TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1

COURSE CODE: GNS 101/OTM 112A

COURSE OUTLINE

I. Note taking and Note making

II. Sourcing for information

III. Language:(characteristics and language skills)

IV. Functions of Language

V. Uses of English Language in Nigeria

VI. Understanding Grammar and Parts of Speech

VII. Tense

VIII. Sentence Structure

IX. Punctuation

X. Idioms

XI. Literary Appreciation

XII. Genres of Literature (Poetry, prose and drama)

XIII. Features and Functions of Literature

NOTE TAKING AND NOTE MAKING

Some people cannot distinguish between note-taking and note-making. The two terms, to such people, can be used inter-changeably. Note-taking means taking notes from lectures or speeches while note-making as an activity done during study time. You make notes from your textbooks, journal articles or study texts.

The ability to take good notes while listening to an important talk or lecture is a skill that you will find useful in your studies and generally in life. You should always take notes while listening to a speech, talk or a lecture, no matter the medium of delivery. You should also take notes in discussion groups, seminars and tutorials.

How to Take Notes from Lectures

The rules of taking notes from lectures, seminars and tutorials are simple and straightforward.

1. Listen carefully to the lecture- paying attention is very important in note-taking. Some students start to write as soon as the speaker starts speaking, without taking pain to listen attentively to what the speaker is saying.

2. Understanding- understand what the speaker is saying before attempting to take notes; take notes

when you understand the point.

3 Put down the summary of the main points of the lecture. Some students start writing even before the points are made. Thus, they end up writing irrelevancies. Most of the things students study, as notes today are irrelevancies because proper notes are not taken. Write points. Do not write full sentences in note-taking.

4 Use abbreviations where necessary and possible. This saves time. Common note-taking abbreviations are listed in the box below.

i.e = that is

b/4

= before

preposition/preparation

i/c = in charge

etc = and so on

viz = namely

sb = somebody

sth = something

abr = abbreviations

b/c = because/became

These are just a few. You can, on your own, find out many more. Do you know what? You can even create your own abbreviations. The only thing is that you should not fill up your notes with too many abbreviations that will make the notes incomprehensible. Abbreviations save time during note taking. You need them more when the speaker is fast.

5 Use symbols where necessary or important- there are many symbols that you can use. Science and technology students use more symbols than the humanities students. Be familiar with the symbols in your field. Some of the symbols you can use in notetaking are presented in the next box.

Fig

.

3.2:

Symbols for Note

-

Taking

Again, there are many symbols that can be used during note-taking. Of course, you can also form your own symbols. Note-taking activities during lectures are fast when symbols are used.

Leave plenty of space between different headings and sub-headings when taking notes. The spaces are to be used for writing additional information or facts that you may discover after the lectures or during your own private study. Also leave wide margins for later comments and related references. Emphasise key words, phrases, sentences and ideas by use of capitalisation, underlining, colouring, asterisks, etc.

Neatness- the neater your notes, the more attractive and the more you would like to read them. Good handwriting, systematic organisation, consistent use of headings and sub-headings, all add to what can make your notes attractive, pleasant to read and easy to learn.

The first thing in note-taking from lecture is to be able to identify heading and sub-headings. Indeed, the centre (or main) heading and subheadings of the lecture are outlined below.

Fig. 3.3: Schema for Identifying Topical Headings/sub-Headings

This is a very simple heading- sub-heading format for good note-taking. Of course, it is possible in a more technical and complex note-taking activity to have sub-sub heading under a sub-heading as shown in the next box.

Fig. 3.4: Schema for Identifying Sub-Headings

Note that the major points under each sub-heading were not written in complete sentences but in summary form

Dos and Don'ts of Note-Taking

What can you deduce regarding ‘‘dos’’ and ‘'don'ts’' of note-taking from lectures.

1. Irrelevances are removed from the notes.

2. Abbreviations are used. Abbreviations such as- etc. (and so on) e.g. (for example) and symbols such as "/" (for either -or) are used, although sparingly in a lecture.

3. Heading and sub-headings of the notes are consistent. The heading is centralised, underlined/in bold letters because not all the letters are capitalised. If all letters are capitalised, do not underline.

4. The notes are not written in full sentences. You should write points and not full sentences in note taking.

These are not written in full sentences

a. typhoid fever caused by typhoid bacteria

b. patients or carriers pass the organism in urine or stool

c. flies on typhoid bearing faeces or urine and so food and water contaminate it

d. typhoid contracted through eating unwashed mangoes and road side food.

You should write points in notes. Do not write long sentences. The shorter your points, the more concise your notes; but beware! Do not be too brief in your notes such that your meaning becomes unclear to you yourself. Put down enough that will enable you to remember the major points.

Do not write notes on loose sheets which are improperly kept. Write notes in exercise books or on sheets that are well filed.

CONCLUSION

Note-taking activity is very important to all students. It is needed when listening to lectures, seminars tutorial, and important speeches. Notetaking brings to memory what has been learnt or heard. You must always take notes while listening to an important talk.

Assignment

Listen to three important talks on your radio or TV. Briefly outline the major points of the talks.

Quiz

Provide five standard abbreviation and five symbols that can be deployed while taking note.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Adkins, A. & Mckean, J. (1983). Text to Note. London: Edward Arnold.

Anderson, A. & Lynch, T. (1988). Listening. Oxford: University Press.

James, K., Jordan, R.R. & Matthews, A.J. (1988). Listening Comprehension and Note-Taking Course. London: Collins ELT.

Olaofe, I.A. (1991). English and Communication Skills for Academic Purposes. Zaria: Tamaza Publishing Co.

Olaofe, I.A. (1993). Communicate English Skills. Zaria: Tamaza Publishing Co.

SOURCING FOR INFORMATION

Sources of Information

Information for writing a speech can be obtained from many sources.

The schema below shows the primary sources of gathering information.

Specific

purpose

statement

Experiences

Interviews

Television

Internet

Library

and

and survey

report

investigation

Electronic

Library

World Wide

Expert site and

indexes of

catalogue

Web

discussion

articles

forums

Web page

Full text

Books and

Printouts

Magazines,

Audio

articles

reference

newspapers

works

Visual

Fig. 3:

Sources of information

Source:

Lucas, (2002:117)

The bi-directional arrow between Internet and libraries shows that many libraries provide access to the Internet, while the Internet can also be used to gain access to some libraries.

3.2Using the Library

The library is a repository for storing information.

3.2.1 Major Types of Library Resources

The Card Catalogue

This is a list of all books and major reference works in the library (Powers, 1993:270). Card catalogue is arranged alphabetically by author, title and subject. Any of these access points can be used to getthe necessary material from the library collection.

The Periodical/Serial Catalogue

This is a master list of all the magazines and professional journals, which the library currently has (Powers, 1993:270). It is arranged based only on title rather than by subject.

General and Specialised Encyclopedias

An encyclopedia is a collection of articles summarising the general knowledge on some area of study. There are two major types: general and specialised. The former surveys important topics from all areas of human knowledge; the latter focuses on a narrower area of specialisation with greater depth. The articles in both are arranged alphabetically.

Examples of General Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

World Book Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Americana

Collier’s Encyclopedia

New Columbia Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Encyclopedia of Education

Encyclopedia of Popular music

Encyclopedia of World History

Encyclopedia of Banking and Finance

Encyclopedia of World Art

The articles in encyclopedia should not be seen as sufficient. They should be supplemented with other sources. At least, they give direction of further research.

General and Specialised Indexes and Abstracts

These are lists of recent magazine and journal articles, organised alphabetically by subject matter and author (Powers, 1993:271). They are useful means of knowing the state of knowledge on a subject matter. Since encyclopedias are not often revised every year, it is difficult to know the latest information on subject matters through them. This is why it is helpful to consult indexes and abstracts. Through them, you will access the titles of all the articles in the periodicals covered, organised according to the topics covered in the article.

General indexes survey mainly popular magazines, which contain articles that have broad appeal. Specialised indexes list articles that appear only in professional journals for the discipline covered by the index.

