It is easy for you to feel stressed out during the MUET writing paper in the examination hall. Here is a list of MUET writing tips for you to use. To overcome this feeling, the one thing that will help you is for you to know for sure what to write about. Having a list of content points ready with some ideas of what to write for the elaboration will be very helpful.
So take time to plan out your essay before jumping in and start writing.
Unfortunately, I often see students not being able to complete Task 2 due to this lack of planning. Don’t let this be you. My advice is for you to read this blog where I am going to show you some writing tips to use when in the examination hall. These tips have been proven to help students in answering Task 2 of the MUET writing paper.
The MUET writing paper is paper 4 of the MUET test. This paper tests The candidates’ writing ability, language use and overall communication skills. The time allocation for this paper is 75 minutes. There are going to be two tasks for you to complete. So you only have one hour and 15 minutes to provide your responses for the tasks given.
You would need to spend only 25 minutes on Task 1. And the remaining 50 minutes should be spent in your writing for Task 2.
So time management is key.
There are a number of things for you to do to make sure that you can write a good essay and complete it in the amount of time you should spend on it.
In the examination hall, it is very important for you to take a few minutes to plan and prepare before starting to write your essay. These following tips for MUET writing Task 2 will help you to answer the writing paper correctly and on time.
Tip #1 Read the question carefully
The very first step for you to take is for you to read the instructions and the question given carefully. Read the question once, and then twice and understand what the question requires you to do.
As you are reading, identify the topic, the purpose of the essay and the specific words used in the instructions provided.
Tip #2 Underline the key phrase
To ensure your understanding, underline the key phrases in the question. This may include the topic for the essay.
For task 2 you would need to give your response to a statement given regarding a topic. underline the words that you would need to keep in mind as you are writing the essay. This will make sure that the essay that you write will be fulfilling the task that you need to do.
Also, you will need to understand the instructions after the statement. Look out for the words such as express your opinion, how far do you agree and how to overcome this situation. These are only some examples of the wordings that will be used in the question that you need to look out for. These words will determine whether you should be writing an argumentative, discursive or a problem solution essay.
Tip #3 Decide on your stand
After identifying the topic, and the key phrases, it is essential for you to decide on your stand regarding the topic. Do you agree, disagree, or partially agree with the statement? Decide on one stand only and try not to change your stand after that.
How you decide on your stand of the topic is how well you can write a complete essay based on your stance.
If you think it is easy for you to write an essay where you totally agree to the topic then by all means do so. Do what is easier for you. Similarly, if you decide to write an essay to show that you totally disagree with the topic then you should complete your essay with three supporting points to show that you totally disagree with it.
For the third option, where you partially agree, decide on this and then write your introduction in such a way that suggests that you have a partial standing on the topic.
What you shouldn’t do here is for you to write an essay where you show that you agree, but when you have run out of ideas, suddenly switch to say that you disagree with the topic being discussed. This is not the correct way of writing an essay where you partially agree. You should indicate your partial agreement in the very start of the essay which is your introduction paragraph.
Tip #4 Brainstorm the three content points to support your stand
Once that you have decided on your stand. The next step is for you to brainstorm three content points to support your position regarding the topic. These points should be clear, relevant and specific to the topic.
Brainstorming means for you to think quickly of the ideas to support your stand. Brainstorming on the content points will make sure that your thoughts are clear which results in your essay seeming more organised. The examiners will find that your essay is easy to read and has a natural and easy flow to it.
Apart from being organised, brainstorming will also ensure that you have enough content to support your stand. Most of all, it will ensure that you would write more than the specific number of 250 words that you need to write for MUET writing Task 2.
Tip #5 Add in some ideas for elaboration
Once you have 3 content points that will support your stand in the essay, take time to add in some ideas to use for your elaboration.
This would be in the form of certain words that come up immediately when you think of writing about that content point. You can do this by thinking of:
- Low frequency words (LFW) that are relevant
- One example to use to highlight the content point
- A reason why the example is relevant to the topic
All these should be written in the form of words or short phrases only. Adding in some ideas for your elaboration will help you write a little bit quicker.
When in the examination hall time seems to go by very quickly. Soon it would be time for you to hand in your answer sheet. So use these tips to help you write better and quicker, and in the time that you need to complete the task.
Most importantly, this preparation and planning stage should only take five minutes and not more than this. This is because the rest of time should be used correctly in writing your response.
Once you have completed the above steps, you are now ready to start writing your essay. By now you only have 45 minutes to complete your essay in Task 2.
Write a clear introduction
The introduction for the essay should provide a short background on the topic. Here you would need to make a clear stand on the issue. In this introduction, provide the purpose of the essay and a roadmap (by listing 3 content points) for the reader to make sense of your stand. This would be in the form of your thesis statement.
Support your content points with evidence
Once you have completed your introduction write out your three content points that support your stand. Have three different paragraphs for these. This therefore means that you would need to have one paragraph for each content point.
Use examples as evidence to support these content points. This may include examples based on current issues, recent readings from social media and events regarding the topic that have taken place previously.
The evidence that you use should be relevant and specific to the points you’re making in the paragraph.
Write a clear conclusion
Once you have completed your three content points, write a good conclusion for your essay. You should reinforce your stand on the topic clearly.
The conclusion should also provide a summary of your three main points in the essay. What you can do here is for you to rephrase your thesis statement that you have written in the introduction. This is because your thesis statement already contains all the three content points that you have used for your essay.
Lastly, close your essay with a final statement on the topic that will leave an impression on the reader, who in this case is the examiner.
Use appropriate language
The language that you use will greatly determine whether your essay belongs in the higher band or otherwise. Language use and the organisation of your essay stand for a huge bulk in the marking criteria.
Therefore, use appropriate language when writing your essay that is suitable for academic context.
There are a few items that you need to totally avoid when writing, which are namely using informal language and slang. Try to use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling to make sure that you do not lose a lot of marks for language use.
Edit your essay for errors
Finally, once you’re done writing your essay, it is important for you to edit it to ensure that your essay is free of errors. An essay that is free of errors will read well and lead you to having a higher band for your writing paper.
Check for spelling mistakes and punctuation errors. These are the minor errors that will affect your language marks.
In conclusion, answering the MUET writing essay correctly requires a systematic and well-planned approach. Before starting to write, it is important for you to read the question carefully, underline the key phrases, decide on your stand, and then brainstorm the content points and get some ideas for elaboration.
Once you have done this, you can start writing the essay by firstly writing a clear introduction, supporting your stand with three content points and a conclusion. Ensure also that you use appropriate language, have examples as evidence and finally edit your essay as these are essential to ensure that the essay is error-free and reads well.
By following this approach, you can increase your chances of answering the MUET writing essay correctly and achieving a high score for MUET writing Task 2.
