Situational Writing Format– Tips by our Expert Teacher on how to score well for PSLE Exams.
- Written By Xuan Yun
- Updated on November 6, 2023
Our Expert writer, A PSLE English teacher, has some Advice and Tips for students on scoring full marks for the Situational writing section.
1- What is Situational Writing?
Situational writing, at its base, can be understood as writing an email, a letter or a report (hereafter referenced only by email, but all advice can be applied to all three types!). It is called ‘Situational Writing’ because students are expected to write about the situation given to them. Some Situational Writing examples are an email of complaint or commendation, an email of recommendation or suggestion, or an email of information or encouragement. Schools begin to teach Situational Writing in Primary Five, but do not be alarmed that it seems so close to their Situational Writing PSLE! Students have already been picking up skills for the Situational Writing format throughout their school years – specifically, through the Visual Text component of their Comprehension paper.
2- Situational Writing – What language skills are being tested?
There are two key skills a student needs to score in Situational Writing: First, being able to pick out information from an image or a conversation, and second, being able to structure that information to respond to a situation they are tasked to write about.
Most schools teach a variation of this format: PAC or CAP – Purpose, Audience and Context. These are the three things a student needs to identify and understand in order to approach the given question accurately.
2.1- Purpose
What is the purpose of writing this email? What is the goal you’re trying to achieve by writing this?
2.2- Audience
To whom am I writing? What is my relationship with the person? Can I speak formally or informally?
2.3- Context
Where do I, the writer of this email, stand in relation to the incident? How do I feel about the encounter – was it a positive or negative experience? What are my intentions?
For Situational Writing PSLE, marks are broken down as follows:
Content: /6
Language: /9
Total: /15
The 6 content marks can be easily achieved: Each mark is awarded to the 6 bullet points of information (task fulfilment) given as part of the question. The student will be awarded the marks as long as the information is clearly stated in the email. Examples of the task fulfilment questions can be found below in ‘Question Breakdown’.
For language, it can be slightly more challenging to get full marks, as this encompasses the student’s ability to adjust their tone in the email in order to reflect the right relationship with the recipient of the email (formal or informal writing) as well as to adequately convey their intentions of writing the letter. For example, a letter of complaint to an authority figure should be formal but firm. In contrast, a letter encouraging a friend to participate in something should be informal but purposeful.
Language should also reflect a student’s understanding of their own position when writing the letter – is the writer of the letter in a leadership role in the school, writing this letter on behalf of a group of people? Is the writer writing the letter in his/her personal capacity? Is the writer writing to an old friend or a relative they are close to OR have not seen in years?
Also read : Creative Writing Tips for Primary Schoolers
3- How to Understand the Given Information for Situational Writing?
Compared to other sections of the English paper, Situational Writing can be considered straightforward. When understood and answered correctly, the total score of fifteen marks for this section will be a breeze for the student to secure.
3.1- Question Breakdown
There are two parts to the question: The information given in the task box and the 6 content points required for task fulfilment (aka content marks).
In the task box, the given information will allow students to find their PAC: Who the writer of the letter is (i.e. the role the student has to take in the letter), the recipient and audience of the letter, as well as the purpose and intention of writing the letter. The student should underline or highlight the PAC for him/herself.
Below the task box, the student will find 6 bullet points – the 6 pieces of content they need to have in their email in order to fulfil their task of writing the email. Some common Situational Writing examples of the requested information are date/venue, a ‘Why’ question (e.g. Why the writer would like the recipient to take part in the event), a ‘How’ question (e.g. How can an authority figure improve the situation faced by the writer), a ‘What’ question (e.g. What must be accomplished by the recipient), and an open-ended ‘2 reasons’ question (e.g. Two reasons the recipient might enjoy taking part in the event).
The student should now look at the given image again and find the answers to the 6 bullet points. If the answer to the open-ended ‘2 reasons’ question isn’t found in the picture, the student should think and write their answers next to the bullet point to avoid forgetting to include this content when writing the email. Remember to consider the PAC when writing the two reasons!
3.2- Picture and Text
This is where the student is tested on what they are able to pick out from the given information in the picture and/or the conversation and how they are able to adapt it to fit the tone of the letter. For example:
Character A: “I really enjoyed the service of the sales lady just now. She was so helpful and gave us several good recommendations. She didn’t hesitate to bring us various products to try.”
From this sentence, we know that the sales lady was:
– Helpful
– Did two things for the characters: gave recommendations and brought them products to try.
However, beyond the given information, other points can be drawn:
– The sales lady was knowledgeable about the products and could provide them with the appropriate assistance for their situation.
– The sales lady is patient, providing them with repeated service and tending to their needs without complaint.
These Situational Writing examples show how a student should be able to pick out the nuances of the conversation to be in a better position to provide elaboration and rephrase the given information in their own way to answer the question!
After the student has identified their PAC and spotted the 6 pieces of information required in the body content, they are ready to begin writing.
4- Important Tips by our Expert writer – a PSLE English teacher
4.1 Time Management
Students have 1 hour 10 minutes to complete both Situational Writing and Composition Writing. It is highly recommended for students to spend only about 15 minutes on Situational Writing. Since all the information has been given to them, their only concern should be how to adjust their response in order to accurately reflect the tone of their given situation. Their timing breakdown should be as follows:
PAC/Task Fulfilment – 3 minutes
Writing – 10 minutes
Checking – 2 minutes
And then it’s on to Composition Writing, in which the planning, writing and checking will take up significantly more time. If the student has any leftover time after completing both components, rechecking their entire paper would be beneficial.
4.2 Avoid Contractions
While it may be acceptable for informal writing in the Situational Writing format, avoid using contractions, short forms or slang. Students are meant to show casualness with a familiar recipient in an informal letter but are often unsure of the limit and when to stop. There are other ways to show a personal relationship with the recipient – focus on tone! Remember, this email is still being written to be marked for examination – it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Instead of: “Don’t hesitate, my bro! Sign up now! You won’t regret it!”
Try: “This is your chance to show the whole school what you have been practising! Since we were kids, I have been amazed by your talent, and you’ve only become better with each passing year! This is an opportunity not to be missed – I strongly encourage you to sign up for the school talent show!”
4.3 Ending Is Very Important
Remember to end the email with a short paragraph that reiterates the purpose of the email and includes a call for action on the recipient’s part! For example, if you’re writing an email of complaint to a manager, you could end with:
This incident has left a bad taste in my mouth and a disappointing impression of your company. I hope you can look into the incident and take the appropriate action with your staff.
This reminds the recipient that you were upset – that this is a letter of complaint – and states what you hope will be done to remedy your experience.
If you’re writing an email of encouragement to a friend, you could end with:
I highly encourage you to participate in this event as I know that you have the ability to do well in this competition! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to write back to me! I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Once again, in the above example, this ending re-establishes the writer’s familiar relationship with the recipient and mentions what the recipient should do next upon receiving the email – sign up for the event. The writer also encourages the recipient again – emphasizing the purpose of writing this email.
5- Explore Klassbook for more Writing Classes in Singapore
To explore more classes, go through our Subject list here. Why not start with a trial class to gauge your child’s interest?
Xuan Yun is an educator who hopes to inspire a passion for the arts in the next generation. True to form, she enjoys reading books in her free time. Her favourite word is 'consensuses' because it looks silly but is a real word.
