If no one paid attention to your Secondary English writing, it could be one of these 2 reasons.
• You put your points across but it just wasn’t what they wanted to hear
• You did not anticipate what they wanted.
Both the reasons are slightly linked but they are the most common reasons whySecondary English pupils do not cross the grade hurdle and why business people miss that window of opportunity.
Reason #1 – Answering the question wrongly
It wasn’t what they wanted. The question requirements were not understood by you.
Answering the question wrongly because you misread the question is one of the most common errors inSecondary English exams.
When you misread the question, it means that your answer is hanging by a thread. What Is Hanging By a Thread? Really? Do you have to ask?
It means that you are at the borderline or that you are on the verge of failing.
ManySecondary English students hang by a thread when they misread a question.
Why do students misread a question?
They could be rushing to write the answer and did not pay enough attention to the question.
They may have missed out on something.
How do students misread a question?
They forget that there are hidden meanings in words and phrases. Understanding them properly is essential to passing well.
A very common way of misreading is to skim through theSecondary English question. When the question looks familiar, students do not stop to see if it is different from the one they had prepared for.
Chances are, it probably is different as examiners love to change the questions but keep the basic syntax.
EVEN if the question sounds familiar, the way it is phrased may be rather different. For instance, it may be an expository question and you may have written a counter rebuttal and rebuttal thinking that it is an argumentative question.
OR, it could be asking about the experiences in your neighbourhood but you wrote about AN experience without paying heed to the plural word ‘experiences.’
This is by far the most common mistake inSecondary English paper. This mistake could have been easily avoided if you had only taken the time to read the question carefully.
DO not get carried away and give in to your excitement. Remember, you can never take back what you have written.
Reason #2 – You did not anticipate what they wanted
This may not allude to exam questions but it could be about writing a report, email, speech, or story which has to be according to what they desire.
When you write a business email for a job application or internship, you need to be wise, concise, and proficient.
Always ANTICIPATE what the audience or reader wants.
Did they want your email to be informative and cheerful with just the right touch of humour?
Of course, if you are supposed to be writing to your old friend, it should be like that. But the instructions did not mention that.
Of course not. But you are supposed to infer that when the question says that you should write with a suitable tone.
The tone is always inferential. You will Not be told about the sort of tone. The instructions may say write according to the context but the question will never say that you should sound humorous or friendly.
This part rests on you.
Anticipating theSecondary English examiner or the listener’s expectations takes a bit of time and effort. Try, try, try to understand what the question is Aiming at.
Does it require you to write in an informal way? Then match your answer accordingly.
Tune your mind to the question and let the words flow. The answer should be seamless and look effortless.
The way you write the email should seem as if you are writing to a ‘real’ person. That is the standard you should aim for.
If you can get this part done, the rest is easy.
Remember to clock in both these reasons when you read a question or write an email or make a speech.
Look out for the hidden meanings and anticipate.
This will get you on the smooth path of success always.