English Language Lesson Notes
FIRST TERM E-LEARNING NOTE
SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS: SS 1
SCHEME OF WORK
REFERENCES
Effective English Book .1-Michael Montgomery et al.
Countdown English – O. Ogunsanwo et al.
Goodbye to Failure in English, Book 3 Ken Mebele et al.
Communication in English – Blessing Dupe el al.
WEEK ONE
TOPIC: GENERAL REVISION OF LAST TERM’S EXAMINATION; REVIEW OF PARTS OF SPEECH- NOUN, PRONOUN, VERB ADJECTIVE, SPELLING; DOUBLING OF CONSONANTS
CONTENT
A: General revision of the last term’s work and examination: The teacher goes over the questions with the students and offers expected solution
Reading Assignment:
Lexis and structure questions from WASSCE/NECO past questions
B. Review of Word Class- Parts of Speech
Noun- A noun is a naming word. It is a name of a person, animal, place, thing or and idea. Nouns also cover names like those of institutions, months and days, and abstract ideas. Below are examples of nouns:
Names of people: Uche, Peterson, Adebisi, Falase
Names of places: Beijing, Meiran, Atan Ota, London, Sweden, Canada
Names of things: table, chair, house, lap top, radio etc
Names of Institutions: family, tribe, Christianity, Islam, university etc
Names of months and days: January, February, December, Sunday, Thursday, Friday.
Names of Abstract ideas: beauty, knowledge, emotion, hope, courage, wisdom, empathy etc.
FEATURES OF NOUNS:
Most nouns form their plurals with ending – ‘s’ or –‘es’: girl - girls, box - boxes, church – churches
Nouns are often used with articles, demonstratives and adjectives, e.g a cup, an hour , a church, that house, black girl, some people.
Words that end with the following morphemes are usually often nouns-
age- e,g damage, grainage, homage, image, stoppage.
al- e.g arrival, cabbinal, dismissal, mammal, refusal.
tion- e.g action,option, association, imagination, admonition, composition.
er- e,g adviser, marker, player, teacher, worker
ery- machinery, slavery, stationery,
titude- e.g servitude, solitude
hood- boyhood, girlhood, childhood, womanhood
like- childlike,
ist- bicyclist, evangelist, motorist, socialist
ity- ability brevity equity, impunity
ment- arrangement, comment, establishment, government
ness- firmess, fairness, laziness,
cy- proficiency, ascendancy, profligacy, legacy, papacy
ocracy- democracy, aristocracy, autocracy
ism- Zionism, Feudalism, Nazism, Communism
ship- scholarship, fellowship, followership, membership
ster- gangster, trickster, youngster.
Types of Nouns
Proper Nouns: These name a SPECIFIC person, place or thing. Note that the first letter of every proper noun must be written in capital letter regardless of its position in a sentence. E.g We will travel to Atan-Ota on Monday in the month of August. Proper nouns in the sentence above are: Atan-Ota, Monday and August.
Examples of proper nouns are:
Names of persons- Ade, Obi, Chike,
Names of places/countries- Ottawa in Canada, Oslo-Norway, Oshodi, Ado-Ekiti, Ibadan,
Days of the week and months of the years-January, December, Monday, Friday.
Note: The first letter of the proper noun must be written in capital letter regardless of its position in a sentence.
Common Noun: This is the opposite of concrete noun. It is used to name things/person/places which are of general kinds. E.g boy, man, lady, church, mosque, boxes, table, knives.
Concrete Noun: This type of noun can be seen and touched. It is the opposite of abstract noun. Examples of concrete nouns are: books, tables, bag etc.
Abstract Nouns: These only exist in names. They can neither be seen nor touched. These can only be felt. E.g hatred, hunger, pains, intelligence, etc
Count nouns: These are nouns that can be counted. They usually have singular and plural forms, E.g one man- five men, one orange-several oranges, a book-five books.
Non count or mass nouns: These cannot be counted, and they therefore have only singular form. Sand , soap, rice, homework, water. Although, they may be counted when converted to units of measurement. E,g, three bags of rice, a bar of soap, some loaves of bread,
OTHER types of uncountable nouns are: equipment, jewelry, stationery, information, baggage, luggage, machinery, furniture, baggage, damage, -NOTE- These uncountable nouns must not attract –s- to form their plurals.
E.g All the students were instructed to take their baggage. Not baggages
We have got information/some pieces of information about them. Not ‘an information’ or ‘informations’.
The rain wrecked serious damage to the building. Not ‘damages’. Note –The word damages means a fine imposed on someone. E,g He was ordered by the court of law to pay damages for the damage to his car.
Collective nouns: These name a group of people or things. E.g
A troupe of dancers
A troup of soldiers
A band of thieves
A bevy of ladies
A class of students.
Possessive noun/ genitive: These indicate possession. E.g Dr Oyeyemi’s car. Mrs. Alalade’s dress. Mr Jayeola’s house, Adebisi’s radio, The Chief Justice’s pen etc.
NUMBER: There are two numbers in English- singular and plural. This singular relates to one, while the plural relates to more than one. Countable nouns have both singular and plural forms, uncountable nouns have only the singular form.
REGULAR PLURALS- s and es
IRREGULAR PLURAL
PLURALS IN COMPOUND NOUNS-
ZERO PLURALS
OTHERS
machinery
information
equipment
advice
jewelry
stationery
furniture
baggage
luggage
NOTE: THESE ARE IN PLURAL FORMS
aircraft(pl) - aircraft
cattle(pl) – cattle
THESE NATURALLY ‘GO’ WITH ‘S’ OR ‘ES’
goods
remains (a body of a dead person)
ashes
headquarters
quarters
congratulations
manners
surroundings
wages
arms
works - (Public works such as road construction)
MORE ON REVIEW OF PARTS OF SPEECH
PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES
Pronouns- Pronouns are words which are used to replace nouns in a sentence. They are mostly used in order to avoid unnecessary repetition of nouns in a sentence. Both nouns and pronouns are used interchangeably in a sentence, therefore they both perform the same function. Examples are: he, they, we etc.
TYPES OF PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns: Examples I, we, they , us etc.
Possessive pronouns: yours, his, hers, theirs, its, yours etc.
Demonstrative pronouns: this that these those.
Interrogative pronouns: who which, whom, whose, etc.
Reflexive pronouns: myself, themselves, yourselves/yourself, ourselves, oneself etc.
Reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another.
Relative pronoun: which, whom, whose, who, that etc.
Indefinite pronouns: someone, somebody, anything, anyone, everything, everyone, nobody, nothing etc.
ADJECTIVES
These are words that describe or qualify nouns. Adjectives are said to perform attributive functions when they are placed before noun. E.g, A red shirt, a gentle lady.
However, an adjective performs a predicative function if it is placed after a link verb. E.g the shirt is red, the lady is gentle.
Kind of Adjectives
Adjectives of Colour: red, green, black – a red shirt, a green basket
Adjectives of Size - e.g big , small, long
Adjectives of Age - old young
Adjectives of Shape - rectangular, circular, round, spherical
Adjectives of Origin - Nigerian, Ghanaian, Canadian
Adjectives of Number- one , two, three, twenty
Demonstrative Adjectives - this, these, that, those
Possessive Adjectives - your, my, her, their
Distributive Adjectives - each, some, every , any
FORMATION OF ADJECTIVES
- cal - grammatical, classical,
- ic - authentic historic, workaholic
- eous advantageous
- ious- melodious, odious, copious, superstitious
- uous - promiscuous, continuous, conspicuous
- ive - meditative, sedative, curative
- able - edible, curable, sensible, marketable
- al - illegal, regal, digital, rural, brutal
- ial - social, crucial, essential, commercial
READING ASSIGNMENT: Countdown page 240 - 241
Differentiate between – works and work, damages and damage, stationery and stationary.
VERB
A verb expresses action and a state of being. Examples of verbs are sing, dance, jump, is, are, am, etc.
TYPES OF VERBS
Lexical Verb: This type of verb expresses action. It can stand on its own without depending on other type of verb. Another name for lexical verb is ‘main verb’. Examples are: speak, pray, write etc.
Auxiliary verbs: There are two types of auxiliary verbs. Those that are not capable of independent existence, and those that can stand on their own while they express a state. Those that can stand on their own and function like main verbs are called PRIMARY AUXILIARY VERBS- E.g be, am, is , are, was, were, being, been. While those that can stand on their own are called MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS-E.g can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would. Others are ought to, dare, need.
