1ST TERM SS3 ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHEME OF WORK AND NOTE

FIRST TERM E-LEARNING NOTE

SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASS: SS3

SCHEME OF WORK

WEEK  TOPIC

1  Revision of Last Term’s Examination:

Spelling: British and American English

Basic Differences as Reflected in Common Words.

2  Comprehension: Prostration, Page 22

Vocabulary Development, Festivals, Page 24

Structure: Review of Noun Phrases and Noun Clauses,

Adjectival Phrases and Adjectival Clauses.

Writing: Review of Narrative and Descriptive Essays

3  Speech Work: Review of Sentence Intonation Patterns.

Writing: Argumentative Essay: “The Home Is Responsible for the Unruly Behaviour of Teenagers in the Society”

Comprehension: Government, Page 37

Summary: Party Systems, Page 38

4  Comprehension: Business, Page 86

Vocabulary Development: Business, Page 88

Structure: Nominalization

Speech Work: Monophthongs and Diphthongs

5  Essay Writing: Formal and Informal Letters.

Summary: Novel Extract, Page 53

Structure: Adverbs and Adverbials

6  Comprehension: Irrigation, Page 111

Vocabulary Development: Page 113

Structure: Sequence of Tenses.

Speech Work: Clusters of Two Consonants Which Occur Initially and Finally.

7  Comprehension: Novel Extract, Page 48

Vocabulary Development: Page 50

Writing, Article: “The Good Effects of Accountability and Transparency”

Figures of Speech

8  Comprehension: Law Enforcement, Page 63

Vocabulary Development: Justice Delayed, Page 64

Structure: Lexical and Auxiliary Verbs

Speech Work: More on Consonants

9  Comprehension: Law and Order, Page 78

Vocabulary Development: Justice, Page 77

Structure: More on Modals

Writing: More on Report Writing

10  Comprehension: Addition, Page 98

Vocabulary Development: Addition, Page 100

Speech Work: Stress in Words of Seven Syllables and in Compound Words.

11  Revision

12  Examination.

REFERENCES

• Effective English for Senior Secondary
• Schools, Book 3 by Montgomery, et al
• Countdown to English by Ogunsanwo, et al
• Oral English for Schools and colleges by Sam Onuigbo
• Advanced Learners Dictionary
• Past Questions in English Language

   

   

WEEK ONE

SPELLING: BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

Some American spellings are quite different from the British spellings. Americans believe that a word should be spelt as it is pronounced. These differences are notable in the following examples:

BRITISH  AMERICA

A ‘s’     ‘z’

specialisation  specialization

colonise  colonize

summarise  summarize

organise  organize

mechanise  mechanize

economise  economize

pressurise  pressurize

centralise  centralize

B ‘our’ ‘or’

habour habor

honour honor

labour labor

neighbour  neighbor

favour favor

vapour vapor

odour odor

C ‘re’ ‘er’

centre center

metre meter

kilometre  kilometer

D. ‘amme’  ‘am’

gramme  gram

kilogramme  kilogram

programme  program

E. ‘ogue’ ‘og’

dialogue  dialog

catalogue  catalog

F.  In verbs which end in ‘l’ and are not stressed on the final syllable, the ‘l’ is not doubled in the – ing form and the past participle.

British American

travelling  traveling

equalled  equaled

cancelling  canceling

G.  There is also the usual practice to replace ‘ae’ or ‘oe’ in words by ‘e’ (Words of Greek and Latin origin). The original spelling is however retained by the British.

 British American

 Haemoglobin hemoglobin

 Diaerrhoea diarrhea

 Encyclopaedia encyclopedia

EVALUATION

Give ten words that have different spellings in the British and American spellings.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Phrases and Clauses.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

Death and the King’s Horseman  

1. In three short sentences, summarise the play extract.
2. List the four main points on which Elesin contradicts Pilkings.
3. In what two ways has Pilkings interfered with Elesin’s life?

Structure

1. Use the information provided on page of your Effective English to write a sentence each with hardly, scarcely or barely.

Essay

1. Write an article to illustrate this saying, “A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed”

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 1, Page 33, Effective English.

WEEK TWO

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: PROSTRATION

The passage centres on the childhood of Wole Soyinka. It is an extract from his book titled ‘Ake’. In this passage, Wole Soyinka is faced with the challenge of respecting tradition in the aspect of prostration.

The passage reveals Soyinka’s view about the act of prostration as a young child. He detected the act in itself when he was ordered to do so by an elder at the Kabiyesi’s palace.

