Understand and apply the conventions of oral and written language and the conventions of visual and multimedia texts.

Pragmatic: Demonstrate confidence in using language in a variety of formal and informal contexts, both inside and outside the classroom; use inclusive language that supports and demonstrates respect for people across cultures, genders, ages, and abilities; use appropriate language to participate in public events, occasions, or traditions; adjust use of language to suit audiences and purposes; use appropriate register of language (i.e., formal, informal, colloquial); avoid jargon, slang, and clichés; use emotional appeal or persuasive language (e.g., testimonials, emotional appeals, bandwagon effects); 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; address communication to a specific audience; ensure voice/tone is appropriate to audience and text type.

Textual: Use structures and features of texts 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, sidebar, 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 organizational patterns within texts (chronological, enumerative, procedural, problem/solution, cause/effect, comparison/contrast); craft strong leads, coherent bodies, and effective conclusions; maintain focus and ensure unity and coherence in text from beginning to end; use effective transition words; include covering page and list of references; use language and techniques to create a dominant impression, mood, tone, and style.

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, a subordinate clause to a phrase or single word; recognize that effective co-ordination, subordination, and apposition of ideas make sentences clear and varied; recognize and use parallel structure or balanced sentences for parallel ideas; use active versus passive verbs; vary sentence beginnings; ensure agreement of subjects, verbs, and pronouns; use correct pronouns acting as subjects or objects (e.g., "Him and his brother..."); correctly place qualifiers; use effective capitalization and punctuation including periods, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, colons, dashes, and hyphens; punctuate correctly titles of various media.

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., through/threw) and often confused words (e.g., affect/effect) correctly; avoid overused and misused words (e.g., irregardless, anyways, among/between); consider both the denotative and connotative meaning of words; avoid wordiness, mixed metaphors, or "fancy" words; use reference tools including dictionaries, thesauri, and handbooks to determine meaning of words; check spelling, and 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; demonstrate and use new vocabulary appropriately.

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, eye contact, and body language), sound effects, visuals, and multimedia aids to enhance presentation; combine print and visuals to enhance presentations; 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; ensure that graphics, sound, and technology enhance representations.