Finite and Non-Finite Verbs
Finite verb agrees with the subject in terms of person, tense and number. E.g She works hard – Present tense. She worked hard- Past tense.
Olu speaks good English Language- Singular subject + singular verb
Olu and Bola speak good English Language- Plural subject + plural verb.
Non-Finite Verbs- They do not agree with the subject in terms of person, number and tense. They belong to the following group. Infinitive- ‘to work’, ‘to eat’, ‘to dance’. They usually have –ing- ending. E.g dancing, singing, praying, cooking, etc.
Transitive Verb: This type of verb receives object. E.g He killed a snake.[ a snake is the dirtect object of the verb killed].
Intransitive Verb: This type of verb does not require an object. E.g She died, They cooked, We prayed.
C: Spelling: Doubling of Consonants. Rules of Spelling
Words of one syllable with one vowel and a consonant at the end double the consonant before adding suffixes beginning with a vowel.
Examples:
big –bigger
bat –batting
drop –dropped
drum –drummer
When the vowel is doubled (o,a) ,do not double the consonant.
Examples:
boat – boating
boil – boiled
cheap –cheapest
sweet – sweeter
Exception: wool – woollen
Words of more than one syllable (ad/mit) –i-vowel, t-consonant
Double the final consonant when the accent is on the last syllable:
Examples:
admit –admittance
begin –beginning
forget –forgetting
occur –occurrence
Words of more than one syllable not accented on the last syllable.
Do not double the consonant if you add an ending that begins with a vowel
Examples
enter – entering
happen –happened
inhabit – inhabitant
refer – reference
Note – A final “p” is doubled
Examples:
Handicap –Handicapped
Kidnap –kidnapped
Worship - Worshipped
Exception : Develop – Developed
In words ending with “c” add “k” before the suffix
Examples:
frolic - frolicked
mimic – mimicked
panic – panicky
Evaluation
Write five words where consonants are doubled.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Read page 273 of the Effective English.
GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISION QUESTION
Give the correct spelling for following words: libary, envinronment, milenium, writting, maneuver, continious, optamologist, neccessary, duely.
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
What are monophthongs?
State at least four types of essay and define them.
WEEK TWO
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION, READING SKILLS; RELIGION.
STRUCTURE: INTRODUCTION TO PHRASAL VERBS. ADVERBS, CONJUNCTIONS AND PREPOSITIONS
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LIBRARY
A. COMPREHENSION/ READING SKILLS
RELIGION
Religion Unit 3 page 54-55 of Effective English.
The passage talks about the relationship between man and the deity (god) in the account of Yoruba beliefs.
The second part of the passage gives an example of a part of TIV ritual for giving a householder power over the forces that control dysentery (Igbe). By this ritual, the householder joins a particular cult (i.e. he is initiated).
EVALUATION: Practice 3 page 56 unit 3 of the Effective English.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Read the passage on page 54-55
B. TOPIC: STRUCTURE: INTRODUCTION TO PHRASAL VERBS.
Definition
Examples
Phrasal Verbs: Verbs often combine with adverbial particles to form multi-word verbs or phrasal verbs.Its meanings cannot be determined from the meaning of the verb and the particles in isolation, rather, it has to be comprehended from the entire phrase
Examples
turn down: refuse :I turned down the offer
give in: surrender: Our team refused to give in to their opponents.
run across: meet by chance: We ran across an old friend yesterday at Aba.
call off: cancel: The workers have called off their strike.
turn up: appear: He turned up as soon as we arrived.
put off: postpone: The election was put off till the next meeting.
come across: meet by chance: We came across Ledogo in the street.
come through: experience: He has come through a lot of hardship in life.
Phrasal verbs with double particles, and the whole combination has a single meaning e.g.put up with= tolerate ( I cannot put up with his insulting behaviour)
cut down on: reduce: We have been advised to cut down on our expenses.
get away with: go free from: He cannot get away with the crime.
look forward to: anticipate: We look forward to your next visit.
stay away from: avoid: You have been warned to stay away from the building.
EVALUATION
Choose five words from the phrasal verbs taught and use them in sentences.
ASSIGNMENT: Look up the meaning of each of the following phrasal verbs:
hook up, give up,
round off, round up,
turn out, break into,
touch down, cut in,
C. Adverbs, Conjunction and Preposition
ADVERB
An adverb is a word which modifies verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
FORMATION OF ADVERBS
Many adverbs are formed from adjectives. e.g certain- certainly fortunate- fortunately, careful-carefully, quick- quickly, indoor-indoors, outdoor-outdoors
Some Adverbs showing direction end in –wards- E.g downwards, forwards, backwards,
Some adverbs expressing manner or viewpoint end in –wise- E.g clockwise, foodwise, moneywise.
Many other adverbs have no special ending- always, early , fast, if, how, quite, often, very, when, hard, late, so, very.
TYPES OF ADVERBS
ADJUNCTS: These normally tell us how, when, where, to what extent, etc, the action of the verb is performed.
Examles:
a. He came at 6 O’clock (when)
b. She ran fast. (how?)
DISJUNCTS: These normally express an attitude or a viewpoint, often of the speaker. E.g, Luckily She arrived
Frankly, we were in the wrong. Ola is certainly the best. Foolishly, he fell. Other examples are honestly, seriously, strangely, undoubtedly, happily, fortunately
CONJUNCTS: These perform a connective function: they join two sentences or clauses. E.g, It was a hard task, nevertheless, we performed well.
She is hardworking, besides, she is intelligent.
Other examples are, consequently, meanwhile, otherwise, similarly, then, alternately etc.
CONJUNCTIONS
A conjunction is a word which joins words, or groups of words, together.
TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS
Co-ordinating Conjunctions: These conjunctions join words or groups of words that are of the grammatical rank. Examples are; and, or, but, E.g Joy and Jane, In the garden and in the room, Bolu or Joy, We came but you were not around, We went and we saw him.
Correlative Conjunctions: These are conjunctions that are used in pairs. E.g either….or, not only….but also, both……and, neither….nor. E.g Both James and Jerry attended the party, She is not only intelligent but also kind.
Either the teacher or the man comes here regularly.
Subordinating Conjunctions: These conjunctions introduce subordinating clauses. They include the following conjunctions: after, because, before, if, in order that, since, which, when, who, whose, that etc. Consider these:He left when she was cooking. We cooked before they arrived.
PREPOSITION
This shows relationship between two words in a sentence. Examples are: within, before, at , in, on , over etc.
Some prepositions go with certain words
allergic to, subjected to, arrive in, live in, live on, live at, stare at, indict for, convicted of, victim of,
down with{fever}, charge with, abide by{rule}, come by, good at, abide with{a person}, kick against, connive at, quick at, bad at,
spy at, frown at consist of, confidence in, confide in, senior to,
junior to, related to, agree to{a plan}, in different to, part with, agree with{a person}, recoil from, popular with{girls}, tremble with, die on,
differ with, comply with, blame on, hinges on, wait upon.
Others include: in agreement with, in compliance with, in apposition with,
because of, in a view of, in accordance with, for the sake of, on account of, with regard to, with reference to, with respect to, in spite of, by reason of, in case of, in regard to, by means of, along with, in consideration of, contrary to,
in addition wit.
D. TOPIC: VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH LIBRARY
Definition
Relevant Words
A library is a room or building containing books that can be looked at or borrowed.
Relevant Words:
bindery : A Place where books are bound (or repaired)
catalogue: List of items (books) available in a collection especially in a library.
entry Card: Card on which details about a book are recorded.
shelf-guide : Instructions : especially numbers, that show which books can be found on a particular shelf
encyclopedia: A book or set of books containing facts about many different subjects or about one Particular subject.
EVALUATION: Exercise (b) page 160 of Countdown by Evans.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Page 159 of Countdown by Evans
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
Choose the best option to fill the gap in each of the sentences.
The handset was faulty which made it impossible to ……………… them by the phone. (a) get at (b) get over to (c) get through to (d) get on to
The citizens………………… their leaders for good examples. (a) come along (b) come off (c) come on (d) come up
Despite all preparation, the event did not ………… (a)come along (b)come off (c)come on (d)come up
Lagos witnessed the largest …………….of voters at the recently concluded elections (a)turn on (b)turn out (c)turn over (d)turn around
While the worshippers closed their eyes in prayers, a thief ………… with the collection (a)made out (b) made away (c) made up (d) made through
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Page 271 -272 Countdowns by Evans Question 91-100.