EVALUATION

Questions 1 – 6, Page 24

Topic: Vocabulary Development: Festivals

The passage is an extract from The Guardian Newspaper. It focuses on the celebration of Sallah in Sokoto State.

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, page 24

Topic: Noun Phrases and Noun Clauses.

A  NOUN PHRASE: The noun phrase is a phrase in which the main word or the head is a noun or pronoun.

Examples:  the big ugly girl

a fat bank account

the man outside

the man from the moon.

Functions of the Noun Phrase

1.  As subject of a sentence

 The big girl is quarrelsome

 The poor suffer a lot

2.  As object of a verb.

 The officer praised the students

 I bought my friend a present

3.  As subject complement

 Our lecturer may become a commissioner

 His wife is a nurse.

4.   As object complement

 The grateful boy called his friend a saviour.

5.  As complement of a preposition.

 The governor thought of the brilliant lawyer when choosing his cabinet.

 The thief hid the gun under his bed.

B.  NOUN CLAUSE: A noun clause is a subordinate clause that performs the functions of a noun.

 Functions of the Noun Clause

1.  Subject of a sentence

 What he said is bitter

 That he was insulted pained him a great deal.

2.  Object of a verb.

 The cook gave us what we should eat.

 He told us that he would come.

3. Complement of subject

 Honesty is what we want.

 The important thing is that he has arrived.

4.  Complement of object

 We call him what he likes

5.  Complement of a preposition.

 The prize will go to whoever wins.

EVALUATION

Exercise V, Page 182

Exercise No 1, Page 225. Countdown to English.

Topic: Adjectival Phrases and Adjectival Clauses.

1. ADJECTIVAL PHRASE: An adjectival phrase is a phrase which modifies a noun or pronoun.

   Functions of an Adjectival phrase

1.  Attributive adjectives.

 Fat men seldom run fast.

 The slim lady is my wife

1. Predicate adjectives.

   Those questions are tough

   The man looks stupid

3.  Post -modifiers

 The boy with a brown cap is my class-mate.

 The fund available will not be enough for the project.

4.  As nouns

 The rich are usually unmindful of the poor.

 The government should cater for the needy

B.  ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE: An adjectival clause is a subordinate clause that performs the function of an adjective.

 The following conjunctions are usually used to introduce adjectival clauses: who, whom, whose, that, which, where, when, e.t.c.

 Examples of Adjectival clauses

 The man who came here is a teacher.

 The house which has been renovated, looks very new.

 It was he who slapped me.

 The lady whose car was stolen is crying.

 That is the goat that ate our yam.

 Here is the man about whom I was talking to you.

EVALUATION

Exercise, No 2, Page 211 Exercise, No 2, Page 225, Countdown to English.

Topic: Narrative and Descriptive Essays.

1. NARRATIVE ESSAY: A narrative essay is one that requires you to relate an event or incident as an eyewitness would. This is the art of story-telling, and a wide experience in the reading of short stories, novels, and so on, is required.

   Your essay must be interesting and convincing; the reader should enjoy reading it and be led to believe that what he is reading is true. The narrative should follow the order in which the event took place, gradually moving the reader to the climax of your story. You only have to state the facts as they were.

Examples of topics on Narrative Essay includes

The Longest Journey That I Have Ever Made.

The Day I Will Never Forget.

How I Spent My Last Holiday

Had I known Always Comes Last.

An Interesting Film I Have Watched.

B. DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY: A descriptive essay is one that requires you to write a description of, for example, an object, a person, an animal, an incident or a scene. If you choose a descriptive essay in the examination, you should have a very clear picture in your mind of what you want to describe. The clearer the picture you have, the better will be your description. Descriptive essays are usually popular with examination candidates .

To score a high mark, candidates will be expected to give very clear, interesting and informative description. Examples of topics on Descriptive Essay.

A Market Day In My Town

My Favourite Teacher.

A Wedding I Attended Recently.

My School.

My Ideal House.

EVALUATION

Write an essay on any of the earlier mentioned topics

READING ASSIGNMENT

Sentence Intonation Patterns.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Structure

1. Define and state the types of clauses we have.

   Mention the grammatical functions of the underlined noun clauses;

2. What I want for my birthday is a pair of trouser.
3. The mechanic didn’t know what the problem was.
4. A man of principle is all we ask for.

Essay

1. As the new senior prefect of your school, write a farewell speech meant to be delivered at the graduation ceremony of the outgoing SS3 students.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 2, Page 33. Effective English

Practice 1, Nos 1- 5, Page 29, Effective English.

