WACE Indonesian Background Language common mistakes
WACE Indonesian Background Language · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In the listening section, the candidate writes down isolated words or short phrases as they hear them and then stitches together an answer, instead of noting the gist, speaker relationship, and purpose on first hearing.
The recording plays a limited number of times, and candidates trained on vocabulary-listening try to transcribe rather than comprehend, so they miss discourse-level meaning such as attitude, implied requests, and turn-taking cues.
What to do instead
Practise two-pass listening: on the first pass write only who is speaking, where, why, and the speaker's stance; on the second pass fill in supporting detail. Do timed drills with authentic Indonesian audio (announcements, interviews, phone calls) and answer in Indonesian using full sentences.
The candidate answers listening questions in English or with single-word Indonesian answers when the question asks for an explanation or reason.
Under time pressure and uncertainty, candidates default to the language they think in, and they misjudge how much detail the mark scheme rewards.
What to do instead
Train a fixed answer frame in Indonesian: 'Karena ... maka ...' or 'Pembicara merasa ... sebab ...'. For every practice question, write a complete Indonesian sentence with a connective and check it against the required content points.
The candidate treats every reading text at the same speed, skimming a formal text (letter, report, article) as if it were a personal message, and so misses register, implied opinion, and the writer's purpose.
Candidates have usually practised on short informal texts and lack strategies for identifying text type, audience, and tone quickly; they also read word-by-word instead of locating key information.
What to do instead
Before reading, spend 30 seconds identifying text type, sender, audience, and purpose from layout and opening lines. Then scan for the specific information the question asks for, and underline the sentence that supports each answer. Build a register checklist (formal/informal markers such as 'Anda' vs 'kamu', 'mohon' vs 'minta').
When asked to infer meaning of unfamiliar words from context, the candidate guesses from an English lookalike or from the first dictionary sense, ignoring the surrounding sentence.
Candidates rely on cognates and single-word glossaries rather than morphological and contextual clues, and Indonesian affixation (meN-, ber-, -kan, -i, ke-...-an) changes meaning in ways they do not decode.
What to do instead
Practise stripping and identifying affixes: find the root, decide the word class from affixes, then test the guess against the sentence. Keep a personal log of roots with their derived forms (e.g. 'bangun' → 'membangun', 'pembangunan', 'dibangunkan') and use each in a sentence.
In writing, the candidate produces a text that meets the word count but has no clear structure: no opening purpose statement, no paragraphing by idea, and no closing appropriate to the text type.
Candidates draft directly onto the answer sheet without planning, and they have not internalised the conventional moves of Indonesian text types such as surat resmi, surat pribadi, laporan, and artikel.
What to do instead
Spend five minutes planning: purpose, audience, three or four content points, and the conventional opening and closing for the text type. Learn templates for each text type (e.g. 'Dengan hormat,' ... 'Hormat saya,' for formal letters) and practise writing to a plan under timed conditions.
The candidate writes in a consistently informal register for a formal task, using 'kamu', 'nggak', 'banget', and conversational particles in a letter to an official or a school report.
Candidates transfer the register of everyday speech and social media into all writing because they have not been explicitly taught to monitor register against audience and purpose.
What to do instead
Before writing, state the audience and the required register in one line, then maintain a two-column personal list of formal and informal equivalents and check the draft against it. Practise rewriting the same message for a friend and for a principal.
The candidate's writing is grammatically English in Indonesian clothing: missing or misplaced affixes, wrong prepositions, and direct translation of English constructions such as 'saya sangat suka untuk' or overuse of 'adalah'.
Transfer from English syntax and limited active control of Indonesian affixation and function words; candidates translate mentally sentence by sentence.
What to do instead
Target the highest-frequency trouble spots: meN- vs di-, ber- vs meN-, -kan vs -i, and prepositions 'di/pada/ke/dari'. Do transformation drills and keep an error log from your own drafts, rewriting each faulty sentence correctly and reusing the pattern in a new sentence.
In the oral examination, the candidate prepares memorised answers to likely questions and delivers them regardless of what was actually asked, or stalls into silence when the question diverges.
Anxiety and a belief that memorisation equals preparation; candidates have not practised unscripted interaction or repair strategies.
What to do instead
Practise with unpredictable questions from a partner and rehearse functional gambits rather than scripts: 'Maaf, boleh saya ulangi pertanyaannya?', 'Maksud saya ...', 'Yang saya maksud adalah ...'. Record yourself and review for relevance to the question asked.
The candidate speaks in short, safe sentences with long pauses and fillers, avoiding complex structures and self-correction, so fluency and range scores stay low even when accuracy is acceptable.
Candidates prioritise not making errors over communicating, and they have not built automaticity through repeated spoken output.
What to do instead
Do timed monologues of 90 seconds on a prepared topic, then 60 seconds on an unseen topic, recording and counting hesitations. Deliberately include one complex sentence per turn (cause, contrast, condition: 'walaupun', 'sehingga', 'apabila') and practise linking ideas with discourse markers.
In the oral discussion, the candidate gives opinions without reasons or examples, or answers only 'ya'/'tidak' and waits for the next question instead of developing the response.
Candidates have not been taught the expected structure of an extended response in Indonesian, and they lack topic vocabulary for the themes prescribed for study.
What to do instead
Use a fixed expansion pattern for every opinion: statement, reason, example, conclusion ('Menurut saya ... karena ... Misalnya ... Jadi ...'). Build theme-based vocabulary clusters (e.g. environment, education, technology) and practise giving a 45-second structured response to a prompt from each cluster.