THE MALAWI NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS BOARD

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

2019 MALAWI SCHOOL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

ENGLISH I, II & III

CHIEF EXAMINER’S REPORT

PAPER I

A. GENERAL COMMENTS
The paper this year was fair. It had no typographical errors. The language used was
up to the level of MSCE. In view of the new curriculum’ the paper composed of
two sections” Section A had thirty multiple choice questions assessing grammar.
Section B had two essay questions in which the candidate is expected to choose
one.
The paper revealed great deficiencies in English language among the learners.
There were glaring and avoidable mistakes for a candidate at that level. There were
a lot of mechanical errors such as spellings, Chichewa compositions, literal
translations and incomprehensible essays. These suffered greatly on content marks
and mechanical accuracy. Again, it became obvious that some grammar areas are
not adequately covered by teachers in the classrooms.
B. ANALYSIS OF SECTION A
Many candidates performed fairly well in questions 1 – 9, 13 – 15 and 19 – 22.
However questions 10 – 12 (registers), 16 – 18 (phrasal verbs), 23 – 26 (order of
adjectives) and 27 – 30 (phrases and clauses) proved difficult to many of the
candidates this year. Consequently, they performed poorly.
Technical issue in Section A
There were a few scripts this year in which candidates had blank pages. The
candidates may have not reported to the invigilator or supervisor during
administration of the paper. Examples of such candidates are 5278/052; 0546/137;
M0911, M0373 or 0933, 0785/186.

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Common mistakes in Section A
a. Encircling more than one option
b. Writing letters (A, B, C and D) in the gaps
C. ANALYSIS OF SECTION B
Question 31
Question 31 this year was speech writing. The question demanded that a candidate
imagines there is a problem of drug and alcohol abuse among the youth in his or
her area and the Ward Councilor has called for a meeting to address the problem.
The candidates were then tasked to prepare a speech to address his or her fellow
youths during the meeting.
The question emerged more popular between the two questions. Approximately
over 90% of the candidature this year attempted this question. Many candidates
who chose the question performed fairly well. Those who produced good
welcoming remarks and outlined the causes, effects and the general mitigation
measures to curb the problem got better marks compared to those who attempted
the question in part.
The general performance trend on this question varied across all candidates from
different schools across the country. Many candidates from National Conventional
and Mission schools performed fairly well compared to those from Community
Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs).
Common Mistakes in Question 31
a. Spelling
- ‘parynts’ for ‘parents’
- ‘promblem’ for ‘problem’
- ‘meating’ for ‘meeting’
- ‘alcolhol’ for ‘alcohol’
- ‘counsellor’ for ‘councillor’
- ‘mud’ for ‘mad’
b. Demonstratives with nouns
- ‘This girls’ for ‘’these girls’
c. Reflexive pronouns
- ‘His self’ for ‘himself’
- ‘Their selves’ for ‘themselves’

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d. Literal translation of proverbs
‘running in the sand is beginning together’
Question 32
Question 32 this year was a short story. The question demanded that a candidate
writes an original short story entitled ‘The Fall Out’. Candidates were expected to
come up with a story about two friends or groups of people who were once united.
However, due to the behavior of others within or between them conflict arose and
then a serious enmity began, entirely separating the two.
The question was least popular among the candidates. A very small number of
candidates attempted this question. Most of the candidates among the few that
attempted this question failed to catch the gist of it. They wrote stories that were
left hanging. There was neither conflict nor an end to a relationship. These suffered
much on content mark. However, a few candidates who got the gist of the question
wrote captivating short stories. Consequently, they got good marks.
Common mistakes in Question 32
 Candidates creating stories that were off the context of the question
 Candidates narrating a story
 Use of double time phases
- ‘it was …when’
 Candidates writing stories without vivid characters, themes and climax .
D. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
 The merging of multiple choice compositions has brought a scenario in
which candidates are only responding to multiple choice questions. There
are many candidates who did not attempt Section B. Compositions. Some
candidates just wrong a single paragraph.
E. RECOMMENDATIONS
To School
- Ensure that teachers are teaching using the syllabus
- Ensure that teachers cover syllabus every year
- Ensure that learners practice multiple choice
- Ensure that schools have enough grammar books

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 To Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST)
- Ensure that there is enough supply of teaching and learning materials
- Ensure that teachers of English meet to share expertise as ‘SMASSE’
does.