WEEK THREE

TOPIC: SPEECH WORK: SENTENCE INTONATION PATTERNS.

Intonation and stress are very important in spoken English. The meaning of an utterance is affected, not only by stress, but also by the variations in the pitch of a voice.

When one speaks the voice or pitch changes; becomes high or low depending on the meaning the speaker intends.

The sentence intonation patterns are

1. Falling Tune: The falling tune is usually used in declarative sentences, commands, exclamations and wh-questions.

a. Statements

Joy works hard in school.

Emeka has given the book to her.

b. Commands

Keep the books on my table

Stand under the tree.

c. Wh – question

Why are your very late?

Who gave you the information?

d. Exclamations

What a good result!

How pretty she is!

1. Rising Tune: The rising tune is used in
   1. Polar Questions (questions which demand only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as answer)

Is the wine sweet?

Will Monday be good for it?

Did you eat last night?

1. Utterances showing indifference

You can do what you want

I think that’s right.

1. Listing items.

One, two, three and four.

We need some rice, beans, fish and meat.

In enumeration, the final item in the list is usually said on a falling tune.

Although the falling and rising intonation patterns are the two basic pitch patterns, the two

Pitch movements can be combined in long sentences.

1. Rise and fall pattern.

While the boys were working, the girls were playing.

When the rain comes, I’ll plant my seed yams.

1. Fall and rise pattern

The students are happy, aren’t they?

You can do it, can’t you?

EVALUATION

Exercise 1, Question A, Page 99, Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

Topic: Argumentative Essay: “The Home Is Responsible for the Unruly Behaviour of Teenagers in the Society.”

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 essence of this type of essay is argument and its subject covers all forms of debate.

An argument may be developed to:

i. prove a point

ii. present a view point

iii. balance the two sides of an issue.

For examination purposes, it is important that the candidate should realize that all debates are argumentative essays but not all argumentative essays are debates. Debates are framed in such a way that the writer should know the topic to be discussed, the people that would be around and possibly where the debate is taking place.

On the other hand, there are topics that merely require your view point. In this type of essay, you should write out the topic, underline it and start writing your views without addressing anybody.

Example: Write an essay presenting your points for or against the topic, ‘Day student perform better than boarding students in examinations’.

The above is a good example of an ordinary argumentative essay. No audience is indicated and no greeting is necessary. All you need to do here is to write the topic and start your essay.

EVALUATION

Write an essay on the topic.

‘The Home Is responsible for the Unruly Behaviour of Teenagers in the Society’.

Topic: Comprehension: Government

The passage is part of a speech delivered by President Babangida to introduce one of the country’s efforts at devising a constitution for civilian rule.

Babangida urged the citizens to arise to the task of taking the country to a greater height by searching for a new political order which would launch the country into a new Nigeria. But this new political order should not be an imitation of the foreign political models because the political history and culture of Nigeria are not in anyway the same with that of the foreign countries.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 36.

Topic: Summary: Party Systems.

The passage centres on the types of party systems. One party system of government has only one political party which forms the government of the country. The demerit of this party is that it tends to become too powerful since there is no other party to check it.

A two-party system of government has two major parties. One of the parties rules while the other watches and keeps in check the ruling party.

A multi-party system allows having as many parties as the electorate wishes. It is difficult for a party to emerge with an overall majority in an election.

EVALUATION

Question, Page 39.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Nominalization

GENERAL EVALUATION

Structure

1. Write at least five Latin expression used in English Language and explain their meanings.
2. Define direct and indirect speech.
3. Give two examples of direct speech.
4. Give two examples of indirect speech.
5. List three features each for direct and indirect.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 1, Page 44, Effective English.

Exercise 1, Question B, Page 99 – 100, Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

WEEK FOUR

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION : BUSINESS

The passage centres on the establishment of PZ Cussons and its gradual growth in the nineteenth century. It was formerly known as PZ until 1975 when it acquired Cussons. Thus, in 2002, it was renamed PZ Cussons in order to underline its core product range.

Today, PZ Cussions is a leading public company with interests worldwide.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 87

Topic: Vocabulary Development: Business

The passage consist two passages on business. Some of the words used in them include trade, entrepreneurs, enterprises, factories, industries, apprentices, labourers, warehouse, stock, manager, export, retail, merchant, e.t.c

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, Page 88.

Topic: Nominalization.