Examples:

Communication Abstract

Social Science Citation Index

Humanities Index

Psychological Abstracts

Sociological Abstracts

Bibliographies

Bibliographies are published lists of articles, chapters, and books on highly specialized or widely studied topics. Examples are A WorldBibliography of Bibliographies and an index called The Bibliographic Index (Powers, 1993:272).

Almanacs and Yearbooks

These are summaries of statistical and general facts published yearly.

Because of the subject areas they cover, they change frequently:

Examples:

Whitaker’s Almanac

Catholic Almanac

Britannica Book of the Year

Statistical Abstract of the United States

Biographical Collections

These are brief biographies of notable persons.

Examples:

Makers of Modern Africa

International Who’s Who

Who’s Who in America

Websites

A website is a global Internet system for delivering and displaying documents, which may contain images, sound, video and text. It is a linkage of thousands of far-flung sites. Each site contains web pages or documents, that is, the file seen on the screen when visiting a website. A website is a location on the World Wide Web, but some people use it interchangeably with Web page. You can be transported from one Web page to another related Web page through Hyperlinks (Gregory, 2002:120).

The student has so many sources from which to derive materials to use. A careful selection of these sources and a productive use of them will enhance the quality of the speech. Harness all the resources at your disposal to enrich your speech. Try to crosscheck the information you have from one source with the one from other sources.

THE INTERNET

INTRODUCTION

Scientific development has brought many meaningful changes to the world. The computer and the Internet are innovations that have turned the world over for good. There are different aspects of the Internet that could be explored to facilitate speech writing

3.1The Internet

The Internet is a global super network, which links thousands of computers in order to get information. The Internet has become a popular means of getting information all over the world. There are also social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, through which current information about individuals and organisations can be got.

The Internet contains any imaginable kind of information. However, some people have taken this to mean that the Internet is a replacement of traditional library resources, particularly, hard copies of materials. The Internet can never replace the traditional library. Lucas (2002:119-120) captures it succinctly thus:

Printed materials in libraries are superior to the Internet in many ways. Take books, for example. The Internet has a relatively small number of books, most of them literary classics whose copyrights have expired; the novels of Jane Austen, the plays of William Shakespeare … Librarie s, in contrast, have thousands of books, including expensive reference works that are not on the Internet. Books offer greater depth and elaboration than you can find on the Internet…

The Internet also lags behind libraries in the availability of articles, while it is true that many newspaper and journal articles are available on the internet, most publications do not place all of their printed material on the Internet. To do so might put them out of business.

Besides, do not think that once you have a personal computer and Internet access, you do not need the electronic services of a library. This is because there are some electronic materials that only libraries could get under terms of contract. Only library users are allowed to use such through an access code (Lucas, 2002:120).

3.2.1 Some Other Sites

Expert sites: An expert site is a website that offers expertise on requested topics.

Examples

Ask Me Com (www.askme.com)

Abuzz (www.abuzz.com)

Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) (Gregory 2002:124).

Discussion Forum

This is a message centre for people that have a common interest.

Examples

Google Groups (www.googlegroups.com)

Yahoo! Groups (www.yahoogroups.com) (Gregory 2002:124).

The Invisible Web

The invisible web is the part of the Internet that search engines could not reach. This includes specialized resources, for example immigration law, and collection of full-text articles. Some of the addresses that could be used to access these resources include.

Libraries index to the internet (created by librarians at the University of California. (www.lii.org)

Internet Public Library (Operated at the University of Michigan (www.i.pl.org/ref)

Virtual library – a catalogue run by volunteers in areas such as

science and engineering (www.vlib.org).

(Gregory, 2002:125, 128)

Virtual Libraries

A virtual library is “a search engine which combines Internet technology with traditional library methods of cataloguing and accessing data” (Lucas, 2002:138).

Examples:

Librarian’s Index to the Internet ( http://lii.org)

Infomine (http://infomine.ucr.edu)

ArgusClearinghouse (http://www.clearinghouse.)

Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org)

Social Science Information Gateway (http://www.soisg.ac.uk)

Britannica.com (http://www.britannica.com)

Virtual library (www.vlib.org)

Assignment

Can the internet serve as a replacement for traditional library? Discuss.

Quiz

What are the basic steps for accessing the internet

REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Beebee, S.A. & BeeBee, J.B. (1994). Public Speaking: An Audience-

Centered Approach. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Calkins,L.C.(1986).TheArtofTeachingWriting.Portsmouth:

Heinemann.

Coe, N.; Rycott, R. & Ernest, P. (1983). Writing Skills: A Problem-

Solving Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gregory, H. (2002). Public Speaking: For Colleges and Career. New

York: McGraw-Hill.

Ojo, R.O. (2010). “Optimizing Internet Access and U se.” Manual forICT-Related Training for Staff of University of Ibadan: Module

ICT In Teaching Research & Administration. Ibadan: ICT-Related Training. Pp 24-54.

Ola, C.O. (2009). “Assessing Library Resources”. In Oyeleye L. (Ed) Use of English: A Tertiary Coursebook. Ibadan: Agbo AreoPublishers pp164-184.

LANGUAGE

THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

Language is a very important and indispensible tool available to man for the facilitation of his day to day activities. Whatever language we speak helps to define us as human persons and identify the community we belong to. The ability to use language in speech makes us human persons. In the words of Lewis quoted in Algeo,

(1974):

The gift of language is the single human trait that marks us all, genetically setting us apart from the rest of life. Language is, like nest building or hive making, the universal and biologically specific activity of human beings. We engage in it communally, compulsively, and automatically. We cannot be human without it; if we were to be separated from it our minds would die as surely as bees lost from the hive.

3.1 Meaning of Language

The term language has been variously defined by scholars. According to Sapir (1921) language is a purely human and non - instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbol. These symbols are in the first instance, auditory and they are produced by the so called ‘organs of speech’. This definition of language by Sapir is restricted to human beings who communicate their thoughts and feelings using the organs of speech.

In their view of language, Stork and Widowson (1974) affirms that all languages are highly developed and sophisticated communication systems, all capable of meeting the demands of the society in which they are used, and the personal needs of the individual of the society in terms of expressing emotions and giving and receiving information. It is clear from the above that one cannot divorce language from society. For an individual to adapt superbly in any society and thus meet his daily needs, the use of language must come to the fore.

Indeed, scholars trace the circuitous relationship that exists between language and the human beings. This relationship is expressed in the fact that human beings make language and language makes the human beings. To say that human beings make language implies that language belongs to human beings, who invent and make use of it. On this note, the two definitions we examined above emphasize that of all the animals, man alone has capacity for language. What then do we mean when we say that language makes human beings? We mean that the human being is the human being that he is simply and majorly because he makes use of language. This position is supported by Fromkin et al (2003) who hold that: “the possession of language, more than any other attribute, distinguishes humans from other animals. To understand our humanity, one must understand the nature of language that makes us human.” This connection between language and being human is well-expressed by the Bantu people of Africa. Among the Bantu, new born babies that are yet unable to speak are regarded as things, kintu. However, as soon as the child is able to speak, it becomes a person, muntu. Thus, to speak a language is the basis for defining and proving our humanity. In this regard, Noam Chomsky cited in Fromkin et al (2003) writes that the study of language is the study of man. Consequently, one who raises question about language raises question about man seeking to discover his essence, his capabilities, his limitations, and so on.

3.2 Characteristics of Language

A close look at the definitions of language given above shows that there are some qualities that are unique to all human languages. These characteristics are

3.2.1 Arbitrariness

1. This, as a characteristic of language, means that there is no logical relationship that exists between the sound used to refer to a thing in a language and the thing to which the sound refers. This means that the process of naming an object and the reference to it is essentially that of general agreement or convention. This means there is no direct or natural link between the symbol we use for an object or concept and the meaning of that object or concept. The relationship between a language symbol and the concept it symbolizes is arbitrary and conventional. Forms of words get their meanings by tacit agreement between users. Thus, the form as well as the meaning of a word has to be learnt when learning a language. For instance, there is no direct connection between the word pen and the object it refers. It is a well-known fact that the traffic light sign for stop is Red. If the Federal Road Safety Commission decides to use the colour purple as the signal in place of red, it can do so. The relationship is generally arbitrary between words and what they represent.

