Always ask “did I answer the task?” before you ask “is it spelt and punctuated correctly?” Surface errors matter, but they can only be fixed properly once you know which sentences are staying.
This lesson fits inside self-review and feedback use. It pairs with turning feedback into a revision action and with comparing two versions.
What is a relevance check?
A relevance check tests four things about a draft: the topic, the audience, the purpose and the form. If the task asks for a speech to classmates that persuades, then a neutral report to a headteacher fails on audience, purpose and form, however carefully it is written.
Doing this first saves time. Polishing sentences you later delete is the most common waste of review time.
How to run the check, step by step
- Restate the task in one line: form, audience, purpose, topic.
- Label each paragraph with a few words describing its job.
- Match labels to the task. A paragraph whose job does not serve the purpose is off task.
- Check the register of a sample sentence: would this wording suit this reader?
- Decide what stays, what goes, what changes. Only then move to spelling, punctuation and grammar.
The summary selection and paraphrase studio uses the same idea for summary work: it shows why a colourful detail can be irrelevant to the task focus.
Worked example
Task: write the opening paragraph of a speech to Year 10 students persuading them to join the school recycling club.
Student draft
Recycling is something that have been done for many years in lots of countrys. In ancient times people reused metal and glass because they was expensive. Nowdays, there is a club at our school.
Step 1, restate the task: persuasive speech, to Year 10 peers, to persuade them to join the club, opening paragraph.
Step 2, label the paragraphs:
- Sentence 1: history of recycling in the world.
- Sentence 2: history of reusing metal and glass.
- Sentence 3: the club exists.
Step 3, match to the task: the purpose is to persuade peers to join. Sentences 1 and 2 give history that does nothing to persuade. Only sentence 3 touches the club, and it gives no reason to join.
Step 4, register: the draft reads like a short history essay, not a speech to classmates.
Step 5, decide: cut sentences 1 and 2, rewrite sentence 3, and add a direct address. The spelling errors (countrys, Nowdays, have been, they was) sit in sentences that are being removed, so fixing them now would be wasted.
Revised opening
You have probably walked past the green bins outside Block C without a second thought. This term, our recycling club is asking for ten new members, and one hour a week is all it takes to change what ends up in landfill.
Only now would you proofread this paragraph for surface errors.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to proofread first because spelling errors are easy to see.
Mistaken approach: correct countrys to countries and Nowdays to Nowadays in the original draft, then hand it in.
The draft is then neat and still off task. The correction is to run the four-part relevance check before touching any surface error.
Check yourself
1. Task: write a formal letter to the principal asking for a quiet study room. A student’s second paragraph describes how noisy the canteen is, in slang. Name two relevance failures.
Show answer
Register (slang is unsuitable for a formal letter to a principal) and purpose (describing the canteen does not directly ask for, or justify, a study room unless it is tied to the request).
2. Why should you not fix spelling in a paragraph before checking relevance?
Show answer
The paragraph may be cut or rewritten, so any surface correction made first could be wasted. Relevance decides what stays.
3. Task: describe a place you know well so the reader can picture it. Which sentence is off task? (a) The corridor smelled of floor polish and old paper. (b) I think everyone should clean their classrooms more often.
Show answer
(b). It is an opinion, not a description that helps the reader picture the place. Sentence (a) gives a sensory detail that serves the task.
Where this leads next
With the content settled, keep a record of the issues that keep returning in an evidence log of recurring issues. The mistake log and retest queue gives you a place to store them.
Relevance problems are often hard to see in your own writing, because you know what you meant. That is one reason students choose online one-to-one English First Language tuition: a teacher reads what is on the page, not what you intended.