WEEK THREE
TOPICS: ESSAY WRITING: TYPES OF ESSAYS; SPEECH WORK: MONOTHONGS, IDIOMS
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERTAINMENT.
A. ESSAY WRITING: TYPES OF ESSAY
Essay writing is an art of communication, it requires the acquisition of the necessary skills to attain excellence.
Types of Essays
Narrative
Descriptive
Expository
Argumentative
Creative Writing
REPORT WRITING: FORMAL REPORT.
A formal report can be that of a robbery, an accident, the proceedings of a meeting, a work-camp or a petition. One important requirement for writing a report is good knowledge of the use of the direct and indirect speech forms.
Suppose you have to report to your principal, then, you will have to follow the procedure for writing a formal letter, giving your address.
Example:
Class1W
14th December,2010
The Principal,
Queen of Apostles Secondary School,
Zaria.
Sir,
Report of the Robbery in Amina Hostel.
(Text of the Report)
Signature
Peter Andrew
Prefect (Amina Hostel)
Minutes of the Meetings
Another form of report is the minutes of meeting. These are a record of the events and discussion that have taken place at a meeting. For every meeting, there should have been a prepared agenda, that is a list of items to be considered or discussed during the meeting.
Your report should begin with the name of your club, the date and venue of the meeting and the list of members
EVALUATION
Write minutes of meeting for a particular club meeting
READING ASSIGNMENT: Essay types; pages 2-5 of Count Down in English
B. SPEECH WORK: MONOTHONGS
Definition
Examples
Monothongs are the pure vowels, they are those realized as single element vowels such as /e/ and /i/ while diphthongs are those realized as double element vowels such as /ei/, /iƏ/.
Monothongs are twelve in number.
They are:
/i:/ as in seat, cheap, sheep, feel, field, seize, foetus, amoeba, oesophagus.
/I/ as in sit, chip, ship, build, biscuits, English, pretty, many.
/e/ as in set, bread, friend, ate, bury, leopard, many, said, pet, peasant….
/æ/ as in sat, chat, match, catch, plait, marry, mad, chant, dad, mad, pat.
/a:/ as in far, pass, father, calm, heart, bath, farm, bard, path, bath.
/Ɔ/ as in dog, hot, what, was, want, quantity, spot, pot, dot
/Ɔ : / as in port, lord, ward, warm, call, talk, soar, roar, law, flaw, sword, sport, sorry.
/u/ as in full, pull, would, book, fool, sugar, cook, book, should.
/u:/ as in fool, pool, coup, move, suit, rule, woo, coup, soup, school.
/Ʌ/ as in fun, cut, tongue, touch, come, love, blood, flood, hunger, son, sun, hunger, worry.
/ э:/ as in first, nurse, word, learn, verb, flirt, firm, burn, turn, journey, first, sir, stir, courtesy.
/Ə/ as in again, away, forget, perhaps, police, favour, structure, mother, father, surprise, suppose
C. IDIOMS.
An idiom is an expression with a meaning that cannot be guessed from the meanings of the individual words. E.g He shed crocodile tears. This does not mean that ‘he cried like a crocodile’. It is just a kind of expression that is formed based on certain principle.
Examples of idioms and meanings are:
To chase one’s shadow- to deceive oneself.
To add insult to injury - to displease a person and still insult him.
To give an airy nothing – to make useless, empty remarks.
An acid test – a very severe test.
Achilles’ heel/ the heel of Achilles – the weak spot or one’s weak point.
An ample opportunity – various or many opportunities.
To play to the gallery – to try to achieve cheap popularity.
To throw light – to explain.
To have a light finger- to be disposed to stealing.
The breathe one’s last – to die.
To be armed to the teeth – to be fully equipped with ammunition.
An apple of discord – a source of disagreement.
To be at cross roads – to be at an important point of one’s life or career.
To be at sixes and sevens – to be in a state of perplexity or utter confusion or chaos.
Bed of roses – resting, comfortable point or place.
Baptism of fire – to experience the shot of bullets, directed to one.
To beat about the bush –to be incoherent and inexact.
Beginning of a new era- a historic period when great things have happened or about to happen.
To be in the same boat – to experience the same things as someone else.
To blaze a/the trail – to be the first person to do something.
To be a bird of a feather [not - birds of the same feather] – two things or persons that are like.
To blow one’s trumpet – to praise or advertise oneself.
To burn candle at both ends – to work early and late or work hard and play hard.
To burn the midnight oil – to study through the night.
To bury the hatchet – to stop quarrelling.
By rule of thumb – unscientific, crude or non standard.
To call to a halt – to stop something.
Captain of industry – controller or manager of a big company or organization.
By hook or by crook – by all possible means; at all cost.
To bring someone or something to his/its knees – to humble, trivialize or make sober or dejected.
To build one’s castle in the air – to create hopes that may never be realized.
To be tied to one’s apron strings- to be under the influence of somebody.
To be at a loose end – to be idle.
To draw a line – to identify the limit.
To be behind closed doors – to be with no outsider present- confidential.
To nip a problem in the bud – to stop a problem from growing or escalating.
To hold an olive branch – to sue for peace.
A snail pace – very slowly.
A wet blanket- one who discourages others.
A stone’s throw – very close.
A backlog – arrears.
To kill someone in cold blood – to kill someone deliberately.
To be at low ebb- to be in a bad state.
To have first hand information – to have information from its main source.
To catch one’s eye- to attract someone.
To take a bull by the horn – to face a difficult situation boldly.
To live from hand to mouth – to have no savings.
To water down – to weaken or make less effective.
EVALUATION
Give two examples to each of the sounds taught.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Page 11 of Standard Speech 10 Book Diction in English Course.
D. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: Words Associated with Entertainment.
Content: Explanation
Relevant Words: Entertainment is of various aspects. We have football ,athletics, theatre, and so on as aspects of entertainment.
Athletics: Exercise of physical strength or speed.
Contingent: Group that is a part of a larger group.
Marathon: Long distance race.
Podium: Raised platform
Track Suit: Wooden clothes worn especially by athletes to keep warm before and after exercises.
Football:
Linesman: Official who assists the referee, especially by deciding whether the ball touches or crosses the ball touches or crosses the line or not and where if it does.
Penalty: Punishment for a foul committed
Referee: Official who regulates a game and ensures Fair play.
Soccer (colloquial): a football game played by two teams of eleven players each.
RELEVANT: Theatre:
Actor: A person who takes part in a play on stage or in a film.
Box-office: Office where seats in the theatre are booked and tickets are paid for.
Cast: Actors of a play.
Curtain-Call: Call made by the audience to an actor at the end of the play to appear and acknowledge applause.
Director: A person who directs the performance of a play
Usher: A person who shows people to their seats.
EVALUATION:
Effective English for SS 1 page 148 practice.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Countdown in English page169.
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
In reported speech, ‘The earth revolves round the sun ‘becomes, it is said that the earth ----- round the sun. (a). has revolved (b). is revolving (c). revolved (d). revolves(e). was revolving
In reported speech, ‘I am innocent of any crime’ becomes, he said that he ------- innocent of any crime. (a). has been (b). had been (c). is (d). was being (e). was
The suffix ----- will combine with ‘endear’ to form ------- (a) able (b) ly (c) ment (d) ness (e) y
The sentence, ‘He presented a good paper last week’ in the passive form becomes ------- (a.) a good paper was presented by me last week (b) a good paper was presented by him previous week (c) he presented a good paper the previous week (d,) he presented a good paper the other week (e) the previous week a good paper was presented by me
A snake bit the hunter, in the passive form becomes ------- (a) a snake has bitten the hunter (b) a snake bites the hunter (c) the hunter has been bitten by a snake (d) the hunter had been bitten by a snake (e) the hunter was bitten by a snake
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Page 352 of Countdown. Passage A no1-18
WEEK FOUR
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION/ READING SKILLS: SKIMMING AND SCANNING.
STRUCTURE: NOUN PHRASE AND VERB PHRASE
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: AGRICULTURE
SPELLING: WORDS COMMONLY MISSPELT; UNIFIED TEST.
