Use of English for General Paper

Handwriting

Candidates should write neatly and legibly.
Scripts in tiny writing can pose difficulties for Examiners. This will make it harder for the Examiners to interpret the script.

Repetition
Repetition should be avoided.
Phrases are usually taken from the body of the essay and reiterated in the conclusion.

Conclusion
The purpose of a conclusion is to summarise.

Spelling and punctuation continue to improve, but candidates would be well advised not to take into the examination with them a list of vocabulary that they are determined to utilise, whether or not such usage is appropriate. The desire to impress Examiners is understandable but what is looked for is relevance, together with apposite expression.
There has also been evidence of a new trend within essay writing that is not to be encouraged, the use of abbreviations. This tends to accompany a more colloquial style of expression, which is not the approach that would be expected in an academic essay.
Areas where Centres can aid their candidates in grammatical technique include: the use of the plural where the singular would be more appropriate; the misplacement of the apostrophe; the use of the hyphen; the erroneous use of mixed tenses within a sentence; and finally the tendency to write tautologically.

Prof Ben
Master of Social Sciences (National University of Singaproe, Singapore), Bachelor of Arts with Honours. (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Bachelor of Arts (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Nanyang Technological University\National Institute of Education, Singapore) Certified Professional Trainer (Institute of Professional Managers Association, United Kingdom), Cooperative Learning Trainer (United States of America), Competent Leader (Toastmasters, United States of America), Advanced Communicator Bronze (Toastmasters, United States of America), Kyokushinkai Karate-do Black Belt, Pencak Silat Gayong Instructor, Tae Kwon Do Black Belt, Kitagaryu Ninja-do Black Belt, Wing Chun Chuen practitioner, Dragon Kung Fu practitioner

Cooperative Learning Trainer: Training of Teachers and Heads of Department at BINUS International School Serpong

Committee Member for the Association of Professional Trainers (Singapore)

Conference Presentation on "Librarians as Leaders in Educational Resource Management: A Perspective from the Ground" at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Library & Information Education & Practice 2006 (A-LIEP 2006)