Week One

Homographs
Words that are spelt the same but sound different and have different meanings or origin.
Examples:
(i) Bow (verb) to move ones head or top half one’s body forward or downwards.
(ii)Bow (noun) weapon used for shooting arrows.
(i) Minute (noun) each of the 60 parts of an hour that equals to 60 seconds.
• Minute- very small, insignificant, tiny, minuscule.
• Convict (verb) to decide and state officially in a law court that someone is guilty.
• Convict (noun) a person who has been found guilty of a crime and sent to prison.
(i) Record: (Noun) A written account kept somewhere for future reference, (Noun)
(ii) Record: a vinyl disc on which sound is recorded and may be replayed on a phonograph.
(iii) Record (verb) to keep a permanent account of facts or events by writing them down.
(i) Perfect Adj) complete without fault.
(ii) Perfect verb) to make something perfect.
(i) Exercise noun) physical or mental activities done to make one healthy and stronger.
(ii) Exercise verb) to use one’s power right or personal qualities in order to achieve
(i) Found (verb)- past tense of find.
(ii) Found (verb)- to start something such as organization. Note- the past tense of this is
founded. E.g Rev W F Kumuyi founded Deeper Life Bible Church some decades ago.
Assignment
MORE ON SPELLINGS
Study these:
Amnesia
Wholesome
Nitty gritty
Nincompoop
Garrulous
Neophyte
Dementia
Dilemma
Omelette/omelet
Novelette
Pedophilia
gallivant
Cathedral
Catholicism
Dysfunctional
Argument
Hypochondria
Shenanigan
Hermaphrodite
Propitiation
Reincarnation
Curtain
Pedophilia
Paroxysm
Parochial
Anthropology
Misanthrope
Mysogamist
Matryr
Chameleon
Hyena