Nouns formed from adjectives

Adjectives Nouns

able  Ability

holy  Holiness

lazy  laziness

clean  cleanliness

bitter  bitterness

dark  darkness

warm  warmth

wise  wisdom

young  youth

strong  strength

poor  poverty

ill  illness

heavy  heaviness

equal  equality

Nouns formed from verbs.

Verbs  Nouns

repeat  repetition

mix  mixture

injure  injury

enjoy  enjoyment

bond  bondage

choose  choice

accuse  accusation

enter  entrance

differ  difference

hate  hatred

govern  government

endure  endurance

satisfy  satisfaction

think  thought

EVALUATION

Write the nouns of the following words:

(i) lose (ii) obey (iii) lend (iv) omit (v) give (vi) long (vii) true (viii) deep (ix) hard (x) fertile

TOPIC: Monophthongs and Diphthongs

The vowels in English are classified into two main groups pure vowels (monophthongs) and diphthongs

A. Monophthongs: The monophthongs are sub-classified into short vowels and long vowels.

Close Front Centre Back

l:  u:

Half Close I   u

e ε:

Half Open ə

æ л כ:

Open a: כ

Diagram showing the English vowel chart.

The monophthongs are listed below with examples of words where they occur.

1.  / i: /  –  beat, seat

2.  / i /  –  bit, sit

3.  / e /  –  bed , hen

4.  /æ/  –  cart, part

5.  /a:/  –  cart, part

6.  / כ /  –  Pot, cork

7.  /כ:/  –  port, cork

8.  /u /  –  put, foot

9.  /u:/  –  two, woo

10  /л/  –  hut, cut

11.  /3:/  –  bird, herb

12.  /ə/ akin, baker

1. Diphthongs: The diphthongs differ from the pure vowels (monophthongs) because their articulation involves a glide from one vowel quality to the other. There are eight diphthongs in English and their phonetic symbols indicate the initial and final vowels represented in the articulation.

iə uə

  əu

ei

eə

αi αu   כi

Diagram showing the diphthongs in English.

The diphthongs are listed below with examples of words where they occur.

1.  /ei/  –  pay, again

2. / əu /  –  go, home

3. / αi/  –  rice, kite

4.  / au /  –  cow, house

5. / כi/  –  toy, voice

6.  / iə /   –  ear, here

7.  / eə / –  air, hair

8.  / uə /  –  poor, tour

EVALUATION

Exercise 1, Question C, Nos 1 – 10, Page 30. Exercise 2, Question B, Page 31 Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Adverbs and Adverbials

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

1. Meteors:- Summarise the passage in three short sentences.

Structure

State the grammatical functions of the underlined expressions;

1. Mr John who lost her sight a year ago was elected to the council last week.
2. She gave us direction to the restaurant where we are to meet for lunch.
3. What are the nouns formed from these verbs: lose, lend, do, omit, injure.

Letter Writing

1. Write a letter to your friend who is in another school about your annual inter-house sports which you celebrated recently.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Exercise 2, Question C, Page 31, Oral English for Schools and Colleges

Revision and Tests, Part 2, Page 46 Effective English.

WEEK FIVE

TOPIC: FORMAL AND INFORMAL LETTERS

A  Formal letters: Formal letters are letters we write to people in their official positions. These people are normally those we do not know personally, who hold official positions in establishments, schools, business houses, etc. Even when we know them personally, the rule demands that we still write them impersonal or official letters.

Formal letters can be in the form of applications for admission or employment, requests for casual leave by staff in offices, official queries and replies to them, letters by students to the heads of their schools, letters to local government chairman asking for amenities for local communities and other such topics.

Features of a formal letter

1.  Writer’s address and date

2.  Receiver’s address

3.  Salutation

4.  Heading or topic

5.  Body of the letter

6.  Complimentary close

Format of a formal letter

 3, Fredrick Close,

 Martins Avenue

 Lagos.

 16^th July, 2010

The Commissioner,

Ministry of Education,

Lagos

Dear Sir,

Expansion Programme for Baptist College

Body

Yours faithfully,

(Signature)

John Silas

EVALUATION

Write a letter to the Minister of works in your country complaining about the deplorable condition of the roads in your area and the effects this has on the lives of your people.

B.  Informal Letters: 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

1. Writer’s address and date.

2. Salutation

3. Introduction

4. Body of the letter

5. Complimentary close.

Format of an informal letter.

5, Biodun Street,

 Alakuko,

 Lagos,

 16^th July, 2010.

Dear Eunice,

Body

Yours sincerely,

Bukky.