3.2.2 Discreetness

The sound segments used in any language differ significantly from one another. Speakers of different languages can identify the sound segments in the word of their language even though it appears to be a continuous flow of noise. In the English language for example, there are forty-four discrete sound segments. The difference between the word ‘pit’ and ‘pat’ for instance lies in the sounds that occur at their middle position /I/ and /ӕ/. If these two sounds were replaced with /ɒ/ as in /pɒt/ and /e/ as in /pet/, the meaning of the words would change. Therefore, the sounds /p/, /I/, /ӕ/, /t/, /ɒ/, and /e/ are all discrete sound segments in the English language.

3.2.3 Duality

The duality of language means that it has two levels of organization; the primary and secondary levels. Language comprises strings of noises called speech sounds or phonemes, which have no meaning attached to them. When the speech sounds combine with one another in such a way that they obey the rules of combination in the language they attract some meaning. For example, the sounds /b/, /u/, /l/, /k/, /m/, /ӕ/ /p/, /f/, /I/, /ʃ/ when combined sequentially in the English language can form the words bull, cap, map, and fish, respectively.

Besides, duality here could mean also that there are two patterns to language, the spoken and the written version. The spoken version is seen as the real version, since there are many who can speak a language well but cannot write a word of it.

3.2.4 Systematic

This characteristic of language means that it follows a laid down rule. In the game of football or any other games, for instance, the inability of the players to follow the set rules either disqualifies or attracts some penalty. The same way human language is like a system and as such the absence or wrong arrangement of any of its components can mar the entire system. Language is made up of sound segments which combine accordingly to form words, and words combine to form sentences. Every language has rules that guide words and sentence formation. In the English language for example, a singular subject takes a singular verb while a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Example: The boy sings well, The boys sing well and not: The boy sing well or Theboys sings well. The past tense –ed, present tense – ing and the third person singular – s markers occur after the main verb, and not before it, e.g packed and not edpack, singing and not ingsing, reads and not sread. At the syntactic level, words arearranged according to laid down rules in the language. For instance, the following are grammatical sentences in the English language: 1. Musa is reading his books in thelibrary. 2. The books are reading Musa in the library. The second sentence isgrammatically correct but semantically wrong and so is unacceptable to the speakers of the English language. This is because books are inanimate objects and so cannot possess human attributes. Let us look at another sentence: *to listening are teachersstudents the their. *Lecturers the are strike on university. The sentences areungrammatical because the words are not arranged accordingly. When properly

arranged, the sentences become: 1. The students are listening to their teacher. 2. Theuniversity lecturers are on strike. This shows that language follows laid down rules,and any deviation from the rules result in erroneous or ungrammatical sentences.

3.2.5 Specie-Specific

The specie-specificness of language means that man is the only animal that uses language in the true sense of it. This ability of language use differentiates him from other animals. No human being is born with a particular language but man according to Chomsky is endowed with an innate capacity known as Language Acquisition Devices (LAD). This enables him to acquire language once he is exposed to it. Giving credence to this, the New Encyclopedia Britannica has it that every physiologically and mentally normal person acquires in childhood the ability to make use, as both speaker and hearer, of a system of vocal communication that comprise a circumscribe set of noises resulting from movement of certain organs within the throat and mouth. This means that it is only man that makes use of the organs of speech in speech production.

3.2.6 Creativity

Creativity is a characteristic of language which means that man has the ability to construct as many sentences as possible including the ones he has never heard before inasmuch as he understands the language. One cannot buy a dictionary of any language with all the sentences found in that language since it is not possible for any dictionary to list all the possible sentences. Fromkin et al (2003) are of the view that knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences never heard before. It is not every speaker of a language that can create great literature but anyone who knows a language very well produces enormous utterances if one speaks and understands new sentences created by others. The creative nature of language therefore enables one to generate as many sentences as possible in different context provided one understands the language. Thus, for every sentence in the language a longer sentence can be formed, then there is no limit to the length of any sentence and therefore no limit to the number of sentences. In the English language for example, we can say: Chike stole the book. or Chike stole thebook that the teacher kept in her school bag. Or John said that Chike stole the book that the teacher kept in her school bag yesterday after the morning assembly. Creativity is, therefore, a universal property of language. You can create as many sentences as possible so long as you understand the language.

3.2.7 Conventionality

Convention relates to laws that are not written, that come from people’s day to day way of doing things. Conventionality as a characteristic of language expresses the fact that there is no intrinsic connection between a word and what it refers. The word, table, and the object, table, have no intrinsic connection that says that the object must be called table. Rather, it is convention, the fact that more people were using the word to refer to the object that gave the object its name.

3.2.8 Displacement

An important characteristic of the language is its ability to refer to things that are distant from a speaker in time and space. What we mean here is that in using language, you can talk about the present as well as about the past and the future. You can describe what you are doing now as well as what you did ten years ago. You can also talk about the person sitting right here with you as well as one who sat with you three months ago. Other human activities cannot engage distant subjects as such. For instance, you can only kick the person sitting before you and not the person sitting in another place far away from your location.

3.2.9 Dynamism

Dynamism expresses the ability of language to allow for changes in forms and functions. It is this dynamism of language that allows words to acquire new meanings. It also allows newly invented or discovered objects to have new names.

3.2.10 Learnability

Learnability is the character of language that makes it possible for it to be learned. Thus, every language worth the name can be learned by anyone who has interest in learning it and who has put in serious effort towards doing so. Scholars hold that the learnability of language depends on the innate capacity possessed by the human person to learn new languages. This capacity to learn language inherent in man is described as Language Acquisition Device (LAD). With LAD, every human person has the capacity to learn as many human languages as he wishes.

3.2.11 Rapid Fading

Rapid fading refers mainly to spoken words. As a characteristic of language, rapid fading means that words of language, when spoken, do not hover for a long time in the air. It fades away immediately such that one that was absent when it was said would not grasp the words.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Language is a strictly human phenomenon. Its possession is one of the qualities that mark the human person out from other beings in the world. For a thing to qualify as a language it must possess certain characteristics. You were exposed to a number of such

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Algeo, J. (1974). Colliers Encyclopedia. London: Macmillan.

Anyadiegwu, J. & Obi-Okoye, A. (2009). Teaching English as a Second Language.

Onitsha: D-Bell Graphic Press Services.

Crystal, D. (2006) Penguin Encyclopedia. England: Penguin Group

Eyisi, J. (2000). “Language and Education: The Raison D’être for Political Socialization.” African Journal of Research in Education. Vol. 1, No. 2.

Finegan, E. (2008). Language: Its Structure and Use. Boston: Michael Rosenberg

th

Fromkin, V. et al. (2003). An Introduction to Language 7edn. Massachusetts:

Onuigbo, S. & Eyisi, J. (2009). English Language in Nigeria: Issues and

Developments. Calabar: Paclen Publishers

Sapir, E. (1921). Language. New York: Harcourt Brace and World.

Stork, E. & Widowson, J. (1974) Learning about Linguistics. London: Hutchinson.

Uzoezie, R. (1992). Phonetics and Phonology of English, Onitsha: Hybrid Publishers.

The Language Skills

Due to the fact that communication is a two-way process, every language user needs

two basic communication skills the receptive and expressive skills. These two skills are

otherwise named developmental skills because they are skills that can be improved upon with

adequate skills and training. The two skills are defined thus:

2.1 Receptive Skills: these are necessary skills for receiving messages from an encoder.

There are basically two receptive skills. They include: Listening Skills and Reading Skills.

2.2 Expressive Skills: they are the basic skills that a communicator needs to give out

messages to a receiver. Expressive skills include: speaking and writing. Henceforth we shall

discuss each of these skills one after the other.

