MODULE THREE

WRITING Skills
CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Learning Outcomes

3.0 Learning Content

3.1 Writing Skills

3.2Effective Writing

3.3Types of Writing

3.4Technical Report
Writing

3.5Skills in writing
Technical

3.6Grammatical
Features of
Technical Report

3.7Summary Writing

4.0 Conclusion

5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment

7.0 References/Further Reading

Introduction
This section of the study deals with effective writing. It talks about the skills to be
developed in order to write effectively. As you already know, writing is one of the four
basic language skills, others being listening, speaking and reading. You would also
recall that we mentioned writing as a verbal skill. It is also a secondary language skill
where your thoughts are put on paper for others to read and understand. To achieve
this goal, you require some basic writing skills as we continue in this discussion.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, you are expected to be able to:
i. internalize the basic writing skills; and
ii. apply such learned skills in your day-to-day writing activities.

3.0 Learning Contents

Unit 1

3.1 Writing Skills

In the four basic language skills, writing, like reading is a learned skill, unlike listening
and speaking skills that are acquired naturally. Writing is a complex skill that involves
the use of graphic symbols to create a text. Remember that writing is another form of
language in print. It is a form of communication in print. It is a form of social
behaviour limited to elites or literate people. The success of written communication is
determined by the sense made of it by the reader. The process of writing therefore
involves a way of thinking and putting down ideas, thoughts, feelings and any other
form of communication. I am sure you will agree with me that writing is one of the
most important human activities of a literate community.
Skills such as research, planning, outlining, editing, revising, spelling and grammar,
and organization are critical components of the writing process. In the workplace,
writing skills include documentation and summarizing. Writing skills are a subset of
communication. They allow us to communicate our thoughts clearly with others and
to create useful resources for academic activities and the workplace. Writing skills
include all knowledge and abilities related to expressing ideas through the written
word. The skill to be developed in writing include: entering into correspondence in
terms of casual letters to friends, formal letters or official letters of application. It also
includes official letters to relevant authorities and writing or responding to
advertisements in a newspaper, filling prescribed forms or questionnaire, answering
examination questions and giving acknowledgment receipts. Other skills include
developing powers of creative expression in terms of narration and description. You
also need the skill to be able to record observations in terms of experience in
science, personal experience, as in a diary and even recording commercial or
business transactions. You need to adjust your tone of language according to the
audience you are writing to. It is Important also to develop a simple logical sequence
in your writings. Remember, that you are not in a face-to-face encounter with your
readers. It is therefore important that you write in simple clear, unambiguous
language, so that your reader understands you very well. This is what makes writing
effective.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

1.Explain the process of writing communication.
2. What is the importance of writing as a communication medium?

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 2

1.List and explain four writing skills.

2. How do you develop the writing skills?

Unit 2
3.2. Effective Writing
Effective writing is a skill you can learn. Practice they say makes perfect. Remember
that you are in a form of communication. Be conscious of your reader, in terms of
his/her level of maturity and literacy. There are many reasons why we write. Whether
you write to describe a phenomenon or action, or even to entertain, to invite or
complain, the audience determines your tone, that is, your choice of words. Effective
writing is readable, that is, clear, accurate, and concise. When you write, try to get
your ideas across in a way that your audience will understand tem effortlessly,
unambiguously, and rapidly, i.e. write in a straightforward way. The fundamental
issue is to make sure you are well understood by your prospective reader(s). There
are five main features of effective writing. The following are five qualities of good
writing: focus, development, unity, conference, and correctness. Focus: an essay
should a single clear central idea. Each paragraph should a clear main point or topic
sentence.
Development: each paragraph should support or expand the central idea of the
paper. The paragraph should be explained and illustrated through examples, details,
and descriptions.
Unity: every paragraph in an essay should be related to the main idea. Each
paragraph should stick to its main point.
Coherence: an essay or paper should be organized logically, flow smoothly, and
stick together. In other words, every word in the writing should make sense to the
reader.
Correctness: Writing should be written in generally correct Standard English, with
complete grammatically correct sentences and should be relatively error-free.
For further perspective on effective writing, access the qr code (Broome,2021)

Fig.1

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 3

1.List any three skills required for effective writing.

2. What is the role of topic sentence in writing?
3.
4.0 Conclusion
Each writing skill is unique in itself. You therefore need to be familiar with the
appropriate style. Identify your purpose of writing so as to adopt the appropriate skill.
Write simple things. Develop your writing skill from simple to complex. To be a good
writer, you must also be a good reader too. Reading helps to improve or develop
your vocabulary.

5.0 Summary
The unit has exposed you to writing, the writing skills and how to write effectively.
Effective writing involves learning and practicing the act of writing for different
purposes. It also involves taking into consideration your readers, their level of
maturation and literacy. Writing is a very important means of communication. You
are therefore advised to inculcate the habit of writing constantly as practice is said to
result in perfection.

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment

1. List five skills you need to develop your writing ability.
2. For your reader to understand you clearly, what factors would you always bear in
mind?

7.0 Reference/Further Reading

Adekunle, M.A. (1991) Functional English. Ibadan: Onibonoje Press.
Ahmed, M.S. (2002). Applied Communication in English. Okene: Blessing
Publishers. Idowu, A.O. (1998). Round up English. Ibadan: Longmans.
 Murray, D, Rockowitz, A.C. (2023). The writing process: five qualities of a good writing.
Retrieved on 13th April, 2023, from www.unter.curry.edu
Broome, L.(2021).10 principles of writing to help you write in plain English. Retrieved on 20t,
July, 2023, from, https://gathercontent.com/blog/10-plain-english-principles-writing-better-web-
content

UNIT 3
TYPES OF WRITING
The four main types of writing styles are persuasive, narrative, expository and
descriptive as well as non-fiction and fiction writing. Each of these writing styles is
used for specific purpose, but a single text may include more than one writing
style (Philippa, K and Kimberly, M. 2023).

ESSAY WRITING

Contents
1.0 Introduction

2.0 Learning Outcomes

3.0 Learning Content

3.1 Narrative Essay

32. Descriptive Essay

33. Augmentative Essay
3.4. Expository Essay

4.0 Conclusion

5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment

7.0 Reference/Further Reading

1.0 Introduction
As mentioned earlier, writing is a social behaviour that requires some basic skills
which you must learn. This section takes us to the specific skills required for effective
writing of different essay types. In this unit, we shall discuss skills required for
Narrative, Descriptive, Argumentative and Expository essays.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
the types of essays; and
write good essays of whatever type.

3.0 Learning Content

3.1 The Narrative Essay
As the name rightly denotes, narrative writing tells a story. It is used for telling a nonfiction
and fiction story. It relates mainly a sequence of events. It tells us what happened,
when, how and possibly where it took place. It tells the characters involved in such
an event. Narrative could be stories, minutes of meetings, biographies and
autobiographies. In writing any of these or other narratives, the following points
should guide you:
(a) Be clear about the story you are going to tell.
(b) Make a point outline of the main events in the order in which they naturally
occurred.
(c) Be clear and specific about what the characters say and do.
(d)Past tense is predominantly used in this essay type

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 1

1.Define narrative essay.

2. What are the characteristics of narrative writing?

3.2 The Descriptive Essay

Just as the name suggests, this type of essay predominantly describes. However,
there may be some elements of narrative as you describe. We describe every aspect
of human life, be it sports, politics, architecture, lectures, writing scenes, machines,
movies, music, places, events, persons, ceremonies, wars, buildings, human beings,
vehicles and host of other uncountable events.
Descriptive calls for a very high sense of imagination, comparison and expression. A
vivid description calls for all the necessary details, so that the reader grasps the
correct mental picture of what is described. The main purpose of a descriptive essay
is to impress the reader with a picture as clear and as accurate as that in the mind
of the writer.
In a descriptive writing, we appeal to the various senses of sight, smell, touch, taste
and hearing through appropriate comparisons. Thus, we resort to such literary forms
as simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole, as the need arises.

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 2

1.Write an essay describing your school.

2. What are the features of descriptive essay?

3.3 The Argumentative Essay

Authors who want to convince readers use persuasive writing. Before an argument
occurs, there must be two or more opposing views on a subject matter. In other
words, there must be a dispute in which people take sides and argue to defend their
stand. In order to have a persuasive and forceful argument, there must be some
relative objectivity in your argument. It must be well organized and logical.
The following strategies will guide you in argumentative essay:
(a) At the beginning of the argument, state your stand. Let your position be
known clearly and present the weak points first. The stronger ones should be
presented last. By this approach, the stronger points may gain more strength.
(b) Separate arguments ‘for’ and those for ‘against:’ they should not run parallel to
each
other.
(c) Show the weaknesses in your opponents’ points. (It is assumed that you
have read your opponents’ stand and you now write to oppose them.)
(d) Avoid over stating a particular point in the course of your argument or
dispute.
(e) Avoid such expressions as:
1. It is known to everybody that; or it is obvious that……
2. None among you will fail to realize that……
3. Everybody knows without doubt that……

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 3

1.List three conditions associated with argumentative essay.

2. Write a paragraph on the topic; a teacher is more important than a
doctor.
3.4 The Expository Essay
Simply put, expository means detailed explanation of all the main aspects of the
subject or topic. In expository writing, a great deal of description and narration is
involved. In addition, however, it also gives detail explanation of how things work or
operate and goes further to show their relations to each other. This type of essay is
mainly to give specific information about:
(a) how things are made;
(b) how certain processes are carried out;
(c) how machines work; and
(d) definition of concepts.
Newspaper articles use expository writing.
There five expository modes which reflect five more essay types. They are definition,
illustration, classification, cause and effect and comparison and contrast. Just as
stated in writing descriptive essay, expository writing calls for every high sense of
imagination and expressions. In this type, one is expected to give more detailed
information. Thus, you should be a good observer and good at comparing similar
things or things or events with similar qualities. Expository writing is the highest level
of writing among the essay types. It therefore calls for greater imagination, high level
of vocabulary, relevant registers and good expression.

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 4

1.What is exposition?
2. What are the requirements of expository essay?
3. Write an essay on how Rice is cooked.

4.0 Conclusion
Essay writing calls for your sense of imagination, creativity and resourcefulness. It
tasks and helps you to develop your writing skills. Essay writing is a productive
language skill that allows you to express your feedings, thoughts and belief in writing
for others to read. Remember that you might never know who your readers are.
Therefore, you should be careful in your choice of words and expressions to suit
your perceived or your intended readers. You should be careful with your content,
mechanical accuracy and your expressions generally.

5.0 Summary
There are four major types of essays. They include Narrative, Descriptive,
Argumentative and Expository writing. Each of these deserves special skills as
mentioned earlier in the Learning Content. The bottom line is that you should be
clear as to what you want to write on; prepare an outline as a guide; be logical in
your presentation and be careful with your expressions.
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
i. Write an essay on the merits and demerits of Distance Education in Nigeria.
ii. Write an essay titled; my memories.
iii. Write for or against corporal punishment in schools.

7.0 References/Further Reading

Adekunle, M.A. (1991). Functional English: Onibonoje Press.
Adegbemi, O.B. (1996). Foundations of Communication: Enicrownfic Publishers.

Ahmed, M.S. (2002). Applied Communication in English; Okene: Blessing Publishers.

Idowu, A.O. (1998). Round up English. Ibadan: Longmans.

Philippa, Kirby and Kimberly, McLaughlin, 2023). Study.com

Unit 4: Technical Report

Content

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Learning Outcomes
3.0 Learning Content
3.1 What is a Report?
3.2 Types of Reports

3.3 Characteristics of Non-Technical Writing

3.4 Technical Report

3.5 Purpose of Technical Report Writing

3.6 Characteristics of Technical Information

3.7 Strategies for writing Technical Report

4.0 Conclusion

5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)

7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 Introduction
Knowledge and skills are useless if you cannot communicate your ideas. There are
basically two ways of using language to communicate meaning and these are by
speaking and by writing. Of these two, speaking is basic and writing is derived from
it. What distinguishes speech form writing is the degree of organization. While the
organization of speech tends to be loose, that of writing is much tighter. This is
especially so in scientific and technical communication where special language is
used. Students who study applied sciences or engineering or other related
technology courses need to first master the conventions of reporting scientific or
engineering or other related technology courses needed to first master the
convention of reporting scientific and technical communication in writing. They need
to acquire the skill of reporting technical information that they encounter in the
course of their study such as when writing reports on laboratory experiments, field
trips, surveys, research work or other report writing in the professional world. For
these various situations, you will need to collect information, organize it, and present
it in a logical and concise form.
The following provides a guide to writing reports in general and scientific and
technical reports in particular. In addition to describing the characteristics of technical
writing and why they exist, you will get a clearer idea of how to approach this type of
writing.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
i. identify a report;
ii. understand why reports are written;
iii. distinguish between nontechnical and technical writing; and
iv. identify the characteristics of technical writing.

3.0 Learning Content

3.1 What is a Report?
A report can be defined as a written account of something observed, heard, done or
investigated. It is a document which presents information in an organized format for a
specific audience and purpose. Although, summaries of report may be delivered orally,
complete reports are almost always in the form of written document. Report writing is
useful and valuable when it is done right. A report is written for a clear purpose such
as to give a straight forward account of an issue, answer a question, offer solutions
to a problem, or recommend an action. Specific information is presented in a clearly
structured format making use of sections and headings so that the information is
easy to locate and follow.
Generally, reports are carefully collected records written is a formal language. They
are the most significant communications in many fields including business, science,
technology and education; they summarize and present information or record the
results of past actions that may influence or determine policies.
In education, some academic assignments ask for a “report” rather than an essay
and students are often not sure what that really means. The confusion often arises
about the writing style, what to include, the language to use, the length of the
document and other factors. In brief, the differences between the two are due to the
functions they serve and the structure they follow. For example, while an essay is
used to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and critical analysis, a report
basically presents information that can be used to help make decisions or give an
account of action taken. The flow of an essay is a continuous narrative using minimal
sub-headings. Graphics are rarely used, neither are recommendations given. On the
other hand, a report has specific sections of ten using numbered headings and sub-
headings; it may use graphics (tables, graphs, illustrations) and be followed by
recommendations.

3.2 Types of Reports

There are broadly speaking two types of reports, formal and informal. This
classification is arrived at according to the purposes the two categories of reports
serve and their content. The formal report is usually written on goals and objectives
of an organization, an institution, a company or ministry. It can be a report that is
written after studying or investigating a specific issue or phenomenon. The writer of a
formal report writes it in his official capacity and such writing is essentially on an
important matter that needs careful compilation, analysis, interpretation and
documentation. Examples of formal reports are progress reports, justification report,
annual reports, memos, minutes, feasibility studies, field trips, recommendation
reports and laboratory reports.
On the other hand, an informal report is meant for future guidance. It provides
information on related issues that may occur in the future. It is the type written on
activities of social clubs, family affairs, of even religious activities. The informal report
may be written or given verbally. The form of presentation is usually dictated by the
composition of the target audience and to some extent, the time available to prepare
and present the report.

