Writing Skills in Singaporean Students
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Singaporean students follow a formulaic, textbook style of writing essays. They follow the prescriptive rules of English that inform them of the do’s and don’ts. Despite this, students still make numerous mistakes when writing essays.
In the end, the essay they produce is lacklustre and filled with linguistic errors. This results in a bad grade. Consequently, this might make the students feel disappointed for faring badly despite following the rules. However, this is a superficial level of understanding and crafting a text. The textbook style of writing essays may work in a primary school setting. This style includes basic rules such as:
1) not starting a sentence with ‘because’
2) allowance to insert generic statements with no statistics to back up
3) incorporating numerous clichés
However, these skills are no longer sufficient when progressing to higher levels. Furthermore, many students tend to ignore other linguistic aspects such as syntax and delivery that carry a heavy weightage in scores. Some of these habits are unique to Singaporean students. I will expand on this as we take a look at the common mistakes that Singaporean students make in their essays.
Common Mistakes When Writing an Essay
Why Do They Mess Up the Syntax?
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If you’re an educator or a parent, a mistake you come across frequently would likely be the subject-verb agreement. Students tend to switch the order of verbs and adverbs in a sentence. Growing up, some of us might also have made the same mistake. For example, instead of:
My brother has already reached Yishun MRT station.
We may see:
My brother has reached Yishun MRT station already.
There are also other examples of this where the order of nouns are switched. So, instead of:
Sue walks to school daily.
We see:
Sue daily walks to school.
Or instead of:
This is my book.
We see:
My book is this one.
This is a result of direct translation from their mother tongues. The subject, nouns and verbs follow a different order in native languages. On top of that, students also have a tendency to pick up such linguistic habits when exposed to the vernacular, Singlish. As such, students can easily get confused with the prescribed grammar that is required in an examinable essay.
Grammar and Spelling
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Furthermore, students also tend to make common mistakes in grammar which includes the singular/plural forms and usage of tenses.
For example,
The news that Dan will emigrate takes everyone by surprise.
And:
Diabetes causes other health issues.
The nouns ‘news’ and ‘diabetes’ end with an ‘s’ by default and not due to plurality. However, students get confused by such words, thinking of them to be plural and use plural verbs instead. Furthermore, students also struggle with the different forms of tense, which are not present at such an extensive level in our mother tongue languages.
‘I ate/have eaten/will eat/will be eating’ are all different tenses that can be used for ‘eat’. Though most verbs end with an ‘-ed’ to denote past tense, ‘eated’ is not the past tense form for ‘eat’. Similarly, there are other trickier words which students have to deal with as bilingual speakers.
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Spelling errors also affect the quality of any written work. Here are a few commonly misspelt words:
Tongue/tounge
Weird/wierd
Definitely/definately
Dessert/desert
Preventing such spelling errors ensures that marks are not lost.
Coherence – The quality of the aforementioned linguistic aspects can affect the coherence of the essay. However, above everything else, a lack of direction and poor organisation impact how much the reader can comprehend the essay. Following a textbook style format lacks a clear and logical progression of ideas, making it difficult for the reader to follow the argument.
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Weak thesis – There are different genres of essays and a good argumentative essay cannot operate on weak points. Students have to present a cogent argument with a strong thesis that includes relevant arguments and a clear conclusion. Therefore, students have to be trained in providing strong evidence and should be equipped with research skills. A strong thesis is what sets a good essay apart from a weak one. An essay with a lasting impression should contain thought-provoking insight, suggesting further research or offering a call to action.
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Clichés – Similar to the above point, many students still make the mistake of using clichés in their essays. This ranges from generic statements, buzzwords and anything irrelevant to the topic. The content should add value to the essay and not just because it is trending at that moment. Examples of common clichés and overused phrases include ‘in the nick of time’, ‘think outside the box’ and ‘all that glitters is not gold’. This reduces the quality of an essay which can be avoided by using specific and descriptive language. I will expand on this in the section below where I will provide tips for producing a good essay.
Preparation for a Good Essay
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Outline – Rather than teaching writing skills and techniques, it would be good to start by teaching them good writing habits. A writing habit that students should develop would be the habit of planning. Students should be taught on how to outline the essay to organise the thoughts and create a logical structure. Plan ahead of an introduction and if the body paragraphs would support the thesis and conclusion. Students can also jot down evidence and examples that can be possibly used.
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Mind-mapping – Mind-mapping allows students to visually organise thoughts, explore connections between ideas and create a solid foundation for their essay. It helps to generate more ideas, improve the flow of arguments and ensure that the essay is well-structured and cohesive.
Start with a central topic by writing the main topic or essay question in the centre of a blank page or a digital mind-mapping tool. This central node represents the core idea of your essay. From the central topic, create branches radiating outwards, representing the main ideas or key arguments to explore in the essay. These branches should capture the major themes or concepts related to the topic.
Sub-branches for supporting details: For each main idea, create sub-branches that represent supporting details, evidence, examples or subtopics. These sub-branches help to provide a structure for your essay.
Make connections and associations: Look for connections and relationships between different ideas or subtopics. Use arrows or lines to connect related branches, indicating how they are linked or how one idea flows into another. This visual representation helps with logical flow and relationships between different parts of the essay.
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Understanding Genres – Students should have some practice playing around with the different types of genres. This prepares them for exams. Educators and parents should familiarise students with the characteristics, structures and conventions of different essay genres. For example, when writing an expository essay format, there should be a clear thesis, supporting evidence and logical organisation. If sharing a personal experience, a narrative or reflective essay might be appropriate.
Practise with model essays – The Notes+ English Model Compositions series is designed to provide a support as well as a resource for lower secondary students attempting the three essay genres. Some of its unique selling advantages include:
• A Planning Page before each essay provides clear and concise notes on how the essay should be structured and how the main points can be elaborated.
• The Topics covered help students become familiar with the type of essays they will encounter in the examinations.
• Enhanced Learning features a glossary of formal words used in essay writing as well as practices to check students’ understanding of useful words.
Presentation – We discussed coherence in the earlier section. However, for an essay to be coherent, presentation is important. For a good transition, an effective use of headings and subheadings creates a visual hierarchy in the essay. This helps the reader navigate through the ideas and locate specific sections of interest. Students can also use signpost words to stitch together the various thoughts into one coherent essay.
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Idioms – Instead of relying on generic or vague phrases, use specific and descriptive language to convey your ideas. Provide detailed examples, specific details and vivid imagery that bring your arguments to life and make them more engaging. This would give the reader the impression of having put in extra effort to make the text more engaging.
Conclusion
In summary, one cannot ‘wing’ an essay and has to plan in advance. This means practising, practising and more practising! However, practising without knowing what to practise for is redundant. So incorporating the aforementioned techniques will prepare students for writing essays.
Though writing an essay can be a formidable task, it is a skill that can be developed through practice and attention to detail. By following a structured approach, organising your thoughts effectively and using resources to refine techniques, you can create an essay that is compelling, well-argued and engaging for your readers.