Week Two
Definition and Type of Tenses
Tense is an aspect of the verb that expresses the timing of an action, the performance of the
action might be in the present, past, or future time.
TYPES OF PRESENT TENSES
Simple Present Tense, Present continuous, Present Perfect Tense, and Present Perfect
continuous,
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSES:
It expresses those actions that we do on daily basis. It expresses habitual action E.g. I eat rice,
I work.
Singular: The man knows my name. Plural: The men know
my name.
It is also used to state the natural or the universal truth. E.g
i. The earth is spherical.
ii.Africa is the second largest continent.
It is also used in running football commentaries. E.g Alex Iwobi passes the ball to Victor Moses,
Moses dribbles a player and hits the ball into the back of the net and it is a goal, oh no! The
referee disqualifies that.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSES:
It’s an action that is still in progress. It is formed by adding (ing) to the verb
E.g. Goring -going-talking. Is or are is added to the verb root, – is coming, – are going.
Example:
She is cooking.
We are playing football.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSES:
It is formed by using has or have plus the perfect form of the verb root / participle. Examples:
They have gone out.
He has spoken to her,
we have done the work.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS:
It is formed by adding have/has to “been” before adding “ing” verb e.g.
I have been working.
They have been doing it.
She has been singing.
Week Three
Vocabulary Development Words associated with Government/Politics
Government: This is a group of people who steers the affairs of a state.
Democracy: This is government whereby majority rule a state. It is the government of the
people, by the people and for the people.
Oligarchy: This is the system of government whereby few privileged and powerful people. It is
the government of the minority.
Mace: This is a symbol of authority in the legislative chamber, e.g national assembly.
Adjudicate: To settle a legal case or other dispute. This is usually done by the Judiciary.
Bill: This is a draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment. A bill is a proposed law.
Enactment: This is an act of making a law.
Promulgation: This is an act of making laws known to people rule a state. It is an act of
announcing laws which have been enacted or made.
Assent: This is the president’s approval to a bill in form of signature. With that the bill has
become a law.
Rule of law: This is the supremacy of law over everyone in a country.
Constitutionalism: This is a principle which states that both the government and the governed
must abide by the provision of the constitution.
Ultra vire: It means beyond one’s power.
Null and void: This means ‘invalid’ because such has been declared unconstitutional.
Bureaucracy: These are structures and regulations put in place to control governmental
activities or operations.
Recess: A period in the parliamentary year where the law makers are meant to be on holidays.
Legislator/parliamentarian: This is another name for a law maker.
Gubernatorial: Connected to the position of a governor. E.g Gubernatorial election,
gubernatorial seat.
Senatorial: Connected to the position of a senator, e.g senatorial slot, senatorial elections.
Ministry: This is a government department, at the administrative level normally headed by a
minister.
Portfolio: This is a post; and responsibilities of a cabinet minister or other heads of a
government department.
Cabinet:A group of ministers or aids working with a president or a governor
Autocracy: This is a form of government in which unlimited power is held by a single individual.
The fundamental rights of the people are denied or not guaranteed. Another name for this
tyranny
Gavel: This is a wooden mallet, used by a judge in a court room or by the senate president,
speakers of houses of assembly during legislative proceedings.
Prerogation of Mercy: This is the power conferred on the president or governor of a state to
pardon offenders or prisoners.
Delimitation: This is a process of carving out of constituencies by the electoral commission.
Constituencies:These are districts carved out for the purpose of representations
Gerrymandery: This is carving out of constituencies in a dishonest or an unfair manner.
Defection: This is when one dumps one political party for another. This is synonymous to
Prorogue: This is to suspend or bring a parliamentary life to an end.
Confederalism: This is a loosed political arrangement.
Nationalism: This is an opposition to foreign rule and domination
Jingoism: This is an excessive love for one’s country and hatred for others.
Class/Work
Construct 15 sentences using any word from the above.
Week Four
CONTENT: Auxiliary ‘will’ and ‘would’
Auxiliary ‘will’: Shows simple futurity in the second person and third person singular and
plural.e.g
2nd person Singular Plural
You will You will
He, she, it, will They will
‘Will’ shows determination in the first person singular and plural e.g.
First person singular plural
I will We will
Auxiliary ‘would‘ expresses futurity from the stand point of some past time e.g… If I had a car, I
‘Would’ travel often is used to "Would" is used to express condition.
Vocabulary development Words associated with photography
Photography means writing or drawing with light. Therefore a camera picture is one drawn with
rays of light.
Relevant words
Dark room: Room with a dim-colored light cut off from all outside light. It is used for developing
photographs
Film: A medium used to capture images in a camera.
Blur: To make obscure or hazy or dim.
Pose: To take a fixed position for the sake of effect.
Hobby: Favourite pastime
Lens: Curved piece of glass that forms images as light passes through it.
Negative: Piece of plastic which shows the lights and shadows in reverse.
Studio: Work room of a photography
Weekend Assignment
Find out the meanings of the following words and use them in sentences: rewind crank, shutter
release button, view finder, color slides cine-camera, developing, printing, negative.
Week Five
Formal Letter
Another name for formal letters is Official letters. They are letters we write to people in their
official positions. Even when we know them personally, the rule demands that we still write them
impersonal or official letters.
Formal letter can be in form of applications for admission or employment requests for casual
leave by staff in offices, official queries and replies to them, letters to local government
Chairmen, Commissioners or Minister of Education requesting for changes in the school system
and other such topics.
Features of a Formal Letter
 1. Writer’s Address:
This should be written at the top right hand corner of the page like this:
God is King College
P.M.B. 1095,
Ute Owerre,
Delta State
15th July, 2002
.
2. Receiver’s Address
This is written on the line following the date on the left hand side of the page. Other names for
the receiver are the recipient, the addressee.
Example
The Director,
Adebisi Associated Enterprises,
P.M.B. 10016,
Akure,
Ondo State.

3. Salutation: The salutation is the greeting which comes after the receiver’s address:
There are some people who are greeted in special ways like this:
The Governor of a state: Your Excellency
An Ambassador: Your Excellency
A traditional ruler: Your Highness
A pastor: Dear Reverend
A judge: Your Lordship

4. Heading or Topic or Title

This comes directly after the salutation but not on the same line. E.g. Complaints about the lack
of facilities in my area.
5.Body of the letter: Here, you go straight to what the question states you should do. There
should be no room for exchange of pleasantries or personal matters, slangs, colloquialism,
abbreviations and contracted words like won’t, I’m, You know, Yea, Whats up, US, NAFDAC are
not are allowed.