3.3 Non-Technical Writing

Before attempting to understand what technical report writing is, it is necessary to
examine the characteristics of non-technical writing so as to be able to distinguish it
clearly. Non-technical writing gives an account of what is based on imagination and
emotions and it is subjective in nature. In describing reality, this type of writing
makes use of creativity, intuition, figures of speech such as found in poetry and
fiction. The subject matter is usually popular and entertaining.
 3.4 Technical report
A technical report is written information that is based on an account of what has been
learned by experience, observation of investigation. It is information that reports and
interprets what has been observed. It does this responsibly from a technical
viewpoint based on facts that are verifiable. Technical report is a written statement of
the facts of a situation, project, process or test; how these facts were ascertained,
their significance, the conclusions that have been drawn from tem; and, in some
cases, recommendations that are being made
Technical report writing conveys formally specific information about a technical
subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose. This type of report is
characteristic of science, technology, business and various other professions. The
information provided is complex, specialized and is organized and presented in a
certain format. The writing is concise, clear and accurate and conveys the exact
meaning you intend. It also takes into account the audience’s needs, biases and
prior understanding. The writing presents information to help readers solve a
problem or gain a better understanding of a situation. The graphics of technical
writing is meant to be practical, that is, to communicate a body of factual information
that will help an audience to better understand a subject or carry out a task.

3.5 Purpose of Technical Report Writing

Technical reports are usually written to report experimental works, observations from
fieldwork, report feasibility studies, review activities already carried out and discuss
possible solutions to them. The chief aim of technical report writing is to inform and
persuade the readers by providing facts and opinions based on facts in such a
manner that it can help the reader to answer a question, solve a problem, make a
decision or perform a task. This kind of writing does not seek to entertain, create
suspense or stimulate emotions. It is therefore the type of writing which seeks to give
readers information clearly and objectively. Therefore, a technical report should
contain data that can be verified. Such data will not change unless new findings
emerge after the report has been written.

3.6 Characteristics of Technical Report

The reporting of technical information involves three elements, which are:
1. It focuses on a problem or subject matter that is not popular knowledge, but
rather specialized in that it belongs to arts, science, medicine, engineering or
other related fields.
2. Study, observation analysis, experimentation and measurement are used to
obtain accurate and precise information about the problem or subject matter.
3. Information thus gained is organized and presented in such a way that it will be
clear and meaningful to the person for whom it is intended.
 3.7 Strategies for Writing Effective Reports
Reports should be informative: a report examines and discusses a subject,
decision of actions is sometimes left to others but frequently recommendations are
made.
Reports are based on research: personal opinions or general knowledge do not
constitute material for a good report, although for example, a progress report on a
business venture may be based on employees’ knowledge. Reports are mainly
based on facts both gathered for the report and analysed.
Reports should be clearly organized: the occasions on which reports are written
are varied and the kind of reports may call for so many guides, therefore, that no single
guide can show you how to write every kind of report. However, if for example one is
going to write a report in a work place, reference can be made to previous reports
kept in the organization’s files. Libraries can also provide one with texts on the
structure and format of different kinds of professional reports.
Reports should be written clearly: since reports are often addressed to a relatively
narrow audience of specialists, professionals or experts, they are often filled with
technical terms, concepts and language that might not be readily understood by the
general public. Given the audience of specialists; this technical language is often
appropriate and even necessary. However, if the body of a report must be technical,
the introduction can often be put into less formidable language to spell out the initial
issues and to explain potential solutions.

4.0 Conclusion
Report writing is a communication form that is especially used in science and
technology and therefore an important skill that students need to learn how to
handle. The above introduces the concept of report writing in a clear and easy way
to help you gasp how a report differs from essay writing. The special characteristics
of report writing such as the use of formal language and the structure it requires are
emphasized. Mastering report writing will help you communicate scientific and
technological information in academic assignment at university and also help you
prepare for professional life.

5.0 Summary
This unit introduces the concept of report writing and how language is employed in a
special way to technical writing. The purpose and characteristics of reports are
described as well as strategies that can be used to ensure that you achieve effective
report writing.

Self-Assessment Exercise(s) 1

1. In a table form, list three differences between an essay and a

report.
2. List five important strategies that can be adopted for report
writing.
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)
1. Briefly explain the differences between Technical and Non-Technical writing in
scientific writing.
2. Identify four examples of formal technical report writing. Write four sentences on
each one of them.
3. What are the basic differences between an essay and a report?
4. Explain why proper research is important for a good technical report?

7.0 References/Further Reading

Bowden, J. (2011). Writing a report: how write to books: Oxford: United Kingdom.
Green Hall, M. (2010). Report writing skills training course: how to write a report and
executive summary and plan, design and present your report. Bertrams:
Norwich.
Unit 5

Skills in Technical in
writing Technical Report

Content

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Learning
Outcomes
3.0 Learning Content
3.1 What is Exposition?
3.2 Topical Arrangement
3.3 Exemplification
3.4 Definition
3.5 Classification
3.6 Comparison and Contrast
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Self-Assessment Exercises
7.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)
8.0 References/ Further Reading
1.0 Introduction
The writing skills required for technical writing can be acquired by anyone who is
proficient in English. However, there is need to pay attention to how to use them in
research reports in particular, expository writing which is the most important skill
used in technical writing. Attention is paid to the different aspects of exposition such
as definition, exemplification, classification and comparison.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, the students should be able to:
1. mention the skills used in writing technical report;
2. explain the expository modes in technical writing; and
3. explain how to use the different expository modes in writing research reports.

3.0 Learning Content

Knowing the characteristics of technical writing is very important. Technical writing in
particular is informative. The purpose is to explain a variety of topics to other people.
Hence, learning the characteristics is important if you are to write effectively. Any
kind of writing is skills-based and this is also true for technical writing. A well-written
technical report requires four types of writing skills. These are Exposition, Narration,
Description and Argumentation. Of all these, Expository writing skill is most
employed in writing technical reports and learning about it will be useful for much of
the writing you will be required to do in your course as well as in your professional
career.

3.1 What is Exposition?

Expository writing is a type of writing used to explain, describe, or give information.
The text is organised around one topic and developed according to a pattern or
combination of patterns. As it is used in technical research reports, a number of
strategies are employed to expose a material. These are: topical arrangement,
exemplification, definition, classification, analysis, comparison and contrast.

3.2 Topical Arrangement

An ordinary arrangement of information is an important requirement that makes for
easy reading and comprehension of any piece of writing. A good method of
achieving an orderly presentation of information is choice of a topic which can be
sub-divided into sub topics. We can see from these explanations that any form of
arrangement of information in a technical writing material is referred to as topical
arrangement. A laboratory report writing material is referred to as topical
arrangement. Laboratory report writing can be cited as an example of a technical
writing that has a good form of topical arrangement. It has a topic, that is, a title upon
 which other sub-topics within this report are based. The topical arrangement of a
typical laboratory written experiment may look like this:
 Title
 Abstract
 Aims/objectives
 Introduction/theoretical Background
 Equipment and Materials (Apparatus)
 Procedure
 Results
 Discussion of results
 Conclusion

3.3 Exemplification
This is a mode of symbolization that is characterized by the relation between a
sample and what it refers to. An element of expository writing is to start with
generalizations which are then supported by concrete examples. It uses specific,
vivid examples for the purpose of adding more information. For example, a question
like, I achieved success, requires exemplification.
,
3.4 Definition
For further clarification and proper understanding of any message being
communicated in technical writing, we may use some technical words that have to
be defined. These technical terms may be concepts, idea or words that readers
(specialists and non-specialist) may not be found in non-technical dictionaries.
Definition makes something clear or distinct. It sets boundaries or specifications with
the intention of making the defined item stand out. For example, what is language?

3.5 Classification
Another form of exposition found in technical writing is the presentation of
information in a clear and logical manner known as classification. It is used
essentially to make a description of similar or related objects, concepts, substances
and ideas. How we classify objects or ideas depends on the importance we attach to
common characteristics that each of these objects or concepts possesses. For
instance, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of female education in Nigeria.

3.6 Comparison and Contrast

This is a strategy or method in which you examine the similarities and / or
differences between two related things, Ideas etc. An example is, compare and
contrast water flowing through a pipe to electricity flowing through a wire.
4.0 Conclusion
In order to write technical reports competently, it is necessary to master the skills of
expository writing. Understanding the terms explained above and how to use them in
expository writing will help you have more confidence when writing technical report.
They will enable you to show how the information you have relates to each other.

5.0 Summary
This unit focuses briefly on the main expository skills of definition, exemplification,
classification and comparison used in technical report writing. This will help you to
present your information in a logical and objective manner.

Self-Assessment Exercises

1. Write one-sentence definition of the words below for a non-expert

reader.
i. Microscope
ii. Cyberspace
iii. Chromosomes
iv. Desertification
2. Rewrite the following steps from the instructions for changing a
car’s oil:
a. Get drainage pan and place it under the oil pan of the car.
b. Grab a crescent wrench and locate the oil plug, on one side of
the oil pan.
c. Use the crescent wrench to turn the plug counter clockwise
until it comes out and the oil drains out.
d. While this is draining, grab a filter wrench and locate oil filter.
e. Turn the oil filter counter clockwise with the filter wretch until
it comes off and drains into the drainage pan.

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)

1. What is an expository essay?
2. Write and explain the different expository modes.
7.0 References/Further Reading
Jordan, R.R. (1989) Academic Writing Course. Collins ELT: London Neufeld, J.K.
(1987) A Handbook for Technical Communication. Prentice Hall: Englwoods
Cliffs: NJ Riordan, D.G. and Pauley, S.E. (2002) Technical Report Today.
Houghton Mifflin Co: New York.
UNIT 5 CONTENTS

Grammatical Features of Technical Writing

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Learning Outcomes
3.0 Learning Content
3.1 Writing Reports from Scientific / Technical View Point.
3.2 Use of Complex Phrases
3.3 The Use of Complex Noun Cluster
3.4 The Use of Nominalization
3.5 Use of the Passive
3.6 The Use of Personal versus Impersonal Forms
3.7 Past Tense
3.8 Language Items Used in Writing Laboratory Report
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)
7.0 References/Further Reading
 1.0 Introduction
Technical writing is a type of writing that requires direction and instruction. A well
written technical report therefore requires that you master a certain style of writing.
This style of writing has a very specific purpose and different characteristics. This
means acquiring the ability to write using grammatical features that distinguish this
type of writing from other types of writing. In the following units, you will learn some
peculiar linguistic items you need to use in writing report.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. explain the style of writing technical reports;
2. use language items in writing technical reports; and
3. explain and use some grammatical features in technical report writing.

3.0 Learning Content

3.1. Writing Report from Scientific/Technical View point
It is important to possess the English language skills needed to write scientific or
technical reports at university level. Essentially, this Unit will help you build up a
repertoire of language forms which you can use effectively when writing reports,
such as laboratory experiments. Thus, experiments conducted in physics, chemistry
and biology etc. can in turn serve as a vehicle for language practice. Since it is
assumed that students are already familiar with how to carry out experiments in
these aforementioned subject areas, language activities/ practice they are exposed
to could assist them in overcoming problems they may have in organizing technical
reports as well as in expressing relevant ideas clearly. Each form of writing has its
special grammatical characteristics. In scientific/technical texts the following
grammatical features are prominently used. Certain attributes are always revealed in
the substance being communicated in any technical report.
3.2. Use of specialized vocabulary
The vocabulary tends to be specialized, which may not appear in small dictionaries
for general use. These specialized terms are not defined within the text on the
assumption that members in the profession the writer is addressing e.g. engineering,
medicine etc. will be familiar with such terms. Sentences are tightly packed with
information for the intended readers who are highly motivated and will not be bored
when faced with the technical language. When appropriate to the material, numbers
and dimensions are exact rather than rounded up. Graphs and tables may substitute
prose or reinforce and expand upon the surrounding prose. Documentation and
citations appear in foot notes and bibliographic supplements.
3.3. Use of Complex Phrases
Technical writing is characterized by the use of complex phrases. These are made
up of three to four words. Typical examples are:
a. population-based control study;
b. the experimentally- determined structural parameters employed in the plot; and
c. cool-start solenoid system.
These complex phrases cannot be easily simplified without losing their meanings.

3.4. Use of Complex Noun Cluster

One other feature of technical writing is the tendency to modify noun by means of
other nouns. Examples include:
a. to prevent poor thermostat operating the machine
b. the dangers of nationwide population explosion are imminent
c. an informal modification system was used.
d. a highly accelerated air-conditioned tinted glass car may not be good for
Nigerian roads.

3.5. Use of Nominalization

Nominalisation means the tendency to turn verbs into nouns. In its use, actions,
procedures and objects are often used as subjects of sentences. This leads to the
use of passive construction in many scientific or technical texts e.g. Measurement of
internal diameter was performed by the probe, conclusion of an observation

3.6. Use of Passive Voice

Passives occur frequently in scientific/technical writing. It is frequently used in writing
the procedure section of experiments and describing the methodology of a typical
research study.
Examples:
a. Some water was added to the distilling flask.
b. The water was steadily heated
c. The boiling point of water was obtained
d. The sample was tested
e. The graph was plotted
f. The temperature was taken
Also, there is the use of passive to convey impersonal information in technical writing.
E.g. the rationale for the studies was discussed. This means, there is more emphasis on
the action rather than on the doer of the action.

3.7. Use of Personal versus Impersonal Forms

In technical texts, there is the tendency to avoid personal
forms like, I, you, we. Therefore, the use of the third person
singular, 'it' is used or subjects such as, the study, the result,
etc. For instance, it has been shown that…..
From the preliminary studies, it was found that…………
The result of the study shows that………………….

3.8. Past Tense

The past tense is used in writing conclusion of experiments e.g. the value……..was……..
 4.0. Language Items Used in Writing Some Sections of
Labouratory Report
A. Writing Title- Words often used include: Study: this relates to careful observation of
a phenomenon e.g. “Studying the mass of an object using the principle of moment of
reflection of light rays from a plane mirror.”
Investigation: concerned with a careful study by means of observations, tests and
deductions from these. An example of title in this area is-
“Investigating the Milkan’s oil drop experiment”
Measurement or determination: relates to finding the value of property by
comparison with a standard E.g. “Measuring current by means of standard
input”.
“Determining the boiling point of water at saturated vapour pressure”
Verification: involves carrying out an experiment to show that a scientific law is
true or false. This means observations made by previous researchers are true
e.g.
Verifying Hooks Law by determination of elastic Constance of spring
or
Verifying the law of conservation of matter

B. Aims/Learning Outcome
This could either stand as a separate section or form part of the introduction. For
example:
it is usually derived from the title of the experiments and is in phrases. Examples:
to verify that at a point in a stationary liquid, pressure acts equally in all directions;

to determine the boiling point of water at saturated vapour pressure;

to determine the height of ceiling by simple pendulum;
and
to study the reflection of light rays at place surface.
C. Procedure
In writing the procedure section, certain “verbs of process” are used. Below is a list
of frequently used ones:
determined as in “was determined”
conducted as in “was conducted”
noted as in “was noted”
 Tested as in “was tested”
Observed as in “was
observed” Followed as in “was
followed” Plotted as in “was
plotted”
Set as in “was set”
Recorded as in “was recorded”
D. Results and Discussion of Results
The results section presents data in the form of a table comparing experimental
results with published or standard values which are very important. There are
particular ways of expressing comparison of results. For example, if the results
are in good agreement with published values, then the expressions like the
following can be used:

Subject Verb Is/are consistent with Published values

Result(s)
The Finding(s) Agrees/agree with The standard value
However, if the results obtained are not in good agreement with the published
values, then we use language expressions like the following.

The Result(s) is/are significantly different from or do not The published

Figure(s) agree with value
Findings
Value(s)
Explanation of error- this forms part of discussion of results. Whenever a result is
different from what you expected, you must give one or more reasons. Language
expressions such as the following could be used in explaining the error.