A. COMPREHENSION / READING SKILLS
UNIT 4: DRAMA
CONTENT: EXPLANATION
The passage is a short extract from a full-length play. There are three characters; Salubi, Samson and Kotonou. Kotuno is a driver who wants to give up driving, Samson, a motor park tout, is his mate or conductor. Salubi is a driver-trainee.
EVALUATION
Answer the questions under the comprehension passage.
READING ASSIGNMENT
More on Drama pages 68-71 of your Effective English
B. STRUCTURE: NOUN PHRASE AND VERB PHRASE.
Content
Definition
Functions
Definition: A noun phrase is a phrase in which the main word or the head is a noun or pronoun.
Functions: The noun phrase performs exactly the same functions as a noun.
(i) As subject of a sentence
The big girl
The big ugly girl in the class is quarrelsome.
The big ugly girl who stammers is quarrelsome.
A young talented Nigerian lady was presented an award last year.
The boy in red shirt is my friend.
We bought a brand new car.
The gerundial phrase which is also a noun phrase can function as a subject of the verb e.g.
Telling lies often belittles a person.
Consciously wounding someone is wicked.
The infinitive can also be used as a noun phrase and function as the subject of verb.
To tell lies belittles a person.
To consciously wound someone is wicked.
An adjective can be the head of a noun phrase.
The poor suffer a lot.
The conquered expect no mercy from their conqueror.
The wise learn from experience.
(ii) As object of Verb
The officer praised the students (Direct Object)
(iii) As subject Complement
The grateful boy called his friend saviour.
His village made him a chief.
(v) As complement of a preposition
The governor thought of the brilliant lawyer when choosing his cabinet.
The thief hid the gun under his bed.
The Verb Phrase
The verb phrase is usually made up of a main verb and one or more auxiliary verbs in the following sentences, the verb phrases are in italics.
Dike has done the work (one auxiliary verb + main verb)
Dike has been doing the work since morning (two auxiliary verbs + main verbs + main verb)
Obioma may come with us if he likes.
EVALUATION: Mention the grammatical functions of the underlined expression.
I have given it to the boy.
The rich and the poor are invited
Mr. Henry is an angry man.
I call Jesus my personal Lord and Saviour.
I could have done the work sooner.
READING ASSIGNMENT:
Page 236 of Countdown by Evans
VOCABULARY OF AGRICULTURE - GENERAL TERMS
agrarian economy: A nation whose economy is predominantly based on agriculture
fallow: Allow to stay without cultivation for a while
orchard: A piece of land on which fruit trees are grown
seedling: Young plant grown from seed
barn: Building for storing farm produce, especially yams
cash crops: A crop grown for sale rather than for consumption.
arable land: Farming done on a piece of land good for tilling or ploughing.
mechanized farm: Agriculture practiced with the use of machines.
nursery: Place where young trees and plants are raised for transplanting or sale.
manure: This is fertilizer made from dung.
bumper harvest: This is an unusually large quantity of crop gathered at the end of a farming season.
tendril: This is the soft thin part of a climbing plant needed to be attached to a support.
crop rotation: This is the changing of crops planted on the same piece of land on seasonal basis.
agricultural loan: This is a loan given by government or bank to enable farmer’s farming projects.
hybrid fruits: These are fruits produced from two plants of different species.
amortize : This is to pay money in borrowed in bit.
LIVESTOCK
livestock: these are domestic animals raised for their working ability or for their value as a source of food and other products.
ranches: This a farm/confined space for rearing of animals.
beef: This is meat from cattle or cow.
animal droopings: Dung or faeces of animals or birds.
broiler: These are young chickens reared for eating.
dairy products: These are food items made from milk, e.g Cheese and butter.
pasture: This is a grassland on which grass-eating animals feed.
pullet: This is a young hen.
vaccinate: Inject with a vaccine as protection against illness.
veterinarian or veterinary doctor: A person who treats animals.
FISHERY
EVALUATION
Choose five words from the words taught and use them in sentences.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Countdown page 144-145
SPELLING: WORDS COMMONLY MISSPELT; Unified test
Content
Words Commonly Misspelt
Correct Spellings
Analysis of the words commonly misspelt in English language
Others include: harassment, embarrassment, herculean, workaholic, limousine, buoyant, buoy, boulevard, hippopotamus, stethoscope, obstetrician, pneumonia, choreography, commission, accommodation, surveillance, maintenance, agrarian, lovable, duly, gubernatorial, indict, accede, onomatopoeia, Ghanaian, promiscuous , continuous, philandrer, psychiatric. Psyche, burlesque, diarrhoea, obstetrician, stethoscope, flirtatious, sarcasm.
EVALUATION: Dictation
READING ASSIGNMENT: Count down in English by Evans page 58-62
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is nearest in meaning to the underlined words.
We must move with the times as there is no point in clinging to antiquated ideas. a. foolish (b) outdated (c) unscientific (d) useless (e) wrong
Religious leaders are supposed to be beneficient (a) clean (b) holy (c) honest (d) kind (e) malevolent
The minister’s response to the question on whether or not he would retire at the end of his tenure was evasive (a) concrete (b) clear (c) definite (d) elusive (e) undecided
Femi’s comments were germane to the issue under discussion. (a) complimentary ( b) confidential ( c) insignificant (d) redundant (e) relevant
The manufactures found the new economic policy auspicious to their plan. (a) atrocious ( b) favourable (c) reliable (d) treacherous (e) unfavourable
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Passage B, 19-30 pages 353-354 of Countdown in English Language
WEEK FIVE
TOPICS
A. STRUCTURE: KINDS OF SENTENCES- SIMPLE, MULTIPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX AND COMPOUND-COMPLEX
Essay Writing: Expository- “Honesty is the Best Legacy”
Vocabulary Development: Words Associated with Fisheries and Animal Husbandry
STRUCTURE: Kinds of Sentences
Simple Sentence
Compound Sentence
Compound / Complex Sentence
THE SENTENCE:
A Sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a verbs / and expresses a complete sense or thought.
Types of Sentences
Simple Sentence: This contains one subject and one predicate or verb. It is made up of one main clause. Simple sentences can be long, but each has only one subject and verb unit.
The woman ran.
He is in the room.
The thief has been caught
Compound Sentence: This contains two main clauses linked by co-ordinating conjunctions like and , but, or etc
Multiple Sentence: This contains more than two main clauses linked by co-ordinating conjunctions.
The complex Sentence: This contains one main clause and one or more subordinate clause.
The Compound Complex sentence: This is made up of two or more main clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
EVALUATION
Write five sentences and mention each type you have written.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Complete English Course for Senior Secondary School by Ukamaka Chioma Ibe page 223-224
B. ESSAY WRITING: EXPOSITORY
Content
Format (Sample Outline)
An expository essay is one that requires you to explain a thing or a process fully. The explanation demands writing a great deal about what distinguishes the subject of the essay from all other things. It may also involve some description.
Sample Outlines on Expository Essay
Write an article for publication in one of your local newspapers on the need to improve sanitation in your area.
Paragraph
Introduction: The state of sanitation / definition
The need for sanitation
First way to improve (detailed)
Second way to improve (detailed)
Third way to improve (detailed)
Conclusion: Hope that the new measures offered will be used
“A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed”
Write an article to illustrate this saying
Introduction: Say who your friend is
How friendly you are
Another proof that you are good friends,an incident to prove the saying
Conclusion
Evaluation
Write an expository essay on “Honesty is the Best Legacy”
Reading Assignment
Countdown by Evans page19-21
C. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: STOCK EXCHANGE and INSURANCE-
Stock Exhange is a market where those who wish to buy or sell shares, stocks and government bonds, debentures and other securities can do so through only members of the stock exchange. The stock exchange provides the essential facilities for company and government to raise money for business expansion and development projects through investors who own shares in companies.
Some relevant words:
Stock broker: One who operates in the stock exchange market by linking buyer and sellers of securies.
Security: A paper asset including government debt, company shares and company debt
Stock: This is synonymous to shares
Stock exchange: An institution through which shares are traded/ it is a security market
Bond: A security with a redemption date over a year later than its date of issue.
Shares: Any of the equal, usually small, part into which a company’s capital stock is divided.
Share certificate: A certificate specifying the number of shares owned by a person or a company,
Bond: A certificate issued by a government or a company promising to pay back borrowed money on a specific date.