LISTENING SKILLS

Listening is defined as the conscious utilization of the sense of hearing for the purpose of

selecting interpreting and obtaining useful information. Some information has to be

selected from an array of sounds that can be perceived in a particular environment.

Types of Listening

There are two types of listening. They are:

I)Active Listening

ii)Passive Listening

The Listening Process

· Recognition

1Interpretation

2Hearing

3Paying attention

3Recognizing speech sound

· Interpretation

1Translating speech into ideas

· Evaluation

1Recalling Ideas

2.Weighing ideas for their worth

3.Testing one’s self as an evaluator

Types of Unproductive Listener

The following types of listeners’ exhibit listening habits that are unproductive -

1.Lazy Listeners

2.Take Turn Listeners: This group listens simply to get their turn to speak.

3.Anxious Listeners: This group concentrates on their response and reaction. They begin to evaluate immediately after recognition.

4.Self Centered Listeners: This group listens to only positive messages about themselves.

5.Competitive Listeners: This group only listens to find the weak point in the message. They are nine to start an argument based on the weakness they identify in the message.

Barriers To Listening

There are barriers to listening. Some of these are highlighted below:

1)Noise (physical noise, psychological noise etcetera).

2)Fatigue

3)Bad posture

4)Hunger

5)Deafness/Sickness

6)Lack of Concentration

7)Lack of Co-operation with the speaker

READING SKILLS

Another important source of academic information which must compliment listening to lectures is reading of text. The reading skill is therefore as equally important as the listening skill.

Definition of Reading

Reading is the act of deciphering a written message.

Types of Texts

There is no single classification for all text types but the following list comprises major text styles:

1. Academic/Scholarly texts

-Prescribed texts

-Supplementary texts

-Reference texts

2.Informative texts: Newspaper, Magazines

3.Expressive texts / Entertainment text

Purposeful Reading and Reading Methods

Reading must be geared towards achieving specific goals. This is known as purposeful reading and the purpose for reading will determine the reading method. Purpose for reading can include:

1.Seeking an overview or general impression of a passage

2.Looking for key points through selective reading

3.Seeking out details through deliberate and careful reading

4.Getting entertainment

READING METHODS

For each of the identified purposes above, specific reading method/speed should be applied. This can be one of the following:

1.Skimming: This is a very fast mode of reading which involves surveying or scanning.

2.Fairly Rapid Reading/Light Reading: This is used mainly in reading for entertainment but can also be used for revising scholarly texts.

3.Average reading speed: This is employed in systematic study where the student is not in a hurry.

4.Contemplative speed: This involves slow and careful reading. It is useful for reading academic text especially when they come in contact with new subjects or has to memorize some parts like definition and formulas etcetera.

4.5 STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE READING

1.Attitudinal Adjustment: The reader should have a positive attitude which looks forward to receiving profitable and useful information from the material.

2.Generations of guide questions: at the beginning of the reading exercise, the reader should generate questions, which anticipate the content of the text. Questions like what is the title of the text, what is the meaning of the title, is the writer arguing for or against an idea, Questions like this will guide the reader in his/her comprehension.

3.Adopting flexible reading methods: Having the ability to change your reading method pending on the material your reading.

4.Employing memory enhancing devices: Since the major aim of reading is to remember what has been read, each reader should have use some devices that will help him/her remember what had been read. Some of these devices are jotting, taking notes, underlining important points, relating it to personal experience, taking note of new words, making use of Acronyms.

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

The function of anything means the job that thing does. God gave man language for particular purposes. For language, these are the functions of language: referential function, ab-natural function, affective function, and transmission of culture, medium of thought, phatic function, recording function and identifying function of language.

3.1 Referential Function of Language

Language plays referential function when it communicates information about something. To communicate is the most noticeable function of language and some scholars argue that to communicate is the purpose of language. It is the foundation of all kinds of expression. A referential user of language only wants to pass information about something. Thus, in referential function of language, what is said must refer to something that can be seen, felt, touched or conceived by the person to whom the language user addresses. For instance, if you tell your neighbor, take away your teacup from my table, you have employed language to perform itsreferential function because you have referred to an object, teacup, that should be placed on another object you referred, table. If you are to make the same statement using Igbo language while addressing a Yoruba speaker who does not understand Igbo, you cannot be said to have communicated, and you have not also used language referentially.

In their daily interactions, human beings report, ask for and give directions, explain, promise, apologize, bargain, warn, scold, and so on. Politicians and leaders of government use language to pass information to the governed about their developmental activities to people. Whenever they do this, they are using language referentially. You should bear in mind that in playing its referential function language only seeks to communicate, to bring to the awareness of people what is to be done, what has been done, and the real states of affairs. By this the people are fully acquainted with the basic knowledge of what is happening around them. All forms of education whether formal or informal are acquired using language. Preachers on the pulpit use language to communicate the word of God to the congregation. Language is indeed the basis for all kinds of communication. According to Eyisi (2000), we use language to express love, hatred, anger, happiness, praise, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, to comment on the political, social, educational or economic situations in the country; to confirm or express religious beliefs, to comment on the weather and even to fill a vacuum when there is nothing else to do especially in the exchange of pleasantries. Human beings, therefore, are naturally endowed with the tendency to always talk, to use words, to employ language for a mutual social relationship with their fellow individuals and for the achievement of their daily objectives for their well-being and for the well-being of their community. People get on well when their communication flow. The same way if there is no proper communication, activities in a given community would definitely crumble.

3.2 Ab-natural Function of Language

Communication of information is not the only reason why we use language. Conversely, there are times when you want to hide information from people or at least from a vast majority of people. When this is the case you put such information in codes. Such codes are known to you alone or to a few individuals who can decode it. When you do this, you have employed language to play its ab-natural function.

Language scholars view every language, whatsoever, as a symbol, a public code sort of. For the most part, language as a symbol is devised for communicative purposes. When this is the case, language only targets to make clear what is hidden. However, there are times when language is used as a code to hide something from the public eyes. Such languages are often special languages meant for only a few persons who have access to the meaning of the code. Note that language plays two roles simultaneously here, that of hiding information from a large number of people and conveying information to few persons. Laycook and Mühlhäusler (1990) write that ab-natural function of language “are attempts to create codes which could provide access to the secrets of the universe and systems for concealment of information, either for the use of small privileged groups or, in the case of some forms of glossolalia, for individuals only.”

3.3 Medium of Thought

That man is a thinking animal is a truth held ever since the time of the ancient philosophers. The most recent formulation of this is found in Arendt (1971) who regards the human person as thought made flesh and writes that:

Speaking out of the experience of the thinking ego, man is quite naturally not just word but thought made flesh, the always mysterious, never fully elucidated incarnation of the thinking ability. … neither the product of a diseased brain nor one of the easily dispelled ‘errors of the past’, but the entirely authentic semblance of the thinking activity itself.

Indeed, the relationship between language and thought is a little bit wider than we have so far stated it. Thus, it is not only that language is the vehicle for expressing thought, the art of thinking itself is carried out in language. Corroborating with the just noted point, Arendt, (1971) writes that:

Our mental activities … are conceived in speech even before being communicated, but speech is meant to be heard and words are meant to be understood by others who also have the ability to speak, just as a creature endowed with the sense of vision is meant to see and to be seen.

Indeed, the best way for you to appreciate the role of language as a medium of thought is for you to imagine what would happen between a doctor and his patient or between a teacher and his students. The teacher may have so many things in his mind which he will tell the students but without a language he would just stand in front of them and exchange stares. But with the help of language he tells them all that is his mind which he wants them to know.