6. Subscript: The most correct way of ending a formal letter is Yours faithfully, at the right hand
corner of the page immediately after the letter. It’s followed by the writer’s signature and full
names written under the signature:
Yours faithfully,
(Signature)
Isichei Favour
NOTE- Capital letter “Y” and small letter “f” while your signature
Assignment
Write a letter to the chairman of your local government complaining to him about the lack of
facilities in your area.
 Week Six
Consonant Sound /Ѳ/ and /ð/
Consonant sounds /t/ and /d/
1. /Ѳ/ voiceless Dental fricative: This sound is purely English. It’s made by placing the tip of
the tongue behind the upper front teeth. The sound has just one spelling.
‘Th’- think, thank, thin, thumb, tatch, anthem, author, path, oath, wealth, faith etc
● /ð/ Voiced Dental Fricative/ð/: The sound is made the same way the sound /Ѳ/ is
produced but for the condition of the glottis. /ð/ also has one spelling.
‘Th’—than, breath, wreathe, father, those, they etc
/Ѳ/ /ð/
Thank. Than
Think. Thin
Thin. The
Anthem. Father
Author. Gather
Path. Bath
/t/ Voiceless Alveolar Plosive /t/
Due to the buildup of air, the tongue suddenly gives way and the sound /t/ is produced.
Spelling variants and word examples are:
‘T’- two, ten, tremble, extract
‘Th’-Thomas, thyme, Thames
‘Tt’-attack, attention, attend, attract, matter, better, bottle.
‘D’- smashed, slapped, kicked, pushed, passed, gnashed, misses, scooped etc.
/d/ the difference in the production of /t/ and /d/ is that /t/ is aspirated as an initial sound while/d/
is not. The glottis is in the vibrating mode when /d/ is made.
Spelling variants and word examples are:
/d/ — do, den, expand, produce, bed etc.
/dd/- daddy, muddy, sudden, paddle, padding, ladder, middle.
Contrast
/t/ /d/
Slapped. Wanted
Kicked. Expected
Missed. Misled
Ten. Den
Two. Do
Latter. Ladder
Battle. Paddle

Structure: Participles; Present/Past

Content: Present Participle
Past Particle
Present Participle: This is the Present Perfect Tense. The present perfect tense is derived by
adding either singular verb
has/have while ‘have’ is used for plural verb.E.g. He has done it.
They have ground the pepper.
We have the song.
The Past Perfect Tense: This is derived by adding ‘had’ to word like has/have are used for
present verb
e.g.
1. He had done the work before I came in.
2. They had ground the pepper.
3. We had learnt the song before we sang it.
Class/Work: learnt, flown, sung, rung-
Use each of the participles in four sentences.
Week Seven
Auxiliary 'Shall' and 'Should'
Content: Aux. ‘Shall’
Aux. ‘should’
1.’Shall’- Shall shows simple futurity in the first period singular and plural
2. ‘Shall’- Shows determination in the second and third persons, singular and plural.

Person. Singular. Plural

2nd. You shall. You shall
3rd. He/she/it shall. They shall

E.g. Youshall love your neighbours as yourself.

