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How to Approach the Exam
Advice: writing

About the exam
Preparing for the exam
In the exam
What the markers are looking for

About the exam

The writing in Indonesian section of the exam is worth 15 marks.

It is the third and final part of the written exam and is designed to assess your ability to express ideas and/or present information and/or opinions through the production of original written texts in Indonesian.

You will be required to respond to two questions.

The first question is worth 5 marks and requires informative or descriptive response of approximately 75 words in Indonesian. There will be no choice.

The second question is worth 10 marks and requires a reflective, persuasive or evaluative response of approximately 200 words in Indonesian. There will be two alternatives from which to choose, both requiring an extended response in the same text type. You may be required to explain or justify a point of view.

The questions will be phrased in English for a response in Indonesian and will be related to the themes and topics prescribed in the syllabus

You could be required to produce any of the text types prescribed in the syllabus. These are:

article
diary entry
email
fax
letter
message
note
notice
postcard
recount
report
script of a speech/talk.

You may use dictionaries in this section of the exam.

Preparing for the exam

To prepare for this section of the exam you should:

Read widely in Indonesian
Note down interesting phrases, new vocabulary and facts that you will later be able to incorporate into your writing. As you read a wide range of texts and text types you will notice the different features of these text types. Make yourself familiar with the features that distinguish a text type.

Learn from your mistakes
Carefully go over work handed back by your teacher. If you don't understand why something has been marked out, ask your teacher. Keep all your work in a folder and read over earlier pieces to see how much progress you have made. Check that you are not still making the same mistakes.

Practise regularly
Write in Indonesian as much as you can. Correspond with an Indonesian-speaking friend. Get into the habit of always planning your work and putting effort into it.

Practise writing under exam conditions by giving yourself a time limit in which to complete a task.

Dictionary skills
Be selective in your use of the dictionary. It's always better to use a word or phrase which you are familiar with rather than looking up a new one.

Practise using your dictionary so that, if you need to, you can look up words quickly. Remember, if you look up a word in the English-Indonesian dictionary make sure you crosscheck it in the Indonesian-English dictionary and vice versa.

In the exam

Read the questions carefully and select the one(s) for which you are best prepared.
Jot down a rough plan of your response. This will help give your writing direction and structure.
Try to include a variety of appropriate and relevant phrases. Avoid regurgitating irrelevant phrases that you have memorised and intend to use, regardless of the question.
Avoid copying sections from the reading and responding section of the paper.
Try to make your language as accurate and authentic as possible. Stick to phrases that you have gone over with your teacher. This will help prevent word for word translation from English.
Make your response interesting but avoid bizarre or excessively humorous situations. Humour can be very difficult to translate into another language and often falls flat.
Make your cultural references authentic. For example, you would not visit Borobodur if you were holidaying in Bali.
If you look up a word in the English-Indonesian dictionary make sure you crosscheck it in the Indonesian-English dictionary and vice versa. However, where possible keep to words, phrases and expressions with which you are familiar.
Try to keep within the suggested word limit for each question. If you greatly exceed the suggested length, you risk the chance of making more mistakes and/or becoming repetitive. You will also use time that could be devoted to another section of the paper.
Check through your answer at the end. Ensure that you have been consistent with register and that your language is appropriate for the context, purpose and audience. Have you used correct word order? Could you use synonyms to avoid repetition? Have you used an appropriate level of language?

What the markers are looking for

Content: relevant to task
Accuracy: knowledge and correct use of grammar and language structures.
Range of appropriate vocabulary related to the task or topic.
Range of grammatical structures.
Ability to follow conventions of text type.
Ability to structure and sequence ideas logically and coherently.
Level of language appropriate to content, purpose and audience.
Fluency: your answer should flow naturally.
Authenticity: your writing should read like Indonesian, not a direct translation from English.