EPH Publishing, RM8.50, ISBN 978-967-254-296-4
Education, 2024

Candidates that are proficient in the English language will find the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia English 1119 paper easy, the only tricky part being the inevitable badly worded multiple-choice questions, where there would be at least two options that are correct.

For those that need help, Practise Writing Excellent Essays for SPM 1119 English could be an invaluable aid for them to write at the very least serviceable compositions that will help them pass the paper.

Design and Layout

This book is only RM8.50, so understandably everything is in black and white, with some grey thrown in here and there.

However, the design is neat and easy on the eyes, with plenty of white space to keep things from appearing too cluttered and messy.

The Content

Basically, this workbook is for writing.

Since the composition part focuses on coming up with short essays without glaring errors, this book skips the part about improving one’s vocabulary with fancy words and phrases.

Instead, for each part of the short communicative message, guided writing, and extended writing parts, the authors serve to hold the candidate’s hand as they go through step by step:

• Basic questions and quizzes to start the brain going, by asking simple questions related to the topic. For example, for a movie review, they will ask the candidate what should go into the essay and what should not.
• Then come the questions that test the candidate to formulate the points to write, such as what movie they would review, what they like about it, et cetera.
• The authors will then offer short quizzes on the phrases and sentences that could be used for such an essay, as well as how to organize the points into a coherent essay.
• Finally, the part where the candidate will write the whole thing, with words and phrases helpfully included here and there to guide the candidate. There will also be side boxes with tips and advice on things such as essay structure, what to put in the opening paragraph, body, and closing paragraph, and so on.

The language used is simple and even assuring, reminiscent in tone of a cheery and patient tutor that doesn’t mind being asked questions that would seem silly.

Conclusion

• Practise Writing Excellent Essays for SPM 1119 English is an inexpensive guide on writing compositions for SPM English 1119 that is well organized, neat, and super useful for candidates with weak or limited English proficiency.
• It can be used as a standalone practice guide or an English tuition “textbook”, now that I think of it, due to how the content is specifically tailored to help these candidates get the hang of writing in such a painstakingly detailed manner.
• Just note that more proficient candidates will find very little here that is useful.