Debenture: A certificate that acknowledges the existence of a debt of a particular amount owed to somebody.
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
That -------- is Olumide’s latest acquisition. (a) French green new sports (b) green new French sports (c) new French green sports (d) new green French sports (e) sports French green new
The fellow actually committed the crime, -------------? (a) didn’t he (b) isn’t he wasn’t (c)he (d) wasn’t it (e) wouldn’t he
-------------- is a dangerous medical condition. (a) asma (b) asmath (c) assma (d) asthma (e) athsma
You cannot deny a man ------------- right to justice. (a) a ( b) any (c) every (d) some (e) the
The manager is a German, -----------? (a) didn’t he (b) is he (c) isn’t he (d) isn’t it (e) wasn’t he
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Passage C, no 31-40 page 354-355 of Countdown
WEEK SIX
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION/ORAL SKILLS: FIGURES OF SPEECH- SIMILE, METAPHOR, IRONY AND PERSONIFICATION
ESSAY WRITING: DESCRIPTIVE
Speech Work: Diphthongs
A. COMPREHENSION/ORAL SKILLS
ADVERTISING: Page 86-87 of the Effective English.
The passage discusses about two basic objectives advertising, which are: to inform the target audience about the product or service; and to create or stimulate demand for the product or service through persuasion.
Evaluation
Answer the questions below the passage.
Reading Assignment
Effective English page 85-86.
B. FIGURES OF SPEECH
Content:
Meanings
Kinds
Figures of speech are ways of creating imagery by using figurative language, through which we conjure the picture of two or more things into writing and thereby bringing out very aptly the quantity or idea we are presenting.
Examples:
SIMILE:
A simile is that figure of speech in which a likeness is definitely or formally expressed. It is introduced by “like” “as” e.t.c.
Examples
He runs like a hare
Her cheeks appear as the dawn of day.
METAPHOR
It is a figure of speech founded on the resemblance. It is also used like simile to create a picture or images of events without using as or like.
Examples
The general, who is a lion in the field, has seen many wars.
He is no good at crickets, he has okro fingers.
PERSONIFICATION
It is the transfer of the quality of human being to animals and inanimate objects.
Examples
Let the floods clap their hands.
Confusion heard his voice.
IRONY
It is also a device by which a writer expresses a contrary meaning, which appears contrary to the stated or ostensible one.
Examples
Charles is so brilliant that he passed one subject out of his nine papers.
He is such a good keeper that he conceded ten goals in the first half of the match.
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS: This is a kind of question which requires no answer.
EVALUATION
Give one example for each of the figures of speech taught.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Essential Literature in English for SSS page 42-43
C. ESSAY WRITING (DESCRIPTIVE)
CONTENT
A descriptive essay is the one that requires you to write a description of, for example, an object, a person, an animal, an incident or scene.
Let us examine how a descriptive essay question like the following one should be treated.
“Describe a rainy day you will live to remember
FORMAT
Describe the ordinary details of a rain
Describe the kind of rain it was and how long it lasted
State the effects of the rain: both the comfort which the rain brought and the inconveniences or damages it caused
Do not limit your consideration to the area where you live (urban or rural)
Show great imagination in your description
The presentation of the essay should be logically arranged. Describe incidents that took place in the morning before moving on to those that followed in the afternoon, then, later in the evening.
EVALUATION: Write an essay on the title “A rainy day I will live to remember”
READING ASSIGNMENT: Page 34 of Effective English
D. SPEECH WORK: DIPHTHONGS
CONTENT
Definition
Examples
We have eight diphthongs. They are two quality sounds. To realise their sounds, you must glide from the first to the second sound:
The eight diphthongs are these:
/ei/, /au/, /ai/, /эi/, /iƏ/, /eƏ/, /υƏ/
/ei/
Spelling variants and words examples are:
“a” – cake, brake, make, lake, plate,
“ai” – braid, sail,
“ay” – May, day
“au” – gauge,
“ey” – they, hey, prey
“ei” – rein, reign, heinous
“e” – ballet, brought, chalet
“ee” – fiancée, nee
“ea” – great, break, steak
/ Əυ/- The long sound for letter “o”
As in:
“au” – chauffeur, faults
“o” – go, rote, note
“eo” – hoe, foe
“oa” – goat, both, road
“ou” – grow, thrown
“ew” – sew, sewn
“oo” – brooch
/ai/
“ai” – aisle , naira
“ei” – height, either
“ey” – eye
“uy” – buy, guy
“ye” – bye, dye
“y” – Scythe, by, sky
“ie” – pie, tie, lie, die
/aυ/,
“ou” – doubt, count, stout, about,
“au” –Nassau
“ow” – how, cow, allow
/Ɔi/ as in
“oi”- boil, oil, noise
“oy” – boy, employ
“uoy” – buoy, buoyant
/iƏ/ as in
“e” – era, period
“ea” – idea, pear, beard
“ere” – here, mere
“eer” – peer, sheer
“ier”- pier, weir
“ir” – fakir
/eƏ/ - as in
“ir” – air , fair, hair
“are” – care, fare, dare
“ear”- bear, tear, wear
“ere”- there, where
/uƏ/ as in
“u” – plural , during
“ure” – pure, cure, sure
“our” – tour
“oor” moor, boor, poor
EVALUATION
Write two examples for each of the eight diphthongs
READING ASSIGNMENT
Standard Speech Book 10: Diction in English language Course page 16-18.
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that has the same vowel sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined.
1. packet a. psychology b. physics c. pseudonym d. sparkle
2. tin a. thin b. tent c, then d. hatch
3. leagues a. lick b. pleasures c. people d. learn
4. hunt a. hurt b. hot c. hoot d. run
5. sword a. word b. occasion c. boys d. pass
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT: Question 41-60, page 355-357 of Countdown by Evans
WEEK SEVEN
TOPICS: VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT-TRANSPORTATION
STRUCTURES: LEARNING ABOUT NOUN CLAUSE
SPEECH WORK: INTRODUCTION TO CONSONANT SOUNDS
ESSAY WRITING: MORE ON NARRATIVE- A STORY THAT ENDS WITH “IT PAYS TO BE HARD-WORKING”.
A. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT-TRANSPORTATION
AIR TRANSPORTATION
Taxi- The process of a plane moving slowly along the ground before beginning to run forward for take-off.
Runway: This is a wide path from which aircraft take off and on which they land.
Tarmac: This is a surface of a road, runway at an airport. E,g The plane was waiting on a tarmac.
Air hostess: A young woman who looks after passengers in an aircraft.
Flight: A journey in a plane.
Air borne: In the air. If a plane is airborne, it is in the air.
Radar: This is the method of showing the direction and the distance of a plane by means of radio waves.
Touch down: A plane touches down when it lands.
Hangar: This is where aircraft are housed
Control tower: This is where air traffic controllers sit and direct plane traffic
Cockpit: A compartment in which the pilot of an aeroplane sits.
SEA TRANSPORTATION
Maritime
Mast: a long pole set upright on a ship to support the sail or flag.
International waters: waters across the country’s water territory. It is called waters- not water.
Berth: a place in port where a ship can be moored.
Boatyard: this is a place where boats are built or repaired or fasten by rope.
Harbor: A place of shelter for ship.
Quayside: This is the side or edge of a quay.
Ocean liner- Ship used to carry passengers and some cargo is across the ocean
Cruise ship- This type of ship is used for adventurism
Cabin: This is a private room in a ship
Yacht: A boat or small ship, usually with sails, often with an engine, built and used for racing or cruising.
Row-row ship- This is used to convey cars into the country. Such ship will be widely opened for various cars on the ship to be driven out.
Dredging: This is the clearing or deepening the river or body of water.
Dock: This is a platform built on the shore [wharf].
Coast: This is land along the sea.
Crew: A group of people who works or operates on a ship.
Captain: This is a commander of a ship.
Off shore: In or on the sea, not far from the coast. The opposite of this is ‘on-shore’
Flag: This is the flag a country mounted on a ship with which it sails.
Anchor: This is something, usually a heavy piece of metal with points which dig into the sea-bed, used to hold a boat or a ship.
RAIL
Coach: A passenger railway train.
Freight: Goods or cargo.
Locomotive: Engine that goes from place to place using its own power, especially used to pull railway trains.
Railway yard: A place where trains are parked or maintained.
