Malay Language & Literature (H2)

This course aims to develop students' proficiency in Malay language and their appreciation of Malay literature. It emphasizes both language and literary skills, enabling students to analyze texts critically and express themselves effectively in Malay.

Aims

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

Language:

• Interpret and evaluate information from oral and written texts on various topics using standard Malay.
• Draw insightful conclusions from texts and relate them to personal experiences.
• Express, convey, and exchange views clearly and structurally using different perspectives when communicating.
• Employ appropriate strategies to write narrative essays depicting events and experiences or discursive essays supporting viewpoints with valid reasoning and evidence.
• Comment on various topics outside their field of expertise and express their opinions concisely and precisely.

Literature:

• Engage deeply with texts, relate them to personal experiences, and reflect on life experiences.
• Understand literary elements in different genres, appreciate the aesthetic value of texts, and analyze the author's use of language with a perceptive and inquisitive mind.
• Analyze main ideas and issues in texts and explore their significance to society and the world.
• Understand texts by making connections between the contexts within the texts and the world they live in. Reflect on their values, perspectives, and identities, and raise awareness through different lenses.
• Conceptualize meaning through writing, depict events and experiences, and convey their views with evidence, reasoning, and arguments, as well as integrate and communicate their responses to others.
• Create original works with their own writing style and approach.

Assessment Objectives

The H2 Malay Language and Literature examination aims to measure students' level of achievement and proficiency in language and literature based on the syllabus objectives. It assesses the ability of candidates to:

• Write well-structured essays to describe events and experiences or essays that can strengthen viewpoints based on relevant reasons and evidence.
• Demonstrate understanding of texts read and provide appropriate and clear responses.
• Respond to aspects of grammar and vocabulary.
• Provide feedback on new topics for students and explain viewpoints through forums, blogs, and so on.
• Make inferences based on research of various texts and comment on different text types such as poetry, editorials, and others.
• Identify the content of literary texts from various genres and analyze them based on literary aspects.
• Provide analytical, critical, and creative responses to literary material.
• Compare literary materials based on literary aspects.

Examination Format

The H2 Malay Language and Literature examination consists of three papers:

• Paper 1: Essay (1 hour 15 minutes): Candidates write an essay of at least 460 words on one of the given topics. Approved dictionaries are allowed.
• Paper 2 (E-Exam): Comprehension (1 hour 45 minutes): This paper has two sections:
• Section A: Comprehension and Vocabulary
• Section B: Comprehension and Commentary (based on two source texts).
• Paper 3: Literature (3 hours): This open-book paper has four sections: Novel and Short Stories, Traditional and Modern Poetry, Drama, and Free Text Analysis. Candidates answer one question from each section. Prescribed texts are allowed.

Prescribed Texts

The prescribed texts for the H2 Malay Language and Literature syllabus are listed in the syllabus document.