PAPER II
A. GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE PAPER
The 2019 English paper II was comparable to those of the previous years although
the passage for note taking was longer.
The comprehension passage was shorter than those in previous years. A good
number of questions tilted to the high order. As a result, some candidates from
Community Day Secondary schools, private schools and ODL performed poorly.
Apart from the nature of the passages, the low performance was also attributed to
the removal of Junior Certificate Examination. The JCE help candidates to prepare
for the School Certificate Examinations at Form Four.
B: COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONS
The question demanded candidates to make notes from written passage. The notes
were supposed to have a title, four main points and at least sixteen supporting
points.
1. The title was supposed to be in capital letters and not underline.
2. The four main points were supposed to be written in small letter, underlined,
and numbered.
3. The candidates had to use at least three abbreviations or contractions and at
least three symbols in their notes. These abbreviations, contractions and
symbols must be conventional.
4. The notes must be in form of phrases that are sensible.
Common mistakes made by candidates in question 1
1. Candidates knew something about low self-esteem in Life Skills, therefore
they came up with points which were not in the passage.
2. Copying sentences and numbered the sentence they copied.
3. Most candidates made notes without abbreviations, contracts and symbols
4. Some used abbreviations, contractions and symbols which are not
conventional.
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5. Some abbreviated almost every word. The abbreviations were not
conventional; as a result, the examiners could not manage to read the
phrases.
6. Making notes in prose (paragraph) form.
7. Phrases which were not sensible.
8. Some candidates came up with supporting points from the first paragraph.
9. Others made notes from the conclusion.
Question 2
The question had two parts. The first part demanded candidates to provide brief
responses. The brief responses could be sentences or phrases. Most candidates
from CDSS, Private Schools, ODL and externals provided long responses. Some
candidates failed to write a good summary. The majority copied (lifted) their
responses.
Common mistakes made by candidates in question 2
1. Wrong spellings for the main character for example, instead of “Limbani”,
they wrote “Limban” without an “i”, “Limbikani”, “Limbini” and “Lembini”
2. Using wrong punctuation, for example, “limbani” with small “l”
3. Lifting (copying)
4. The word “youth” was used as a group of youngsters.
5. Using article “the” to a proper noun; they could write “the Limbani”
6. “Mafuta” as a clan was used as a character in the passage.
7. On the question of “Give the meaning of each of the following words…”,
candidates were writing a sentence instead of a word.
8. Wrong choice of words; for example instead of “Limbani was wrong…”
they wrote “Limbani was long…”
9. Using wrong tenses; for example, question h was in the present tense,
instead of presenting the answer in the present, some candidates provided
responses in the past tense.
Questions which most candidates attempted and got some marks:
Questions c, h
Questions which most candidates got zero or did not attempt them
Questions f and i (iii)

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Common mistakes in summary writing
(i) Summarizing a different passage, especially a passage from note making
(ii) A summary without punctuation
(iii) Copying (lifting); as a result, they used direct speech, for example, writing
“Who are you?” as it was in the passage.
(iv) Starting the summary with “Long time ago …”
(v) Writing a summary as if it were a commentary or narration.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
To Schools
1. Teachers must teach candidates the skills on note-making and
comprehension using textbooks from other subjects such as Life skills,
Geography, History and Home Economics.
2. Teachers must make sure that candidates are given enough practice in note-
making and comprehension.
3. Teachers must encourage candidates to have a reading culture. They can
read novels and other books in the library in order to increase their
vocabulary.
4. Most teachers do not read the Chief examiner’s report. Therefore the reports
must be read at departmental meetings. Teachers must discuss the content of
the report during those meetings.
To MOEST
1. Junior Certificate of Education Examinations should be re-introduced
because the examinations help candidates to read seriously, knowing that if
they fail they would not continue their studies to MSCE level.
2. Textbooks must be supplied to schools on time.
3. In service trainings for teachers must be encouraged.

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 PAPER III
A. GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE PAPER
This years paper was comparable to the previous years in terms of level of
difficulty. The performance however was mixed with some schools scoring high
marks while the majority still struggled.
B. GENERAL COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL QUESTIONS
Question 1 - POEM
“SWEET BREW AT CHITAKALE”
In general, this compulsory question was poorly scored by most candidates. The
question required outstanding application of poetic skills which they acquired
during learning process.
Therefore questions c, d, e and f proved very difficult for those who had no
knowledge in poetic devices and poem analysis. This also exposed some shortfalls
in the way literature is taught in our schools and the massive reliance on study
guides but not having critical thinking in analyzing poems.
Question 1 c
This was about “Figures of speech” and it was answered by most candidates. The
responses were wayward and some wrote “figures 1, 2, 3” as an answer while
others wrote “adjective, noun, (parts of speech) as answers. This showed that most
candidates do not know the figures of speech in literature or rather teachers
introduce them as poetic devices or literary terms and not figures of speech. These
words are used interchangeably and teachers must be aware of that. Literature is
characterized by figures of speech and it is one of the core elements. Failure by a
candidate in this area shows that the teacher did not adequately cover the syllabus.
Question 1 f
Was on themes. Most candidates were able to provide a noun as a theme but failed
to back it properly for the full 2 marks. This was also true with 1 b on the character
analysis. They failed to provide a correct backing up point.