Commuter trains: These carry passengers between large cities and the surrounding suburbs.
Freight service: This is a service which involves transportation of goods from one place to another.
Rail tracks. These are tracks on which a train moves.
EVALATION: Form ten sentences using words that are related to aviation industry.
B. STRUCTURE: NOUN CLAUSE
CONTENT
Noun clause
Functions
A noun clause is a subordinate clause that performs the functions of a noun
FUNCTIONS
(i)As a subject of a sentence.
Examples:
What he said is bitter
That he was insulted pained him a great deal.
(ii)As object of a verb:
The cook gave us what we should eat.
He told us that he would come.
(iii)As complement of subject
Honesty is what we need.
The important thing is that he has arrived
(ii)As complement of a preposition
We call him what he likes.
(iii)As object complement
The prize will go to whoever wins.
EVALUATION
Write five sentences containing noun clauses. Write the grammatical functions of each noun clause.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Page 221 of Countdown by Evans..
B. INTRODUCTION TO CONSONANT SOUNDS.
CONTENT
Consonant sounds
The 24 consonant sounds
The consonants are sounds realized when the air that comes from the lungs is obstructed.
The 24 consonant sounds
Voiced bilabial Nasal stop /m/
As in many, summer, bomb, damn
Voiceless bilabial plosive/p/
The upper and the lower lips are pressed together.
As in picture, apple, tripper
Voiced bilabial plosive /b/
/b/ - baby, robber, baboon
Voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/
As in firm, rough, physics
Voiced labio-dental fricative/v/
As in vigour, Stephen, of, Volkswagen
Voiceless dental fricative/ θ /
As in “th” – thank, author, path,
Voiced dental fricative /ð/
The sound is made the same way the sound / θ / is produced.
“th” – than, that, gather
Voiced alveolar nasal stop/n/
As in: new, banner, pneumonia , known , gnash
Voiceless alveolar plosive /k/
As in “t”- two, attack, Thomas smashed, missed
Voiced alveolar plosive /d/
As in: Standard, breed, sudden
Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/
As in: Saturday, miss, grass, rice, axe science
Voiced alveolar fricative /z/
As in: zero, dizzy, please, scissors examples
Voiced alveolar lateral /l/
As in lip, hello
Voiced alveolar /r/
As in rain, carrot, write, wrinkle, rhetoric
Voiceless post alveolar fricative /ʃ/
As in sure, schedule, shabby, mission, machine, precious, nation
Voiced post alveolar fricative /Ӡ/
As in: measure, treasure, pleasure, confusion, beige, Jean
Voiceless post alveolar affricative/tʃ/
As in cello, change, question, pasture
Voiced post alveolar affricative /dӠ/
/d З/ is a voiced sound
As in jug, George, ginger, gym, educate
Voiceless palatal Approximant /j/
As in yam, halleluyah, unity, Europe
Voiced velar nasal stop/ᵑ/
As in sing, bank, anchor, include, anxious
Voiceless velar plosive /k/
As in cat, crack, chemical king, queue, account
Voiced velar plosive /g/
As in goat, haggle, ghost
Voiced labio velar /w/
As in wear, where, whistle
Voiceless, Glottal Fricative /h/
As in hope, whole, Llanfair
Evaluation
Write 10 consonants sounds and give two examples for each
Reading Assignment
Standard Speech Book 10: Diction in English Course page 1-10
C. WRITING NARRATIVE
A narrative essay is the one that requires you to relate an event or incident as an eye-witness would. It requires imagination
Study the following short passage:
It was pitch-dark outside the bedroom. It must have been that the security light was not switched on before we went to bed. There was some movement outside one of the windows. I listened. As I got up from bed to check at the windows, a flash of light through the window dazzled my eyes. I shouted “thief” and the next thing I heard was a gun shot.
Note:
The writer is here trying to paint a picture in words. It is only by your own imagination that this picture can be made more beautiful.
EVALUATION
Write a narrative essay that ends with “It pays to be hardworking”
READING ASSIGNMENT
Page 5-6 of Countdown by Evans
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that has the same consonant sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined.
1. was a. girls .b. raise c. rice d. sing
2. Insure a. pleasure b. cheap c. vision d. ocean
3. Mixed a .pumped b. thronged c. climbed d. sponged
4 Gear a. gesture b .near c. fair d. neighbour
5. Drink a. strength b. dent c. snag d. enough
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Question 41-50 page 275-276 of Countdown by Evans
WEEK EIGHT
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION/ READING SKILLS
STRUCTURE: ADJECTIVE AND ADJECTIVAL PHRASE
ESSAY WRITING: ARGUMENTATIVE: PATRIOTISM ENHANCES THE GROWTH OF A NATION
A. COMPREHENSION: Reading Skills:
CONTENT
Reading
Explanation of the passage Page 60. Section C
THE JEWS
The passage is about the Jews who looked at Abraham as their father. He made a covenant with God. The Jews were once enslaved by the Egyptians. The Jews moved to their country (Canaan) and later began to travel to other countries where they settled and became successful. Their main belief is that there is only one God.
EVALUATION
Answer the questions below the passage. Page 61
READING ASSIGNMENT
Unit 3 page 54 of Effective English
B. STRUCTURE: ADJECTIVE AND ADJECTIVAL PHRASE
Content
Definition of Adjective
Adjective phrases
Adjective: It is a word which qualifies/modifies the noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be identified by certain suffixes like:
able- drinkable
ful- successful
Adjectival Phrase
It is a phrase that does the work of an adjective in a sentence i.e. It qualifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
Examples
The man with the red hair is my brother. (Prepositional Phrase / an adjective phrase qualifying man)
The beautiful girl has been kidnapped (Adjective qualifying the noun “girl”)
A person bringing goods news is always welcome (Participial phrase as adjective phrase qualifying “man”)
He is a man of great wealth. (prepositional phrase as an adjective phrase qualifying man)
The woman standing over there is our new principal . (participial phrase as adjective phrase qualifying woman)
The boy selling garri is my brother (Participial phrase as adjective phrase as qualifying “boy”
We all admire a person of courage (adjectival phrase)
I know a girl who has strange appetites. (adjectival phrase qualifying the “girl”)
The student forgot to bring back the bag that I gave her. (Adjectival phrase qualifying bag)
The coat made of cotton is very lovely (Adjectival phrase qualifying coat)
Evaluation
Underline the adjectival phrases in the following sentences and state their functions
The man in the sitting room is my father
I love a student who reads his books.
The lady whose husband was arrested has gone to the police station.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Countdown in English page 209
C. ESSAY WRITING: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
CONTENT
Explanation
Writing Argumentative
ESSAYS: SCOPE AND METHOD
An argumentative essay is one that requires you to present a subject with a view to persuading your reader to agree with your own point of view against another one.
The scope and Methods
It is necessary to give a clear intelligent definition of subject of discussion so that your reader is in no doubt about what you want to write about. Then, proceed to give points to support your view.
Consider the following questions:
Write an essay setting out your argument either in favour or against the following topic: Co-education should be encouraged in secondary schools
Write an essay setting out your argument both for and against the following topic: Co-education should be encouraged in Secondary Schools
Write an essay setting out your argument to justify the following topic: Co-education should not be encouraged in secondary schools?
In (i) and (ii) you are expected to write on one side of the topic. Although in (i) you are given a choice to make between writing for or against, there is no such in three. On the other hand, (ii) demands that you write on the two sides of the topic.
EVALUATION
Write an essay, setting out your argument to justify the following topic: Patriotism Enhances the Growth of a Nation.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Countdown page 28
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
Choose from the options, the word that has the correct stress.
1. indoctrinate (a) In-doc-tri-nate (b) In-DOC-tri-nate (c) In-doc-TRI-nate (d) In-doc –tri –NATE
2. refinery (a) RE-fin-e-ry (b) Re-FIN-e-ry (c) re-fin-E-ry (d) Re-fin-e-RY
3. phenomenal (a) PHE-no-me-nal (b) Phe –No-me-nal (c) Phe-no-ME-nal (d) Phe-no-me-NAL
4. consistency (a) CON-sis-ten-cy (b) Con-SIS-ten-cy (c) Cons-sis-TEN-cy d. Con-sis-tenCY
5. acrobatic (a) a-CRO-ba-tic (b) A-cro-ba-tic (c) a-cro-BA-tic (d) A-cro-ba-TIC
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined words.
