Is short form not allowed for PSLE English

[floppy]

CherryFrozz:

Hi, recently after reviewing my boy's english tests/homework, I've noticed that his English teacher has been marking him wrong , making him do corrections whenever he's using short form. For example when he writes \"I'm\", it's been marked wrong and corrected to \"I am\"... just curious, is short form is not allowed for PSLE? After all, it's grammatically correct? He's just in lower primary btw.

Or do they generally do that in lower primary for better understanding then in upper primary it's more relaxed?

From Wikipedia:
A contraction, i.e. short form, is commonly used in speech and in informal writing, though tend to be avoided in more formal writing (with limited exceptions, such as the mandatory form of \"o'clock\").

Exams, including PSLE, are meant to be formal writing.

[Zappy]

Doesn’t matter whether it’s lower or upper primary.

Informal writing, e.g. Can’t, you’re, I’m… are not accepted in English written exams.

Even informal emails, letters (situational writing in upper primary) doesn’t accept these. Informal in this case just means you can be friendly … not that you can use slangs or non-standard English.

[OwlSmart]

CherryFrozz:

Hi, recently after reviewing my boy's english tests/homework, I've noticed that his English teacher has been marking him wrong , making him do corrections whenever he's using short form. For example when he writes \"I'm\", it's been marked wrong and corrected to \"I am\"... just curious, is short form is not allowed for PSLE? After all, it's grammatically correct? He's just in lower primary btw.

Or do they generally do that in lower primary for better understanding then in upper primary it's more relaxed?

Hello there,

PSLE are formal examinations and, as aptly mentioned in the previous posts, short form or abbreviations are not acceptable. The only area where they might be used, without being penalized, is in a dialogue between two characters in Continuous Writing. Even if that is the case, such dialogues should be used sparingly.

[Bardiel]

I also thought it’s not important, but when I took this exam it cost me a lot of points for not following the rules

[D3-n]

The short form is allowed in these cases.


- as part of the direct speeches in narrative essays.
eg. Tears streaked down Mary’s cheeks as she apologised, "I’m sorry I’ve hurt you even though it’s never my intention.".

- Speech in Situational Writing at Secondary level
eg. Good morning Principal, teachers and fellow students. I’m John Tan, President of the Student Council, and it’s my honour to share with you my experience as a student here for the past four years.