3.4 Affective Function of Language

The affective function of language refers to the ability of language to address individuals differently. Language used affectively is intended to express the relationship between a speaker and the person he addresses. Here one is conscious of the relationship he holds with every speaker as well as the environment he finds himself. What is being exploited here is the ability of the same words of language to call up different understanding and meaning in the mind of listeners. For example, a student who comes into the classroom, shakes his best friend’s hand and says to him My Guy, how are you today, will receive a pleasant reply from his friend whointerprets the statement as acceptable and good show of friendship. The same statement made to a lecturer in the same classroom and at the same time by the student will attract serious caution if not outright punishment to the student involved. Thus, the student, without being told, knows that the appropriate form of greeting to his lecturer will be more of something like this: Good morning, sir. How are you sir?

Thus, Thomas et al (2004) writes that, “by selecting one as appropriate and not another, you would be exploiting the affective aspect of language and showing yourself to be sensitive to the power or social relationship between you and the person you are addressing.” They also hold that:

The affective function of language is concerned with who is ‘allowed’ to say what to whom, which is deeply tied up with power and social status. For example, ‘It’s time you washed your hair’ would be an acceptable comment from a parent to a young child, but would not usually be acceptable from an employee to their boss.

3.5 Transmission of Culture

Culture is simply referred to as the people’s way of life. Rules and norms of society are passed on to the younger generation by the old through the use of language. Through language, man is able to trace the history and way of life of his people from the distant past. In the olden days, children usually sit around the elders and listen to the stories of their age-long tradition. During most traditional festivals, a brief history of such festival is recounted for the interest of the young. The ritual of repeating the history of such festivals is to help retain the culture of the people in perpetuity. Through language, people get to know why their culture is different from other people’s culture. By so doing, they would have respect and regard for the culture of others.

3.6 Phatic Function

Language plays the phatic role when it serves as instrument of initiating and keeping friendly relationship with others. Thomas et al (2004) write that phatic function of language relates to “the everyday usage of language as ‘social lubrication’”. It expresses the desire in our species to engage in peaceful relation with one another. The phatic function of language helps to link people and encourage peaceful and pleasant co-existence. They are about the small talks that help people to avoid conflict and stay together as friends. For instance, in asking somebody, how are you, you often do not have the intention of solving their problem if they report that they are unwell. And quite often, such people respond with, fine, thank you, not minding their conditions. The importance of your asking how he is and his response to you is that it serves as a way of entering into conversation with him. Other examples of usages where language plays the phatic functions is in the following: I love you, You lookgreat, Dear Angel used in letter writing, and yours ever, also used in ending letterwriting.

3.7 Recording Function

This involves using language to make a durable record of things that one wish to remember. It is recorded that the first writing system developed in the Middle East as early as 4000 B.C. During that period, writing system was in form of pictures that represented the things they referred. Later improvements saw the adaptation of alphabets which we continue to use today. Of course, we may not have a way of accessing the history of writing exposed above, if nobody recorded this happening. Recording can either be written or oral. Both oral and written recording can be done with the use of language.

3.8 Identifying Function of Language

People and things are named with languages. What name a person or a thing is given becomes his or its identity. The implication of this is that language is that tool through whose help individuals and objects assume identity as separate entities living in our world. Filch (1998) supports this view when he avers that every human being has a name and that is what identifies that person. You can imagine a situation where there is no language to name people. Indeed, language plays important function in identifying people.

CONCLUSION

Language plays important functions in human society. They are so crucial that social organization would have been completely impossible without them. These functions are also what make it impossible for man to ever consider the impossibility of a world without language.

Assignment

· Discuss Language as a medium of thought.

· Compare and contrast between the phatic function of language and the affective function of language.

Quiz

List seven characteristics of language.

REFERENCES/ FURTHER READING

Algeo, J. (1974).Colliers Encyclopedia. London: Macmillan.

Arendt, H. (1971). The Life of the Mind. New York: Harcourt Brace

Crystal, D. (2006). Penguin Encyclopedia. England: Penguin Group

Deutscher, M. (2007). Judgement after Arendt. Hampshire: Ashgate

Eyisi, J. (2000). “Language and Education: The Raison D’être for Political Socialization.” African Journal of Research in Education. Vol. 1, No. 2.

Filch, G. (1998). How to Study Linguistics. Palgrave: Macmillan

Finegan, E. (2008). Language: Its Structure and Use. Boston: Michael Rosenberg

Fromkin, V. et al. (2003). An Introduction to Language, 7th edn. Massachusetts:

Laycock, D. C. and Mühlhäusler, P. (1990) “Language

Engineering: Special

Languages,” Encyclopedia of Language, London: Routledge

Onuigbo, S. & Eyisi, J. (2009). English Language in

Nigeria: Issues and

Development. Calabar: Paclen Publishers

Thomas, L. et al. (2004). Language, Society and Power. London: Routledge

THE PLACE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria is one of the countries colonized by the British whose language is the English language. This language is practically indispensable to academic, economic, socio-political and even cultural progress.

History of English in Nigeria

Research has shown that the English language came in contact with Nigerian languages during the colonial period. Baldeh (2011) recorded that the acceptance of English in the body politics of Nigeria started with it being adopted as a channel of instruction in 1882. The colonial masters needed people who would work as clerical officers, accounting assistants, messengers, interpreters, etc. These people were trained for the job and the language was English. Because the language was a prerequisite for obtaining a white- collar job, many Nigerians developed interest in learning it. In 1882, 1896, 1918 and 1926 respectively, Education Ordinances and codes were established in order to elevate the English language for public use. This followed the elevation of the certification system as a prerequisite for employment in the public as well as in the private sectors of the Nigerian economy. In parts of the country especially the south, the thirst for education was on the increase. This according to Coleman, quoted in Baldeh (2011), arose out of the belief that “western education, and especially a knowledge of the English language, would equip them with the techniques and skills essential for the improvement of personal status in the emergent economic and social structure. To this end, the result of successful acquisition of certificates started yielding fruits. Those who passed creditably gained employment while those who did not brood over their performances. This, however, was the beginning of the passionate and immeasurable acceptance of the western education, which has today dominated the Nigerian nation.

The Northerners’ acceptance of the English language was so slim. Because they are predominantly Muslims, they measured the English language with western education which they felt was embedded in Christianity. As such, they viewed it with suspicion and did not embrace it. Mazrui, quoted in Baldeh (2011), explained the situation thus:

The partial equation of education with Christianity, coupled with the partial equation of education with the English language, produced a partial equation of Christianity with the English language.

They felt that the British who were Christians stylishly wanted to impose their religion on them through their education. This has rightly put by Baldeh barred the North from involvement in the wave of modernity of which English was the vehicle par excellence. The colonial language was undoubtedly the medium of intellectual uplift, occupational and social advancement and the improvement on national consciousness.

As a result of the enthronement of the English language, the native languages which were referred to as vernacular languages, were relegated to the background. Children who speak it in schools received severe punishment. As such the English language was highly promoted. Every of the activities of the country including that of the government were carried out in English. This, however, made the English language well rooted in the scheme of the country.

3.2 The Use(s) of the English Language in Nigeria

The English language which occupies an enviable position in Nigeria has influenced it in some significant ways. The influence of this all important language in the country is conspicuous in the following areas:

Education: The English language plays conspicuous roles in the Nigerian educationsystem. Whenever education is mentioned, the English language comes to the fore. It is thus indispensable and invaluable measuring the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of our school curricular. The English language is expressive as the language of instruction in practically the entire school systems from the upper primary to the highest tertiary level. The National Policy on Education supports this fact by maintaining that ‘Government will see to it that the medium of instruction in the primary school is initially the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community and, at a later stage, English.

The growth of the English language in Nigeria is indeed on the increase. This can be seen in the teeming number of young people who register the subject in examinations such as WASC or JAMB as well as undergraduates who undertake GSS 101 (Use of English 1) and GSS 102 (Use of English 11) as compulsory Use of English courses in our universities. To be regarded as an educated Nigerian according to Banjo (1996), some level of proficiency in English is required. He justifies the assertion as follows:

If an educated man is defined in Nigeria as one who has at least secondary education, then no Nigerian who speaks no English can be regarded as being educated. The reason for this should be obvious; English is a key subject and the medium of instruction before the end of the primary level.