1. The boxer regained consciousness momentarily in the dressing room. (a) immediately ( b) permanent (c) permanently (d) temporarily
2. The thief crept stealthily into the store (a) fast (b) quietly (c) loudly (d) slowly
3. Hussain faced the problem squarely (a) partially (b) roundly (c) impartially (d) fully
4. Effiong was meticulous in planning for the future. (a) careful (b) careless (c) tactful (d) sincere
5. Chinedu was satisfied with the results (a) qualified (b) enraged (c) contented (d) discouraged
THEORY
You have been invited to participate in a debate organized by your club.
Write out your contribution either for or against the following motion:
Participation of Women in Government Should be Encouraged.
WEEK NINE
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION: READING SKILLS: INTRODUCTION TO ANSWERING COMPREHENSION.
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGION.
SPEECH WORK: FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONVERSATION (EMPHATIC STRESS)
A. COMPREHENSION/ READING SKILLS:
INTRODUCTION TO ANSWERING COMPREHENSION
CONTENT
Introduction
Basic Guide
Comprehension simply means understanding
Basic Guide
Carefully check the instructions you are given.
Read the passage through very quickly to grasp the general sense idea
Quickly look at the questions thoroughly and keep them in mind.
Read through the passage again more slowly trying to understand details as well as meanings of most of the words
Answer the questions
Limit your answer only to the information provided in the passage. Avoid including materials not found in the passage i.e. extraneous materials.
Test on Synonyms or equivalent meaning
Synonyms to the word costly include: expensive; extravagant, precious
The substitute must fit into the passage perfectly if original word is removed.
A plural noun or verb, requires a plural substance, and a singular noun or verb requires a singular substance e.t.c. The substitute, you provide must be of the same grammatical category with the original word or phrase e.g.
The car gets (singular present tense) here at 3.00p.m.
The correct substitute is arrives (also singular present tense) not arrived
Put down a number with five digits.
The correct substitute for digits is figures and not figure.
Evaluation
Read the comprehension passage on the comprehension page 68-71 of Effective English and answer the questions under.
Reading Assignment
More on comprehension, page 81 of Countdown in English Language by Evans
B. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGION
CONTENT
Definition
Relevant words
Religion is the belief in the existence of a god or gods, and the activities that are connected with the worship of them.
Relevant words
Others are: trinity, denomination, inter-denomination, creed, pew, benediction, monotheism, processional hymn, recessional hymn, warden, protestants, orthodox churches, Pentecostal churches.
EVALUATION
Choose words of religion and use them in correct sentences.
READING ASSIGNMENT
More on religion unit 3of Effective English page 54
C. SPEECH WORK: FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONVERSATION: EMPHATIC STRESS
CONTENT
The emphatic stress
Examples
The stressing of a particular word more than other words in a sentence is referred to as EMPHATIC STRESS
EXAMPLES
Consider the following sentences and notice how its meaning changes according to the word that has been stressed
JAMES borrowed the novel (i.e. James, not anybody else borrowed the novel.)
James BORROWED the novel (i.e. James didn’t, for example, steak or buy the novel; he borrowed)
James borrowed the NOVEL. ( i.e. James borrowed the novel, not the magazine, not the journal e.t.c.
Test on emphatic stress requires the candidate to select the question to which the given sentence is the appropriate answer. An example is given below:
Example: My mother’s FRIEND hates pets.
Does your mother’s boss hate pets?
Does your mother’s friend love pets?
Does your mother’s friend hate pets?
Does your father’s friend hate pets?
The correct answer is A.
Evaluation
Choose the correct answer
The man likes COFFEE on Sunday mornings
Does the man like coffee on Monday?
Does the man like tea on Sunday morning?
Adamu OPENLY disagrees with his principal.
Did Adamu secretly disagree with the principal?
Did Adamu openly agree with the principal?
READING ASSIGNMENT
More on emphatic stress page 310 of Countdown by Evans
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.
The guest of honour urged the contestants to show the spirit of sportsmanship, either in victory or in------------ (a) defeat (b) success (c) suffering (d) failure
The reply of the accused to the question was cautious rather than ------- (a) attentive (b) scrupulous (c) hasty (d) thoughtful
The bride carried a bouquet of natural flowers (a) artificial B local C. imported D. genuine
Musa is a giant of a man, but his brother is more or less a --------- a. diminutive b. dwarf c. huge man d. pigmy e. robot
In many ways, my parents are very conservative but there are times when they surprise me with their --------------- ideas of family planning. A. critical b. liberal c. modern d. new e. orthodox
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Complete each of the following sentences with one of the words in the brackets: (secular, ethics, denomination, doctrine, pilgrimage, fanatics, worship, Bible, monotheist)
1. The Catholic ______ is very conservative
2. The ______ I made last year cost me a lot of money
3. The _____ destroyed cars and house
4. A place of _____ should remain sacred
5. The Muslims are _____ they believe in one God.
6. The ______ is the holy book of Christians
Theory
Write a letter to your friend who is abroad telling him about the political changes that have happened in your country.
WEEK TEN
TOPICS: COMPREHENSION AND WRITING SKILLS:
INTRODUCTION TO SUMMARY WRITING
SPELLING: PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
STRUCTURE: ADVERBIAL AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
A. COMPREHENSION AND WRITING SKILLS
Introduction to Summary Writing
Content
The Procedure
Useful Hints
The Test: Summary section seeks to test the candidate’s ability to extract or pick relevant information from a longer passage and present that information in clear, concise language.
The Procedure
Read over the passage once or twice for thorough understanding
Read the questions based on the passage
Read the passage once again making notes or jotting down points that will help you to answer the questions.
Write out your answers.
Read over the questions and your answer to ensure there is no error.
EVALUATION
Read the passage on page 77 of Effective English and answer the summary questions on page 79
READING ASSIGNMENT
Read the passage on page 113 of Countdown on English language
B. SPELLING: PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
Content
Prefixes
Suffixes
Prefixes are words or syllable placed before a root-word to form another word; e.g. un, non, dis, mis, super, trans, ex e.t.c
SUFFIXES are words or syllables placed after a root word to form another word e.g. –ness, -ment, er, ship, -ation, ant, less, e.t.c.
EVALUATION
Form five new words by adding prefixes to the root words.
Look up the meaning of each of the following morphemes and form five words with it.
Pseudo-
Across-
Intra-
De-
Dis-
Hyper-
Hypo-
READING ASSIGNMENT
Read more on suffixes and prefixes
C. ADVERBIAL AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
Content
Adverbial Phrases
Prepositional Phrases
Adverbial Phrases: The main function of adverbs and adverbial phrases is to modify verbs, answering the following questions
How? When? Why? Where? To what extent?
They also modify adjectives, other adverbs and prepositional phrases. Any group of words containing no verb and performing those functions is an adverbial phrase.
Types of Adverbial Phrases
Adverbial phrase of manner e.g.
He does the work with zeal/ very well.
Adverbial phrase of time e.g.
I saw him in the morning.
Adverbial phrase of place e.g.
I met him at the supermarket
Adverbial phrase of contrast
Despite her promise, she behaved differently.
In spite of the good advice, she did not change her behaviour.
His strength notwithstanding, he lost the fight.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun phrase or pronoun e.g.
To him
For the man
At the bank
About what he did
Functions of a prepositional phrase:
The prepositional phrase is used
(i)As an adverbial phrase e.g.
The police caught the thief in the garden.
At a later date, we confronted him.
(ii)As an adjective:
The man with a hat is our teacher.
The news of his death shocked everyone
(iii)As complement of a verb
We believe in what he says.
(iv)As complement of an adjective
We are sure of his arrival.
EVALUATION
Indicate the adverbial phrases in the following sentences.
The car moved slowly towards the church.
My sister eats more slowly.
For all his experience, he was easily deceived by the students.
He worked hard to pass the examination.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Read more on Adverbial page 248-250 of Countdown by Evans
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences.
