One of the most scaring subjects for Senior High School students to face on the final exam is English. Most students say that English makes them nervous, the others say that they aren’t sure to pass this subject.
Recently, I got a chance to give an English test to students of a private senior high school (which is accredited ‘A’) in Surabaya. The test was divided into two sections. The questions in section one were around simple tenses and vocabulary, such as: John is a good swimmer. He ……. swim very well. (a. can; b. cannot; c. able; d. could not). Section two was writing test. The students were asked to translate simple sentences, such as: Di mana kamu sekolah?, and to change positive sentences to question form, such as: He comes to school by bus.
Shockingly, few students got good marks. The following table shows the result.
