The test comprises four papers and candidates have to sit for all the papers. | |||
Test Paper | Time | Weightage | Task |
Listening (800/1) | 1/2 hour | 15% | Listen to recorded texts Answer 15 multiple-choice questions |
Speaking (800/2) | 1/2 hour | 15% | Make an individual presentation Participate in a group discussion |
Reading (800/3) | 2 hours | 45% | Attempt 1 cloze exercise |
Read passages and answer questions on comprehension & information transfer | |||
Total 50 multiple-choice questions | |||
Writing (800/4) | 1 1/2 hours | 25% | Write 1 summary piece |
Write 1 extended piece | |||
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
MUET Test Format and Weightage
What is Malaysian English?
Below is an article adapted from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-MALAYSIANENGLISH.html
MALAYSIAN ENGLISH. The English language in Malaysia, a country of South-East Asia, a member of the COMMONWEALTH and ASEAN. The name Anglo-Malay has been used to describe the variety that emerged during colonial times among expatriates and a local élite, serving as the vehicle through which such words as compound/kampong, durian, orang utan, and sarong have passed into GENERAL ENGLISH. Some English-medium schools were established in the 19c (in Penang in 1816, Singapore 1823, Malacca 1826, and Kuala Lumpur 1894), at the same time as Malay, Chinese, and Tamil schools were encouraged. Those members of the various ethnic groups who were educated in the English-medium schools came to use English increasingly in their occupations and their daily life; the 1957 census reported 400,000 people (some 6% of the population) as claiming to be literate in the language. When the British began to withdraw in the late 1950s, English had become the dominant language of the non-European élite, and with independence became with Malay the ‘alternate official language’. However, the National Language Act of 1967 established Malay (renamed Bahasa Malaysia in 1963) as the sole official language, with some exceptions in such areas as medicine, banking, and business. Among Malaysians, the term Malaysian English tends to refer to a more or less controversial variety that centres on the colloquialisms of those educated at the English-medium schools. Its essence is distilled in the cartoons of K. H. Boon in the Malaysian Post: ‘Myself so thin don't eat, can die one, you know?’
English-medium education expanded after independence; there were close to 400,000 students in such schools when, in 1969, the Ministry of Education decided that all English-medium schools would become Malay-medium. By the early 1980s, the process through which Bahasa Malaysia has become the national language of education was virtually complete, but the shift prompted widespread concern that general proficiency in English would decline. To prevent this, English has been retained as the compulsory second language in primary and secondary schools. Some 20% of the present population (c.3.4m) understands English and some 25% of city dwellers use it for some purposes in every day life. It is widely used in the media and as a reading language in higher education. There are seven English-language daily newspapers (combined circulation over 500,000) and three newspapers in Sabah published partly in English (circulation over 60,000). English is essentially an urban middle-class language, virtually all its users are bilingual, and CODE-SWITCHING is commonplace.
Features
(1) Malaysian English and SINGAPORE ENGLISH have much in common, with the main exception that English in Malaysia is more subject to influence from Malay. (2) Pronunciation is marked by: a strong tendency to syllable-timed rhythm, and a simplification of word-final consonant clusters, as in /lɪv/ for lived. (3) Syntactic characteristics include: the countable use of some usually uncountable nouns (Pick up your chalks; A consideration for others is important); innovations in phrasal verbs (such as cope up with rather than cope with); the use of reflexive pronouns to form emphatic pronouns (Myself sick I am sick; Himself funny He is funny); and the multi-purpose particle lah, a token especially of informal intimacy (Sorry, can't come lah). (4) Local vocabulary includes: such borrowings from Malay as bumiputera (originally SANSKRIT, son of the soil) a Malay or other indigenous person, dadah illegal drugs, rakyat the people, citizens, Majlis (from ARABIC) Parliament, makan food; such special usages as banana leaf restaurant a South Indian restaurant where food is served on banana leaves, chop a rubber stamp or seal, crocodile a womanizer, girlie barber shop a hairdressing salon that doubles as a massage parlour or brothel, sensitive issues (as defined in the Constitution) issues that must not be raised in public, such as the status of the various languages used in Malaysia and the rights and privileges of the different communities; such colloquialisms as bes (from best) great, fantastic, relac (from relax) take it easy; and such hybrids as bumiputera status indigenous status, and dadah addict drug addict.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Collective Nouns
ITEMS | COLLECTIVE NOUNS |
conies | A bury of conies |
hogs | A parcel of hogs |
hogs | A passel of hogs |
information | A wealth of information |
islands | A chain of islands |
islands | An archipelago of islands |
jays | A party of jays |
jays | A band of jays |
jellyfish | A fluther of jellyfish |
jellyfish | A smack of jellyfish |
jewels | A cache of jewels |
jugglers | A neverthriving of jugglers |
kangaroos | A mob of kangaroos |
kangaroos | A troop of kangaroos |
keys | A ring of keys |
kittens (rabbits) | A wrack of kittens (rabbits) |
knights | A rout of knights |
knights | A banner of knights |
ladies | A bevy of ladies |