I have ----- some money for my surgical operation next month (a) put out (b) put in (c) put by (d) put down
I am much ----- to listen to you now. (a) busy (b) too busy (c) more busy
(d) extremely busy
----- can all come to the party (a) you two (b) the three of you (c) both of you
(d) Simbo and Jide
She advised her son against ---------- (a) goodwill (b) haggling (c) insubordination (d) obedience ( e) subordination
The Governor paid a -------- call on the Oba. (a) courtesy(b) crank (c) farewell (d) roll (e) wake up
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined words
1. They decided to turn him down (a) refuse him (b) deny him (c) discredit him
2. She gave her candid opinion on every issue (a) good (b) frank (c) vague
3. The commentator described the recent event as catastrophic (a) disastrous (b) unfortunate (c) evil
4. The boy was proficient in whatever he did (a) inept (b) skilled (c) contented
5. I was warned against his erratic nature (a) immoral (b) insane (c) unpredictable
THEORY
Write five sentences and underline the adverbial phrases in them.
Write five sentences and underline the prepositional phrases in them.
WEEK ELEVEN
TOPICS: ESSAY WRITING: INFORMAL LETTER- “A LETTER TO THE SISTER WHO PLANS TO DIVORCE HER HUSBAND ADVISING HER AGAINST THE DECISION”
STRUCTURE: DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES
SPEECH WORK: MORE ON CONSONANTS.
A. ESSAY WRITING: INFORMAL LETTER
Content
Definition
Features
Informal letters are private or personal letters. They are letters we write to people who are very familiar to us such as our parents, relatives, friends, classmates and other people with whom we have close relationship.
FEATURES OF AN INFORMAL LETTER
Writer’s address
Salutation e.g. first name as in
‘Dear Peter’,Dear Chike’,
‘Dear Kemi’, Dear Father or you include “My”
“d” must be small when “My” is included e.g. My dear Mother
Introduction
It is best to start with acknowledging the receipt of a letter written to you by the person. You may also start by asking after the person’s health or any other way you like.
Body of the letter: Do exactly what the questions says you should do to earn more marks.
Subscript: Informal letters close with “Yours sincerely”. However, a few other forms are accepted such as “Yours affectionately”, “Your loving daughter, “With love from” e.t.c. These are usually written at the bottom right hand of the page. No signature is required. Write your first name and put a full stop like this:
Yours sincerely,
Audu.
Yours ever,
Lizzy
or Yours affectionately,
Andrew Scott
EVALUATION
Write a letter to your sister who plans to divorce her husband advising her against the decision.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Page 70-72 of Countdown by Evans
B. STRUCTURE: DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES
CONTENT
Definite Articles
Indefinite Articles
TYPES OF ARTICLES
Articles can be definite or indefinite
INDEFINITE ARTICLES
“A” and “AN” are indefinite articles and are used to indicate indefinite references to a noun. While ”a” is used before a word starting with consonant sound such as boy, goat, house, hoe, elephant, aeroplane etc. NOTE that the following words begin in consonant sound despite having vowel letters starting them. They must therefore attract article ‘A’, e.g Europe as in A European man, University as in A university. Others include: Eucharist, Eunuch, unit, union, uniform etc,
“an” is used before words that start with vowel sounds.
Examples: an egg, an apple, an orange.
NOTE that the following words have silent ‘h’ and they must attract article ‘an’. E.g an hour, an honest, an honour. But words like house, home, hoe, etc attract article ‘a’ because they do not have silent sound ‘h’, e.g, a house, a hoe, etc.
DEFINITE ARTICLE “the”
This refers to particular person or thing (i.e. a definite reference)
How the definite and indefinite articles are used:
All nouns use “the as the word that makes definite reference. So, “the” is definite article making reference.
Uses of the definite article “the”
When there is only one of the things being referred to- the sun, the moon, the wind, the rainfall.
When the hearer or the reader is able to know which particular thing or things are being referred to:
Give me the bag under the bed.
(Both the bag and the bed are already known to the speaker and the listener)
The letter in the envelope.
‘The’ is also used before the title of a newspaper. E.g The Punch, The Nation etc.
(Both the letter and the envelope are also known)
Descriptive Use
Here the definite article describes a noun.
The accused was acquitted for want of evidence.
She has the courage of Esther.
Generic Use
Here, the definite article is used to refer to what is normal or typical for a member of a class.
The banana is found mainly in the Southern Nigeria.
The tiger is a very ferocious animal.
It is used before the noun that indicates that there can be only one such thing or group of things.
The Soviet Union
The Principal
The Minister of Education
EVALUATION
Fill in the gap with the correct article
________ European woman was here before
I know that _______rich also cry.
I desire to become _______ heir of God’s kingdom.
Joseph dreamt that ______ sun, ____ moon and ____ star bowed to him.
Reading Assignment
The articles(determiners). Complete English Course for Senior Secondary School page 216
C. SPEECH WORK: MORE ON CONSONANTS
CONTENT: CONSONANTS /b/, /d/, /f/, /g/, /dz/, /h/, /k/
/b/voiced bilabial plosive
Spelling variants and word examples are
“b” –baby, bank, break, barber, lab, embark,
“bb” – rubber, robber, babble, e.t.c.
/p/- voiceless bilabial plosive
Spelling variants and words examples:
“p” – pain, people, leap, leper, emperor
“gh” – hiccough
/f/ -voiceless labio dental fricative:
Spelling variants and words examples are:
“f” – form, frog, faith, fruit, proof, soft
“ff” – cliff, stuff, sniff, cuff, huff,
“gh” – rough, tough, cough, enough,
“ph” – physics, physical, Philip, phantom
“v” – Gorbachev, Volkswagen
/g/- voiced velar plosive
Spelling variants and words examples are:
“g” – goat, gun, bag, vogue, vigour, garnish, goose, gamble, group,
“gg” – haggle, baggage, baggy, struggle, bigger, shaggy
“gh” – ghost, aghast, getto, ghoul
/dz/
Spelling variants and words examples are:
“j” – jug, junior, Jew
“ge”- germinate, damage, badge, germ
“gi”- ginger, giant, giraffe, gigantic
“gy” – technology, archaeology, gym
“du” – educate, graduate, gradual, due
/h/ _ voiceless glottal fricative
Spelling variants and word examples are
“h” – hope, horse, holy, perhaps, hunger
“wh” – whole, wholly, who, whose,
EVALUATION
Pick out the odd items from the list of words from options A-D
(a) gentle (b) educate (c) jug (d) gear
(a) hope (b) whole (c) perhaps (d) honour
(a) gift (b) beggar (c) ghetto (d) germ
(a) barber (b) blood (c) blue (d) plumber
(a) junior (b) geography (c) government (d) gradual
Reading Assignment
/v/, / θ /, /ð/, /n/, /t/, /d/ on page 2-4 of Standard Speech 10 Book Diction in English Course:
GENERAL EVALUATION/ REVISION QUESTIONS:
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences.
The patient has been ------------ for several years. (a) bed-ridden (b) detained (c) diagnosed (d) examined (e) recommended
The trader ------- his income by repairing sewing machines. (a) added (b) integrated (c) replenished (d) supplemented (e)terminated
Dauda is said to be serving a two year -------- for rape. (a) conviction (b) penalty (c) punishment d. sentence e. verdict
He won the election by a ------- of 500 votes. (a) consensus (b) gap (c) majority (d) margin (e) surplus
The Governor paid a -------- call on the Oba. (a) courtesy (b) crank (c) farewell (d)
roll (e) wake up
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
Choose the right option:
1. I stayed with my cousin, the one ____husband is an engineer (a) who’s (b) whose (c) which
2. You can’t give alms ____ you have something to give(a) unless (b) while (c) if
3. I asked him how his promotion had come ____ (a) around (b) about (c) to
4. It isn’t easy to succeed in becoming an airline pilot, but I am sure you will ___ in the end. (a) make best (b) make do (c) make it
5. You fill the application form so that ____ there is a vacancy, they will let you know (a) if and when (b) although (c) only when
(ii) Choose the alternative nearest in meaning
1. Her parents have endorsed her marriage to the widower (a) criticized (b) refused (c) approval
2. Corporal punishment is still used in some schools as deterrent to indisciplined students (a) discouragement (b) prevention (c) measure
3. A reasonable man will never refuse to review his actions if it becomes necessary (a) re-examine (b) recapitulate (c) inspect
(iii) Choose one of the following each expression to fill the blank provided:
1. I will send a _____ to you (letter, mail)
2. The girl was given a ____ for her attitude (blame, rebuke)
3. She asked me to come for a (meal, lunch)
3. We experienced a terrible ___ this season ( harvest, weather)
4. She played a _____on me (fun, joke)
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