EVALUATION

‘You have been staying with your elder brother for sometime and a misunderstanding has ensued. Write a letter to your father giving at least, three reasons why you feel you can no longer live with your brother.

Topic: Summary : Novel Extract.

The summary passage is an extract from the novel titled ‘The victims’ by I. Okpewho. In the passage, a woman named Nwabunor went to visit a soothsayer in order to overcome a challenge. The soothsayer told her what the gods demanded but she pleaded for the items to be reduced. In response, the soothsayer informed her that the dangers threatening her life and that of her son were too great. She was likely to lose her son if she failed to provide what the gods asked for.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 54.

Topic: Adverbs and Adverbials

An adverb is used to describe the action of a verb such as how, where or when it is done.

Examples: He frowned angrily.

The eclipse will occur soon.

The main function of adverbs and adverbial phrases is to modify verbs. They also modify adjectives, other adverbs and prepositional phrases.

Functions of Adverbs and Adverbials.

1. Modifier of verb

Mary solved the problem quickly.

John visited Musa at Kebbi

2. Modifier of adjective.

Peter is very tall

James is far more handsome than Silas.

3. Modifier of another adverb.

Bunmi runs extremely fast.

He works hard enough to pass his exams.

4. Modifier of prepositional phrase

The girl slapped Tom right in the face

We are quite on time for the party.

EVALUATION

Exercise, Question 1, Page 214

Countdown to English.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Consonant Clusters

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

The Dynasty of Ketu

1. What two sources of information about the names of kings of ketu are mentioned in the text?
2. What inducement was there for the herald to remember accurately and fluently the names of past Alaketus?

Structure

State the grammatical functions of the underlined expressions.

1. He left the letter where it could be easily seen.
2. Because he was wrong, he apologised.
3. In order that he might secure a seat, he arrived at the stadium.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 1, Page 60, Effective English.

Exercise, Question 2, Page 214, Countdown to English.

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: IRRIGATION

The passage is adapted from Small Scale Irrigation by Peter Stern. The sprinkler method of irrigation is discussed at length.. The most common type of sprinkler used with portable systems is the rotating head sprinler, consisting of a head, with one or two nozzles, which is rotated slowly by the action of the water passing through it, and which waters a roughly circular piece of land around the sprinkler.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 112

Topic: Vocabulary: Technical Words.

The words related to irrigation are equipment, fields, hydraulic, trench, regions, tropical, sub-tropical, e.t.c.

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, Page 113

Topic: Sequence of Tenses.

In 1982, PZ’s Managing Director, Basil Sponddeas, who has spend/had spent/spends his entire life working in the company, retired/has retired. He is succeeded/was succeeded/has succeeded by George Loupos.

Where there is a choice of verbs in the above, select the appropriate one.

EVALUATION

Practice 1, Page 91.

Topic: Consonant Clusters.

The English Language permits some consonants to follow each other in a sequence without an intervening vowel in a syllable. When two or more consonants come together, they form a consonant cluster. This cluster can appear at the beginning of the syllable or at the end.

In some words, it is not easy to identify consonant clusters by merely looking at the written form of the world. Such words manifest the clusters only when they are pronounce.

The following are examples.

  Word  Correct Pronunciation

new /nju:/

few /fju:/

cute /kju:t/

tune /tju:n/

view /vju:/

stew /stju:/

student /stju:dənt/

Clusters of two consonants at the initial position include

play /plei/

bright /brait/

drain /drein/

threat /θret/

clan /klæn/

hew /hju:/

Clusters of two consonants at the final position include

Sacked /sækt/

Washed /wכst/

Marks /ma:ks/

Maps /mæps/

Lanes /leinz/

Loaves /ləuvz/

EVALUATION

Write the symbol of the consonants in a cluster in the following of words.

Clean, frog, human, begs, talked, dwell, eighth, thrice, cast, shift.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Figures of Speech.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

1. What are useful hints on answering comprehension questions?
2. Give useful hints on understanding comprehension passages.

Speech Work

1. Define consonant sounds.
2. What are word stress, emphatic stress, and rhymes.

Essay

1. Write an essay on ‘The day I will never forget’

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests, Part 1, Page 95, Effective English.

Exercise 2, Question b, Page 82, Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

WEEK SEVEN

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: NOVEL EXTRACT.

The passage is an extract from the Novel titled ‘A Good Man in Africa’ by William Boyd. A woman, named Innocence, had been struck dead by thunder. All attempts by Morgan to get Innocence’s body taken to the morgue was in vain. The belief that certain sacrifices need to be carried out on anyone struck down by thunder prevented anyone, including the police, from taking the corpse away. Morgan was surprised that even the “Christians” made reference to tribal protocol.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 49.