Error/discrepancy Due to the Human error

The Difference May be Result of Incorrect calibration

4.0 Conclusion
Students often have difficulty in expressing themselves coherently in writing hence, it
is important to expose them to how language functions in technical writing. Here
grammatical features of English have been organized into language functions and a
few examples are offered to further explain the use of some grammatical
constructions and the appropriate style for technical writing.
5.0 Summary
This unit focused on English language elements found in technical writing and which
students need to use. The grammatical features were organized according to the
language functions they serve in reports and a few examples have been included to
give some ideas of how they are used in writing.

Self-Assessment Exercise(s)

1. Change the following active sentences to passive voice:

a. The manager sent the memo.
b. The heated water flows into the chamber.
c. We ruled out this method.
2. Make the following passive sentences active:
a. When all work is completed, turn the blueprint machine off.
b. Recently, it was determined that the purchase of a personal
computer was needed.
c. The drawing of objects is more quickly accomplished on the
computer table functions.

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)

1. Identify the tense used in writing the Abstract in an experiment.
2. Which verb tense is used in the introduction to experiments? And why is it so?
3. Write down all the verbs of process in the procedure section of the experiment.

7.0 References/Further Reading

Anderson, P.V. (2007). Technical Communication. Thompson Wadsworth: London.
Markel, M. (2012) Technical Communication. St Martins: Bedford.
Tebeaux, E. and Dragga, S. (2010) The Essentials of Technical Communication. Oxford
university press: Oxford.
UNIT 6: SUMMARY WRITING

CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 OBJECTIVES

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 What is summary writing?

3.2 Guidelines for writing summary

3.3 Sample passage and its summary

4.0 CONCLUSION

5.0 SUMMARY

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

7.0 REFRENCES/FURTHER READING

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In this unit, the concept of summary writing and the things to consider when writing a summary

will be considered. A sample summary from a passage will also be given.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

3.0 At the end the unit, you should be able to:

1. Define the concept of a summary

2. Identify the guidelines for writing summary

3. Write a summary from a given passage

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Summary is a condensed version of a larger reading passage, such as books, essays or

paragraph. It is a process of reading a text, identifying the main ideas, describing those ideas in

your own words. It is produced to show the teacher that you have read and understood the

reading material. You can only summarize a passage if you have read and understood it. In

this way, you have to know the main points in the passage after reading it several times.
Summary makes a piece of work easier and faster for you to understand.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

1. Explain what is meant by summary

2. Reading and comprehension precede summary, yes or no?

3.2 Guidelines for writing summary

To be efficient in writing summary, you have to consider the following guidelines:

(1) Read the passage or article to be sure you understand it.

(2) Outline the article to note the major points.

(3) Write the first draft of the summary in present tense without looking at the article.

(4) Always paraphrase when writing a summary i. e use your own words but if you have to copy

a phrase from the original article, be sure it is a very important phrase that cannot be

paraphrased and put quotation marks around the phrase.

(5) Substitute a general term for lists of items or events and combine several main ideas into a

single sentence.

(6) Target approximately ¼ of the length of the original. That means you have to be brief and

do not put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary. Summary writing

helps to clarify and understand complex information, provides a quick overview of the key

points, enhances better retention of information, but requires critical thinking and analytical

skills

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

 Mention and explain three guidelines for effective summary.

 What role does summary play to a reader?

 Summarize the main content of this unit.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, you have learnt the concept of summary, its importance and guidelines for effective

summary writing. You should make attempts at summarizing parts of your reading manual to
get used to the technicalities of summarizing.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, you have learnt that summary means the condensed version of a piece of reading

passage. You have also been exposed to the guidelines for writing summary.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

1. List five guidelines for writing a good summary.

2. List two reasons why we summarize.

3. Cut an article from the newspaper and summarize it.

7.0 REFRENCES /FURTHER READING

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

Sim, D. D. & Laufer- Dvorkin B. (1987). Vocabulary development. London: Collins ELT

Omachoriu, G. S (2003). Effective use of English and the use of library for higher education,

Jos: Eiwa publishing press.

UNIT 7: NOTE- TAKING

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Note-taking is one of those things you will do as students throughout your studies.
You will listen to lectures and discourse and take notes.
Please be aware that the term “Note-making” is often used interchangeably with note-taking
by some people but there is slight difference between the two. The reader makes note from
materials he reads and the listener takes note from the discourse or lecture he receives/
listens to. In both cases there is an attempt to decode a message, to process or evaluate
information, to reconstruct a message, or to make a note which will represent not only a
statement of essential ideas, fact and details presented, but also the reader’s or listener’s
reactions to these . In view of this fact, note taking is used as an umbrella term to cover the
making of notes from both reading materials and lectures. However, as this unit is titled
“note-Taking” we shall consider note - taking mainly in the context of college and university
 lectures, speeches and discourse.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
I. Define the term “note-taking”
II. Distinguish “note-making” and “note-taking”
III. State dearly how to take notes from lectures, speeches and discuss
IV. Apply note -taking techniques to taking notes from lectures; and
V. State the qualities of a good note.
3.0 NOTE-TAKING
As we noted in the introduction above, note-taking is used in connection with notes made from
listening to a lecture or a discourse. There are certain procedural steps you should follow
when taking notes at lectures.
We shall discuss these in the sections below:
3.1 Note-taking from lectures
This section guides you on how to take notes from lectures, tutorials, symposium,
seminars or speeches. It is the process of recording and organizing information in a concise
and meaningful way. It is an essential skill for learning, research and communication.
In note- Simply, you need to take the following steps:
I. Make provision for all the materials you will need for note-taking: loose sheet, loose-leaf
note books, writing materials and convenient writing desk or tables.
II. Be in a state of mental readiness for note-taking i.e. pay attention to what the lecturer is
saying, listen attentively to what the speaker is saying before you start to take notes
III. Do not write what the lecturer says verbatim. Put down the summary of the main points
of the lecture. Avoid irrelevances. Write cogent points and avoid writing your notes in
ambiguous form.
IV. Use abbreviations that you understand which you will be able to read conveniently after
the lecture. Some common ones are presented below:

i.e. = that is cit = citation cmj = conjunction

a/c = account c/o = care of bre = British English
ad = advertisement coy = company nig = Nigeria
aug = august coop = cooperate afr = Africa
bb/bk = books cov. = conventional det = determined
br = branch dbl = double sth = something
 etc = and so on doc = doctor feb. = February
viz = namely dir = director gmt = Greenwich mean time
b/c = because idm = idiom mg = milligram, magnesium
cert = certificate fig = figure n = nitrogen
sgm = segment, symbol

V. Use symbols where necessary. Science and technology students are at an advantage
here. Below are some of the symbols you can use in note taking.

= (is equal to or the same as) & (and)

≠ (is not equal to or not the same as) ΅ (omission from sentence/extract)
.’. (therefore) ‘.’ (because)
> (is greater than) X (Incorrect)
< (is less than) @ (at)
? (a doubt exists) % (percentage)
₦ (Naira)

VI. You should create room from re-writing of your notes if need be. This will enable you to
correct mistakes and fill some gaps so as to make your notes meaningful.
VII. Make sure your note is neat and easy to read and comprehend.

4.0 Conclusion
Note – taking is very crucial to the success of all students in their studies. It is a skill
students need to benefit optimal from lectures, seminars, tutorial and speeches. You must
endeavour to always take note as discussed in this module while listening to lectures.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have leant that:
i. Note – taking means taking note from lectures, talks or speeches
ii. To make good notes from lectures, you need to pay attention to what the lecturer is saying
iii. When taking note, you should put down the main points, use symbols and abbreviations
when necessary and make your note readable by rewriting the note after listening to the
lectures.

6.0 TUTOR – MARKING ASSIGNMENT

1. Explain, the necessary conditions guiding note-taking by students
2. Why do students take notes during lectures?
UNIT 8: CURRICULUM VITAE (C.V)
Curriculum vitae are a comprehensive document that highlights your education, work experience,
skills, and achievements. Key sections of CV are: 1. Contact information: name, email, phone
number, and address.
2. Professional Summary/objective: this includes brief overview of your experience, skills, and career
goals.
3. Education: this includes degrees, certifications, and relevant courses.
4. Work experience: a chronological list of work experience, including job titles, company names, and
achievements
5. Skills: Technical, language and soft skills
6. Achievements: relevant awards, publications, or projects
7. Volunteer/ relevant extra curriculum activities such as hobbies or volunteer works
8. References: at least two professional references, with name, job title, and company or contact
information are included

Self-Assessment
1. List and explain the key requirements of curriculum vitae
2. Why do we write Curriculum vitae?
Tips for writing C.V
The following are the tips for writing curriculum vitae
1. Tailor your C.V each job application.
2. Use clear formatting; include use of clear headlines, bullets and space
3. Use numbers and statistics to quantify and demonstrate your achievements
4. Proofread for spelling, grammar, and formatting errors
5. Keep it concise, using one or two pages.
Conclusion
A Curriculum Vitae is a summary of an application or official or business letter. It contains the relevant
information of the writer in a concise and brief format. It is usually accompanied by a covering
letter.
Summary: In this unit, you have learnt that curriculum is a summary of an official written while seeking
for jobs or other official or business purposes. It therefore important that you learn how to write
it as it will help you in future
Tutor-Marked Assessment
1. Write sample curriculum vitae

GST111 MODULE 2: VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

UNIT 1: HOW TO ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY.
Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 OBJECTIVES
3.0 Steps to take to increase your word power.
3.1 Studying the process of word formation.
3.2 Finding meanings of word by word attack/structural analysis.
3.3 Finding meaning of words in context.
3.4 Finding the meaning of words by using your experiences i.e. (through intuition).
3.5 Finding the meaning of a word through the dictionary.
4.0 CONCLUSION
5.0 SUMMARY
6.0 TMA
7.0 REFERENCES

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Word and their meanings are powerful. You need words in mostly every type of
communication. You cannot listen, speak, write or read English affectively without the words.
The ability to acquire more words (vocabulary) is an advantage to the success of the student.
Therefore you need to increase your vocabulary power. To increase your vocabulary power
requires a lot of effort on your part. You need to read intensively and extensively. The various
ways you can do this are the concern of this unit.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
 Determine the importance of words to your understanding of English.
 Identify what steps to follow to increase your word power.
 Apply different ways of finding meanings of words in your reading tasks.

3.0 STEPS TO TAKE TO INCREASE YOUR WORD POWER.

These steps (1-7) have been spelt out under the sub-title “contents.” For your proper
understanding, the various ways shall be discussed forthwith.
3.1 Studying the process of word-formation:
One of the ways you can increase and develop your vocabulary is studying the processes of
word-formation. In the process of word formation the morpheme has been defined as the
smallest unit of speech that has semantic or grammatical meaning and words are composed of
such units.
Take a look at these examples:
Jumped walked
Unfair unhappy
These words can be divided into smaller units as follows
Jump+ed walk+ ed
Un + fair un+happy
These units are morphemes. There are 8 morphemes in the above examples. In the
example given, the words jump, walk, fair, and referred to as roots while: -ed and un- are
referred to as prefix and suffix (affixes) respectively. The two are added to “jump’ walk” fair’ and
unhappy’ to form new words. You should know that these morphemes added are referred to as
“additive morphemes”.
In addition, you should also be aware that any unit of a word that can stand on its own is
termed free morpheme (e.g. man, house, food, establish, etc.). Likewise any grammatical
element added to the root word and which cannot stand on its own is termed a “bound
morpheme” for example “un” in “unfair” and “unhappy’ in the examples above.
Exercise 1
You are to write in the space provided against each word the affix that has been added.
The first one has been done for you.
Words Affixes
Disappear dis
Unhappy -
Kicked -
Unfold -
 Wanted -
Redo -
Attacked -
Jumped -
Untie -
Reads -

3.1.1 Affixes – Prefixes and Suffixes

As noted earlier, bound morphemes are either added in front of a root word to form a
prefix or added at the end of the root word to form a suffix. Affixation, therefore, refers to the
combination of free and bound morphemes to form new words. Let us now look at the attribute
of these word-formation (morphological) processes.
3.1.2 The Prefix
This refers to the bound morphemes that are added to the front of the root word. Like all
other affixes, the prefix has a fixed meaning attached to it. Here are some common example
with their possible meanings and usages.
Prefix Meaning Lexical example
Un- Not, reversal, etc. Unfair, unwise, unclear, unconscious
In- The opposite of Incense, incompetent, incomplete
Non- Not Non-conformist, non-alcoholic, non-commercial
Il- Not Illegal. illegal, illegitimate, Ill-mannered
Dis- Not Disloyal, dislocate ,disregard, dismember
Mal- Bad Maltreat, malfunction, malpractice
Muiti- Many Multilingual, multidimensional, multicolour
Poly Many Polygamy, polysyllable, polyandry, polymorph
Bi- Two Bilingual, bilateral, bicultural, bifocal
Mono- One Monolingual, monotone, monoculture
Ex- Former Ex-president, ex-student, ex-chairman
Inter- Between International, intercontinental, inter-digital
Trans- Across, change Transplant, transport, transform, transmute
Anti- Against Antibiotic, antidote, anti-clockwise
Sub- Lower than, under Substandard, sub-dean, submarine, subordinate
Over- Too much Overdo, overreact, overbear, overcome
Mini- Little Mini market, mini durbar, mini-dress, mini-cab
3.3.1 The suffix
This refers to the bound morphemes that are fixed at the end of root-words to form new
words. The following are some common examples.
-en- as in gladden, widen, frighten, etc.
-ish- as in foolish, boyish, childish, etc.
-ness- as in loneliness, sickness, etc.
-er- as in finer, maker, driver, etc.
-ed- as in worked, filled, jumped, walked, etc.
-s- as in cats, makes, etc.
Self-Assessment
Exercise 2:
Write out ten words using the following affixes:
1. –ence 2. –less 3.-un 4.-ill 5. –ly 6.-ment 7. –irr 8. –al 9. – ist 10. – poly
2.
3.1.4 Derivation and inflectional suffixes
You need to know that two major forms of affixes: inflectional and derivation, have long
been recognized and it would be beneficial for you to know them.
The derivational suffix is a morpheme that usually changes the word class of a word to
which it is added. For instance, the word class of “quickly” is not the same as that of “quick” the
former is an adverb, while the latter is an adjective .It is possible for another derivational suffix
to follow another one in a word in English: in the word, “naturalization” for instance, the
derivational suffix “-ze” follows “natural” and another derivational suffix “-ation” follows
“naturalize”
A derivational suffix may also be followed by an inflectional suffix in English. An
inflectional suffix is a morpheme that performs a grammatical function in a word without
changing the word – class of the particular word. The two words “agree” and “agreed”, for
instance, belong to the same word-class of verb, but the inflectional suffix /d/ in “agreed”
perform the grammatical function of signifying the past tense form.
The two words “cow, cows” also belong to the same word class of noun. The sound /z/ in
“cows” is the morpheme that signals that more than one cow is meant.
Inflectional suffixes always come at end the end of the word in English. No other
morpheme can usually be added after an inflectional morpheme. In the word “derivations” for
instance, the root of the word is derive, the derivational suffix is “-ation” and the inflectional
suffix /z/ (spelt’s) at the end of the word.
Your word power can be enhanced when you are adequately knowledgeable in such
word – formation processes such as:
3.1.5 Plurality
This involves the formation of plural constructions involving the noun and the verb that
are full of irregularities. For regular plural formation of noun, the‘s’ is a affixed to the root-word.
There are various regular form such as the “zero” morpheme whereby there is no
morphological change (eg sheep – sheep). Yet another of pluralisation could occur by
changing the constitution of the root – word completely or partially e.g. (mouse-mice, child -
children)
3.1.6 Gradation of Adjectives
This involves the comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives. The morpheme “-
er” is used for comparisons between two things which is the comparative degree e.g. (big-
bigger) while the morpheme “-est.” is used for the superlative e.g., (big, bigger,
biggest),however, there is the irregular form using “more” for comparative and “most” for
superlative e.g. (beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful).
Self-Assessment
Exercise 3: Find the plural form of the following words:
(I) leaf (ii) chief (iii) luggage (iv) stadium (v) criterion (vi) information (vii) deer (viii)
furniture (ix) thief (x) larva .