In all situations in this country, students irrespective of their areas of specialization, take courses in the language. In the West African School Certificate Examination for instance, a poor performance renders the result redundant because one can never gain admission in any university with it, the fact that one performed excellently in other subjects notwithstanding. In Nigerian universities, a student who fails the use of English courses can never graduate unless he re-registers and succeeds in the examinations. The greatest asset of the English language is that it is a good instrument of thought and creativity and students are expected to be very proficient or skilled in both the spoken and written forms. Poor knowledge of the English language is thus a clear indication that one may perform poorly in other subjects because examinations in these subjects are expected to be written in English. The incessant desire by the Nigerian government for effective teaching of the language in our schools is rooted on the belief that western education especially a knowledge of the English language would equip them (Youths) with the techniques and skills essential for improvement of personal status in the emergent economic and social structure (Coleman quoted in Eyisi).

From the foregoing, therefore, it is germane to emphasize that the English language really affected the education sector of the Nigerian education system.

Politics

The political role of the English language in Nigeria started in 1882 when the colonial masters saw the need to train individual to render sensitive and important government services. The English language plays a vital role in the Nigerian body politics. Candidates for political parties for example read their political manifestoes, print their handbills and posters in English. Inability to speak the language automatically makes the candidate to lose his or her mandate. The 1989 constitution in recognition of the vital role of English in the politics of the country, maintains unequivocally that any candidate for election to the National or State Assembly must have a minimum qualification of a secondary school certificate- a certificate that is rendered almost useless in the absence of a credit pass in English.

The English language played a conspicuous role in the fight for Nigerian independence. Various government documents including the constitution of the country are written in English. All the national dailies and political gazettes also appear in English. Without the use of the English language, activities in various government houses in Nigeria would definitely crumble.

Sociolinguistics Unifying force

In our country Nigeria, there are multiplicities of languages. It is a multi-ethnic and multilingual society. The citizens of the country speak with too many mutually exclusive tongues. In this situation, too many resultant difficulties in communication spring up especially when none of the languages is adopted as a national language. More so, any attempt to accept one of the major languages Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba as national language will dangerously result to ethnic squabble and distrust.

Luckily the introduction and acceptance of the English language as the only official language brought the wrangling controversy to an end. In our country Nigeria today English serves as a language that unifies all the ethnic groups including those with minority languages. It is the only language which any Nigerian from any tribe can use comfortably amidst other tribes. Anyone who could neither speak nor understand the

English language will definitely remain uncomfortable when relating to people outside his own ethnic group. Reacting to this, Eyisi (2006) succinctly puts:

No one in the country (Nigeria), doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, preachers, drivers, traders, etc. would be able to function effectively without varying levels of communicative competence in English. The reason is that little or no job could be done in the face of so much communication breakdown.

1) The term ‘One Nigeria’ is strong today because the English language has come to salvage the problem of linguistic diversity. Thus, English language serves as a unifying factor in Nigeria since members of different ethnic group communicate using English. It makes it possible for them to discuss issues of common interests thereby establishing and sustaining bond of unity.

Mass media and the Legal System

English is the language of the mass media. The majority of our local and national dailies are printed in the English language. Almost all the programmes aired in the television and radio stations are done in the language. The English language has thus dominated every other language in our media houses. It is the only mode of communication, which could be used to reach the target number of people within a short time and at a very meager expense. The English language is also the language of the legal profession. All the official law proceedings are done in the language. The implication of this is that a successful lawyer must have some mastery of the English language in order to communicate very well.

Economic System

The English language also plays salient roles in our economic system. It is the language of official business. Most business transactions are carried out in English. It becomes evident that English is the only language which gives access to the means of realizing effective economic development. Activities/transactions in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as other banks are carried out in the English language. All the economic records of the country are kept in no other language than the English language. The English language, therefore, has a great influence in our economy.

Technological/ Economic Development

Since one half of the world’s scientific literature is written in English and Nigeria uses this interactive language, it has exposed her to the world of science and technology as well as brought her scientific know-how to the awareness of the rest of the world.

Employment Generation

Indeed, the criteria for getting good jobs are dependent on the individual’s competence in the use of language.

CONCLUSION

The emergence of the English language in Nigeria and its acceptance as the official language has, undoubtedly, affected the different spheres of the country. The salient roles the English language plays in our country could be seen clearly in education, politics, social interaction, mass media, the law court, and other areas too numerous to mention. The English language is thus the language that unites the populace as an entity.

Assignment

Nigeria is a country with many tongues. Discuss

Quiz

Identify the uses of English language in Nigeria and discuss one in detail.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Baldeh, F. (2011) Better English Language Learning and Teaching, Nsukka: Fulladu Publishers.

Coleman, H. (2010). ‘Developing Countries and the English Language: Rhetoric, Risks, Roles and Recommendation’ in Coleman Hywel ed. Dreams and Realities:Developing Countries and the English Language. British Council, 2010.

Eyisi, J. (2006) “Teaching of English in Nigerian Schools: Problems, Effects and Remedies” in Ogirisi: A New Journal of African Studies, Department of Philosophy,Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Vol.2 No. 3.

GRAMMAR

INTRODUCTION

Proper understanding of English grammar is a pre-requisite to an effective communication in English language. This unit begins with a search into the knowledge of English grammar and its proper usage in business communication. We will start from the proper understanding of parts of speech. Knowledge of punctuation and sentence formation will be treated in the succeeding units. Before moving further, let us examine the objective of this unit. Students at the tertiary level of education are expected or required to use the refined language (in this case English language) in the ways described by convention. Such familiarity begins with the understanding and mastery of some basic rules and principles which are called GRAMMAR.

In every language there exist a system of rules and principles called GRAMMAR. These rules are the basic bedrock (foundation) of a language and they serve as guiding principles for the usage of such a language. Grammatical rules have been formed by convention over centuries of use and have developed among language users. Earlier forms of grammar were descriptive (emphasizing the laid down rules) however, modern day grammar uses a more functional approach which explains the principles of accepted usages.

This essentially points to the fact that grammar makes an attempt to explain how a language works. Thus, based on the rules of grammar, words of a Language are arranged in prescribed patterns to form meaningful utterances known as sentences. The sentence is formed according to the functions of the component words making up the sentence. The rules of grammar not only tell us how to construct sentences but it also provides ways of changing words to form variations like plurals, tenses etc. The main function of grammar is to acquaint users with a language system so as to encourage production of correct and meaningful structures within that system.

English Grammar

Each language has its own distinct grammar. "English grammar" is the set of rules within the English language itself. "An English grammar" is a specific study or analysis of these rules. A fully explicit grammar exhaustively describing the grammatical constructions of a language is called a descriptive grammar, as opposed to linguistic prescription, which tries to enforce the governing rules of how a language is to be used

What are Parts of Speech?

All the words in English can be divided into 8, 9 or more groups according to their functions in the language. These groups are traditionally called parts of speech and are today referred to as lexical categories or word classes. The following terms comprise the most basic grammar terminology every English user must be familiar with in order to understand how language works to create meaning.

It is vital for any English writer to be familiar with the parts of speech in order to have the terminology to study and analyse the language and identify mistakes in writing. Moreover, a word can function as a different part of speech depending on its role in the sentence structure (the terms of which are also vital for successful writing). This affects the word's meaning and structure, making it important to confirm whether you are using the correct part of speech in the correct position in the sentence.

1. The Noun

A Noun is a word that names a person (teacher), thing (pencil), animal (cat), place (Paris)

or abstract idea (love). As practically anything in the universe has a name, and as there are many things in the universe, nouns comprise the largest group of words in English (about 65%). Nouns name common everyday objects such as pen, through to general conditions such as friendship, all the way to the most technical terminology for the tiniest part of a jet engine.

Noun names...

