OVERCOMING SPELLING CHALLENGES: SUPPORTING MALAYSIAN ESL LEARNERS IN THE SPM 1119/4 LISTENING
- Zanurin Mohamad Safar
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
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This write-up is the continuation of Spelling Struggles: Helping Malaysian ESL Learners in the SPM 1119/4 Listening Paper, posted on 5 June 2025. As we know, spelling mistakes are a frequent challenge for Malaysian ESL learners, particularly in high-stakes exams like the SPM Listening paper. Although this paper primarily evaluates listening skills, accurate spelling is crucial in Part 4, where students must write down what they hear. Even if an answer is understood correctly, a spelling error can affect the overall mark.
To tackle this issue effectively, our students have to be coached well. As what was suggested in the previous write-up, teachers should introduce students to words that they may misspell through regular dictation and listening exercises. This will further strengthen students' spelling accuracy. Ultimately, fostering both listening and spelling skills is essential to improving performance in the SPM Listening paper. With the right strategies, spelling errors can be minimised, boosting students' confidence and exam results.
Below is an additional list of commonly misspelled words by some Malaysian candidates in the SPM 1119/4 Listening paper. To enhance spelling accuracy, teachers should implement frequent spelling drills and assessments.
1. Acknowledgment – Often mistakenly spelled with an extra "e" (Acknowledgement).
2. Achieve – Confusion with "ie" vs. "ei".
3. Acquire – The silent "c" can trip learners up.
4. Amateur – The "eu" combination is unintuitive.
5. Apparent – The double "p" is frequently forgotten.
6. Argument – Some mistakenly add an "e" after "g".
7. Attendance – "a" vs. "e" confusion in the ending.
8. Calendar – The "e" in the second syllable is sometimes replaced with "a".
9. Cemetery – Often incorrectly spelled as "cemetary".
10. Committee – The triple double letters ("mm," "tt," "ee") make it tricky.
11. Conscious – Often confused with "conscience".
12. Convenience – The placement of "i" and "e" confuses learners.
13. Criticism – The "ism" ending is sometimes misspelled.
14. Decision – The "s" vs. "c" pronunciation causes errors.
15. Description – Sometimes spelled as "discription".
16. Disappear – Double "p" is often omitted.
17. Disappoint – The double "p" and missing "a" are frequent mistakes.
18. Discipline – Confusing "i" and "e" placement.
19. Environment – The silent "n" causes trouble.
20. Essential – Misspellings arise from "s" vs. "c" uncertainty.
21. Exaggerate – One “g” could be missing
22. Experience – Sometimes misspelled as "expirience".
23. Familiar – Confusion with "i" vs. "e".
24. Fascinate – “c” could be missing
25. February – The silent "r" is frequently left out.
26. Foreign – "ie" placement confuses learners.
27. Government – The silent "n" causes errors.
28. Grateful – misspell as “greatful”
29. Harass – The “r” is added or one “s” is missing
30. Humorous – Often mistakenly spelled as "humourous".
31. Independent – The "ent" vs. "ant" ending creates confusion.
32. Intelligent – Sometimes misspelled as "inteligent".
33. Jewellery – Some learners add an unnecessary "e" (jewelery).
34. Judgment – Often spelled incorrectly as "judgement".
35. Leisure – the vowels are frequently flipped
36. Liaison – The second “i” is left out
37. Library – Common error includes adding an extra "r" (libary).
38. Manageable - Often misspelled without the "e" before "able"
39. Millennium – One “l” and/or “n” could be missing
40. Necessary – The double "s" and "c" placement are frequent mistakes.
41. Noticeable – Often misspelled without the "e" before "able"
42. Occasion – The double "c" and single "s" can be tricky.
43. Opportunity – The double "p" and "t" cause spelling errors.
44. Peculiar – Some students may spell based on the sound such as “pekewler”
45. Perseverance – Some mistakenly put “… rence”
46. Playwright – Confused with "playwrite"
47. Recommend – The double "m" is often forgotten.
48. Relevant – Sometimes spelled incorrectly as "relevent".
49. Remembrance – Often misspelled with an extra "e".
50. Restaurant – The "au" and "ant" at the end confuse learners.
51. Threshold – Misspelled as "threshhold".
52. Tomorrow – Frequently misspelled as "tommorow" or "tommorrow".
53. Unforeseen – Confusion between "fore" and "for".
54. Wednesday – Pronounced differently than it's spelled.
55. Yacht – Non-phonetic, often misspelled as "yatch".
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