Topic: Vocabulary Development: French Words

French is one of the European languages that have developed out of Latin. Some French expressions are used in English.

Examples include:

á la carte: refers to that part of a menu where each dish is listed with its price.

Á la mode: fashionable

Bourgeoisie: the middle class

Chef: senior cook

Communiqué: an official announcement

Déjà vu: seen before

Fiancé: a man who is engaged to be married.

Malaise: an uneasy feeling

Gauche: social clumsy or inept

Précis: a summary

RSVP: stands for repondez s’il vous plait. These letters are placed at the foot of a formal invitation when a reply is needed. They mean ‘please reply’.

EVALUATION

Practice 1, Page 52

Topic: Writing: Articles

Articles are expository essays. An expository essay is one that requires you to explain a thing or a process fully. The explanation will necessarily demand writing a great deal about what distinguishes the subject of the essay from all other things.

It may also involve some description.

Sample outline on articles. There have been various articles in your national newspapers discussing the rise in the prices of goods. Write your contribution to the discussion and suggest ways to help curb the trend.

Paragraphs

1. Introduction; Your observation.
2. Explaining the problem.
3. First major result
4. Second major result
5. Conclusion: The need to solve the problem.

    

EVALUATION

Write an article for publication in one of your local newspapers on the good effects of accountability and transparency.

Topic: Figures of Speech.

A figure of speech is any departure from the literal (i.e ordinary) use of a word or phrase. Some of the commonest figures of speech which cut across genres are simile, metaphor, irony, paradox, euphemism, hyperbole, personification, litotes, oxymoron, allegory, alliteration, pun, rhetorical question, etc.

1. Simile: This is a figure of speech in which two things of identical or similar qualities are indirectly compared through the use of ‘like’ or ‘as’.

E.g. Peter is as cunny as a snake.

Jane is like an angel.

2. Metaphor: This is a direct comparison of things without the use of ‘like’ or ‘as’.

E.g. Peter is a snake

Jane is an angel

3. Personification: This is a figure of speech in which the quality of living things is transferred to non-living things.

E.g. The sun smiled at me.

The trees are dancing in the wind.

4. Euphemism: This involves the presentation of an unpleasant thing or experience in a palatable way. In most cases, to remove the pain of sad or bad news.

E.g. The old man has kicked the bucket.

The king has joined his ancestors.

5. Irony: A figure of speech in which the ordinary or literal meaning of the word is more or less the opposite of what the speaker intends.

E.g. What a pretty state of affairs!

He jokingly describes the midget as a ‘very tall’ person.

6. Paradox: A statement which initially appears to be absurd or contradictory but which, on closer examination, contains an important truth.

E.g. Make haste slowly.

Attack is the best form of defence.

7. Pun: A play on words which have a similar sound but different meanings usually for humorous effect.

E.g. The dead drunkard was laid on his bier. (pun on beer/bier)

The minister claims he is a soul administrator (sole/soul)

8. Onomatopoeia: The formation of words in imitation of the actual sound made.

E.g. The hiss of a snake

The splash of water.

EVALUATION

Give two examples each on the following: (l) simile (ll) metaphor (lll) irony (lv) personification (v) pun

READING ASSIGNMENT

Lexical and Auxiliary verbs.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Theory

1. Write short notes on the following:

i. Alliteration

ii. Onomatopoeia

Speech Work

1. What are vowel sounds?
2. List out the twelve pure vowel sounds.
3. List out the eight diphthongs sounds.
4. With two examples each, write out ten consonant sounds.

    

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Part 3, Page 61, Effective English.

WEEK EIGHT

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: LAW ENFORCEMENT AGREEMENT

The passage centres on the attempts by the Nigeria Government to curb drug trafficking in the country. Nigeria‘s geographical position gives it the unfortunate distinction of being the natural hub for drug trafficking to and from the Americas, to Europe and across Africa. The United State Government signed an executive agreement on procedures for mutual assistance in law enforcement matters in November 1987. Some success have been recorded but much still remains to b done.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 64

Topic: Vocabulary Development: Justice Delayed .

Some of the words related to law include investigation, punishment, plaintiff sentence, trial, legal, judge etc.

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, Page 64.

Topic: Lexical and Auxiliary Verbs.

A. Lexical Verbs: Lexical (or main) verbs are those that can stand done as the verb element of the sentence.

E.g. Dike did the work yesterday.