Examples

a person

a teacher, a man, Peter, Sonya, a Frenchman, the Queen

a thing

a pencil, a computer, a hamburger, a political party

an animal or plant

a cat, an elephant, a caterpillar, blue algae, pineapple

a place

Paris, home, Africa, church, school, a mountain, airport

an abstract idea

love, freedom, attitude, education, vivaciousness, liberalism

Types of Nouns

There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you capitalise some nouns, such as "Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalise others, such as "badger" or "tree" (unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence). A noun can belong to more than one type: it will be proper or common, abstract or concrete, and countable or non-countable or collective.

Proper Nouns: You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun. For example:

Many people dread Monday mornings.

Common Nouns: A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense. Usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun. For example,

According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away.

Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following example.

Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times

Concrete Nouns: A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of an abstract noun. For example,

The judge handed the files to the clerk.

Abstract Nouns: An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you cannot perceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. For example, Justice often seems to slip out of our grasp.

Countable Nouns: A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns. For example,

We painted the table red and the chairs blue.

Non-Countable Nouns: A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns. For example,

We decided to sell thefurniturerather than take it with us when wemoved.

Collective Nouns: A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nouns in order to maintain subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun. For example:

The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture

The Pronoun

A pronoun is a word that has replaces a noun or refers to it. Pronouns are divided intothe following groups.

Pronoun Type

Examples

personal

I remember her helping us our problems, not yours.

demonstrative

Those are my favourite, but these are good too.

reflexive

They did it themselves. I saw it myself.

interrogative

Who said so?

relative

The man who lives next-door borrowed the book that you lent me.

reciprocal

We like talking to each other.

indefinite

Everybody comes to the party, each and every one.

The word "pronoun" comes from "pro" (in the meaning of "substitute") + "noun."

· Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent people or things. The personal pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them.

· Demonstrative Pronouns

"Demonstrative" means "showing, making something clear."

Demonstrative pronouns point to things. The demonstrative pronouns are: this, that, these, those.Use "this" and "these" to talk about things that are near in space or in time. Use "that" and "those" to talk about things that are farther away in space or time.

Example sentences:This cannot go on.That was beautiful!He wanted those, but decided to compromise on these.

· Interrogative Pronouns

"Interrogative" means "used in questions."Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns are: who, whom, which, what, whoever, whatever, etc.

Use "who" and "whom" to talk about people.Use "which" and "what" to talk about animals and things.

Example sentences:Who is your father?Whom did you speak to?Which bag did you buy?What are my choices?

· Possessive Pronouns

"Possessive" means "showing ownership."Possessive pronouns indicate that something belongs to somebody/something. The possessive pronouns are: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

Example sentences:I've lost my wallet.He married his girlfriend.This place is theirs.Is that cat yours?My car is slow. Hers is much faster.

· Relative Pronouns

"Relative" means "connected with something."

Relative pronouns are pronouns that link different parts of a sentence. The relative pronouns are: who, whom, which, that, whoever, etc.

Examples sentences:The girl who called yesterday came to see you. The teacher whom you wrote has answered your questions.She lives in Kiev, which is the capital city of Ukraine.I really liked the book that you gave me.

· Reflexive Pronouns

"Reflexive" means "going back to itself."

Reflexive pronouns show that the action affects the person who performs the action. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves" (plural). The reflexive pronouns are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves.   Example sentences:He cut himself while shaving.I sent myself to bed.He could hurt himself!We must help ourselves.She trusts herself.

· Intensive Pronouns

"Intensive" means "giving force or emphasis."

An intensive pronoun is a pronoun used for emphasis. In other words, intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of the sentence. They are written exactly the same way as the reflexive pronouns, but their function is different.

I myself baked the cake.The queen herself recommended this restaurant.Have you yourself been there?The project itself wasn't difficult.We will do it ourselves.

· Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal means that two people or groups do the same thing to each other. They treat each other in the same way.

For example, Joe loves Kate, and Kate loves Joe. So we can say, "Kate and Joe love each other."Another example: Mike helps Lucy, and Lucy helps Mike. So we can say, "Mike and Lucy help each other."

There are two reciprocal pronouns in English:Each other and one another.

The cat and the dog like each other.The two politicians hate each other.We must stop fighting one another.They gave each other Christmas presents.They can't hear one another.

· Indefinite Pronouns  

"Indefinite" means "not exact, not limited."Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to any specific person or thing.

Examples:Anything, everybody, another, each, few, many, none, some.

Example sentences:Many have died during the war.Can anyone call her?Everybody wants to see you.Something can be done to help.

The Adjective

An adjective is a word that modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun. Adjectives comprisethe second largest group of words in English (about 23%). An adjective informs about the qualities and features of people, things or concepts (big, strong, beautiful, and sensitive) and can be considered as an added intensifier or even "decoration" to the required basic sentence elements, adding variety and liveliness. In the following examples, the adjectives areunderlined and the nouns or pronouns they modify are in bold.

Hewashappywhenhemovedtohisnewhouse.

[the adjective happy modifies the pronoun he, the adjective new modifies the noun house]

Using the Comparative and Superlative

You should use the comparative form of an adjective or adverb to compare exactly two things. You can form the comparative by adding the suffix "-er" to the modifier (for some short words) or by using the word "more" with the modifier:

Of the two designs, the architect is convinced that the city will select the moreexperimental one. (Comparing two designs)

Now that it is March, the days are getting longer (longer now than before).

You should use the superlative form to compare three or more things. You can form the superlative by adding the suffix "-est" to the modifier (for some short words) or by using the word "most" with the modifier:

This is definitely the smartest, wittiest, most imaginative comic strip I have ever seen. (implying that I have seen more than two)

Types of adjectives

· Possessive Adjectives

A possessive adjective ("my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," "their") is similar or identical to a possessive pronoun; however, it is used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase, as in the following sentences:

· Demonstrative Adjectives

The demonstrative adjectives "this," "these," "that," "those," and "what" are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases, as in the following sentences:

When the librarian tripped over that cord, she dropped a pile of books.

· Interrogative Adjectives

An interrogative adjective ("which" or "what") is like an interrogative pronoun, except that it modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its own (see also demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives): Which plants should be watered twice a week?

· Indefinite Adjectives

An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun, except that it modifies a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase, as in the following sentences: Many people believe that corporations are under-taxed.

The Adverb

An adverb is a type of word that has many uses in English. It can modify (describe) averb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence (composed from at least an independent clause). Adverbs (quickly, here, now, always, very, obviously) can be considered as added intensifiers or even "decoration" to the required basic sentence elements, supplementing them with important pieces of information. Adverbs also appear in multi-word phrases and can also be expanded into adverbial clauses which function similarly. In the following examples, the adverbs are underlined and the elements they modify are in bold.

The new typist works quickly and well.

[The adverbs quickly and well modify the verb works]

The new typist is extremely busy.

[The adverb extremely modifies the adjective busy]

The new typist works very quickly.

[The adverb very modifies the adverb quickly]

Fortunately, the new typist works well.

[the adverb fortunately modifies the sentence the new typist works well]

As adverbs add several kinds of information, they can be divided into the following groups of types, each answering the below mentioned questions:

Adverb of

Examples

manner - how?

quietly, happily, sadly, quickly, slowly, clockwise, well

place - where?

away, at home, down, everywhere, round, here, there

time - when?

daily, last

week, a year

ago, tomorrow, on

Sunday,

immediately

frequency - how often ?

always, often, usually, sometimes, seldom, never

degree - how much ?

quite, rather, pretty, very, completely, really, hardly, too, just

whole

sentence

-

fortunately,

unfortunately,

luckily, obviously,

perhaps,

under

what

surprisingly

circumstance?

The Verb

A verb is a word that expresses an action (to run), occurrence (to happen), or state of being (to appear). Verbs comprise the third largest group of words in English (about 10%) and appear in any sentence as a major mandatory element tying the subject and predicate together. Verbs also indicate time (past, present, future) and are used with many verb tenses. The verb can be thought of as the center, heart, or anchor of an Englishsentence.

