MUET ESSAY WRITING TEST GUIDE & TIPS

The MUET writing test requires students to transfer information from a non-linear source to a linear text,
as well as to write an essay of at least 350 words on a given topic.
Exam paper code: 800/4
Exam duration: 90 minutes
Total weightage: 25%

The MUET writing test is to assess candidates on their ability to:

1. Transfer information
2. Write with good grammar
3. Analyze graphic information. It may come in one of these five forms:
 Line graph

 Bar graph

 Pie chart

 Table

 Diagram illustrating process

4. Voice their opinions through words/written form

5. Think critically

Below is an exercise for you to start practicing.

Task 1 – Report Writing (40 marks)

· You are given 40 minutes to complete this task
· Study and analyze the graphic information
· Describe the information or the process in a report format
· Write between 150 – 200 words
Sample question:

The chart shows how students on all courses at a Malaysian university viewed different subjects on a
scale of easy to difficult. You should write 150 to 200 words.

Sample answer:

How Students on All Courses at a Malaysian University View Different Subjects According to Different
Levels of Difficulty
The bar chart shows how students who are studying in a Malaysian university rate different subjects
according to its difficulty – easy, moderately difficult or difficult.

The subject which was most commonly rated as difficult was math, by 70% of the total students. While
only 20% of students saw it as easy. Physics was also largely judged to be a difficult or moderately
difficult subject. Only 25% of students viewed it as easy. By contrast, chemistry was regarded as easy
by a massive 70% of students.

As far as language subjects are concerned, languages in general were seen as easy by 40% of
students. This percentage dropped to 20% for oriental languages. African languages, however, were
viewed as easy by 60% of students. Next, Art was rated to be an easy subject by only 30% of students
and like Physics, 50% rated it as difficult.

In conclusion, there seems to be no clear correspondence between the type of subject and whether it
was generally rated as easy or difficult. (168 words)

Tips for Task 1:

· A title MUST be written

· Title MUST be underlined
· Write a minimum of 3 paragraphs (Introduction, body and conclusion). Students can also write 2
paragraphs for body.)
Task 2 – Extended Writing (60 marks)
· Write an essay NOT LESS THAN 350 words based on the given topic
· You are given 50 minutes to complete this task
· Your essay may be written in these styles:
- Analytical
- Descriptive
- Persuasive
- Argumentative
Past Year Exam Questions:
The following questions are examples of what you may encounter in a real exam.
Year End 2008
"People are becoming more materialistic. They are concerned with making more money and what
money can buy." What is your opinion on being materialistic? You should write at least 350 words.
Mid 2009
Information and communications technology (ICT) is the cause of today's many social ills. What is your
opinion? Support your answers with examples. You should write at least 350 words.
Year End 2009
People commit crime for selfish reasons. Discuss. You should write at least 350 words.

Mid 2010
The world today is turning more to electronic communications such as the e-mail, Facebook and instant
messaging. What is your opinion of this growing trend? Discuss. You should write at least 350 words.

Year End 2010

In an arranged marriage, the choice of a husband or wife is made by parents or elders. What do you
think of this practice in today's society? Discuss. You should write at least 350 words.

Mid 2011
The most valuable thing in life is friendship. Do you agree? Discuss. You should write at least 350
words.

Tips:

· Don’t write statements that are too general. Back up your statements with facts. If you’re aiming at
scoring Band 5 or Band 6, you are expected to have a high level of critical thinking.
· Have at least 5 paragraphs
1. Introduction
- State the current situation
- State if you agree or disagree with the statement/topic and why.

2. First point
- Key point
- Elaboration
- Examples

3. Second point
- Key point
- Elaboration
- Examples

4. Third point
- Key point
- Elaboration
- Examples

5. Conclusion
- State why you agree/disagree once more
- What can the government/individual/society do?

· Use these tools to help with your critical thinking:

1. The short term, midterm, and long term effect

- Example: Smoking
- Short term = Bad breath/yellow teeth
- Midterm = Affordability/waste of money
- Long term = Health problems such as lung cancer

2. Individual, society, and government

- Example: Recycling
- Individual = Practice the 3R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle)
- Society = Community collection/fund raising
- Government = Hold recycling campaigns
Below is a model answer essay that scored an impressive Band 6. We’ll give feedback on each
paragraph. Let’s get started.

