I think it is just that PSLE English has evolved over the years. (For that matter, other subjects too but we are talking about English here)


Like this question from a PSLE’s Reading Comprehension Passage:

Why did the girl climb the tree when she saw the tiger?
Ans1: She wanted to save her own life.
Ans2: She wanted to save her own life by climbing the tree.
Ans3: She wanted to save her own life by climbing the tree as she knew that tigers cannot climb trees.

No prizes there for guessing the correct answer. : )

Besides purely learning the subject matter itself, that is, the knowledge base of grammar (tenses, singular, plural, etc.) and vocabulary (root, prefixes, suffixes, etc.), we cannot overlook the importance of skills to train the students in; an example is to handle the ‘Why’ questions in Reading Comprehension Passages.

Training in skills and strategies in English is key. Once trained, the student, with a good knowledge base in English, can apply them in any context.