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Home > Indonesian > Continuers' Course > How to Approach the Exam > Advice > 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 tasks graded in difficulty. The tasks will require different kinds of writing:

1. The first task will be informative or descriptive.
2. The second, more difficult task will be reflective, persuasive or evaluative. You may be required to explain or justify a point of view.

There will be a choice of questions in each task.

The tasks will be related to the themes and topics prescribed in the syllabus. You can download the Indonesian Continuers syllabus from the Board of Studies website

Tasks will have different purposes, audiences and contexts.

The tasks will require you to produce different text types. The possible text types include: description, diary entry, email, fax, informal letter, message, note, narrative account, personal profile, postcard, recount, report, script of a speech/talk.

For each response you are required to write 100-150 words in Indonesian.

The instructions will be in English.

You may use dictionaries in this section of the exam.

The two responses you write will be marked separately and given separate marks.

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. As a guide, allocate 30 minutes per task.

Dictionary skills

Practise being selective in your use of the dictionary. It's always best to use a word or phrase which you are familiar with 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. However, 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 word limit (100-150 words). 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.

Note: The above criteria apply to both writing questions. Remember that in the second question you may need to explain or justify a point of view.