How to teach students compositions?

I was so disappointed when my student's mom called the principal and told her that my student did not understand what I have taught her. I felt like my world was crumbling down and I lost all hope in teaching. 

It was merely three weeks that I saw my student's results and she had flashed a wide grin, saying that it was her first time getting a pass in her Bahasa Malaysia after all these years. Yes, it was her first time passing the subject after studying the language for four years. It did give me a lot of confidence and self-esteem because I have just taught her for three months and she passed. She even asked for a present which I did not promise. But I relented because if the result made her happy, it made me too. After my Thailand trip, I presented a dress to her and she was elated. 

Well, everything was fine till today! I felt the skies ahead turned gloomy and there was thunderstorm and lightning and heavy rain. My heart was raining. I did not cry till I got into my car. Thank God, Isaac was there consoling me and telling me, "Don't be sad. I am here." 

I called my friend and she told me that what I can do is to ask my student to memorise compositions. There is nothing much I can do when her level of understanding is so low and there is not much she can understand no matter how long I spend with her. 

I have always doubted memorising compositions a good way to good marks. To me, memorising a composition and later on spitting it all out in an examination is merely a test on how much the brain can remember. It kills creativity and also, the student's ability to think. Nevertheless, what my friend said was right, "They have too little vocabulary to start a composition with. They need to memorise in order to ''save'' the vocabulary into their brain. Later on, they'll be able to use the saved vocabulary in other compositions." 

I'll give it a try from next week onwards. Please do anticipate for the results of it...