QUESTION 2
The world today is turning more to electronic communications such as e-mail, Facebook and
messaging apps. What is your opinion of this growing trend? Discuss. You should write at
least 350 words.

As time goes by, the world is changing rapidly; so are its people and the technology itself.
Technology brings about a lot of changes to people’s lives. It is getting more advanced from day
to day especially when it comes to information technology or in this case; electronic
communication. Previoulsy, mail was seemingly one of the most vital ways of communicating
especially over long distances. In contrast, nowadays people are more able to communicate in
easier ways; by using their electronic accounts on their computers or through their iPads and
sending short messages from their iPhones or Blackberries. Why is it so? In my opinion, this
growing trend is very dominant in today’s life, which is helping people to save their time and money,
create borderless communication and make it easy for people to gain prominent information.

Feedback
The student introduces technology as a whole, looking at its history, from how it has grown from a
simple form of communication through letters to today’s extensive choice of communication
through electronic gadgets. This is a great way to start your introduction. Based on the question,
explain what the issue is and give a brief background of its past and present. State your
opinion as to why such situation arises.

First and foremost, the world today is turning more to electronic communications like e-mail,
Facebook and instant messaging, and other electronic communications because they will prevent
people from wasting their time and money. How do these work? As we all know, sending a letter
to someone will involve a lot of processes and will eventually take a long time and waste a lot of
money. On the contrary, electronic communications entail only the tip of our fingers and an
electronic device to work with. Then, what is left for us to do is just, typing. Has that not taken a
much less time and money? For instance, an e-mail only requires us to turn on our laptops, open
our accounts on the website and then, you can start writing your letter and sending them through
e-mail. In short, with the very unstable economy nowadays, having these kinds of communications
will ease everyone’s burden especially with their daily expenses and also their valuable time will
not be wasted.

Feedback
State, Explain and then Illustrate. Remember SEI. First, state the topic that’s been
mentioned. In this case, it’s the rise of electronic communications. Then explain. Explain what
electronic communications entail. Next, illustrate. This means give examples based on your
explanation. The student illustrates by giving a scenario of the use of emails.
Secondly, the growing trend of electronic communication is making it possible for borderless
communication which is vital these days. Why is it vital? A lot of things require borderless
communication; in the education field, businesse and even daily activities, especially when border
are involved. For example, when trading with people from different countries, in order to
communicate with each other, they need Skype as a medium to interact and be able to trade at a
faster rate as compared to using ‘snail mail’ with regular letters. Skype is the perfect example of
electronic communication which will cut the boundary that has separated each country and make
communication between two different countries from around the world possible. In conclusion, it is
crucial to have these electronic communications in today’s age of globalisation as they make it
easier for people around the world to connect with each other.

Feedback
Structure your subsequent paragraphs like the first one. Add a new point in the second paragraph
and repeat the SEI format. It’s important to have a mind map of your points before you start writing.
Last but not least, the dominance of these electronic communications is that people could gain
prominent information more efficiently than before. As there are less borders between countries,
the efficiency of getting much more relevant and prominent information is higher. People will have
the ability to provide and gain information effectively through Facebook or Twitter. For example,
international artists who have planned to do a world concert can inform their fans about it through
their Facebook account. Likewise, the fans also can ask just about anything to their favourite artists
regarding the concert. Hence, this explains why people make these electronic communications a
huge trend these days and in order to keep the trend going, each person has the responsibility to
adapt with the technology itself.

In a nutshell, the growing trend of using electronic communications is inevitably vital in people’s
lives as it gives out a lot of benefits as stated in above paragraphs. So, to avoid ourselves from not
getting the chance of keeping up with the changing trends, we have to try our best to adapt
ourselves with the rapid changes. I believe that the electronic communication trend is a trend which
is very important to be followed as the world is getting more advanced day by day.

Feedback
To indicate that your essay is coming to an end, use words like ‘in conclusion, in a nutshell, in short
or to wrap up. Summarise your opinion based on all your previous paragraphs and
emphasise your point through words like ‘I believe’.
 The MUET speaking test is one of the four areas which will be tested apart from reading, writing
and listening. This test evaluates the student’s fluency as well as their level of command in the
English language.