3.2 FINDING MEANING OF WORDS BY WORD ATTACK/ STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS:

Word attack strategies help you code, pronounce and understand unfamiliar words.
They help you attack word piece by piece or from a different angle such as:
 Picture cues
- look at the picture
- Are there people, objects, or actions in the picture that might make sense in the picture?
 Sound out the word:

The sound of the word may give some clue to its meaning or its intended force.
Onomatopoeic words fall into this category. Examples include “whisper” “whistling” and
“rustling” all of which suggest different kinds of sound.
 Form of the word:
You will recall that we have discussed the process of word formation in this unit.
 Once you know the (morphological) form of the word, it is likely you will be able to
handle its meaning more efficiently. You will know whether the word has been used as
the base/root + suffix or the base/root + prefix. An example is given below:
 Unfaithfulness: not faithful, violating trust

A learner with adequate knowledge of word formation will identify relationship

between “unfaithfulness” and “faith” , “faith” could be regarded as root for the following
words: “unfaith”, “unfaithful”, “unfaithfully” when you apply this type of treatment to a
word in order to get its meaning, you are doing what could be termed as “ structure
analysis” of the word. We can diagrammatically represent the analysis done like the one
below.
Root/base + prefix Root/ base Root/ base + suffix Root/ base + prefix
+ suffix
Unfaith Faith Faithful, faithfully, Unfaithfulness,
faithfulness unfaithful

You should know that in the analysis above, the prefix un(negative) gives the
words “unfaithful, unfaithfulness” negative meaning (without faith) while the suffix :-ful, +
-ness” (positive) give the words: “faithful, faithfulness” positive meaning (full of faith) etc.

3.0 FINDING MEANING OF WORD IN CONTEXT

The context is an environment in which the word is used either in a sentence, a
paragraph or a passage. A context can give a hint of its meaning. Words often behave
like humans, so you should be aware that the company a word keeps tells a lot about it.
The context may thus be the circumstance or condition under which a word can be
used. No word has an independent meaning immutably attached to it. A word has
meaning only in context. Almost all words in English have more than one meaning and
what decides the meaning of a particular word is context.
Let us look at the passage below and deduce the meaning of unfamiliar lexical
item “Zip” through contextual clues.
Zip was stopped during the war and only after the war did it become popular.
What a difference it has made in our lives. It keeps people at home much more. It has
made the remote parts of the world more real to us. Photographs show a country, but
only zip makes us feel like a foreign country is real. Also we can see scenes in the
street, big occasion are zipped, such as the coronation in 1953 and the opening of
parliament. Perhaps the sufferers from zip are the notable people, who, as they step out
 of an aero-plane, have to face the battery of zip cameras and know that every
movement; every gesture will be seen by millions of people. Politicians not only have to
speak well, they now have to have what is called a “zip personality”. Perhaps we can
sympathize when members of parliament say that they do not want to be zipped. (From
Britain in the modern world by E.N. Nash and A.M. Newt).
To infer the meaning of “zip” you have to consider the relationship of the item with
events mentioned in the passage i.e. coronation in 1953, scenes in the street,
politicians, opening of parliament, etc. from the consideration, one can infer from context
that “zip” is likely to be “television”
Self-Assessment
Exercise 4: Read the passage below and do the exercise below it;
Programming People
Programming people means getting other to act consistently as you want them to
act. Stern parents or employers are often pretty at this, at least while the subjects are
under observation. Hypnotists obtain excellent results in achieving desired behavior
from suggested subjects for short periods.
What interest us here are precise techniques for altering long-term behavior
patterns in predictable ways. These new patterns may be desirable by the subject or by
the programmer or by the organization employing him. For achieving certain kind of
long-term programmed behavior the programmer needs not be a scientifically trained
technologist. Consider how the intense and unattractive Charles Manson hurried and
fascinated millions of people a few million years ago by his control methods. He had an
ability to induce sustained zombie-like behavior in his followers, mostly girls. They
committed random murders in the Los Angeles area. When a member of his “slaves”
faced trial they vigorously asserted that the murders were their own idea. They wanted
to protect Charlie, who was always somewhere else when the butcheries occurred.
In order to prove his theory that Manson had master-minded the killings of the
prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, had to spend months uncovering and analyzing the
sources of Manson’s control over the presumable free and footloose young people. His
most important finding are these:
- Manson was gifted at perceiving the psychological needs of others. He assured plain
runaway girls needing a father that he would be their father. He assured plan-looking
girls that they were beautiful.
- He was careful to destroy preexisting identities. All the members of his clan had to take
on new names.
- He systematically destroyed inhibitions as part of his obedience training.
- He offered these insured youngsters a bizarre religion, in which he was the infinite being
who would lead them to a world of milk and honey.
- He was careful to identify and probe what each recruit was most afraid of, and to play on
it.
- Finally, Manson apparently had some hypnotic powers.

Bugliosi succeeded in convincing the jury that Manson was, indeed, responsible
for the members.
(From venue Packard; The People Shapers (Macdonald, 1978)
a) In paragraph 3, find two nouns meaning more or less the same as “killings”
b) In paragraph 4, find the word which mean the opposite of:
Hiding……………. Fail…………….
c) Guess the meaning of the following as they are used in the text
Hypnotist…………. Bizarre…………..
Stern ………………. zombie – like………………
3.1 Context and motion of antonyms (opposite) or synonyms (simile)
An antonym means oppositeness of meaning while synonyms refer to words with
similar meanings, so that one word might be able to stand for another. You should note
that context an environment of use determines what kind of antonym (opposite) or
synonyms (simile) a word may have. A word may be part of the particular register that is
the form of language made use of in specific situations or for some topics like sports,
tourism and court proceedings. In these cases the register will be technical or legal.
When you encounter a ward in a sentence or utterance you must attempt to interconnect
that word with the surrounding elements.
That is the best way you can grasp the meaning fully.
Here are some examples of antonyms:
Temporary - permanent
Shallow - deep
Loyal - disloyal
Possible - impossible
Encourage - discourage
Inside - outside
 Increase - decrease
Some example of synonyms:
Connect - join
Achieve - accomplish
Category - class
Seldom - hardly
You should note superficially, the notion of synonyms is a straightforward one: two
words are synonyms if they have the same meanings; however, it is extremely difficult to
find a pain of words that has exactly the same meaning. So, perfect synonyms do not exist
in real languages. For instance,
Repair is the synonym of mend
Concept is the synonym of hide
Commence is the synonym of begin
Look at the following sentences:
i. Daddy, can you mend Teddy’s arm?
ii. Daddy, can you repair Teddy’s arm?
iii. The company undertakes to reimburse the cost of repairing damaged items
iv. The company undertakes to reimburse the cost of mending damaged
items. Sentence above is more normal than sentence 2 and sentence 3 is more
normal than sentence 4. From the four sentences, it is shown that “repair” and
“mend” are not absolute synonyms i.e. they cannot have the same meaning in all
situations of use.

A: Antonyms B: Synonyms
Export………………. Symbol…………..
Latter……………….. Twin………………
Wide……………….. Flavor………………
Bitter……………….. Important……………
Heavy…………….. Customary…………….

3.2 Finding the meaning of words by using your experience (intuition)

You can connect a text to your life experiences and knowledge and through these
personalize the information; you can do this by asking yourself questions like:
- Is the subject familiar? Do the characters resemble familiar people? Have you learned
about the concept from school, home or other experiences?
- Is the style or genre familiar? Does it resemble other texts?

You can then write down similarities between the current text and your
experiences. This approach is more common in the native speaker’s situation but
extensive reading and rich exposure to English can raise the learner to that level of
attainment.
Let us look at the examples below taken from moody’s varieties English 1979):In
writing on “Kano” the author while writing on the city as a centre of commerce says:
“The valuable trade in kola nuts, most of which came from Gwanja in the
hinterland of the gold coast, was largely controlled by the people of Kano. This nut, the
Goro of the natives and the early Arab travelers, had been in the western Sudan since
very early times. The twin interlocking kernels were regarded as a symbol of friendship,
and no present was complete without kolas. Its bitter flavor appeals strongly to the
African, it is undoubtedly very sustaining and it is widely regarded as a cure for
impotency. Although the heavy cost of transport always kept the price high and for long
it was a luxury only the rich could afford, it became, and still remains a necessity to a
large part of the population.
Among the words underlined, words like “hinterland”, “interlocking” may be
difficult for a Nigerian leaner of English but the main crop described in thee extract like
‘Gwanja’, ‘Goro’,”kola nut” will assist an average learner English to use his experience of
the fact that kola nut is common with Kano and that the nut is regarded as a symbol of
friendship because it is shared on different occasions to show solidarity and friendship.

In the same book, under the title “language and through these statements
occurred:
At the common sense level it appears that there is often a distinction between
though and the words we employ to communicate with other people. We often have to
struggle hand to find words to capture what our thinking has already grasped, and when
we do find words we sometimes feel that they fail to do their jobs properly.
Through intuitive reaction, the reader links “thought”(thinking) with communication
i.e. search for word his express us thought, this is what an average human being does
 almost every time he wants to speak to other people. It is always a task to find words to
merge one’s thought and sometimes when words are found they may not adequately
express our thought, thus there may be a distinction between what we want to put
across and what the words selected have been able to do.
3.3 Finding the meaning of word through the dictionary
A good dictionary is an important resource book for English language study but
you should make it your last resort while studying. It is a lazy student who will always
turn to the dictionary for any meaning of a word. If you are in the habit, it will slow down
your reading speed and waste your time. But when all the steps that we have discussed
in this unit fail to satisfy your purpose, you can then turn to a good dictionary. A good
dictionary will never fail you.
3.4 Learning to use the dictionary
The dictionary as a reference book, in addition to containing words and their
meanings can be put into uses including the following:
- Alphabetical order of words
- Finding/establishing the different uses into which a word might be put
- Learning the pronunciation and stress of the different words
- Checking the correct spelling for a word
- Learning the grammatical patterns into which a word fits e.g. whether a word takes a
direct object as in the sentence “The finally year students were ordered to vacate the
hostel” this shows that the verb “to vacate” is usually followed by an object.
Under the same vacation, the expressions “to go on vacation” could be found in a good
dictionary
- Providing you with useful idiomatic expressions and illustrating the context in which such
expressions can be used. E.g.
a. By taking on the national assembly, the president was walking on a tight rope.
b. By disobeying his father, Audu knew he was heading for the high jump.
- Teaching common abbreviation e.g.
F.A.O – Food and Agricultural Organization
F.B.I –Federal Bureau of Investigation
P.T.A – Parent/Teacher Association
G.D.P – Gross Domestic Product
UNICEF – United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund.
E.U – European Union
 A.U – African Union
ECOWAS – Economic Community of West African States

- Detecting singular/plural status of words as in “furniture (singular and plural), identified

words representing a set or body, as in, team player in a game, “army” – group of
soldiers, etc.
- Establishing whether a word/expression is archaic or in current use, as in, “thou art”
instead of “you are”, “thou” archaic word for “you” etc.
- Providing different derivational forms of the word e.g. nature – natural, naturally,
naturalization.

When you take into consideration so many information you can derive from a
page of a dictionary, you will agree that a dictionary is indeed, an asset for students.
You should turn to it when necessary. But be aware that dictionary definitions are not
exhaustive or complete. So use dictionary as a guide.
Self-assessment
Exercise: Arrange the following words the way they will appear in a dictionary. Zebra,
prime, book, memo, quote, judge, establish, ode, rural, canoe, idle, necessary,
derivation, colloquial, embellish, idiomatic, reproduced, oxford, duplicate,
compound.
4.0 Conclusion
We have made some efforts in this unit to show you the various ways through
which you can enhance your vocabulary. The importance of acquiring new words has
been stressed and you will agree that you need a lot of English vocabulary to do well in
your studies.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit you have learnt:
- The importance of words in every type of communication
- How to enrich your vocabulary
- How to find the meaning of words by word attack
- How to find the meaning of words in context
- How to find the meaning of words by using your experiences
- How to find the meaning of word through the dictionary
In the next unit, you will be exposed to the various word classes
Tutor-marked Assessment
 Exercise 7: List six things the dictionary can provide you.

7.0 REFERENCES
Aars, B. (2001) English syntax and Argumentation. London: Palgrave
Aliu, M. (edited) (2001) Linguistics and Literature in Language Art: an
introduction. Kano: Rainbow Royal Publishers.
Aliyu, J.S. (1996) Improving Your Performance in English. Zaria
Ahmadu Bello Press
Grellet, F. (1984) Developing Reading Skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moody, H.L.B. (1979) Varieties of English. London: Longman Group Ltd.
National Open University of Nigeria (2004) GST101: Use of English and
Communication Skills 1. Lagos: NOUN
Nuttall, C. (1983) Teaching Reading Skill in a Foreign Language London: Heinemann
Educational Books Ltd.
Tomori, S.H.O. (1999) The Morphology and Syntax of present- day English: an
introduction. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.

UNIT 2: WORD CLASSES

CONTENTS
1.0. INTRODUCTION
2.0. OBJECTIVES
3.0. Word classes
3.1 Open classes
3.1.1. Nouns
3.1.2 Adjective
3.1.3 Verb
3.1.4 Adverb
3.2 Closed classes
3.2.1 Prepositions
3.2.2 Pronouns
3.2.3 Conjunction
3.2.4 Interjection articles/ determines
4.0 CONCLUSION
5.0 SUMMARY
6.0 TMA
7.0 REFERENCES

UNIT 2: WORD CLASSES

In this unit, you will be introduced to grammatical forms called word classes. You will
see how words are grouped into word classes, i.e. open class items as well as closed class
items. Open class items are: nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs while closed class items
are: Preposition, pronouns, articles, demonstratives, conjunctions and interjections.
2.0. Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be to:
I. State the two word classes (open and closed).
II. Explain the meaning of open classes with examples.
III. Explain and illustrate closed items.
IV. State the main differences between open class items and closed classes items.