1. ‘Should’—it expresses futurity from the standpoint of some past time.
I should eat the food if given. (Here should is future) a condition.
2. ‘Should’– it expresses obligation and
logical necessity (In this sense, it has the same sense as ‘ought to’)
We should eat the food since it is safe.
Class/Work: Make five sentences each with ‘shall’ and ‘should’.
Reading Assignme
Essay Writing: Descriptive
A description Essay is the one that requires you to write a description of, for example, an object,
a person, an animal, an incident or a scene. You should have a picture in your mind of what to
describe. The clearer the picture, the better your description. Ensure that your presentation
follows a logical order. It is a poor planning to jump forwards and backwards in such an essay.
Assignment: Write a descriptive essay on ‘The Evil of Peer Pressure’.
Vocabulary development
Editorial: This is an article giving the opinion of its editors on a given topic or current.
Book pirate: This is a person who reproduces another person’s work without permission.
Copyright: This is the exclusive right to sell or control a book.
Royalty: This is the percentage of money paid to an owner of a copyright or book.
Imprint: The printer or publisher’s name, with the date and place of publication.
Cartoon: This is a sketch or drawing that shows events or people in an amusing way.
Column: This is an arrow division of a page reading from top to bottom, kept separate by lines
or blank spaces. This is also a recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece by
an author.
Obituary: A brief notice of a person’s death, as published in the newspaper
Corrigendum: This is an error that is to be corrected in a printed work after publication. It is a list
of errors in a printed work as a separate page of corrected, known as an errata page. The plural
form of corrigendum is corrigenda.
Vocabulary: Marketing department
Broadcast: This is a transmission of a radio or television programme aired to be received by
anyone with a receiver. This is the transmission of message or signal via radio waves or
electronic means.
Broadcasters: This is a person whose job is to broadcast Freelance Journalist/Broadcaster: This
is broadcaster or journalist who sells his services to employer without a long term contract.
Reportage: This is a reported of news. This is also news or information of general interest which
has been reported.
Slander: This is a false, malicious statement [spoken or published], especially one which is
injurious to a person’s reputation. This is synonymous to
defamation of character.
Libel: This is a pictorial or a written statement which unjustly seeks to damage someone’s
reputation. The difference between libel and slander is that libel is written while slander is
spoken. However, both have are the same meaning.
Mast head: The title which is [normally in a large and distinctive font] of a newspaper at the top
of the front page
Dateline: This is a line at the beginning of a newspaper stating the date and place of origin.
Manuscript: This is a book, composition or any other document written by hand or even printed,
submitted as original for [copy-editing and] reproductive publication.
Editor: This is a person who edits or makes changes to documents. An editor edits stories and
news items and he decides which stories/articles/news to publish.
Correspondent: This is a journalist who sends reports to his newspaper or radio or television
station from a distant or overseas location.
Caricature: This a pictorial representation of someone in which distinguishing features are
distorted or exaggerated for comic effects. This is to represent someone in an exaggerated or
distorted manner.
Cartoonist: This is a person who creates cartoon or strip cartoons.
Advertorial: This is an advertisement written in form of an objective editorial, presented in a
printed publication, and usually designed to look like a legitimate and independent news/article.
Plagiarism: This is an act of copying another person’s work, ideas, text or other creative work,
and presenting it as one’s own, especially without permission.
Proof read: This is to check a written text for errors in spelling and grammar.
Offset: Printing method in which ink is carried from a metal plate to a rubber blanket and from
there to the printing surface.
Assignment– piracy, vendor, royalty, sub editor, column, byline, articles, headlines, parody,
printing plate, headlines, censorship, NUJ, editor-in-chief, mass communication, print media,
electronic media, periodicals, communiqué, journalism, press release, news recap.
Look up the meanings of the above words.
Week Eight
Structure: Auxiliary ‘can’ /’could’
Content: Aux. ‘can’
Aux. ‘could’
1. ‘Can’ is used to:
Express permission: e.g. Awa can go if he likes. (Permission in the present and future)
Express possibility: e.g. That River can be bridged.
Express ability or capacity: John can lift that weight easily.
2. ‘Could’-
Awa could go if he likes. (Polite in the present and future)
Awa could go out whenever he liked, (permission in the past)
‘Could’ can be use to express ability or capacity: E.g John could run fast when he was young.
Class/Work: Use ‘can’ and could in SIX sentences specifying their usage.
Homophones
Homophones: Words that have exactly the same sound but different spelling and different
meanings.
E.g…
Maze. Maize
Mare. Mayor
Boy. Buoy
Flare. Flair
Pause. Purse
Pail. Pale

