…).
  • Use at least one connector and, one but, and one so.

Targets list for ATHENA (copy this list into your prompt)

  • openers and closers
  • backchannels (uh-huh/right/I see/OK)
  • follow-up questions (How about you?/What about…?)
  • connectors and, but, so
  • softeners (maybe, a bit, just)

How to prompt ATHENA (copy and edit; one message per task)
“Hi ATHENA. Please act as my English teacher. This is my Module 01 Assessment — Conversation Foundations.

Task: [A: 12-turn dialogue about weather, weekend, plans] OR [B: 100–130 word ‘About me’ small-talk text].

My targets (check these in my writing):

  • openers/closers
  • backchannels
  • follow-up questions
  • connectors and/but/so
  • softeners

Please:

  1. Correct my text but keep my meaning and simple style.
  2. Show ‘My line → Better line’ for 8–10 key places.
  3. Explain very simply why you changed each (1 line reason).
  4. Check if I used all targets; if not, add 3 example lines I could use.
  5. Score 0–4 for: variety, accuracy, coherence, politeness/tone.
  6. Give a better full version of my text (same length).
  7. Give 5 short practice items for this module.

Here is my text:
[Paste Task A dialogue or Task B text here]”

Rubric (what ATHENA will score, 0–4 each)

  • Variety (different target frames; not the same phrase repeated)
  • Accuracy (basic grammar; connectors used well)
  • Coherence (clear flow; natural order)
  • Politeness/tone (friendly, not too direct)

Minimum pass (suggested)

  • Task A: 12 turns, 8 target frames, 3 backchannels, 1 softener, clear close.
  • Task B: 100–130 words, 3 frequency adverbs, 2 preferences, and/but/so used once each.

Common problems to avoid

  • Only yes/no answers (add one short reason or detail).
  • No follow-up questions (add “How about you?”).
  • Ending too fast (add a polite close).

Study next

  • If you had many problems with repair language (Sorry? Could you repeat that?), review Module 02 (Clarifying & Repair) next.