3.0. Word classes

Word classes are often defined according to their inherent semantic features. You
should note that there are, however, a great majority of words which cannot be defined based
on their semantic features. Whereas it is fairly easy to say that “man” is [+ human+ male+
adult], it is difficult to state precisely the semantic features of words such as: “this, that, on, at,
etc.” the fact is that these words, unlike words such as: man, woman, etc., do not have clear
semantic features, and therefore cannot be defined very easily. The ability of words to be
defined based on their semantic properties is very important in differentiating between content
and form words.
3.0.1. Content and form words
 Content words are those words that have independent meaning even when they occur
in isolation. They belong to an open class. Form words, on the other hand, are those without
independent dictionary meaning of their own when they occur in isolation, rather they can be
used in conjunction with other words to signal grammatical or syntactic relationship in the larger
construction in which they are found. They belong to closed classes. These two classes will be
explained to you below.
3.1. Open classes
An open class is a class of words that can accept new words as the vocabulary of the
language expands, and has unlimited membership. You should be aware that some writers use
the term “Open Class items” for open classes. You should also note that both open and closed
classes are traditionally referred to as “Parts of Speech” because they are structures that are
used to realise sentence elements.
Examples of open word classes in English are nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
3.1.1. Nouns
During your primary and secondary school days you were taught the grammar of
English and you know that traditionally, nouns are defined as words that denote people,
animals, things or places. This definition will enable you to identify John, dog, aeroplane,
teacher, table, Lagos, etc. as nouns.
Since the word classes are notions of forms, as opposed to the functional notions which
you will study in a separate module, we shall be concerned with the forms of nouns rather than
their functional notion in the unit.
You should note that there are four kinds of noun in English:
 Common nouns: dog, man, table.
 Proper nouns: Nigeria, Abuja, Buhari, Mrs Odumosu, John
 Abstract nouns: Beauty, courage, charity, fear, joy.
 Collective nouns: crowd, team, flock, group, swarm, group.

Let us now look at each of the four kinds one by one.

Noun classes: Countable and uncountable (non-count) Nouns.
Generally we have two broad sub-classes of nouns.
Within the general class of nouns, we can distinguish between count nouns and non–count
nouns (in some grammars and dictionaries the latter are termed “uncountable nouns).

The distinction between “count nouns” and “non–count nouns” is based on the ways in
which different noun patterns with, or select, different determiners. Thus, for example, a count
noun never occurs in the singular form without a determiner. Non–count nouns do frequently
appear without determiners because they do not change and lack number contrast.
Compare the following examples:
Water is a liquid A car was passing by
Yam is a root crop Traffic was passing by
Note also that certain determiners occur only with count nouns, others only with non–count
nouns. These determiners occur in the singular only, never in the plural. Compare:
That mango is good – (Singular)
Mangoes are good – (Plural)
But: That rice is good – (no plural)
Rice is good
It is however true that many nouns listed as non–count nouns do sometimes occur in the plural,
but in such cases their meanings are different from those which they have as non–count
nouns: they therefore require separate dictionary entries’. Both lexically and grammatically,
each of their “mass” nouns is in effect a “different word” from the corresponding count noun.
For example
Yam is good to eat – (yam = the substance called yam)
Yams are good to eat – (Yams = things called yams,
Considered as units)
COMMON NOUNS
Please note that as the name suggests, common nouns are ordinary, everyday nouns.
Some of these can be counted (one book, two books, one cat/three cats, etc.) but others as a
rule cannot (you cannot say: one butter/two butters, one flour/three flours, etc). A common
noun is also one that names an object as the member of a class. All the objects making up a
class have common characteristics. That is why such nouns are called common nouns.
PROPER NOUNS
Proper nouns are names of people, places and objects. In English these do not normally take a
preceding determiner or modifying element (the Audu, a Felicia), nor a plural ending (The
Janets). Please note that in certain circumstances we can say, for example:
1. He’s not the Audu I used to know
OR
2. Would all the Janet’s in the room please raise their hands

Note also that proper nouns are example of what are called “Referring expressions”. This is
because when they are uttered in a particular context, they uniquely refer to one individual (or
place or object) in the world of discourse. For example
i. Okoro, Ade, Musa - Names of Persons
ii. Minna, London, National Examination Council –Names of Places
iii. Children’s Day, Worker’s Day, Eyo Festival –Names of Event

You should be aware that all proper nouns have initial capitals.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
A collective noun is a subset of common noun. It names a group or collection of people,
animals or objects by their form. Collective nouns can take a singular or plural verb; singular if
we consider the word to mean a single group or unit:
Our team is the best
Or plural if we take it to mean a number of individuals
Our team is wearing their new jerseys
When a possessive adjective is necessary, a plural verb with “their” is more usual than a
singular verb with “its”, though sometimes both are possible:
The Jury is considering its verdict
The Jury are considering their verdict
ABSTRACT NOUNS
The word “abstract” refers to something that is outside the physical world of things, that
we see, hear, touch, taste and smell. Abstract nouns name qualities, conditions, emotions and
actions rather than things or events: gladness, happiness, prudence, loyalty, charity, love,
ability, etc.
Abstract nouns are classified under uncountable nouns (non–count nouns). While most
abstract nouns do not take the articles “an, a” same can be used in a particular sense with
“a/an”.
- A help
My children are a great help to me

- A relief
It was a relief to sit down

- A knowledge of
He had a good knowledge of mathematics
 - A love/hatred/dread/honor + of
A love of music a hatred of violence
PLURALS
i. The plural of a noun is usually made by adding s to the singular:
Day – days Dog – dogs’ House – houses
“S” is pronounced /s/ after a /p, k or f sound/. Otherwise it is pronounced /z/
OTHER PLURAL FORMS
ii. if a noun ends in “o” or “ch, sh, ss, or x”, form their plural by adding – es:
Tomato – tomatoes Brush – brushes box – boxes
Church – Churches Kiss – Kisses

But if words of foreign origin or abbreviated words end in “o” and “s” add “s” only:
Dynamo – dynamos Piano – pianos
Kilo – kilos Photo – photos
iii. If a noun ends in “y” following a consonant form their plural by dropping the “y” and add
“ies”.
Baby – babies Country – countries
Fly – flies Lady – ladies
But if the noun ends in “y” following a vowel, form their plural by adding “s”
Boy – Boy’s Day – days, Donkey – donkeys Guy – guys
iv. If a noun ends in “F” or “fe”, drop the “F” or “fe” and add “ves”. Examples are
Loaf – loaves Wife – wives Wolf – wolves
But there are other words that end in “f” and “Fe” that will take only “s” in the ordinary way.
Examples include;
Cliff – cliffs Handkerchief – handkerchiefs Safe – safes
v. Some nouns also form their plural by a vowel change. Here are some examples:
Foot – feet louse – lice Mouse – mice
Woman – women Goose – geese Man – men
The plurals of ‘child’ and ‘ox’ are “children”, oxen”
vi. Names of certain creatures do not change in the plural. “Fish” is normally unchanged;
“fishes” exists but is uncommon. Some types of fish do not normally change in the plural;
Carp Pike Salmon Trout
Cod Plaice Squid Turbot
 Mackerel
But if they are used in a plural sense, they would take a plural verb
You should add “s” to others given below:
Crabs herrings’ sardines
Eels lobster sharks.
(vii)Certain words are always plural and take a plural verb:
Clothes police
-Garments Consisting of two parts:
Pants, trousers, etc.
-And tools and instrument consisting of two parts:
Binoculars pliers scissors
Glasses scales spectacles.
(viii) A number of words ending in –ics such as:
Acoustics athletics, ethics,
Hysterics politics physics mathematics, etc.
Which are plural in form, normally take a plural verb. For example:
His sons are young
But names of sciences can sometimes be considered singular:
Mathematics is an exact science.
(ix) You should also be aware of words that are plural in form but singular in meaning.eg news
( the news is good).
So also are some diseases like:
Mumps, rickets, shingles
And some games:
Billiards darts droughts bowls dominoes.
Some words which retain their original Greek or Latin forms make their plural according to the
rules of Greek and Latin:
Crisis –crises oasis –oases
Erratum-errata radius-radii
Memorandum-memoranda terminus-termini
But some follow the English rules – dogma – dogmas; gymnasium – gymnasiums. Formula –
formulae (though “formulae”) is used by scientists)
There are some words with two plural forms with different meanings:
Appendix, appendixes or appendices (medical terms)
Appendix, appendices (addition to a book or long essay /thesis)
(xi) COMPOUND NOUNS
In some compound nouns, the last word is normally made plural:
Boy-friends, break-ins travel agents
But where “man” and “woman” is joined together, both parts are made plural:
Men drivers women drivers
 When compounds are formed of verbs + er and nouns + adverb, the first words is made
plural:

Hangers-on lookers-on, runners-up

 So also compounds composed of nouns + preposition + noun:

Ladies-in-waiting sisters-in-law wards of court

 Initials can also be made plural

MPs (members of parliament)

VIPs (very important persons)

(xii) The form of the possessive /genitive case.

 “Is” used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in S:

A man’s job the people’s choice

Men’s work the crew’s quarters
A woman’s intuition the horse’s mouth
A child’s voice women’s clothes
The children’s room
 A single apostrophe (‘) is used with plural nouns ending in S:

A girls’ school the students’ hostel

The eagles’ net the Jones’ car.
 Classical names ending in S usually add only the apostrophe’

Pythagoras’ theorem Archimedes’ law `Sophocles’ plays

 Other names ending in S can take S or the apostrophe alone:

Mr. Jones’s (or Mr. Jones’ house) Yeast’s (or Yeast’) poems.
Note that when the possessive case is used, the article before the person or thing “possessed”
disappears:
The daughter of the politician – the politician’s daughter
The intervention of America – America’s intervention.
The plays of shakes pear e- Shakespeare’s plays.
(xiii) Gender
The following are the gender distinctions in English.
 Masculine:

Father, brother, men, boys and male animals

 Feminine:

Mother, girls, spinster, female, animals

 Neuter (common):

The following may be either male or female.

Professor, baby, artist, pupil, student, etc.
Self-Assignment Exercise:
(a) Define the term Open class and give some examples.
(b) Supply the plural forms of the following singular nouns
(i) Tomato............. (vi) lady.................
(ii) Brush ................ (vii) fly..................
(iii) Loaf.................. (viii) goose.............
(iv) Wolf.................. (ix) jury.................
(v) Box.................. (x) scissors................

3.1.2 Adjectives
In (3.0) of this unit, you were introduced to open class items.
One of the members of the open classes is the Adjective.
In this section, you will learn the definition and the various types of adjective.
Before we go further, let us define the word adjective. An adjective is a class of words
that tells us something about the noun or pronoun it goes with. Its duty, therefore, is to qualify,
describe or modify the noun or pronoun that follows or precedes it. An adjective helps us to get
a transparent or clearer vision of the person or thing it describes or qualifies.
Kinds of adjectives
(a) Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
(b) Distribution: each, every, either, neither
(c) Quantitative: some, any, no, little/few, many, much, one, twenty
 (d) Interrogation: which, what, whose
(e) Possessive: may, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
(f) Of quality: clever, dry, fat, golden, good, heavy

Demonstrative adjective
The demonstrative adjective modifies a noun. It is similar in form to the demonstrative pronoun.
(a) This beach was quite empty last June.
(b) These people come from that hotel over there.
(c) That exhibition closed a month ago.
Distributive adjective
This refers to number which is usually general and not specific.
Examples:
(a) Every man had a weapon
(b) Every man knows what to do
(c) I tried both keys but neither (of them) worked.

Quantitative adjective
This kind of adjective shows” how much” of a thing is meant
It is used with or instead of plural or uncountable nouns.
Examples
(a) I ate some dates
(b) Some of the staff can speak French.
(c) They bought some honey.

Interrogative adjective
This adjectives asks questions such as “what”, “which”, “whose” etc
Examples
(a) What dress did he wear?
(b) Whose book is this?
(c) Which of the boxes belongs to him?

Possessive adjectives
This shows ownership of a thing or object. Please note that no apostrophes are used here. You
should guide against the common mistake of writing the possessive “its” with an apostrophes.
“Its” (with an apostrophes) means “it is”.
Examples:
 (a) A tree drops its leaves in autumn.
(b) She changed her shoes.
(c) I am in my own room.

Quantitative adjective
This describes or shows what quality or what state a thing is.
This has the largest number of adjectives.
Examples
(a) She is a pretty, tall girl.
(b) He has a handy little calculation.
(c) The thief had a long sharp knife.

Comparison of adjectives
Adjectives also take comparison and superlative endings. The comparative form of an
adjective indicates the greater extent to which the normal form of the adjective, called the
absolute form, applies, while the superlative form indicates the maximal extent (big – bigger -
biggest).Here are some further examples.

Absolute form Comparative form Superlative form

Great Greater Greatest
Full Fuller fullest
Good better best
Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
3.1.3: Verbs.
In 3.1.1 and 3.1.2, we studied nouns and adjectives and we saw how relevant they are
to the identification of word classes. You also saw that they also contribute to effective
sentence construction. Apart from nouns and adjectives, verbs are very important member of
the open classes because they inform the action of any utterance and without them, no
utterance will make any reasonable meaning.
Classes of verbs
There are two classes of verbs in English.
(i) Ordinary (full) verbs: to work; to sing; to pray
(ii) The auxiliary verbs (auxiliary): to be, to have, to do; can, could, may, might; must,
ought; shall, should; will, would; to need, to dare and used.

It will be helpful to consider ordinary (full) verbs before studying auxiliaries because most
of the tenses of the verb are formed with auxiliaries.
Now that we have been able to identify the two classes of verbs and we have decided to
study ordinary (full) verbs first, we can now consider the forms in which they occur.
Verb forms
Verbs in English may have a maximum of five forms. Most English verbs have four
forms while a few have three forms only.
They can also be divided into regular and irregular verbs. The regular verbs are those
verbs that have at least four inflectional forms as in: dance – dances – dancing – danced.
The irregular verbs have five inflectional forms as in:
Swing – swings – swinging – swung – swung.
Sing – sings – singing – sang – sung.
We shall use a table each to illustrate the two (regular/irregular verbs)
Regular verbs
Regular verbs add “d” or “ed” to their unchanged base to form the past tense. Most verbs
belong to this class
Regular Present Past tense Past Present
form tense 3rd participle participle(and
person general)
singular

Play Plays Played Played Playing

Bind Binds Bound Bound Bounding

Say Says Said Said Saying

Catch Catches Caught Caught Catching

Make Makes Made Made Making

Hit Hits Hit Hit Hitting

Work Works Worked Worked Working

Move Moves Moved Moved Moving

Stay Stays Stayed Stayed Staying

Jump Jumps Jumped Jumped Jumping

 Walk Walks Walked Walked Walking

Add Adds Added Added Adding

Watch Watches Watched Watched Watching.

Irregular verbs
Note that three types of irregular verb are identifiable.
Irregular verbs (1) add “d”, or “t” to an altered base or “t” to form the past tense – or (2) change
their base without adding “d”, “-ed” or “t” to form the past tense, or (3) occasionally have no
signal for past tense.
Regular form Present tense Past tense Past Present
3rd person participle participle(general)
singular

Bend Bends Bent Bent Bending

Beat Beats Beat Beaten Beating

Beget Begets Begot Begotten Begetting

Bite Bites Bit Bitten Biting

Bleed Bleeds Bled Bled Bleeding

Dare Dares Dared Dared Daring

Dig Digs Dug Dug Digging

Draw Draws Drew Drawn Drawing

Drink Drinks Drank Drunk Drinking

Hit Hits Hit Hit Hitting

Auxiliary verbs
You will recall that we said that there are two classes of verbs in English (ordinary (full) verbs
and auxiliary verbs) and we decided to study the ordinary ones first. We shall now look at the
various auxiliary verbs. But before we do that, it is pertinent we define what auxiliary verbs are:
Verbs that cannot occur independently, but instead function as “helping” verbs’ are called
auxiliary verbs or simply “auxiliaries”. For example
Audu is laughing.
The main verb in this sentence is the –ing form of the verb “laugh”. It is preceded by the
auxiliary “is” (the 3rd person singular form of “be”). One may then ask the question to what
extent or In what sense do auxiliaries “help” full verbs.
An auxiliary helps a full (main) verb to the extent that it adds more specific meaning to it. Put
differently, an auxiliary specifies from what point of view we should view the meaning
expressed by the full (main) verb. Thus, in the example given above, the auxiliary indicates that
the laughing is ongoing i.e. that it takes place over a certain stretch of time.
Auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are sometimes divided in the following way:
Principal auxiliaries Modal auxiliaries Semi-modals
To be can - could to need
To have may - might to dare
Be (to do) Must - had to used to
Ought
Shall - should
Will - would

Form and use in the formation of tenses

“to be” as an auxiliary verb
The following are the form of the auxiliary “to be” when used in the formation of tenses.
Present tenses Past tenses
I am....... I was......
You are..... You were.....
He is/she is/it is..... He was/she was/it was.....
We are....... We were......
They are..... They were.....
“To have” as an auxiliary verb
Present tenses Past tenses
I have....... I had......
You have..... You had.....
He has/she has/it has..... He had/she had/it had.....
We have....... We had......
 You have..... You had.....
They have..... They had.....
Examples of auxiliary “to be”
I. I am a carpenter.
II. He was tall and fair.
III. John is a fresh student.
IV. The roads were rough.
Examples of auxiliary “to have”
I. I have worked.
II. He has a black beard.
III. We had lunch at one.