Exam paper code: 800/2

Exam duration: 30 minutes
Total weightage: 15%

Unlike the other exams, the MUET speaking test is the only one which will require you to interact
with three other students. It is aimed at testing your ability to:

 Effectively convey your message and opinion across to others

 Think critically

 Keep a conversation going

 Use the English language in a fluent and confident manner

During the test, all four students will be given the same scenario but each of you is given different
questions. There are two parts to the speaking test – Task A and Task B.

Below is a sample question obtained from the website I Like English, to help you practice your
speaking skills.

Sample question:

A person's character is often influenced by other people around

him/her. Who has the greatest influence on a person's
character? Discuss which of the following has the greatest
influence on a person's character:

Candidate A: Parents
Candidate B: Teachers
Candidate C: Friends
Candidate D: Famous Personalities
Task A – Individual presentation
Given the situation, you now have:
· 2 minutes to prepare your responses
· 2 minutes to present

Tips:
· Study the scenario or topic given carefully
· Double check which candidate you are (A, B, C, D) to make sure you don’t prepare another
candidate’s speech
· Make sure you don’t run out of topics
· Prepare 2 to 3 points to present on
· You MUST agree with the point that is given to you (you can disagree or favour another point in
Task B)
· Make full use of the 2 minutes that you have. Don’t go less than 1 minute 45 seconds / more than
2 minutes.
· If you don’t have as many points to speak about, talk slower.
· Don’t relax after your turn! Keep an attentive ear to what the other candidates are talking about.
· Write down the other students’ answers as they present their 2-minute speech (to prepare
yourself for Task B)

Sample answer: Candidate A

Hi, a very good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. As we are talking about how a
person’s character can be influenced by another person, the persons whom I think have the most
influence in a person’s life are – parents. There are three reasons why I think so.

Firstly, parents are the people whom know us since birth. We become like the person whom we
spend the most time with. Parents are the people whom we see every day from the moment we
are born, till the day we are adults. Hence, very naturally, they become the people whom we look
up to and start imitating the way they talk, act, and even think.

My second reason is because parents are the first educators to their child before anybody else.
Table manners and basic etiquettes are taught at home, by the parents. This gives an influence
so vast that we ourselves fail to recognize it sometimes.
Thirdly, parents are the ones who impart values into our lives. Values are assets which we hold on
to for the rest of our lives – and this is the greatest influence of all. Values are what we make our
decisions upon, and it is what shapes our character.

In conclusion, I think that though there may be many others who can influence a person’s character
– ultimately, parents are the greatest influencers of all. With that, I conclude my speech. Thank
you very much.
Task B – Group discussion
You are given:
· 2 minutes to prepare your points to either support or oppose the other candidates’ views
· Decide on which of the 4 points you think is the best (Note: it is perfectly fine to agree with another
candidate’s points just as long as you explain “why” and “how it is the best point”)
Example: “I think that parents play a big part in influencing their child’s character, but after listening
to Candidate D I would have to agree that famous personalities have more influence in a person’s
character. The reason is because (add on one point to Candidate D’s answers).”
· The entire group is given 10 minutes for this discussion

Tips:
· NEVER keep silent
· It is a plus point when you initiate the discussion. (Example: “To kick start the discussion, after
listening to all of the other candidates’ answers I still stand by my own point that parents can
influence a person’s character the most.”)
· Ask other candidates questions to keep the discussion alive (Example: “How about you,
Candidate B? What do you think?” “What do you mean by that, Candidate C? Could you elaborate
more on that point?”)
· If you want to interrupt when someone is speaking, do it politely. (Example: “I’m sorry, may I
interrupt?”)

Overall tips:
· Speak loudly and clearly so that the examiners can hear you.
· Don’t be so nervous that you can’t speak properly. Take a deep breath, and speak slowly and
clearly.
· Make eye contact with the examiners and the other candidates – especially during Task B as it
is a group discussion.
· Use good language. Good choice of words and sentence structure are plus points.
· Don’t be rude. Always say “excuse me” when you wish to interrupt, and “thank you” after giving
your speech in Task A.