Objects and Complements

Objects

A verbmay be followed by an object that completes the verb's meaning. Two kinds of objects follow verbs: direct objects and indirect objects. To determine if a verb has a direct object, isolate the verb and make it into a question by placing "whom?" or"what?" after it. The answer, if there is one, is the direct object:

Direct Object

The advertising executive drove a flashy red Porsche.

Direct Object

Her secret admirer gave her a bouquet of flowers.

The second sentenceabove also contains an indirect object. An indirect object (which, like a direct object, is always a nounor pronoun) is, in a sense, the recipient of the direct object. To determine if a verb has an indirect object, isolate the verb and ask to whom?, to what?, for whom?, or for what? after it. The answer is the indirect object.

Not all verbs are followed by objects. Consider the verbs in the following sentences:

The guest speaker rose from her chair to protest.

After work, Randy usually jogs around the canal.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Verbs that take objects are known as transitive verbs. Verbs not followed by objects are called intransitive verbs. Some verbs can be either transitive verbs or intransitive verbs, depending on the context:

Auxiliary Verbs (also called "helping verbs")

Auxiliary verbs are verbs that are used together with the main verb of the sentence to express the action or state.

Main verb + auxiliary verb = complete idea

The main auxiliary verbs are:be, am, is, are, was, were, do, did, have, has, had.

Example sentences (the auxiliary verb is in bold, and the main verb is underlined):They arejogging.She wassitting.We werewaiting for hours.Is she sleeping?He didn'tknow the answer.We havegone a long way.Has she received any of my letters?Do you smoke?Will she help?

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are verbs that follow this rule:Past form of the verb = present form of the verb + ed / d.

Examples:Past form of "check" = check + ed = checked.Past form of "open" = open + ed = opened.Past form of "bake" = bake + d = baked.

There are certain rules to adding "d" or "ed" to a verb. Read about them in the Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs section.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the above rule, and there are quite a lot of them.

Examples:Past form of "drink" = drank.Past form of "sleep" = slept.Past form of "bring" = brought.

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb that is combined with an adverb or a preposition. The combination creates a new meaning.

Examples:Run = to move very quickly with your legs. ("She can run fast!")Into = in the direction of something. ("He looked into my eyes.") Run into = to meet someone by accident. ("I ran into Joe yesterday.")

Make = to create or do something. ("He made a lot of noise.")Up = to a higher point. ("Look up!")Make up = invent (a story, an excuse). ("It never happened. He made the whole thing up!")

Put = to place something somewhere. ("Could you put this upstairs?")Up = to a higher point. ("Look up!")With = concerning ("She is happy with her workplace.")Put up with = to tolerate. ("I cannot put up with his behavior any more!")

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that is used before a nounor a pronoun to connect it to another word in the sentence. It is usually used to show location, direction, time, and so forth.

Examples:On, in, at, by, under, above, beside, to, out, from, for.

Example sentences:I sat on the floor.Let's go into the house.We will meet at four o'clock.Have a look under the couch.He went to school.This letter is for you.

The word "preposition" comes from the Latin word praeponere (put before). So prepositions usually come before the noun/pronoun.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that joins parts of a sentence together.

Examples:And, but, or, because, so.

Example sentences:I want to come, but I can't.She is smart and beautiful.Would you like a cat or a dog?He didn't pass the test because he didn't understand the subject.We were hungry, so we ordered pizza.

The word "conjunction" comes from the Latin word conjungere (join together).

Interjections

An interjection is a short sound, word or phrase used to express the speaker's emotion.

Examples:Oh! Look out! Ow! Hey! Wow! Ah! Um...

Example sentences:Wow, that's amazing!Ah, that was a good meal.Um... I'm not sure what to say.Oh dear! What happened?Hello! How are you doing?Well, that's an option too.

The word "interjection" comes from the Latin word interjicere (throw between).

Assignment

Explain in detail your knowledge of types of Noun.

Quiz

What do you understand by determiners?

REFERENCES/ FURTHER READINGS

Davidson, Donald. 1967. The logical form of action sentences. In Nicholas Rescher, ed., The Logic of Decision and Action, Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Lester, Mark; Larry Beason (2005). The McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage. McGraw-Hill. p. 4.

Krifka, Manfred. 1989. "Nominal Reference, Temporal Constitution and Quantification in Event Semantics". In R. Bartsch, J. van Benthem, P. von Emde Boas (eds.), Semantics and Contextual Expression, Dordrecht: Foris Publication

TENSE

Introduction

Tense, aspect and concord are important concepts in any language. They are pivotal to appropriate use of language. Many users of English as a second language (L2) often encounter some problems in finding the most appropriate expressions to use in some contexts. A good number of L2 English users construct expressions that fall far below the required standard. This is because they do not understand the principles guiding the use of concepts such as tense, aspect and concord. Thus, the question is “what is an aspect and what is tense?” These two concepts are examined below.

Aspect

Aspect is a grammatical category of verbs that considers the quality of the action of the verb independent of the tense. Simply put, aspect means the range of meanings expressed by the verb. In English, aspect is broadly categorised into progressive and perfective aspects. The progressive aspect takes the affix ‘ing’, while the perfective aspect takes

‘ have’ (or its derivatives – has and had. These aspectual expressions combine with other verbal elements to produce different tenses.

Tense

Tense means the linguistic way of expressing time dimensions. Each language has its own peculiar way of doing this. There are three main time dimensions: past, present, and future. English has three tenses: past, present, and future. However, some scholars have argued that English does not have future tense. They premise their argument on the fact that English does not morphologically show the future tense. We will not go into the argument for or against this view. We will adopt the traditional view that holds that English has three tenses, because it serves well our intension in this course. Each of these tenses could be expressed in four different ways: simple, progressive/continuous, perfect, and perfect progressive. To realise these different forms, the verb often takes some inflections, auxiliary verbs, and aspectual markers, as the case may be. Before considering these tenses in some detail, let us examine “aspect.”

3.2.1 Present Tense

Simple Present Tense

This tense uses the infinitive (without to) form of the verb. If the subject is third person singular, s, es, and ies are added, as appropriate. This tense is used to express the following:

Present habitual action

She comes here weekly.

They pray every night.

He fast weekly.

Deborah sings daily.

These people plan evil.

Present occurrence/state of being

I know Wumi.

The boy is insolent.

Paul and Peter are diligent.

Nike is humble.

They seem confused.

Document literary works, holy books, and constitution.

In The Road, Soyinka emphasizes communication.

The Bible presents God from different angles.

Our constitution is defective.

This poem has enjambment.

The novel makes a good reading.

Run commentary

Now Okocha is ready to fire a shot.

Kanu gets the ball; passes it to Aghowa; Aghowa dribbles one, dribbles two; aims at the post; oh no, over the bar!

The President goes to the lectern to read his address.

Future occurrence

Lawale gets married next month.

The programme begins tomorrow.

The spies leave for the place tonight.

My examination holds soon.

Our review end next year.

Present Progressive Tense

This tense uses a present auxiliary verb with the present participle form of the main verb. It is used to express the following.

An ongoing action/event

We are reading our books.

Osarume is waiting for you.

Olusayo is writing the memo.

Pelumi and Yetunde are dancing naked.

Nobody is cooking your food.

A future occurrence

They are going to the altar soon.

Our boy is coming back next year.

My friend is doing the work tomorrow.

We are planting the seeds next month.

Juliana is presenting next.

Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense uses the perfective aspectual marker have (or has) with the past participle form of the verb. This tense is used toexpress:

An event that has started and has been completed but has not been overtaken by another event

We have done the work.

Ogazie has eaten your food.

Ozioma has written her dissertation.

Chioma and Chuka have not seen the man.

This is the first time that I have come here.

Present Perfect Progressive Tense

This tense is a combination of the present progressive tense and the present perfect tense. Therefore, it uses have/has + been + past participle verb to express an event/action that has started and is still in progress as at the time of speaking/writing.

The men have been praying for you.

Jumoke has been cooking your food.

Samson has been reading the wrong thing.

They have been deceiving you.

Tolulope has been expecting Temitayo.