The important thing in the Olympic games is not to win, but to take part.
The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle.
The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.
Pierre de Coubertin
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Glaring Grammatical Errors in the PMR 2010 English Paper 1
I wish to highlight the glaring grammatical and logical errors surfaced in the recent PMR 2010 English Paper 1 exam.
Students doing the exam had to read through a passage and answer from question 29 to 34 in the English Paper 1.
I was deeply disappointed and am still deeply disappointed as the passage was peppered with grievous errors.
In the first paragraph, the author wrote: “Being a Penangite, it was indeed fun to go somewhere far as it would be a change from my normal routine…” This is a classic dangling modifier in which the author refers it(the trip) as a Penangite.
There were two not so serious flaws in the second paragraph: “Drop me off at a small town” should be corrected as “ in a small town” whereas “I went to enquire at the bus station” should be “ I went to enquire about the bus schedule at the bus station”.
The writer wrote in the third paragraph: “…I alighted where most buses stopped for passengers to get refreshments and stretch their legs.” Did he or she really mean he or she got off the bus where most buses stopped for passengers to get refreshments and stretch their legs?
Then, in the fourth paragraph, the passage read: “I enquired from someone and was told to wait at a bus stop across the road. Hence, I waited eagerly…” The word ‘hence’ means ‘for that reason’, is that logical for a person to wait eagerly for the reason he was to wait at a bus stop across the road? And the word ‘hence’ is a formal word, it should not be included in that context. This is like a square peg in a round hole. Hence, the writer or teacher has poor diction. Furthermore, the usage, “I enquired from” is not a standard form of English, it should be “I enquired of”.
I was fuming and seething with rage when I read the last sentence of the passage: “This will definitely be one experience that I will never forget!” Did the author imply that the experience has yet to happen yet? The correct one should be: “That was definitely an experience that I will never forget!”
In question 32, “The word alighted means…A - got down…”. In standard English, we do not say “get down the bus”, we use “get off the bus”.
In question 22, “The bus stopped at Yong Peng to allow the passengers to …A – take a nap; B – relax themselves; C – check into a hotel…” “check into a hotel” should be “check in at a hotel” or “check in to a hotel”. Whereas the word “relax” is not used with reflexive pronouns like myself, yourself , themselves, etc. For those who want to read more can refer to the book ,“ABC of Common Grammatical Errors” by Nigel D Turton or “Advanced Grammar in Use” by Martin Hewings. In the Unit 76 of “Advanced Grammar in Use”, it states: “Some verbs are rarely or never used with a reflexive pronoun in English….These include complain, concentrate…lie down, meet, relax, remember…”
And finally, “Questions 29 – 34…” on page 12 should be “Question 29 – 34…”.
There were at least four or five grave grammatical mistakes in this PMR 2010 English Paper 1 passage and PMR is a “NATIONAL EXAM”. They are leading hundreds of thousands of young Malaysian students astray. Even the reviewers ( I suppose they hold an English degree) were not able to point out the grammar flaws. The PMR 2010 English Paper1 is a JOKE. As the Russian proverb says aptly, “A fish rots from the head down.” If we want to improve the standard of English in Malaysia, we have to retrain our English teachers, comprehensively and thoroughly.
In a 2005 The Star newspaper article, an experienced English Teacher quoted, "Out of curiosity, I administered this year’s PMR paper to 22 students comprising four Standard 6 students (two from SRJK and two from SRK), eight Form 1 students and eight Form 2 students, some of whom had scored B or C in the UPSR. To my surprise, the students obtained more than 34 correct answers. In fact, a student from an SK school (UPSR student) managed to get 37 correct answers. How would you vouch for such a good performance? The answer is simple – the paper is EASY." PMR English Paper WAS easy[1]Malaysia PMR
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