"It is—if you use the right format," Ravi stressed. "But here's what my brother told me: the examiners love it when you use cohesive devices —words like 'furthermore', 'in addition', 'for instance'. It shows you can organise ideas, not just list them."
"Partly," Ravi said. "But look at question 5. It says: 'Based on the poster, why do you think the organiser chose Saturday for the event? Give a reason.' That’s not directly in the text. You have to infer . You connect clues from the text to your own knowledge."
Aina raised an eyebrow. "Different how?"
Ravi pulled out a crumpled handout and pointed. "Look. The UASA English for Form 3 isn't just about memorizing grammar rules from the textbook. It tests three main thinking skills: comprehension, application, and reasoning."
"Exactly," Ravi said. "It's a competency-based assessment. That's what 'UASA' stands for—Ujian Akhir Sesi Akademik. It checks what you can do with English, not just what you know about it."
"That sounds doable," Aina said.
That evening, Aina went home and made a study plan. She practiced one reading passage, wrote one short message, and brainstormed a story about saving a local river. She used words like therefore and consequently . She checked that her answers had reasons, not just facts.
Aina slammed her locker shut and leaned against it, sighing. "I don't get it," she groaned. "The UASA English paper is next week, and I don't even know what to study. Is it like a normal exam?"
"So, I just find the answers in the text?" Aina asked.
"The dreaded Part 3: Extended Writing," Ravi said dramatically. "You choose one of three text types: a story, an article, or a speech. The topic is always based on the PBD themes you studied in class—like 'Health and Environment' or 'People and Culture'."
"So if I choose to write a story, what do they want?" Aina asked.