Summary Question: An Introduction
The last section of PMR paper 2 (Section C) contains a summary question.
So, what is a summary?
A summary gives only the main points and not the details. A wide range of texts can be summarised
– news, articles, descriptions, procedures and stories. For the purpose of this guide, summary texts
will be divided into two main groups: 1) Factual, 2) Narrative (story), and 3) Instruction
(processes/procedures). The reason of this division will follow in the next part.
There are 10 marks are allocated for summary writing: 5 marks for contents and another 5 marks for
language. Students with medium to high level of proficiency usually able to get at least 8 marks out
of the full marks – maximum of 5 marks for content and up to 3 marks (if possible) for language. This
guide aims to help students (especially those of medium to low level of proficiency) to get maximum
marks by securing the marks they can easily get and avoiding marks they often lose.
Easy Steps to Approach PMR Summary Questions
1) Read the question first
2) Write down the 10 words given on answer sheet
3) Read the passage
4) Identify main ideas; eliminate details AND examples
5) Use connectors
6) Do not forget word count
The Rationales of these Suggested Steps
1) First thing first: Read the question instead of the text/passage.
Paper 2 PMR is a battle against time. Why then students should read the question first
instead of reading the whole text? When students read a text without knowing the objective (i.e. the
question), their mind tends to wander aimlessly which only waste their precious time. Therefore,
reading the question first allows a focused reading of the passage as students can identify the
keyword(s) present in the question which will help identifying and locating main ideas.
2) Write down the 10 words given on the answer sheet.
Why writing down the 10 words before reading the text? There are two reasons: 1)
Motivation – if a text is easy, students tend to get a little overexcited and may forget to write down
the 10 words given meant to help them begin their summary; if a text is somewhat difficult, weaker
students may find difficult vocabulary hampering their reading. 2) To help students identify the first
content point AND where to continue the sentence. This is because the last of the 10 words given
often have keyword that helps students locate where to continue the sentence (refer APPENDIX).
3) Read the text.
Yes, read the text carefully and thoroughly. What else is there to do?
4) Identify main ideas; eliminate details AND examples – rephrase words (if possible)
Remember: What need to be summarised are main ideas, not details. Students need to be
able to differentiate and distinguish main ideas from supporting details. Main ideas are usually (but
not necessarily) located at the first sentence for every paragraph (refer APPENDIX). However, this is
only true for factual and instruction texts as narrative texts can have the main ideas located
anywhere and everywhere.
As for examples, there are two ways to identify them:
Phrases to show example. Below is a list of examples often found in texts:
For example, ... For instance, ... Such as ...
When a number of items are grouped together. When words are grouped together, we can
either eliminate the words altogether or replace them with general ones. Below are a few
examples:
Grouped breakfast, lunch, dinner → meals General
tulips, carnations, orchids → flowers term
words
tables, chairs, cupboards → furniture
English, Science, Mathematics → subjects
5) Use connectors
Adding connectors will help markers read the summary easily. However, different types of
text require different set of connecters. Below is the list of examples:
Factual Texts Narrative Texts Instruction Texts
- require formal connectors - require less formal / - require sequence
informal connectors connectors
Examples: Examples: Examples:
Moreover/Furthermore Then Firstly, Secondly...
However/On the contrary After that First, Second...
Besides Eventually/In the end Next
Although/Even though Though Finally/Lastly
However, it is very important that teachers explain the meaning and how to use these
connectors to students (explaining in students’ vernacular language e.g. Bahasa Malaysia, may not
be a bad idea). It is even better if teachers can provide example of sentences for these connectors so
as to help students learn how to use them correctly – and not to blindly throw in the connectors into
the text.
6) Do not forget word count
Yes, the word count at the end of the summary. After all, it is one of the most essential parts
of summary writing. Word count helps markers estimate the number of words students have
written.
Additional notes
If students are at medium to high level of proficiency, teach them to rephrase. Rephrasing a
sentence has the risk of losing marks as students may unintentionally change the meaning. So what
students need to rephrase? Teach them to rephrase phrases with one word.
Examples:
once a year → annually
people who live next door → neighbours
liked by everyone → popular
However, teachers have to realise that it is very difficult to teach rephrasing skills if students
are lacking in vocabulary. Therefore, it is one of the topmost priorities for teachers to widen
students’ vocabulary as well as drill them with a lot of exercises. Practise makes perfect, after all.