British and American spelling

British. American
Defense(verb) Defence
Programme. Program
Kilogramme. Kilogram
Colour. Color
Cancelled. Canceled
Labelled. Labeled
Simple Past Tense
Past Continuous, Past Perfect and
Past Perfect Continuous
Simple Past Tense: The regular verbs form there past by adding (Ed) to the simple form of verb,
while irregular verbs form their past tense in different ways e.g.
Ume worked. In farm yesterday (regular)
The boys talked to me this morning (regular)
We ate late last night (irregular)
Ada spoke to me on telephone (irregular)
Past Continuous Tense: This shows that an action was still continuing in the past. It is formed
by using a form of the past auxiliary ‘be’ and ‘ing’ e.g. was/were+ing
I was drinking.
We were drinking.
Past Perfect: This shows that an action was completed before another action in the past, or
completed before a definite time. The auxiliary used here is ‘had’.eg
(a) After he had drunk the water he thanked me.
(b) They had finished the work before the teacher arrived.
Past perfect continuous: e.g. I had been drinking.
We had been doing it.
They had been trying.
She had been working.
Paraphrase
This simply means an expression which is re-composed or re-stated in a shorter or clearer way.
It means a restatement of a text in different words, often to clarify meaning.
Assignment: Read the comprehensive passage and paraphrase it.
Week Nine
TYPES OF ESSAY
Narrative Essay: It rsequires you to relate an event or incident as an eye witness would. It’s the
art of storytelling. The use of past tense(s) is central to a narrative essay since an account of the
past occurrence is meant to be given.
Descriptive Essay: It requires you to write a description of, for example an object, a person, an
animal, an incident or a scene e.g. describe a rainy day you will live to remember.
Expository Essay: It requires you to explain a thing or process fully. Usually, it requires the
writer to compare and contrast, discuss causes and effects of something or define something
thoroughly. Examples of an expository essay topics are: Wild Animals in their Natural
Environments, articles, or The Rising Cost of Living in Nigeria, How Christmas festival is
celebrated in my Village Yearly, The Roles of the Judiciary in the National Development, Nigeria
and its people, Road accidents in Nigeria, etc.
Argumentative Essay: It requires you to present a subject view to persuading your reader to
agree with your own point of view against another one e.g. Pipe-borne Water is more useful to
the People than Electricity.
Assignment
Write an essay presenting your points ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic ‘ Day Students Perform Better
than Boarding Students in Examination.
Content: Simple Future, Future Continuous
Simple Future Tense: It makes use of the modal auxiliary verbs ‘shall’ and ‘will’.
I shall travel soon.
You see the manager when he arrives.
It also makes use of the form ‘be going’ and to infinitive.
James is going to succeed.
It’s going to rain today.
We are going to defeat them.
It makes use of simple present and an expression indicating the future
The bus leaves tomorrow.
The plane arrives tonight.
Future progressive (continuous): It uses the present progressive and an expression indicating
the future.
Adamu is leaving tomorrow.
We are taking the examination next week.
Class/Work: Use the simple future and future continuous tenses to make a sentence.
Week 10
Syllables
A syllable represent a unit of pronunciation which is uttered with one breath effort.
Examples
Words with one syllable: go, come, take and see.
Words with two syllables: ad/mit, ba/by, a/bove
Words with three syllables: beau/ti/ful, car/pen/ ter.
Words with four syllables:phi/lo/so/phy, in/for/ma/tion.
In every word in English which has two or more syllables, one of the syllables is
pronounced with more force or energy than the others. That syllable is louder and
longer and is said with a higher pitch of voice than others, such a syllable is said to
be stressed,e.g teacher /ti: t/ʃ∂/ has two syllables.
The force used in pronouncing the first syllables is stronger than the second syllable. In other
words, the first syllable is stressed while the second is unstressed,
Assignment
Divide the following words into syllables: Education, examination, ignorance, emblem, morale,
photography, information, afternoon, distribution, composition.
Speech Work: Introduction to Stress
Definition, Word Stress on Syllables.
English words have a fixed stress pattern, so it is very important to take note of this when
looking up the pronunciation of a word. It is difficult to predict the stress pattern of English words
by the use of rules because such rules are often broken
when made. The safest thing is to study the stress pattern of English words.
Some Guiding Rules
:
1. Stress the second syllable from the end of the word which ends in the following:
st
-‘ic’, ‘-ial’ ‘er’ ,’ow’ ere, ege, ‘ure’, ‘ation’ ‘or’, ‘1
’, ‘ade’ ‘ish’, eous, ‘ious, ‘sto’, ‘da’ ture
E.g. draMatic, inferior, colonial, coMEdian, paraSItic, enterTAINMent, insuFFIcient,
confedeRAtion, supreTENdent, eXperimenTAtion
2. Stress the third syllable from the end of a word which ends in the following:
“-ify’, ‘ity’, ‘ate’, -al, ‘ive’, “-lly’, ute, ‘ty’, ‘cal’ itude, ‘cle’, ‘ous’, ‘y’, ‘ize’, ise ‘ment’, ‘le’, ‘ness’,
‘able’, bly, ‘ony’, ‘ism’
Article, Management,PARticle, Nobody, Miracle, inferiOrity
3. Stress the first syllable from the end of a word which ends in the following:
-“stand”, -‘xert’, ‘duce’, ‘ployed’, ‘tain’, ‘noon’, ‘ree’, ‘-rade’, -‘bey’, “plete”,”pose”, ‘come’, ‘rette’,
‘ese’, ‘sine’,
underSTAND, interRUPT, refeREE, enterTAIN, JapaNESE, magaZINE.