1. An Overview to O Level English
With English being the official language and the language widely used in schools for most subjects, it is essential for students to have a strong understanding of the English language in order to do well in Secondary School and the O Level English examinations.
Moreover, building a strong foundation and fluent grasp in English will heighten Secondary school students’ confidence and abilities when tackling English questions and revision papers. With the increased confidence within the student, this then translates to a good score in his/her O Level English, thus further effectively motivating students to hone their abilities in English in Secondary School and beyond.
O Level English is not a subject that can be honed overnight as it should be gradually cultivated throughout the student’s years of studying from Primary School to their current academic stage – Secondary School. Furthermore, the standard of English will progress to more advanced stages over the 4-5 years of a student’s time in Secondary School, thus making it imperative for students to begin preparing for O Level English from Secondary 1 in order for students to do well. What’s more – learning English does not stop at the end of the O Level examination. The strong ability to do well in English will definitely be beneficial in the long run as skills such as Grammar and Vocabulary remain important in Secondary School and beyond.
At the end of the day, with consistent practice and learning, students will be more confident about his/her performance in the O Level English examination and can focus more on studying for the other more content-heavy subjects.
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2. Objectives of O Level English
The key objective of O Level English is to ensure that all Secondary 4/5 students have sufficiently fulfilled several learning objectives set out by MOE.
Paper 1 (Writing)
Identify and amend grammatical errors
Identify the purpose, audience and tone in writing in a clear, effective manner
Apply and execute the correct report format (proposal, letter, speech, email etc.)
Generate relevant ideas and express them coherently
Use correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
Use various vocabulary appropriately with clarity and precision
Paper 2 (Comprehension)
Demonstrate understanding of texts
Show understanding of implied meaning and analyse text critically
Show understanding of how contextual use of lexical and grammatical items shape meaning
Illustrate appropriate use of grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary
Paper 3 (Listening Comprehension)
Demonstrate understanding of spoken texts
Identify and interpret the key messages, ideas and details in different settings
Draw conclusions and critical inferences
Paper 4 (Oral Communication)
Read clearly with good punctuation to convey ideas and feelings
Read fluently and at a good pace
Express personal opinions clearly and effectively
Speak fluently with accurate grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures
3. O Level Exam Format
O Level English consists of 4 components, namely the Writing (Paper 1), Comprehension (Paper 2), Listening (Paper 3) and Oral Communication (Paper 4) segments.