PREPARING SPM 1119/2 CANDIDATES TO WRITE ABOUT PROS AND CONS: SHARING 2

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If we examine the questions in Part 2 and Part 3 in SPM 1119/3 of 2021, 2022 and 2023, so far candidates have not been tested on an essay which requires them to write about pros and cons, good and bad or advantages and disadvantages of something. From my perspective, teachers should not take for granted essay questions which are formulated based on the learning standards below; 4.1.2 and 4.1.3.

Our SPM 2024 candidates should be exposed to essay topics like the following:

• The Pros and Cons of Online Shopping

• The Benefits and Drawbacks of Extreme Sports

• Holidaying Overseas: The Advantages and disadvantages

• Is the Internet  evil or good?

I am positive most candidates are familiar with the content. However, some of them are not familiar with how to write such an essay well. For example, some students do not use ‘on the other hand’, ‘however’ or ‘Despite …” when they want to shift from writing about advantages to disadvantages. Besides, some of our candidates also do not know the synonyms for advantages (such as pros, strengths, benefits, commendable aspects) and disadvantages (drawbacks, downsides, cons)  well. To me, they should master a few synonyms to avoid using the word advantage / disadvantage repeatedly.

Hopefully, the question and model essay below are helpful to the SPM 1119/2 candidates. Apart from focusing on the learning standards 4.1.2 and 4.1.3, teachers can also revise topic and supporting sentences as well as highlight the cohesive devices. Teachers may also ask their potential A candidates to edit the model essay by adding some relevant and suitable less common lexis.

Happy exploring!