We are students.

John cut down the tree today.

Where the verb element of a sentence consists of more than one verb, the lexical (main) verb always appears last.

E.G. Dike has done the work

We are studying English

I have read the book.

B. Auxiliary verbs: Auxiliary verbs are those that help the main verbs perform their functions. There are two kinds of auxiliary verbs: Primary and modal. A major difference between the two kinds is that; while the primary auxiliaries can also be used as lexical verbs, the modal auxiliaries cannot.

1. Primary Auxiliaries: be, do, have.

be – I am going to school

do – Charles did not attend class.

Have – I have done the work.

ll. Modal Auxiliaries:

can – Joy can go if she likes

could – John could run fast when he was young.

may – Obi may come with us.

might – It might rain this afternoon.

shall – I shall attend the party.

will – He will play for us today.

should – We should eat the food since it is safe.

would – If I had a car, I would travel often.

must – You must tell the truth

ought to – Every student ought to study hard.

use to – We used to fly kites when we were young

need – You need to leave now

dare – Nobody dare insult our leader.

EVALUATION

Make five sentences with the following. be, do, have, could, may.

Topic: Speech Work: Consonants

There are twenty –four consonants in speech in English. Three factors are usually considered in the classification of consonants. These are ‘place of articulation’,

‘manner of articulation and ‘state of the glottis? This chart below shows the classification according to these features.

Manner of articulation  State of the Glottis Place of Articulation

  Voiceless   Voiced

p b Bilabial  

STOP  t d Alveolar

(PLOSIVE) k g Velar

FRICATIVE f v Labio-dental

θ  Dental

s z Alveolar

S  Palato-Alveolar

h  Glottal

AFFRICATE ts d Plato-Alveolar

LATERAL l Alveolar

LIQUID r Alveolar

SEMI-VOWEL  w Bilabial

 j Palatal

 m Bilabial

NASAL h Alveolar

 ŋ Velar

Examples of words where the consonants occurs.

1.  / p / –  pan, nap

2.  / b / –  bud, rub

3.  / t / –  tea, seat

4.  / d / –  dip, hide

5.  /k/ –  come, pack

6.  / g / –  get, rag

7.  / f / –  fork, cough

8.  / v / –  van, live

9.  / θ / –  think, both

10.  / / –  this, breathe

11.  / s / –  sip, place

12.  / z / –  zink, has

13.  /s/ –  ship, fish

14.  /З/ –  genre, garage

15.  / h/ –  hat, behave

16.  / ts/ –  cheap, teach

17.  / d З / –  joy, page

18.  / l / –  lock, sell

19.  / r/ –  rag, borrow

20.  / w/ –  win, rewind

21.  / j/ –  yes, new

22.  /m/ –  man, him

23.  / n / –  net, rain

24.  / ŋ/ –  singer, bang

EVALUATION

Exercise 1, Question 9 Page 67, Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Modal Auxiliaries.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Structure

Verb Tenses

Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the verbs in the brackets.

1. Amadi has never……….. late to school. (come)
2. His mother, together with his sisters,………..in the bakery. (work)
3. He ……….. a lot of reading everyday. (do)
4. My friend and confidant ………. in Lagos. (live)
5. Either his brother or his cousins ………… him advice.(give)

    

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests, Part 1 Page 73, Effective English

WEEK NINE

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: LAW AND ORDER.

The passage is adapted from the Daily Sketch. It is a report of a court case. The case involved five people including three women and a fifth form student of a Grammar School in Oyo. They were accused of breaking into the shop of Sule Ajibade and Bosede Shittu and stealing various articles. After the hearing, the case was adjourned till 12 March for hearing.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 79.

Topic: Vocabulary Development: Administration of Justice.

Words associated with law and order include lawyer, legal, court, defence, convicted, sentenced, remanded, appeal, enforcement, charges, criminal, discharge, remand, etc.

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, Page 77.

Topic: Modal Auxiliaries

There are thirteen modal auxiliaries. They are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need and dare.

Uses

a. can/could

To express permission, possibility, ability or capacity.

E.g. Jane can go if she likes. (permission)

 That river can be bridged. (possibility)

 John could run fast when he was young.(ability)

b. may/might

To express permission or possibility.

E.g. Obi may come with us if he likes.(permission)

 It might rain this afternoon.(possibility)

c. shall/will

To express simple futurity, determination, order or willingness to do something.

E.g. We shall attend the party.(futurity)

 I will attend the ceremony.(determination)

d. should

To express obligation and logical necessity, condition.