“Do” in the formation of tenses.

Present tenses Past tenses
I do................. I did..............
You do.......... You did.........
He/she/it does..... He/she/it did.........
We do.............. We did...........
You do............ You did..........
They do........... They did..........
Examples:
I. I do not know
II. He didn’t work
III. He doesn’t like me
IV. I did see him etc.
Self-assessment
Exercise 2: Assign word class labels to the words underlined in the sentences below.
I. Did he answer you directly?
II. James flew to Greece last Wednesday.
III. It was a sunny day in Kano.
IV. Sadly, we had problems when we arrived
V. Why did you say that?
Modal Auxiliaries
You will recall that we said in the last section that modal auxiliaries are some aspects of
helping verbs which can vary the tense of the verbs. That is, they can be used in the present or
past tense.
1. Can/Could: for ability
Examples:
I can dance well.
I couldn’t solve that problem.
Let us go into the room where we can see well
Could you show me the way?
I could get you a copy.
2. May/Might: could be used for permission, possibility
Examples:
I may take a day off whenever I want.
You may leave when you’ve finished.
He may take my car.
They may phone the office and change the appointment.
He might be waiting at the station.
He said he might hire a car.
They might have heard it from Audu.
3. “Must” and “have to”: used to express obligation.
Examples:
You must wipe your feet when you come in.
I have to wipe out my feet every time I come in.
You have to train hard for those matches.
You must wear your uniform to the meeting.
4. “Ought to”; “should”: used to express the subjects obligation or duty.
You should send in accurate data for the thesis
They shouldn’t allow parking here, the street is too narrow.
We should be wearing seat belt on the highway.

Semi-Modals:
To need: take note that “need” as an auxiliary verb is seldom used in the affirmative
except when a negative sentence is preceded by an expression which changes the negative or
interrogative verb into an affirmative.
Examples:
 I. I needn’t wear a coat or I don’t suppose I need wear a coat.
II. Need I tell Tom? Or do you think I need tell Tom?
It is however sometimes used in fairly formal English with “hardly/scarcely or angrily”.
Examples:
I. I need hardly say how pleased we are to welcome Mr. John (I needn’t say......)
II. You need only touch one of the bottoms for all the alarm bells to start ringing. (If you
even touch one of the buttons all the balls.....)
To dare
This expression is hardly used in the affirmative. It is often used with negatives and
interrogative forms with “do/did”.
Examples:
I. He doesn’t dare (to) say something
II. Did he dare (to) criticise my arrangements.
This expression can also be used to express indignation:
Examples:
I. How dare you open my letters? (I am angry with you for opening them)
II. How dare he complain? (I am indignant because he complained)
Used to:
The expression is used to express a discontinued habit or a past situation which contrasts with
the present.
Examples:
I. I used to smoke cigarettes; now i smoke a pipe.
II. He used to drink beer; now he drinks wine.
‘Used’ can also be an adjective meaning “accustomed”. It is then preceded by “be”,
“become” or “get” in any tense.
Examples:
I. I am used to noise.
II. You will soon get used to the electric typewriters.
III. They soon get used to the traffic rules.
Self-assessment Exercise 3a: Underline the auxiliary verbs in the following sentences
I. We will assign a new tutor to this student.
II. Danladi is playing in the garden.
III. She mustn’t wait any longer.
IV. She may have been abroad.
 V. Audu hasn’t done his homework.’
Exercise 3b: Give the feminine form of the following masculine nouns: Man, god, actor,
steward, manager, heir, hero, bull, ram, tiger, dog, lion, waiter, bachelor, husband, uncle,
nephew, son, cock, host.
Exercise 3c: Give the comparative and superlative comparison of the following adjectives.
Great
Much
Beautiful
Sincere
Ugly
Exercise 3d: Give the simple past and past participle of the following verbs.
Present tense Past tense Past participle
Arise
Bend
Bereave
Cast
Creep
Cut
Dig
Drunk
Eat
Flee
Flung
Get
Grow
How
Hit
Keep
Know
Lay
Lenol
Lie
Mow
Ride
 Shake
Slay
Think
Thrive
Undertake
Wring
III.1.4 Adverbs
This is the fourth open class item you will study in this unit. Adverb can be defined as
elements that can be used to qualify a verb, an adjective or some other adverbs.
They are used to add meanings to sentences when they (adverbs) modify other parts
of speech.

Formation of Adverbs
1. Adverbs formed from adjectives (add”_ly” suffix)
Adjective Adverbs
Sluggish Sluggishly
Beautiful Beautifully
Quick Quickly
Happy Happily
Extreme Extremely
Most adverbs of manner and some adverbs of degree are the ones usually formed by
adding _ly to the corresponding adjectives as shown in the examples above.
2. Adverbs expressing manner or view points (end in “_wise”): e.g. clockwise, moneywise,
knowledgewise, etc.
3. Adverbs showing direction (end in “_wards”): e.g. eastwards, forwards, westwards,
backwards, etc.
4. Adverbs without “_ly” from Like: Fast, real, well, late, soon, often, etc are regarded as
adverbials” by some linguists.

Types of Adverbs
I. Adverbs that tell how, where, when, to what extent, etc are called ADJUNCTS
Examples:
a. Felicia walked Majestically to the altar (manner)
b. The headmaster came early to the meeting (time)
 II. Adverbs that express attitude or view point made (often) by the speaker, are called
DISJUNCTS.
Examples:
a. The bus stopped suddenly.
b. John greedily ate all the biscuits.
III. The third is called CONJUNCTS. These types of adverbs join clauses or sentences
together. They are often used to link paragraphs.
Examples:
a. Besides doing the cooking, I look after the garden.
b. You couldn’t earn much, however hard you worked.
c. The teacher is poor yet he is happy.
Self-Assessment Exercise 4: Form adverbs from the following words:
Words Adverbs
Brave
Hard
Happy
Final
Simple
Cold
Late
Good
Clock
Probable

3.2 CLOSED CLASSES

You will recall that in the introduction to Unit 2: Word classes”, we explained that there are two
word classes (open and closed) we also said that there are four items in open classes and six
in closed classes. In this section, we shall look at the following closed items: prepositions,
pronouns, articles, demonstratives, conjunctions and interjections.
3.2.1 PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions are words normally placed before nouns or pronouns. Prepositions can also be
followed by verbs but after “but” and “Except”, the verb must be in the gerund form:
 He is talking of emigrating
 They succeeded in escaping
Prepositions tend to be very short, often consisting of only two or three letters. Here are a few
examples: at, behind, beside, by for, in, like, of, on, through, under, with, without, by means of,
in front of, in spite of, etc.

ALTERNATIVE POSITIONS OF PREPOSITIONS

You should be aware that prepositions normally precede nouns or pronouns. In two
constructions, however, it is possible in informed English to move the preposition to the end of
the sentence:
(a) In questions beginning with a preposition: - whom/which/what/whose/where:
i. To whom were you taking? (formal)
ii. Who were you talking to? (informal)
iii. In which drawer does he keep it? (formal)
iv. Which drawer does he keep it in? (informal)
Note also that it used to be thought ungrammatical to end a sentence with a preposition, but it
is now accepted as a colloquial form.
Similarly in relative clauses, a preposition placed before whom/which can be moved to the end
of the clause. The relative pronoun is then often omitted:
i. The people with whom I was travelling (formal).
ii. The people I was travelling with (informal).
iii. The company from which I hire my car (formal).
iv. The company I hire my car from (informal).
In addition, from the point of view of meaning, we can say that prepositions often show a
relationship of some sort between two entities. For example, in a simple sentence like “The
book is on the table”, the preposition signal a spatial relationship between the book and its
location, which is denoted in this sentence by the prepositional complement.
Self-Assessment
Exercise 5:
Fill in the appropriate preposition in each of the spaces in the sentences below:
1. I haven’t seen Sani – two years
2. She returned – her parents’ home
3. They went home – bus
4. I arrived – the hotel
5. There is a bridge – the river
6. The cat jumped – the mantelpiece
 7. He was sitting – his case
8. We lifted him – the table
9. Don’t touch it – bare hands
10. He was absorbed – his work

THE PRONOUN
The pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun or a noun phrase. Pronouns are
employed basically to avoid repetition of nouns. The word or group of words that a pronoun
replaces is called its antecedent.
Pronouns can be any of the following: personal, demonstrative, indefinite, possessive,
reflexive and relative. Let us now discuss each one of them
1. Personal Pronoun:
This is used to refer to three persons
(a) The first person – I, we e.g. I see it, he knows you
(b) The second person – You e.g. did you see the snake?
(c) The third person – He, she, it, they e.g. They live here

The personal pronoun follows a particular system of occurrence. The table below roughly
summarizes the structure classes of the personal pronoun.
SINGULAR

SUBJECT OBJECT PRONOMINAL SUBSTITUTIONAL

POSSESSIVE POSSESSIVE

1st I Me My Mine
2nd You You Your Yours
3rd Masculine He Him His His
Feminine She Her Her Her
Neuter It Its Its Its
 PLURAL

SUBJECT OBJECT PRONOMINAL SUBSTITUTIONAL

POSSESSIVE POSSESSIVE

1st We Us Our Our

2nd You You Your Yours
3rd They Them Their Theirs

Interrogative/Relative Who Whom Whose Whose

2. Possessive Pronouns
These show possession or ownership of something. Examples of possessive pronouns
include: mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, and theirs.
Examples: This (room) is ours.
That car is theirs too.
You’re using mine.
Where’s yours?
3. Reflexive Pronouns
These are pronouns ending in “_self” or “_selves”. Examples: myself, yourself, himself,
herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
 The new town hall was opened by the chairman himself
 Audu and Muhammad blamed themselves for the accident
 Take care of yourselves.
 Did you take your dog with you?
4. Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun relates to some nouns or personal pronoun going before it. The
particular function of a relative pronoun is to begin either a structure modifying a preceding
noun or nominal group, or a structure for which nominal group could be substituted (e.g. tell me
what you know). The relatives include: who, whom, whose, which, that, what, when, where,
whoever, whichever, whatever, why, how etc.
5. Demonstrative Pronouns
These pronouns point out certain persons or things. They are in singular and plural
forms: the singular forms include “this” and “that” while the plural forms are: ‘these’ and “those”.
The former point to something or person that is close and the latter point to things or persons
that are far/ remote.
Examples:
(a) This is my umbrella. That’s yours
(b) These are the old classrooms. Those are the new ones
(c) Who’s that (man over there)? – that’s Tom jack.

6. Indefinite Pronouns:
An indefinite pronoun does not point to a particular person or thing. Some indefinite
pronoun may take singular or plural verbs. Examples of indefinite pronouns are: nobody,
nothing, somebody, anything, anyone, any, everyone, none, all, anybody, someone,
everybody, something, you, and one.
Examples:
(a) Can you/one camp in the forest?
(b) They fine you for parking offences
(c) They say it is going to be a cold winter
(d) Would someone lend me their binoculars
(e) Everyone has read the notice etc.
7. Interrogative Pronouns
They are used for asking questions. Examples are wh_? Words: who, whom, whose,
what, which
(a) Who pays the bill?
(b) Whose/which horse won?
(c) What happened
(d) Who are these boys? etc.

Self-assessment:
Exercise 6:
Identify the pronouns in the following sentences and say which type it is. No 1 has been done
for you.
(1) Look at that bird: It always comes to my window (the pronoun ‘is “it”, it is a personal
pronoun).
(2) Blame Audu! It was he who chose this colour
(3) It was Peter who lent us the money
 (4) It is not always easy to amuse oneself on holiday
(5) Who pays the bill?
(6) It never occurred to me that perhaps he was lying

CONJUNCTIONS
The next items you will study are conjunctions. They belong to a closed class of words that
have a linking function. There are two types of conjunctions: “coordinating conjunctions (e.g.
and, or, but) and subordinating conjunctions (e.g. that, if whether, for, because, although, when
etc.) Let us begin by looking at some examples of structures containing coordinating
conjunctions.
(a) He plays squash and rugby.
(b) I bought a computer and a keyboard.
(c) I make the payments and keep the accounts.
(d) We came in first but (we) didn’t win the race.
(e) Both men and women were drafted into the army.
(f) He can neither read nor write.
(g) Not only men but also women were chosen.

Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions introduce subordinate adverb or noun clauses. The
subordinating conjunctions are introduced by such words as: when, if, because, although,
while, etc. Examples:
(a) Although Abu passed his exams, he was not satisfied
(b) Monday arrived at the house while the snake was being chased

Subordinators are quite different from coordinating conjunctions in that they link units of
unequal syntactic status.
INTERJECTIONS
Interjections are expressions of emotion, physical state, agreement, disagreement, and
such like. This is usually indicated by an exclamation mark (!). Here are a few examples: ah,
erh, hmm, no, oh, ouch, phew, slot, yes, yuck etc.
(a) Oh! I have made it!
(b) Wow! She is a beauty

Interjections are regarded as a separate word class in deference to traditional grammarians.

DETERMINERS/ARTICLES
Determiners are words which specify more precisely the meaning of the nouns they
precede. Here is a list of the most common determiners in English with a few examples:
Determiner Example
The/a the /a camera
The/these this film/these films
That/those that dog/those dogs
Which which house?
Whose whose classmates?
As you can see from the examples above, determiners include a number of sub-groups.
One of them is articles which we shall examine shortly. Another member of the sub-group is the
possessive namely: my, his, her, theirs, our etc. there is also the numerals: one, two, three etc.
Included also as a sub-group are qualifiers: much, more, little, a little, few, a few, most, all,
both, several, etc. Demonstrative too form part of the group and they include: this, that, these,
those etc.
ARTICLES
Let us now look at this important closed class item. The article is a word that usually occurs in
company of a noun generally to specify the meaning of the noun. There are both definite and
indefinite articles.
The Definite Article
The definite article specifies or makes specific reference. It is used to refer to something
already mentioned: example: “the”
The boy The girl The day
The boys The girls The days
“The” is the same for singular and plural and for all genders.
Other examples of definite articles include: my, your, his, her, their, this, that, those:
 This show will last till the end of July
 That car of John is always breaking down

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLES

They are used to refer to something indefinite or not particular. You should take note that this is
different from definite articles that specify or make specific reference.
The form “a” is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a consonant
sound:
A man, a hat, a university, a European, a one-way street
  He is a European
 I need a man
 He is driving along a one-way street

The form “an” is used before words beginning with a vowel:

(a, e, i, o, u) or words beginning with a mute “h”

An apple an island an uncle
An egg an onion an hour
 The distance can be made in an hour.
 An onion would be needed for the stew.
 That child needs an egg.

