O-Level English

[Anonymous12345]

Hi how can my son do well for English Language? He failed in his Comprehension section and i was shocked since English was always his strong point. What should he do?

[Joy of Learning 111]

Anonymous12345:

Hi how can my son do well for English Language? He failed in his Comprehension section and i was shocked since English was always his strong point. What should he do?

You will have to give more specific details. Which secondary year is he in? Are we talking about Express stream or Normal stream? Why do you think English was always his strong point? Is the failure in the Comprehension section just one data-point you have? And which aspect of the Comprehension section?

For instance, let us say we are comparing P6 and Sec 1 performances. Although P6 and S1 performances are correlated, the association might not be as strong as you think: there is a quantum leap from P6 to S1 English.

Alternatively, let us say we are comparing S3 and S4 performances. The difference in standard between S3 and S4 is marginal. A child who does well in S3 but then flounders in S4 probably has other issues.

[Anonymous12345]

Joy of Learning 111:

Anonymous12345:

Hi how can my son do well for English Language? He failed in his Comprehension section and i was shocked since English was always his strong point. What should he do?

You will have to give more specific details. Which secondary year is he in? Are we talking about Express stream or Normal stream? Why do you think English was always his strong point? Is the failure in the Comprehension section just one data-point you have? And which aspect of the Comprehension section?

For instance, let us say we are comparing P6 and Sec 1 performances. Although P6 and S1 performances are correlated, the association might not be as strong as you think: there is a quantum leap from P6 to S1 English.

Alternatively, let us say we are comparing S3 and S4 performances. The difference in standard between S3 and S4 is marginal. A child who does well in S3 but then flounders in S4 probably has other issues.

Hi he is in Sec 3 this year as a Returning Singaporean in Express stream. He writes very good English I've seen his essays and he actually speaks very well as well. He actually scores well in English exams when we were overseas. So I guess maybe he's not used to the format of answering comprehension? Yes as of now yes, his editing was 8/10 and only the comprehension was his weak point. Seems to be inference based question that he is weakest in. He wrote such a long answer for 3 marks asking for three details but only got 1 mark for those type of question.

[sharonkhoo]

Anonymous12345:

Hi he is in Sec 3 this year as a Returning Singaporean in Express stream. He writes very good English I've seen his essays and he actually speaks very well as well. He actually scores well in English exams when we were overseas. So I guess maybe he's not used to the format of answering comprehension? Yes as of now yes, his editing was 8/10 and only the comprehension was his weak point. Seems to be inference based question that he is weakest in. He wrote such a long answer for 3 marks asking for three details but only got 1 mark for those type of question.

Kids educated in other school systems often have this problem. The type of writing is different! I would advise getting an assessment book with good model answers, or the ten-year-series with answers, and go through that carefully to see what is required by the Singapore O levels.

[Anonymous12345]

slmkhoo:

Kids educated in other school systems often have this problem. The type of writing is different! I would advise getting an assessment book with good model answers, or the ten-year-series with answers, and go through that carefully to see what is required by the Singapore O levels.

Any specific books you'd recommend? Thanks

[Joy of Learning 111]

Anonymous12345:

Joy of Learning 111:

[quote=\"Anonymous12345\"]Hi how can my son do well for English Language? He failed in his Comprehension section and i was shocked since English was always his strong point. What should he do?

You will have to give more specific details. Which secondary year is he in? Are we talking about Express stream or Normal stream? Why do you think English was always his strong point? Is the failure in the Comprehension section just one data-point you have? And which aspect of the Comprehension section?

For instance, let us say we are comparing P6 and Sec 1 performances. Although P6 and S1 performances are correlated, the association might not be as strong as you think: there is a quantum leap from P6 to S1 English.

Alternatively, let us say we are comparing S3 and S4 performances. The difference in standard between S3 and S4 is marginal. A child who does well in S3 but then flounders in S4 probably has other issues.

Hi he is in Sec 3 this year as a Returning Singaporean in Express stream. He writes very good English I've seen his essays and he actually speaks very well as well. He actually scores well in English exams when we were overseas. So I guess maybe he's not used to the format of answering comprehension? Yes as of now yes, his editing was 8/10 and only the comprehension was his weak point. Seems to be inference based question that he is weakest in. He wrote such a long answer for 3 marks asking for three details but only got 1 mark for those type of question.[/quote]Hi. If he is a returning Singaporean this year, then you do not have comparison data-points within the Singaporean system. He might or might not be good at English if we define ‘good’ as ‘performing well in the Singaporean papers’; he might be good in an overseas system, but then we would have to consider what constitutes ‘good’ there.