E.g. He should attend the interview if he wants the job.(obligation)

 If the boy should come, please inform me.(condition)

e. would

To express habitual action in the past, a request politely, a probability.

E.g. Every Sunday, we would attend the morning service in the church.(habitual action in the past)

 I would like to come with you.(request)

f. must

To express obligation in the present and future, a logical necessity.

E.g. You must obey your elders.(obligation)

 There must be a mistake in that calculation.(logical necessity)

g. ought to

To express obligation/the equivalent of should and to express a logical necessity or an expectation.

E.g. Every student ought to study hard.(obligation)

 You ought to have finished the work by now.(expectation)

h. used to

To express habitual action in the past

E.g. We used to fly kites when we were young.

i. need (in negative sentence, to express the absence of obligation)

E.g. You need to leave now.

j. dare (as auxiliary verb, and especially in negative sentences and questions.

E.g. Nobody dare insult our leader

 You dare not eat that food.

EVALUATION

Construct one sentence each to illustrate the uses of the verbs shall, must, could, might, need.

Topic: Report Writing

A report is any kind of account given of any event that has taken place.

The approach to the writing of a report depends on the audience or readers for whom it is meant and on whether there is a standard format for it.

The report becomes formal when it is presented as a formal document giving details of an event. A formal report can be that of a robbery, an accident, the proceedings of a meeting, a work-camp or a petition.

Sample of a formal report.

J. S. 3A

14^th June, 2010.

The Principal

Queen of Apostles’ Secondary School,

Zaria.

Sir,

Report of the Robbery in Amina Hostel.

(Text of the Report)

Jumai Mohammed

Prefect (Amina Hostel).

EVALUATION

As the president of your club, write out a plan on your annual address which should be a review of the past year, emphasizing the objectives of the club.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Word Stress.

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

The Victims

1. List the hardship in the woman’s life, including the one that has caused her to visit the soothsayer from the play extract.
2. List the reasons given by the soothsayer for not making payment easier for the woman.

Structure

Say whether ‘as’ expresses time, reason or contrast in each of these sentences.

1. I didn’t stay long as I was in a hurry.
2. Tired as we were, we continued working.
3. As I was reading the book, an insect fell onto the page.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Parts 1 and 2, Page 73, Effective English

WEEK TEN

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION: HELPING ADDICTS.

The passage is adapted from the Evening Standard. It centres on a psychotherapist named Malcolm Scott and his attempt to help drug addicts. He puts them up in the lonely house where he lives. He and his patients get to know each other pretty well during this time: there are few distractions in the lonely house and the nearest bar is ten kilometers away.

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 99.

Topic: Vocabulary: Addiction.

Some words related to addiction are medicines, injections, trafficker, addict, cocaine, heroin, drug, crave, illegal, etc.

EVALUATION

Addiction, Page 100.

Topic: Speech Work: Stress in words of seven syllables and in compound words.

Stress is an important feature of speech. It is to give extra force to a word or syllable when saying it.

Words of seven syllables.

In-de-fen-si-BIL-i-ty

In-di-spen-sa-BIL-i-ty

In-di-vis-i-BIL-i-ty

Im-pen-e-tra-BIL-i-ty

Im-per-me-a-BIL-i-ty

In-ad-miss-i-BIL-i-ty

In – a- ccess-i-BIL-i-ty

Compound Words

absent-MINDed

Action-packed

back-DOOR

blue-CHIP

Bottle-feed

FLY-by

EVALUATION

Identify the syllable with the stress in the following words.

i. incontestability

ii. Individualism

iii. Individualistic

iv. Intellectualism

v. irrefutability

vi. passer-by

vii. in-laws

viii. top-class

ix. vice-president

x. wide-eyed

GENERAL EVALUATION

1. Tell a story that ends with the words….. and l have had to live with this stigma for the rest of my life.
2. There has been an outbreak of epidemic in your area, write an article for publication in a health magazine stating the causes and effects, and suggesting what should be done in order to check it
3. Recently there was a rainstorm which caused a lot of damage in your locality. Write an article for publication in your school magazine, describing the rainstorm, the damage caused and its effect on the people.
4. You had a quarrel with a very good friend of yours sometimes ago and since then both of you have not been on speaking terms. Write a letter to him or her expressing your regret at the break of the relationship and your desire for reconciliation.
5.  Write a letter to the commissioner for education in your state deploring the low level of food production in the state and suggesting measures in which the government should take to ensure that there is sufficient food for all.