lambs | A fall of lambs |
lapwings | A desert of lapwings |
lapwings | A deceit of lapwings |
larks | An ascension of larks |
larks | An exaltation of larks |
leopards | A leap of leopards |
lepers | A colony of lepers |
lions | A pride of lions |
lions | A sowse of lions |
lions | A sault of lions |
locusts | A plague of locusts |
lorries | A convoy of lorries |
magpies | A tiding(s) of magpies |
mallards | A sord of mallards |
maps | An atlas of maps |
martens | A richness of martens |
mathematicians | A number of mathematicians |
mathematicians | A set of mathematicians |
men | A band of (merry) men |
mice | A nest of mice |
mice | A mischief of mice |
moles | A labour of moles |
moles | A company of moles |
moles | A movement of moles |
money | A wad of money |
monitors | A bank of monitors |
monkeys | A tribe of monkeys |
monkeys | A mission of monkeys |
mosquitoes | A scourge of mosquitoes |
mountains | A range of mountains |
mules | A barren of mules |
mules | A Rake of mules |
natives | A tribe of natives |
nightingales | A watch of nightingales |
nouns | A collective of nouns |
nuns | A superfluity of nuns |
objects | A collection of objects |
onlookers | A crowd of onlookers |
owls | A parliament of owls |
owls | A stare of owls |
oxen | A team of oxen |
oxen | A yoke of oxen |
oxen | A span of oxen |
oysters | A bed of oysters |
parrots | A company of parrots |
partridges | A covey of partridges |
peacocks | A pride of peacocks |
peacocks | A muster of peacocks |
peacocks | An ostentation of peacocks |
pekinese | A pomp of pekinese |
penguins | A creche of penguins |
penguins | A huddle of penguins |
penguins | A colony of penguins |
performers | A troupe of performers |
pheasants | A covey of pheasants |
pheasants | A nye of pheasants |
pheasants | A bouquet of pheasants |
philosophers | A ponder of philosophers |
pigeons | A loft of pigeons |
piglets | A farrow of piglets |
piglets | A litter of piglets |
pigs | A drove of pigs |
pigs | A herd of pigs |
pigs | A sounder of pigs |
pistols | A brace of pistols |
plovers | A congregation of plovers |
polecats | A chine of polecats |
preachers | A converting of preachers |
prose | An anthology of prose |
quail | A covey of quail |
quail | A bevy of quail |
rabbits | A colony of rabbits |
rabbits | A bury of rabbits |
rabbits | A nest of rabbits |
raccoons | A gaze of raccoons |
rats | A pack of rats |
rats | A colony of rats |
rats | A swarm of rats |
rats | A rabble of rats |
ravens | An unkindness of ravens |
ravens | A conspiracy of ravens |
rebuttals | A quiver of rebuttals |
rhinoceroses | A crash of rhinoceroses |
rooks | A building of rooks |
rooks | A clamour of rooks |
ruffs | A hill of ruffs |
sailors | A crew of sailors |
salmon | A run of salmon |
salmon | A bind of salmon |
sandpipers | A fling of sandpipers |
Scots | A disworship of Scots |
sea fowl | A cloud of sea fowl |
seagulls | A flock of seagulls |
seals | A spring of seals |
seals | A pod of seals |
senators | A house of senators |
sheep | A flock of sheep |
sheep | A trip of sheep |
sheldrakes | A doading of sheldrakes |
ships | A flotilla of ships |
ships | A fleet of ships |
ships | An armada of ships |
snails | A rout of snails |
snakes | A den of snakes |
snakes | A bed of snakes |
snakes | A pit of snakes |
snakes | A nest of snakes |
snakes | A slither of snakes |
snipe | A walk of snipe |
snipe | A wisp of snipe |
soldiers | A company of soldiers |
soldiers | A brigade of soldiers |
soldiers | A squad of soldiers |
soldiers | A platoon of soldiers |
soldiers | A division of soldiers |
sparrows | A ubiquity of sparrows |
sparrows | A quarrel of sparrows |
sparrows | A host of sparrows |
spiders | A clutter of spiders |
spiders | A cluster of spiders |
squirrels | A dray of squirrels |
stairs | A flight of stairs |
starlings | A murmuration of starlings |
stars | A galaxy of stars |
sticks | A fagot of sticks |
storks | A muster of storks |
students | A class of students |
submarines | A pack of submarines |
swallows | A flight of swallows |
swans | A bevy of swans |
swans | A bank of swans |
swans (flying) | A wedge of swans (flying) |
swine | A sounder of swine |
swine | A drift of swine |
tasks | An agenda of tasks |
teal | A spring of teal |
teal | A diving of teal |
tennis games | A set of tennis games |
tests | A battery of tests |
thieves | A den of thieves |
things | A bunch of things |
thrushes | A mutation of thrushes |
tigers | A streak of tigers |
tigers | An ambush of tigers |
toads | A knot of toads |
tourists | A flock of tourists |
trash | A heap of trash |
trees | A grove of trees |
trees | A thicket of trees |
trees | A stand of trees |
troops | A parel of troops |
trout | A hover of trout |
trucks | A convoy of trucks |
turkeys | A rafter of turkeys |
turkeys | A raffle of turkeys |
turtledoves | A pitying of turtledoves |
turtles | A turn of turtles |
turtles | A dule of turtles |
turtles | A bale of turtles |
unicorns | A blessing of unicorns |
vicaries (vicars) | A prudence of vicaries (vicars) |
vipers | A nest of vipers |
wagers | A book of wagers |
walruses | A herd of walruses |
walruses | An ugly of walruses |
waterfowl | A plump of waterfowl |
weasels | A sneak of weasels |
whales | A school of whales |
whales | A herd of whales |
whales | A pod of whales |
whales | A gam of whales |
widgeon | A coil of widgeon |
wikipedians | A page of wikipedians |
winnings | A purse of winnings |
witches | A coven of witches |
wolves | A pack of wolves |
wolves | A rout of wolves |
woodpeckers | A descent of woodpeckers |
worshipers | A congregation of worshipers |
yeomen | A fellowship of yeomen |
young oysters | A set of young oysters |
zebra | A zeal of zebra |
zebra | A herd of zebra |
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