Respectfully, are you able to meaningfully evaluate his essays.There are two types of writing in Paper 1. Being able to write for instance an exposition or narrative in Section C does not necessarily tell us that the student can fulfil task requirements in the Situational Writing (Section B) and vice versa.

The Editing exercise (Section A, Paper 1) is relatively trivial for someone who has good coaching and a reasonable grasp of grammar. I would not consider it a good measure of competence.

The format of answering comprehension is not particularly esoteric. The Comprehension Paper lays stress on understanding vocabulary, nuance and effective language use, including figurative language; inferential skills, to a greater or lesser extent, always underpin comprehension, but the Paper, in my opinion, tends to look more for whether the student sees the coherence of or in a passage.

[Joy of Learning 111]

slmkhoo:

... or the ten-year-series with answers, and go through that carefully to see what is required by the Singapore O levels.

No to TYS. The English O level syllabus and format changed significantly in 2013.

[D3-n]

Anonymous12345:

Joy of Learning 111:

[quote=\"Anonymous12345\"]Hi how can my son do well for English Language? He failed in his Comprehension section and i was shocked since English was always his strong point. What should he do?

You will have to give more specific details. Which secondary year is he in? Are we talking about Express stream or Normal stream? Why do you think English was always his strong point? Is the failure in the Comprehension section just one data-point you have? And which aspect of the Comprehension section?

For instance, let us say we are comparing P6 and Sec 1 performances. Although P6 and S1 performances are correlated, the association might not be as strong as you think: there is a quantum leap from P6 to S1 English.

Alternatively, let us say we are comparing S3 and S4 performances. The difference in standard between S3 and S4 is marginal. A child who does well in S3 but then flounders in S4 probably has other issues.

Hi he is in Sec 3 this year as a Returning Singaporean in Express stream. He writes very good English I've seen his essays and he actually speaks very well as well. He actually scores well in English exams when we were overseas. So I guess maybe he's not used to the format of answering comprehension? Yes as of now yes, his editing was 8/10 and only the comprehension was his weak point. Seems to be inference based question that he is weakest in. He wrote such a long answer for 3 marks asking for three details but only got 1 mark for those type of question.[/quote]Writing and speaking well only pertain to his ability to articulate and express.
Comprehension is a quite a different kettle of fish.
At the higher Secondary level, aside from the bare facts of the passage, the writer's intention and the passage's tone are the focused areas.
Many of my students tend to just rephrase or elaborate the information from the passage, which is no longer sufficient at this level.
You have to infer and interpret, hence the ability to read between the lines and getting the implicit meanings is crucial.
The requirements of Comprehension these days is more like the Practical Criticism of Literature in the past.
Sensitivity to the passage and language used is needed.
The ability to understand what the question demands is of utmost importance.
(Most students like your child will write a long answer but not get the full marks. The reason is that they are not answering TO the question. I have seen many cases where they touch on key words or key points but they are not using it accurately to answer the question. It's akin to hitting the dart board but not the bull's eye.)
Then of course, the ability to express your inference and interpretation is the third.

If your child has no major issues with his expression, perhaps you should find out if his problem lies more with understanding the passage or the questions.

Hope this helps.

[sharonkhoo]

Anonymous12345:

slmkhoo:

Kids educated in other school systems often have this problem. The type of writing is different! I would advise getting an assessment book with good model answers, or the ten-year-series with answers, and go through that carefully to see what is required by the Singapore O levels.

Any specific books you'd recommend? Thanks

Sorry, my kids did not take O levels in Singapore. Post a question on the board and see if anyone can help? Better still, ask his teacher for some intensive one-on-one sessions to point out how to answer in the expected way. Same for essays. Sometimes it just takes someone to tell him exactly what he isn't doing.

[sharonkhoo]

Joy of Learning 111:

slmkhoo:

... or the ten-year-series with answers, and go through that carefully to see what is required by the Singapore O levels.

No to TYS. The English O level syllabus and format changed significantly in 2013.

Didn't know that. Thanks.