Self-Assessment Exercise: 7
(a) Define the terms Definite article and Indefinite article and give examples of each of
them.
(b) Make three sentences with each of the examples.

4.0 CONCLUSION
Word classes are very important in English. You cannot build up enough English
vocabulary without the mastery of the various word classes. You need to be able to use the
right word in both your written and spoken English. So, it is pertinent that you learn the English
word classes and use them in your speeches and writing.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have been exposed to open and closed word classes in English. You have also
attempted the various exercises given on the two types of word classes. We hope this will
further enhance your vocabulary of English.
6.0 TUTOR- MARKED ASSIGNMENT
6a In each of the following sentences there is a gap. After each sentence, there is a list of word
lettered A-E. From this list choose the word or word group that best completes each sentence.
1. It was clear we both enjoyed ---------at the party last night.
A. To dance B. To have danced C. To be dancing D. To dancing E. Dancing
2. Participants at the seminar refused to share their papers………………………..
A. Between Themselves B. For themselves C. Within themselves
E. Among themselves
3. On Olu’s arrival he saw that the house-help with his assistant……………….
A. Was just being introduced B. Was just been introduced C. Had just be introduced
D. Have just being introduced E. Were just being introduced
4. Ade asked if any of the staff could help ………………… the mail-bag
A. Holding B. Held C. To hold D. hold E. To holding
5. Many traders preferred the traditional sack…………….. the new one.
A. Than B. from C. To D. for E. Against
6. ………………. Of the several nurses brought before the matron seemed to know anything
about the head-band.
A. Both B. Neither C. Either D. None E. only
7. Audu has resigned from the club although he …………….. its secretary general.
A. Used to be B. Used to be C. was used to D. used to E. use to
8. After a terrible experience, Zainab vowed never to travel…………………..
A. With bus B. By road C. By luxuriantly D. In bus E. On bus
9. The new set of directors was asked……………. their predecessors.
A. To take cue with B. To take a cue from C. to take a cue than
D. to take a cue on E. To take a cue beside
10. Not even his father could………………. to continue
A. Prevail with him B. prevail for him C. Prevail in him D. prevail to him E. prevail on him
6. B) Read the sentences below and for each of the underlined word or word group substitute
another word or word group that is very nearly the same in meaning as the underlined one.
1. Despite the abortion of the planned trip, the intending travellers continued to wait.
A. Murder B. Shifting C. Abandonment D. Termination E. cancellation
2. Loud ovation heralded the arrival of the national team
A. fore dosed B. Beckoned C. signaled D. suggested E. Blasted
3. After the investigation, Mohammed was exonerated from blame.
A. Examined B. extolled C. declared D. disabused E. cleared
4. He was so addicted to cigarette smoking that he often avoided decent company.
A. predisposed B. Connected C. conditioned D. appalled E. affiliated
5. The looming crisis was avoided through the action of the Parent Teacher Association
A. Expectant B. imminent C. Blooming D. incipient E. covered
6 C) Read the sentences below and for each the of underlined words or group of word
substitute another word or word group that is very nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined
one
1. The television station begins its daily programmes with some prayers
A. Commences B. ends C. Finless D. attenuates E. recreates
3. The company recruitment policy tallied with its principle for excellence.
A. delved into B. differed from C. deviated from D. distanced from E. incurred into
4. Students of Nigerian Universities are tired of incessant closures
A. Unceasing B. Rapid C. Constant D. Nonchalant
5. Computer facilities have provided some relief to statisticians
A. relearn B. receipt C. deceit D. burden E. tariff

REFERENCES
Aars, B.(2001) English syntax and Argumentation London Palgrave
Aliyu,J.S.(1996) Improving Your Performance in English. Zaria Ahmadu Bello University press.
Boadi L.A, Grieve,D.W, & Nwankwo,B.(1977) Grammatical Structure and Its Teaching Lagos:
African Universities Press.
Grellet, F.(1984) Developing reading skills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
National Open University Nigeria(2004). GST 102: Use of English and Communication Skills II.
Lagos: NOUN.
National Open University Institute (2000) NCE/DLS Course Book in General Studies Education
Cycle. Kaduna: NTI.
Mike,A, Ismail, T.& P Alobo, J. (2002) English Studies and Communication Skills for Tertiary
Institutions. Kano. Rainbow Royale Publishers.

UNIT 3: TENSES
CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 OBJECTIVES
3.0 Tenses
3.1 Simple present tense/ present continuous
 3.2 Past tense/past continuous
3.3 The present perfect/ the past perfect
3.4 The present perfect continuous/past perfect continuous tense
3.5 The future
3.5.1 The simple present used for the future
3.5.2 The present continuous as the future form
3.5.3 The future simple I will/shall infinitive
3.5.4 The future continuous tense
3.5.5 The future perfect
3.5.6 The future perfect continuous
4.0 CONCLUSION
5.0 SUMMARY
6.0 TMA
7.0 REFERENCES

1.0 INTRODUCTION
You will be introduced to tenses on importance aspect of English in this unit. Tense is a
grammatical notion which refers to the way language encodes the semantic notion of time.
English has two basic tenses: present tense and past tense. The future time is not
considered a tense since it makes use of auxiliaries and the simple present verb form.
3.1 The Present Tense
There are two types of present tense in English:
 The simple present: I work.
 The present continuous: I am working.

It this section, you will learn how to distinguish between the simple resent tense and the
present continuous tense
The simple present tense
In the affirmative the simple present has the same form as the infinitive but add an ‘s’ for
the third person singular:
Affirmative Negative Interrogation Negative
interrogation
I work I do not work Do I work? Do I not work?
You work You do not work Do you work? Do you not work?
He/she works He/she do not work Does he/she/it Do we not work?
We work We do not work work? Do you not work?
You work You do not work Do we work? Do they not work?
They work They do not work Do you work?
Do they work?
Irregular verbs form this tense in exactly the same way.
The present continuous
The present continuous tense is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb “be +
the present participle”:

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I am working I am not working Am I working?
You are working You are not working Are you working?
He/she/it is working He/she/it is not working Is he/she/it working?
We are working We are not working Are we working?
They are working They are not working Are they working?

Negative interrogation: am I not working? Is he/she/it not working? Etc.

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with the simple present or the present continuous forms of the
verbs given in brackets.
1. I………….. (go) to church every Sundays.
2. I ………….. (do) my assignment now. My sister ……… (ply) in the yard.
3. My dog …………… (bark) a lot, but ……… (bark) at the moment.
4. We cannot go now, it ……… (rain).
5. She ………….. (seen) to be very busy.

3.2 The simple past tense

Please note that:
a) The simple past tense in regular verb is formed by adding “ed” to the infinitive:
infinitive: to work simple past: worked
b) For verb ending in “e” add “d” only
infinitive: to love simple past: loved
c) The same form is used for all persons.
I worked You worked He worked etc.
 d) The negative of regular and irregular verb is formed with ”did not”(didn’t) and the infinitive.
I did
not/didn’t work you did
not/didn’t work.
e) The interrogative of regular and irregular verbs is formed with “did + subject, + infinitive”
did I work? Did you work?
Etc.
f) Irregular verbs form:
Please note that these vary considerable in their simple past form:
E.g. infinitive simple past
to eat ate
to leave left
to see saw
In this case, you need to learn the past from of each irregular verb, but once this is done, there is
no other difficulty, as irregular verbs (like regular verbs) have no inflexions in the past tense.
3.2 The past continuous tense
The past continuous tense is formed by the past tense of the verb “to be + the present
participle”.
I was working,
You were working
We were working,
He/she/it was working,
Note that this tense emphasizes the continuity of event in the past.
3.3. The present perfect tense
The present perfect tense is formed with the present tense of “have + the past participle:
I have worked, etc.
Affirmative Negative Interrogation
I have worked I have not worked Have I worked?
You have worked You have not worked Have you worked?
He/she/it has worked He/she/it has not worked Has he/she/it worked?
We have worked We have not worked Have we worked?
They have worked They have not working Have they worked?

3.3 The past perfect tense

 Please note that the past perfect is the equivalent of the present perfect.
For example:
Present: Bob has just left
Past: Bob had just left
Note also that this tense is formed with “had” and the past participle:
 Affirmative: I had/ I’d worked, etc.
 Negative: I had not/haven’t worked, etc.
 Interrogative: had I worked, etc.
 Negative interrogation: had I not/hadn’t I worked? etc.

3.4 The present perfect continuous tense:

This tense is used to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing. It is
formed by the present perfect of the verb “to be + the present participle.
 Affirmative: I have been working; he has been working, etc.
 Negative: I have not/haven’t been working, etc.
 Interrogation: have I been working? etc.
 Negative interrogation: have I not/haven’t I been working? etc.

3.4 The past perfect continuous tense

Please note that the past perfect continuous bears the same relation to the past perfect
as the present perfect continuous bear to the present perfect.
This tense is formed with “had been + the present participle. It is therefore the same for
all persons:
 I had/ I’d been working
 They had not/ hadn’t been working
 Had you been working?
 Had you not/ hadn’t been working?

Note that this tense is not used with verbs which are not used in the continuous forms, except
with “want” and sometime “wish”
 The man was delighted with his new car. He had been wanting one for a long time.

Exercise 2:
Put the verb given in bracket in the simple past tense
The rich old man …………. (advise) the people in the village to work hard. He …….. (tell) them
that the people in other villages around are not lazy. They all …… (work) very hard. They
…………(weed) their farm and ……..(sweep) their house. The men ……….. (mend) the roofs of
the house so that these ……..(will) be no leagues. They …… (clear) the bush to drive away
snakes and mosquitoes.
Exercise 3
Put the verb given in the bracket in the present perfect.
i. He ……… (go) out
ii. I ………… (read) the instruction but I don’t understand them.
iii. Achebe ……. (write) a number of short stories.
iv. What you (do) since I met you last?
v. He …….. (be) in the army for two years.
vi. This is the first time I …….. (see) a mounted troop.
vii. It ……… (be) very cold lately but it’s just the beginning to get warmer.
viii. It ……… (work) for us years.
ix. It is two months since John …… (smoke) a cigarette
x. He had a bad fall last month and …….. (be) off work since.

Exercise 4
Put the verbs given in brackets in exercise three in the past perfect
3.5 The Future
You will recall that we said in the introduction to this unit that English has two basic
tenses (present and past) and that the future time is not considered a tense since it makes use
of auxiliaries and the simple present verb form. In this section, we shall study how to express
future time in English.
3.5.1 The simple present used for the future
This tense can be used with a time expression for a definite future arrangement:
 The students start school on Monday
 I leave tonight

Instead of the present continuous tense

 The students are starting school on Monday
 I’m leaving tonight

Note that the simple present is more impersonal than the continuous.
The simple present can also sound more formal than the continuous
3.5.2 The present continuous as a future form
 Note that in this use, the time must be mentioned, or have been mentioned, otherwise
there may be confusion between present and future.
The present continuous can express a definite arrangement in the near future e.g. “I’m
taking an exam in October” implies that I have entered for it; and also “Ado and Sule are
meeting tonight” implies that Ado and Sule arranged this.
But with verbs of movement from one place to another, e.g. “arrive, come, drive, fly, go,
leave, start, travel”, verbs indicating position e.g. “stay and remain” and the verbs “do” and
“have”, the present continuous can be used more widely. It can express a decision or plan
without any definite arrangement e.g.
 I’m going home tonight
 I’m leaving tonight. etc.

3.5.3 The future simple: will/shall + indefinite

Please be reminded that there is no future tense in modern English but for convenience
we often use the term “future simple” to describe the form I “will/shall” + bare infinitive
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I will/I’ll work I will not/won’t work
I shall work I shall not/shan’t work Shall I work?
He/she/it will/I’ll work He will not/won’t work etc. Will he work? etc.
We will/we’ll work or We will not/won’t work or
We shall work We shall not/shan’t work Shall we work?
You will/you’ll work You will not/won’t work Will you work?
They will/they’ll work They will not/won’t work Will they work?

First person “will” and “shall”

Note that formerly “will” was kept for intention: e.g.
 I will wait for you = I intend to wait for you;

And shall” was used when there was no intention i.e. for actions where the subject’s wishes
were not involved:
 I shall be 40 next week.
 We shall know the outcome next week. (it will be in the papers).
 Unless the taxi comes soon we shall miss our plane.
 I’m sure I shan’t lose my way.
Note that “shall” used above is still found in formal English, but is no longer common in
conversation. Instead we normally use “will” e.g.
 I will be 40 next week
 We’ll know the outcome tomorrow
 Unless the taxi comes soon, we’ll miss the plane
 I’m sure I won’t lose my way.

Sometimes, however, “will” might change the meaning of the sentence. If in “I shall see Audu
tomorrow”, which could be an expression of intention. To avoid ambiguities of this kind, we use
the future continuous tenses: e.g.
I’ll be seeing Audu tomorrow
3.5.4 The future continuous tense
This tense is made up of the future simple of “to be + the present participle, “will” is more
usual than “shall”, except in the interrogative:
 Affirmative: I/we will/shall be working

He/she/it/you/they will be working.

 Negative: I/we will/shall not be working

He/she/it/you/they will not be working

 Interrogative: shall/will I/we be working?
Will he/she/it/you/they be working?
 Negative interrogative: will he not/won’t he be working? Etc.

3.5.5 The future perfect

This is a future form that is normally used with a time expression beginning with “by”: “by
then”, “by that time”, “by the 15th, etc. e.g.
 By the end of next month he will have been there for ten years.

It is used for an action which at a given future time will be in the past, or will just have finished.
Imagine that it is 4th December and Ado is very worried about an exam that he is taking on 15 th
December. Someone planning a party might say:
 We’d better wait till 16th December. Ado will have had his exam by then, so he’ll be able
to enjoy himself.

3.5.6 The future perfect continuous

Note that this tense like the future perfect is normally wed with a time expression beginning
with “by” e.g.
 By the end of this month he’ll have been acting for five years.

Note that the future perfect continuous bears the same relationship to the present perfect, i.e.
the future perfect continuous can be used instead of the future perfect

4.0 CONCLUSION
Tenses are very important aspect of English. To be able to communicate well in both
spoken and written English, you need to master the tenses in English.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt different kinds of tenses in English. You have attempted
some exercises on tenses. We hope you will improve upon your uses of tenses in
English.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Question 1
Supply the correct tense of the verb in brackets
i. The man said he (to be) in a hurry
ii. If it (to rain), farmers will plant their crops.
iii. He (work) in that bank for four years.
iv. I’m (leave) tonight, I’ve (get) my plane ticket.
v. I (see) them on your desk a minute ago.
vi. Tom (have) a bad crash. He’s probably still in the hospital.
vii. The (has) break down. We have to use the stairs.
viii. We (live) there for ten years but we don’t live there now.
ix. I have (been wait) for an hour and he still (hasn’t turn) up.
x. He had (leave) his case on the evening train.
xi. He (try) five times to get her on the phone.

Question 2
Form the negatives of the following sentences
i. I met him yesterday
ii. He worked in that bank for four years
iii. I was talking to John the other day.
iv. The lift has broken down
v. Have you had breakfast?
REFERENCES
Aarts, B. (2001) English Syntax and Argumentation. London: Palgrave
Aliyu, J.S. (1996) Improving Your Performance in English. Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University
Press.
National Open University of Nigeria (2004) GST 102: Use of English and Communication
Skills II. Lagos: NOUN
National Teachers’ Institute (2007) Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) Course Book on
Primary Education Studies. Kaduna: NTI
Thomson, A.J. & Martinet, A.V. (2002) A Practical English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Quirk, R & Greenbaum S. (1980) A University Grammar of English London: Longman.

