Q&A - PSLE English

[anneshirleygilbert]

Never before had anyone in the school swim/swam/swum/swims as fast as he had that day.


The answer should be 'swum' as the sentence is written in the past perfect tense : \"had swum\".

Sometimes, students are unable to see the connection as \"had\" is separated from \"swum\" by a string of words; in this case, \"anyone in the school\".

Hope this helps.

[fxchow]

Hi All,


Can someone tell me the correct answer?

Question:
So you believe that my idea is workable, _________?

Answer is 1) do you OR 2) don’t you?

Thanks!

fxchow

[anneshirleygilbert]

fxchow:

Hi All,


Can someone tell me the correct answer?

Question:
So you believe that my idea is workable, _________?

Answer is 1) do you OR 2) don't you?

Thanks!

fxchow

The answer should be (2) don't you?

[fxchow]

anneshirleygilbert:

fxchow:

Hi All,


Can someone tell me the correct answer?

Question:
So you believe that my idea is workable, _________?

Answer is 1) do you OR 2) don't you?

Thanks!

fxchow

The answer should be (2) don't you?

Hi anneshirleygilbert,

Thanks!
My girl's answer also the same.
But, the answer provided is (1). :?

[ridcully]

fxchow:

anneshirleygilbert:

[quote=\"fxchow\"]Hi All,


Can someone tell me the correct answer?

Question:
So you believe that my idea is workable, _________?

Answer is 1) do you OR 2) don't you?

Thanks!

fxchow

The answer should be (2) don't you?

Hi anneshirleygilbert,

Thanks!
My girl's answer also the same.
But, the answer provided is (1). :?[/quote]The answer is (1).

Whilst it is true that question tags usually have the basic structure of positive-negative or negative-positive, it is possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. This is normally when we are not really asking a question but in fact making a statement or issuing an imperative command. Quite an advanced concept for PSLE standard though! Consider the following:

Let's go, shall we?

Close the door, would you?

Do it now, will you?

So you passed the PSLE, did you?

So you think that's amusing, do you?

Rgds
R

[anneshirleygilbert]

ridcully:

fxchow:

[quote=\"anneshirleygilbert\"]
The answer should be (2) don't you?

Hi anneshirleygilbert,

Thanks!
My girl's answer also the same.
But, the answer provided is (1). :?

The answer is (1).

Whilst it is true that question tags usually have the basic structure of positive-negative or negative-positive, it is possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. This is normally when we are not really asking a question but in fact making a statement or issuing an imperative command. Quite an advanced concept for PSLE standard though! Consider the following:

Let's go, shall we?

Close the door, would you?

Do it now, will you?

So you passed the PSLE, did you?

So you think that's amusing, do you?

Rgds
R[/quote]Hi RCully,

I see your point... and agree with you, but I find it pretty disturbing when such 'exceptions' are not taught to the students, best I know, at least. My daughter is in P5, are these exceptions covered in P6, do you know? Just wonder if students are graded within the P6 curriculum. Or is this another of the \"teach less, learn more\" areas where the learning falls on the student to discover on his own? Pls help, if you can.

Tks.

[ridcully]

anneshirleygilbert:

I see your point... and agree with you, but I find it pretty disturbing when such 'exceptions' are not taught to the students, best I know, at least. My daughter is in P5, are these exceptions covered in P6, do you know? Just wonder if students are graded within the P6 curriculum. Or is this another of the \"teach less, learn more\" areas where the learning falls on the student to discover on his own? Pls help, if you can.

Tks.

Let me repeat at the outset that I am not an in-service teacher and therefore cannot confirm what is and what is not presently being taught in schools. I do have a strong feeling that such exceptions are not taught. However, I do not feel you should be unduly concerned that such exceptions are not taught to the students. I do not think it likely that such questions regularly or widely come up in the PSLE (but no, I haven't done an analysis to check!). Frankly, most O Level candidates I teach wouldn't get that point about question tags.

The purpose of the PSLE English papers is to assess a student's overall competence in the language, not explore whether the student knows esoteria. In classes of forty, teaching and, subsequently, assessment have to be skewed somewhat towards the average. There are so many possible if's and but's to explore when teaching English that I am pretty sure teachers aim for core competencies.

In my own experience, I have P6s who still write \"I saw three sheeps'. Now, if by P6 students are still having difficulties with forming plurals, what hope is there to teach more sophisticated interpretations of question tags?

I see many parents who buy endless past papers and assessment books for their children to plough through. Such parents rely upon answer keys which provide minimal or no explanation. What parents need - and this is a teacher's function - is an experienced eye to identify what is critical and what is supplementary (once the critical is mastered).

From my explorations of MOE's and SEAB's websites, I do not see a syllabus that is prescriptive in micromanaging what is taught in the classroom: teachers seem to have some discretion. And that is probably a good thing.

So have a coffee and relax. Make sure your P5 child reads plenty of good quality fictional books, reads the occasional article from The Straits Times (especially The Sunday Times) and regularly writes a journal, and she won't do too badly next year.

Please do not drill and kill. If your daughter reads widely, she will acquire a lot of vocabulary, grammar and comprehension.

Cheers
R

[anneshirleygilbert]

Hi R Cully,


Thank you for allaying my anxiety.... I shall relax and take my coffee :D, I find it rather distressing that a P6 student would write 'three sheeps\". The task of teachers here must be a terribly uphill one. Bless their dear hearts.

You do know so much about the local education system. I honestly find it a pity that your abilities are not channelled to better it.

Sincerely,
Anne

[christina soh]

pecalis:

pixiedust:

[quote=\"Brenda10\"]... Recently dd teacher wants them to memorize certain given EL passage for weekly (something similar like CL mo xie ) test and I think this will also help in the long run.

That's great effort on the teacher's part to prepare the passages, spend time in class and marking the work. Let's hope we don't open a can of worms here to debate about memorising......... :lol:


I need help with this grammar question :
Appreciate if anyone can explain the reason for the correct answer :

Never before had anyone in the school swim/swam/swum/swims as fast as he had that day.

Had swum - just my logical guess as I no English expert :)[/quote]How about this question:

A number of children IS or ARE going......?

[ridcully]

christina soh:

How about this question:


A number of children IS or ARE going......?

With the quantifying phrase 'A number of [plural noun]', the verb is always plural, that is it agrees with the plural noun, not with 'number':

A number of children are going...


On the other hand, with the quantifying phrase 'The number of [plural noun]', the verb is always singular, that is it agrees with 'number', not with the plural noun:

The number of children is increasing...

Rgds
R