Transcript Slide 1

STRUCTURED
ESSAY QUESTIONS
Structured essay questions require you to look at various
factors and/or issues and weigh the factors in deciding if
anyone of it is more or less important than the others.
Types
Types of SEQ
Getting Started
Marking
Getting started
Marking
Weighing
Weighing
Techniques
Techniques
Types
TYPES
OF
SEQ
Types
TYPES OF SEQ
• Type 1: 1 factor vs the others
E.g. The most important cause of
conflict in Sri Lanka was over the
Language Policy. Do you agree?
Explain your answer.
Types
TYPES OF SEQ
• Type 2: Discuss two factors
E.g. The Sinhala Only Policy was a
more important cause of conflict
than the University Admission
Policy. Do you agree? Explain your
answer.
Types
TYPES OF SEQ
Type 3: Discuss three factors
E.g. Given below are three causes of conflict in
Sri Lanka:
(a) Citizenship Rights Policy
(b) Sinhala Only Policy
(c) Resettlement Policy
Which do you think is the most important?
Explain your answer.
Types
TYPES OF SEQ
• Type 4: Discuss an issue
E.g. Conflict in Sri Lanka is mainly
caused by the LTTE. Do you
agree? Explain your answer.
Getting Started
GETTING
STARTED TOOLS
Getting Started
The Mother Story
3 Teck Whye Secondary pupils have done
extremely well in their O level
examinations. As they are the best
performers in the Combined Humanities
examinations, the Press is here to interview
them on their success story!!! Let’s go live
to Teck Whye Secondary School.
Getting Started
The Mother Story
Jane, who is the
person behind
your success?
There are many people behind
my success. They include my
mother, father, teachers, friends,
uncle, aunt, my brother, my
sister, my sister’s friends, my
mother’s friend, my uncle’s friend
and many more 
Well, that does not tell
me much. Maybe I
should ask someone
else.
Getting Started
The Mother Story
Jason, who is
the person
behind your
success?
These are things Jason’s mother
did. But where is the LINK
between what his mother did
and Jason’s success?
I would say that my mother is
behind my success. She took
leave from work during my exam
period; she made coffee for me;
she stayed awake with me when
I did my revision; she cooked
good food for me. I love my
mother.  [L2 – Description
only]
Getting Started
The Mother Story
Jody, who is the
person behind
your success?
The person behind my success
is my mother. She is very caring
and kept telling me how capable
I am. In doing so, she gave me
much confidence and made me
work harder. This led to my
success. 
This is a very good
answer indeed.
Getting Started
The Mother Story
Question: The person behind my
success is
Factor: my mother.
Story: She is very caring and kept
talking to me about how capable I
am. [Description]
Explain: My mother is the person
behind my success because by
caring she gave me more
confidence and encouraged me to
work harder, leading to my success.
[Link: How / In what way she helped]
Getting Started
Square Approach
Question
Explain
- link from story to
explanation (because)
- link from explanation
to question (leading to)
Factor
Story
- detailed (show
understanding of
content)
- example will be good
Getting Started
Square Approach
The person behind my
success is
My mother is
the person
behind my
success
because by
caring she gave
me more
confidence and
encouraged me
to work harder,
leading to my
success.
Question
Factor
My
mother
Explain
Story
She is very caring and kept talking to
me about how capable I am.
Getting Started
Let’s See An Example –
The University
Admission Policy was
the most important
cause of conflict in Sri
Lanka. Do you agree?
Explain your answer.
Getting Started
Example
Yes I agree that the University Admission Policy was a very
important cause of conflict. Before 1970, university admissions were
Explain
Story
based on merit and the exams were in English. The English educated
Tamils benefited and there were more Tamils that qualified to enter
university even though their population was smaller than the Sinhalese.
The Sinhalese felt discriminated.
After 1970, the government introduced new university admission criteria.
Tamil students had to score higher than Sinhalese students to enter the
same courses in the universities. A fixed number of places were also
reserved for Sinhalese. This led to conflict between the Sinhalese
and the Tamils because university admission was seen as a road to a
bright future. Not being able to go into the university would cause the
Tamils to have difficulty getting good jobs and it would affect their social
and economic positions. Thus, there was tension between the Tamils
and Sinhalese leading to conflict
Factor
Question
Marking
Marking
-The common
mistakes
Marking
“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main
cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you
agree? Explain your answer.
Question
Explain
Student 1:
Yes, the Sinhala Only Policy was an important cause of conflict
between the Tamils and the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. This led to
conflict because it made the Tamils very unhappy with the
Sinhalese as they felt discriminated against. Tensions thus
developed between the two races, leading to conflict between
them.
No story [No description of what happened /
Un clear]
Factor
Story
Marking
Question
Factor
“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main
cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you
agree? Explain your answer.
Explain
Student 2:
Yes, the Sinhala Only Policy was an important cause of conflict between
the Tamils and the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. When Sri Lanka was under
British colonial rule, the British appointed more Tamils than Sinhalese
into important positions in the government service because they could
speak and write English better than the Sinhalese. After the British left, the
Sinhalese government tried to improve the position of the Sinhalese in the
government by introducing the "Sinhala Only" language policy. Sinhala
was to be used as the official language of the country and government
instead of English. The Tamils were only giver 3 years to learn Sinhala or
be dismissed.
No explanation [No link to the cause of conflict]
Story
“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main
cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you
agree? Explain your answer.
Yes, I agree that the Sinhala Only policy was an important
cause of conflict bet. The Tamils and Sinhalese.
When Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule, the
British appointed more Tamils than Sinhalese into important
positions in the government service because they could
speak and write English better than the
Sinhalese.[Description or story ]
As a result, the Sinhalese felt discriminated and
because of this, there was tension between the Sinhalese
and Tamils during the colonial period which later led to
conflict. [Link].
“The Sinhala Only Policy was the main
cause of conflict in Sri Lanka.” Do you
agree? Explain your answer.
After the British left, the Sinhalese government tried to improve the
position of the Sinhalese in the government by introducing the "Sinhala
Only" language policy. Sinhala was to be used as the official language
of the country and government instead of English. The Tamils were only
giver 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed. [description or story]
As a result of this, the Tamils felt discriminated as they would lose
their jobs and would have difficulty doing business in Sri Lanka. Their
Tamil culture would also be lost. The Tamils protested against this
policy but they were broken up by Sinhalese supporters and violent
clashes took place between the Sinhalese and Tamils. About 100
people died in the clashes and racial tension continued until Tamil was
recognized as a language of administration in the northern and eastern
provinces in 1966 where there were Tamil majority. [Link]
Techniques
Techniques
Do’s
and
Don’ts
Techniques
Techniques
1. Answer the question
Techniques
Techniques
2. Remember the square:
Question
Explain
Factor
Story
Techniques
Techniques
3. One paragraph
for one factor