Apply consistently the conventions of oral and written language and the conventions of visual and multimedia texts.

Pragmatic: Use appropriate language to participate in public events, occasions, or traditions; explain function and purpose of texts including informing, persuading, narrating, and describing; use appropriate language register (i.e., for audience and purpose); use language that demonstrates respect for others (including people of different ages, abilities, genders, cultures); use standard Canadian English that follows accepted rules of usage; avoid the personal "I/you" in formal communication; use appropriate register, role, tone, and usage; ensure voice/tone is appropriate to audience and text type.

Textual: Use structures and features of texts to communicate understanding including form/genre, artistic devices (e.g., personification, figurative language including similes and metaphors, exaggeration, symbolism), elements (e.g., point of view, conflict, theme, supporting arguments), and text features (e.g., credits, headings, diagrams, columns, sidebars, pull-quotes); use a range of standard forms for texts including paragraphs and multi-paragraph compositions; use appropriate point of view (including third person) for purpose; use common organizational patterns within texts (e.g., chronological, enumerative, problem/solution, cause/effect, comparison/contrast); craft strong leads and effective conclusions; maintain focus and ensure unity and coherence in text from beginning to end; use transition words; include covering page and list of references.

Syntactical: Ensure that sentences are complete, interesting, and on topic; use clear sentence structures that contain a verb and its subject (average spoken sentence length – 10.5 words; average length of sentences in freewriting – 10.2; in rewriting – 9.8); combine sentences to form compound and complex sentences for variety, interest, and effect; use complete sentences with appropriate subordination and modification; use subordination to show more precisely the relationship between ideas (e.g., because, although, when) and to avoid a string of compound sentences; make sentences more precise by reducing a main idea (clause) to a subordinate idea (clause); reduce, when appropriate, subordinate clause to a phrase or single word; vary sentence beginnings; ensure agreement of subject, verbs, and pronouns and use correct forms including pronouns acting as subjects and objects (e.g., "Him and his brother ¿"); correctly place qualifiers; employ effective capitalization and punctuation including periods, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, colons, dashes, and hyphens.

Semantic/Lexical/Morphological: Use words that are appropriate for audience, purpose, and context and capture a particular aspect of intended meaning; use specific words and synonyms for variety; use common homonyms (e.g., whose/who''s) and often confused words (e.g., lend/borrow) correctly; use reference tools including dictionaries, thesauri, and handbooks to determine meaning of words, to check spelling, and to verify usage; recognize and use words figuratively and for imagery; spell most words correctly using Canadian spelling; use a variety of strategies and resources to learn the correct spelling of words; use knowledge of spelling generalizations.

Graphophonic: Enunciate clearly and carefully, and correctly pronounce words with proper emphasis; use knowledge of a range of spelling patterns, including sound-symbol relationships and rules, to help identify, analyze, and correct spelling errors.

Other Cues: Use volume and presentation techniques appropriate to audience and purpose; use appropriate non-verbal cues (including gestures, physical movements, facial expressions, and body language), sound effects, visuals, and multimedia aids to enhance presentation; combine print and visuals; use printing (e.g., for labels on a map) and cursive writing (e.g., for writing a report) appropriate to purpose; write legibly with appropriate speed and control; arrange and balance words and visuals as well as fonts (typefaces/print) in order to send a coherent and clear message to specific audiences.