UNIT 5
COLLOCATIONS
INTRODUCTION
• Collocations are words that are commonly used together in a specific order, mostly
because they convey a particular meaning or have a specific grammatical function.
Collocations help you sound more natural and fluent, expand your vocabulary, and
enable you to convey your message more effectively to avoid misunderstanding.
Examples of collations are: go on foot, catch a plane, hold a meeting, take a break,
travel by car, take it easy, take- off.

Types of Collocations

• Adverbial collocations: these consist of adverbs and verbs that go together e.g., speak
loudly
• Adjectival collocations: consist of adjectives and nouns that go together such as heavy
rain
• Verbal collocations: consist of verbs and nouns or adverbs that go together as in make a
decision, drive slowly.
• Prepositional collocations: consist of prepositions and nouns or verbs as in, in the night,
look forward to.

UNIT 6
SENTENCE TYPES BASED ON FUNCTION
• Sentences are classified into different types based on meaning or purpose for which
they are uttered. They include the following:
• Declarative sentences: these are statements which end in full stop or a period (.) e.g.
the sun rises from the east and sets in the west.
• Interrogative sentences: are sentences that ask questions and end in question mark
(?) what is you name? Where do you live?
• Imperative sentence: imperative sentence is also known as command, request or
instruction. They end with a period or exclamation mark (!) as in close the door! May I
come in please, look up!
• Exclamatory sentence: is sentence expresses strong emotion or feeling. It ends with
an exclamation mark as in, what a beautiful day! How lucky you are!

SENTENCE TYPES BASED ON STRUCTURE

• This classification of sentence type is based on the kind and number of clauses a
sentence may contain.
Simple sentence: simple sentence contains one independent clause. It contains one main
verb, the
number of words in the sentence notwithstanding.
• E.g. Audu is a man.
• The unfortunate Nigeria civil which cost Nigeria millions of lives and valuable properties
lasted for three years.
• Complex sentence: is made up of one independent clause and one or more dependent
clauses. E.g. I went to the market because I needed to buy some things. Although my
parents are poor but Iam very proud of them.
• Compound sentence: is made up of two or more independent clauses joined by a
coordinating conjunction. He ate this morning yet he is hungry, Iam not a fool but I will
let go.
• Compound-complex sentence: is made up of two or more main clauses and one or
more subordinate clauses. Jane worked hard for the examination but failed because he
did not read the instructions well before he answered the questions.
MODULE SIX

ICT IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Learning Outcomes
3.0 Learning Content
3.1 Information and Communication Technology
3.2 History and Evolution of ICT
3.3 Some ICT Tools
3.4 Benefits of ICT in Language Learning
3.5 Challenges of ICT
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/ Further Reading

1.0 Introduction
This section of the course deals with the use of Information and Communication
Technology in language learning by students. It is well known that, technology
has permeated in almost all activities in the world today. This is because it is
used in almost all the sectors of the society, education, not an exception. The use
of technology extends from domestic use to its use in teaching and learning of
languages. It facilitates and greatly influences the performance of various
endevours. This module will therefore discuss the various technological tools
used in language, their importance and the likely challenges facing their uses.

2.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the Module, you are expected to:
i. define ICT;
ii. list and explain some ICT tools;
iii. explain how these tools can facilitate language learning; and
iv. identify some constraints associated with the use of technology for language
learning
3.0 Learning Contents
Unit 1
3.1 What is Information and Communication Technology?
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an umbrella that includes
the utilization of communication devices or applications, such as radio-sets,
televisions, cellular phones, computer, hard ware and software satellite system
and so on. The Greek word technology means an art of artifice or crafting but
more generally, it refers to the diverse collection of the processing and knowledge
that people use to extend human ability and to satisfy human needs and want.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is the use of computing and
telecommunication technologies, systems and tools to facilitate the way
information is created, collected, processed, transmitted and stored. It includes
computing technologies like servers, laptop computers and software applications,
as well as the wired and wireless communication technologies that support
telephones, the Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the metaverse. The goal
of ICT is to improve access to information and make human-to-human, human-to-
machine and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication easier and more
efficient.

The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) on English

language learning in Nigeria cannot be overemphasize as it has become
indispensable in modern day learning environment due to the major role it plays
in the advancement and development of the frontiers of knowledge in language
learning. This is more so when the world is fast becoming a global village where
the use of modern technological gadgets to improve language learning has
become imperative. Information and communication technology (ICT) have the
viable potentials to accelerate the acquisition of basic skills and knowledge
required in motivating the students to learn. It offers the teachers of language
new role that prepares students to manipulate information for solving social,
political and economic problems. It encompasses different technologies that are
used for processing, transmitting and communicating data. Information and
communication technology can be applied to present teaching tasks more vividly,
or present concepts more clearly, for the purpose of enhancing learning
outcomes as students will learn and retain more of what is taught, involving more
senses for perception than hearing alone. ICT can be applied in assisting the
students to store learning tasks and will give them extra access to the lesson
more than the volume they had in the normal classroom situation.

3.2 History and Evolution of ICT

The concept of ICT can be traced back to the 19th century with the development
of the telegraph and the telephone. These two inventions revolutionized the way
people worked and interacted socially by making it possible for one person to
communicate with another person in a different location in real or near-real time.

In the middle of the 20th century, radio and television introduced the concept of
mass communication, and by the end of the century, the internet had become a
mainstream tool for communication, commerce and entertainment. Its use
continued to grow rapidly in the following years, revolutionizing the way people
work and digitally transforming the way people communicate. The following
shows the stages of the evolution of ICT

Year Technological Advancement

1837 Morse code and telegraph
1876 Telephone
1895 Wireless telegraphy
1927 Television
1947 Transistor
1951 UNIVAC I (First commercial computer)
1969 ARPANET (Foundation of the Internet)
1971 First email
 1990 World Wide Web
1991 GSM (Global System for Mobile communication)
1994 Netscape Navigator (Widely-used web browser)
1998 Google
2001 Commercial 3G networks
2004 Facebook
2007 IPhone
2008 Bitcoin
2010 4G networks
2016 AlphaGo
2020 5G networks
2023 Zoom (350 million daily meeting attendees)
Today, broadband internet and smartphones have made it easier than ever for
people to create access, share and consume information and in the future with
many more exciting developments. 6G networks provide faster and reliable
connectivity, generative AI systems like ChatGPT that will change the way
people create and acquire information and emerging technologies like quantum
computing and Web3 will inspire a wide variety of new ICT tools and
applications.

3.3 Some ICT Tools

Information and communication technology includes a wide range of information,
telecommunication and support tools and services that work together to facilitate
communication. This includes:

 Hardware and software that supports the way information is created,

disseminated, acquired and stored.
 Infrastructure and electronics that enable communication between hardware
devices.
 Protocols and interfaces that enable seamless communication and data
exchanges between different hardware and software components.
 Tools for protecting sensitive information and ensuring the integrity of an ICT
system.
 Standards for protecting data in transit, during processing and at rest.
 Governance policies for how information should be accessed, secured,
processed, transmitted and stored.
 Workers who have the skills required to design, develop, maintain and support
ICT systems.
A variety of technology-enhanced gadgets can create an interactive learning
environment to develop learners’ autonomy and meaningful learning, which
provides a huge amount of exposure to language. ICTs, the modern technologies
for storage, manipulation, and dissemination of information, include both
hardware tools such as laptops, smart phones, projectors, and software tools
such as email, Skype, Facebook, and YouTube. These technological tools have
brought a revolutionary movement in the field of education and information
communication.

3.4 Benefits of ICT in Language Classroom

According to Davis (2007), the incorporation of the technologies into English
classroom can help achieve: (i) cognitive gain by providing visual images, (ii)
motivational gain providing fun, and (iii) interactional gain by providing
convenience sharing. ICTs provide opportunities for exploring the communicative
power of the English learner by engaging them in exploring literary texts and
several other interactive activities in exciting ways. Likewise, computer-based
activities enhance interaction and collaboration and provide unique opportunities
for the development of the learners’ spoken and written language capabilities
Various language learning online/offline software, language learning platforms;
and the methodological innovations like computer-assisted language learning
(CALL) have made language learning easier and more effective.
ICTs can help create a student-centered learning environment where lots of
opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous communication take place.
The tools such as email, Facebook, Messenger, Skype etc., all make interaction
between the teacher and students and among the students more frequent.
Sharing their ideas and information is possible whenever and wherever they stay.
The following are some major benefits of ICT in language.

(i) Providing the students with learning resources and feedback: with the
integration of ICTs, the teachers can provide the students with lots of learning
materials to increase the students’ amount of exposure to the English language.
Using their learning management system (LMS) or email the teachers can send
the students the learning resources that are more content-specific and useful for
them in the form of reading texts, videos, audios, hyperlinks, or websites.
Likewise, ICTs are helpful for the teachers for providing the students with written
comments and feedback to the whole class, group-wise, or individually.
(ii) Amount of learning resources: one of the important benefits of the
integration of ICTs for the students is that they can use these tools for accessing
information and learning resources. Among many others, LMS (i. e., CIS and
MOODLE) is very useful with which the students can find course-specific
resources. Besides, they can use web browsers and websites through which they
can search and download learning materials such as e-books, e-journals, e-
articles, e-newspaper, videos, audios, slides, and more for practicing their
listening, speaking, reading, writing, and grammar-related skills. They can also
use different mobile apps designed for learning the English language.
(iii) Interaction
ICTs can enable the students for easier and faster communication with their
friends and teachers. They can easily interact about their problems or queries
through the tools such as email, SMS, Skype and so on. Both synchronous and
asynchronous communication through ICTs, help them exchange their ideas and
opinions.
(iv) Collaboration
Collaboration with your friends is another important benefit of integrating ICTs for
the students. You can work together in peers or in groups to solve problems or
given tasks. Through ICTs, it is easier for students to be involved in talking and
discussing, sharing, evaluating, and constructing their knowledge. ICTs help them
to create such an environment for collaborative activities. In such activities, the
students can feel more relaxed and comfortable to share, discuss, and debate
than in teacher dominated classroom. The tools such as email, Facebook, blogs,
Skype, Google docs are more useful for the students while carrying out
collaborative activities.
(v)Exposure to English language skills: ICTs help the students to find several
English language skills specific online or offline learning resources. The students
can be involved in practicing listening and speaking skills through the resources
such as audios, videos, conversations songs, Skype, Viber, or other online talks.
Likewise, they can improve their reading and writing skills through several
reading materials such as e-books, e-journals, or e-papers or use several web-
browsers and online or offline mobile apps for practicing the listening, speaking,
reading, writing, and grammar skills.

(vi) Develop learning autonomy

Another important benefit of using ICTs is that, these tools can help you in
accessing various learning resources, which encourages reading and analyzing
the contents. Likewise, ICTs can help you to share the information and learning
materials with your friends and you to give comments on them. This environment
created by ICT integration is helpful for developing students’ habit of independent
and autonomous learning. For instance, the web 2.0 applications can be
exploited to the advantages of the students learning English language and
literature to create several possibilities of learning opportunities such as exploring
and investigating, composing and creating, reflecting and evaluating, presenting
and performing; and communicating and collaborating. Multimedia technology in
English language teaching and learning provides opportunities for the learners
and enhances interaction among the teachers and students. It also develops
students’ communicative competence, motivate them to learn, and widen their
knowledge about the English language. Other advantages of ICT in language
classroom are:
a. English language lessons can incorporate multimedia applications that can
exert powerful motivation and provide bored students with exciting new ways to
learn:
b. the use of ICTs enhances English Language competence as well as the quality
of learners' experience;
c. the effective use of ICTs removes the time and space limitations found in
traditional teaching, as classroom dialogue can now extend beyond the time and
space constraints;
it allows students to learn more autonomously and thereby raises self-esteem
and confidence; and
it enhances learners' interaction, verbalization and involvement in group
collaborative learning.
The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching and
learning language has been extensive. It has been effective in increasing
performance and retention rate. Research has shown that people remember 20%
of what they see, 40% of what they see and hear, but about 75% of what they
see, hear and do simultaneously. Use of ICT such as computer technology and
internet are intended to enable English language teachers to facilitate learning
more effectively and enhance students’ understanding of concepts which are
expected to translate into expansion of knowledge and improve examination
outcomes.

3.5 Challenges of the use of ICT in Language

The view that the internet and other forms of information and communication
technology are of immense benefit to the education system is incontrovertible.
The internet is repository of enormous content but it also contains an equal
amount of junk and obscene sites which, if not regulated and censored before
students are allowed to work on it, can lead to all forms of problems, especially
among teenagers and youths. The success or failure of a teaching - learning
situation in language acquisition rests to a large extent on the teacher. However,
it has been discovered that many teachers are yet to upgrade or familiarize
themselves with ICT and its application in the classroom setting as a result, it can
be inferred that the integration of ICTs in language education is still being faced
by the general apathy on the part of both the learners and the teachers.
The following are the major constraints to the use of ICTs in language teaching:
- electricity, phone lines, internet facilities etc. are either unreliable or expensive.
- Video recorders and other ICTs are locked in storage closets because only few
teachers know how to operate and incorporate them into their instructional
programmes.
- ICT trained teachers often quit teaching for more lucrative jobs because
teaching is not attractive especially in Nigeria.
- Poor maintenance of the existing ICT gadgets (where provided) is a debilitating
factor against the use of ICT.
Large or overcrowded classes may interfere with the objectives of the use of ICTs
Moreover, with the present stage of information and communication technology
(ICT), the use of ICT resources such as the computer, scanner, e-mail, video
phone, systems, wireless application protocols (WAP), radio and micro waves
television and satellites, multimedia computer and multimedia projector in
curriculum implementation in e-learning, curriculum content in the forms of text,
visuals e.g. pictures, posters, videos, audio, sound, maps and graphics can be
simultaneously presented online to students in both immediate E-learning as an
aspect of ICT. This is relatively new in Nigeria’s educational system, though; it
also ensures effective teaching, learning and curriculum implementation in the
computer age.

4. Conclusion
The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) on English
language learning in Nigeria cannot be overemphasize as it has become
indispensable in modern day learning environment due to the major role it plays
in the advancement and development of the frontiers of knowledge in language
learning. This is more so when the world is fast becoming a global village where
the use of modern technological gadgets to improve language learning has
become imperative. Information and communication technology (ICT) have the
viable potentials to accelerate the acquisition of basic skills and knowledge
required in motivating the students to learn.

5. Summary

This module has defined ICT, traced its history and evolution, its tools and their
advantages to users. Some of the constraints for the use of ICT have also been
discussed.

6. Tutor-marked Assignment
1. Define ICT
2. List the ICT tools you know and their importance
3. Trace the evolution of ICT.
4. What are some of the constraints of using some ICT tools?

7.0 References and Further Reading

Akintunde, F. A. & Angulu, Y. D. (2015). The Use of information and
communication technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning of English
language in Nigeria. Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics
www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal
Vol.15.

Ambika, P P. (2022). Information and communication technology in English

language teaching: some opportunities and challenges
Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education:Volume 14, Issue 4, pp. 103-116
DOI: 10.32674/jcihe.v14i4.3874| https://ojed.org/jcihe