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General observations on question 1
1. Most external candidates and ODL appear not to be conversant with literacy
devices.
2. Poetry is not supposed to be memorized but understood, hence most
candidates’ failure to respond to questions that required application.
3. Some teachers teach the poem (content) and not skills on how to tackle
poetry hence, the poor performance of candidates in poetry.
Question 2 – SHORT STORY
‘THE WITCH’
Compared to the poem candidates scored better marks in this question although
some weaknesses were exposed.
Question 2 a: Describing the geographical setting of the story
Most candidates struggled to identify the geographical setting. To come up with an
appropriate geographical setting, they needed to identify features that qualified the
rural setting i.e. the chief, use of rituals, superstitions, dressing and other traditional
beliefs. When teaching geographical setting should either be rural or urban and not
semi-urban, village, town or not clear.
Question 2 f
Proved to be the most difficult one. In the first place most candidates did not know
“poetic justice”. Some completely ignored the question. This is the resolution of
the whole story and teachers are supposed to emphasize it.
General observations on short story
1. Candidates exposed failure to understand the story since it was completely
new to them.
2. All questions were of application in nature and some candidates had
difficulties
3. Some candidates did not attempt any question in this question probably
indicating that they did not understand it.
4. Candidates failed to differentiate between “character” and “theme”.
Character must be an adjective e.g. superstitious while a theme must be a
noun e.g. superstition.
5. Generally the questions were good though candidates did not comprehend
them.

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SECTION B: ESSAYS
Question 3. THE PEARL by Jon Steinbeck
Question 3 a
It required candidates to discuss “hope” and “poverty” as themes portrayed in the
book, “The pearl”.
Though popular, candidates were just describing the characters instead of
answering the question. Those who attempted to answer it correctly were only
presenting a point but failing to explain it clearly. This led to loss of marks. On the
same some candidates were mixing the points instead of writing separately in
paragraph form. Since this was a multiple question, candidates were expected to
come up with four points on “Hope” and four points on “Poverty”. Each point on
its own paragraph in prose form.
Question 3 b
The question demanded candidates to discuss eight points on how the theme of
“greed” is portrayed in the book.
The question was well formulated. It specifically demanded candidates to give
eight points. Some candidates did not understand the word “greed” and changed it
to the word “agreed”. This led to loss of marks for these candidates since they did
not meet the demand for the question.
Secondly, for those who attempted this question, some failed to explain the extent
of greed in the characters used. This led to loss of marks.
General observations on the novel
1. It shows that most candidates did not take time to read the book on their own
hence wrong vocabulary and poor spellings which led to failure to retrieve
information from the book.
2. It also showed that some candidates rely only on study guides and not the
text book itself.
Question 4. MACBETH: William Shakespeare
Question 4 a
The question demanded candidates to explain how the following are responsible
for influencing Macbeth to do evil:

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 (i) Lady Macbeth
(ii) The witches
The question was attempted by many candidates and most of them scored more
marks on the part of the witches than on Lady Macbeth.
Those who read the book were also able to understand the phrase “To what extent”
which to them meant “why”. That was not the demand of the question as such and
this led to loss of marks.
Question 4 b
It required candidates to discuss “power struggle” in the play “Macbeth”
The question was attempted by a few candidates and those who did demonstrated
lack of understanding. They failed to articulate points relevant to the question.
Those who did well mostly were from National Secondary Schools and some
conventional Secondary Schools. Most CDSS candidates opted for question 4 a
which they also did poorly.
General observations on essays
1. Failure to understand the demands of question 3a.
2. Writing more points than required
a. Question 3b and 4b were loaded essays and required 8 points written
in 8 paragraphs for 2 marks each. The 4 marks were for expression i.e.
flow of language, style and mechanical efforts.
b. Question 3a and 4a were multiple and each part required 4 points
written in 4 paragraphs.
3. Some candidates were answering both questions on one book and
disregarded the other book e.g. answering both questions on “The Pearl” and
non on “Macbeth”
4. There were some spelling problems, for instance, Macbeth
5. Some candidates did not paragraph their essays. Such essays were difficult
to follow because one could not tell where a point started and ended.
6. There is need to number points especially in questions which are multiple in
nature. However, it is necessary to number the question being answered.

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 7. Some candidates failed to analyze the points. They were just writing what
they knew about the story or play. Others showed that they completely relied
on study guides.
8. Writing lengthy introductions and conclusions was common. The
introduction should simply highlight what a candidate is answering e.g. 3
b. The theme of greed in “The Pearl” is portrayed as follows…(and no
conclusion)
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
To schools
 Teachers of English should teach writing skills and compositions. They
must revise the work they give to their candidates.
 Teachers should emphasize the need for creative writing among candidates.
 Ensure through Heads of departments that language teachers teach
comprehension extensively and give candidates enough practice in
answering comprehension questions.
 Ensure school based/cluster in-service-training is done for English language
teachers to share ideas on how to share skills required in the English papers.
 Teachers should work hard in training learners on how to analyze poetry and
not just memorizing content alone (i.e. literary terms and literary devices).
 ODL and external candidates ought to have a teacher at one point other .

NB: THIS IS THE END OF THE REPORT

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