Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes

UNIT ONE

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

INTRODUCTION
Communication is the process of transmitting or receiving information. In our everyday
lives, we are constantly giving out information or receiving same. This activity that is so
universal to all living things is known simply as communication. In this very first unit of
our course, we shall learn the purposes of communication, its types, and how we
communicate and even the constraints of communication.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
 State why we communicate
 Explain how we communicate
 State the constraints of communication

Why we communicate
Let us begin our discussion with a question. Why is it important for us to
communicate at all? Communication, as I have already mentioned is a process of
giving out information and receiving information. There are three (3) basic reasons
why we communicate
1. To initiate some action
(a) This is done by either expressing needs and requirements
or (b) By persuading & motivating others.

Expressing needs and requirements may be done through briefings, instructions,

procedures and manuals while persuasion and motivation is in the domain of
salesmanship. Since every salesman aims at persuading and motivating his
customer to buy the product(s) of his firm or company, his success depends largely
on his powers or skills of persuasion and motivation.

2. To impart information, ideas, opinions, attitudes, biases, beliefs or feelings / emotions

(i) Persuading others to appreciate, and be convinced and probably share your
viewpoint.

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You might for example give people information either through the print or electronic
media on your views on how tertiary education should or ought to be funded in this
country. Your aim is to encourage your audience to agree with you about its merits or
demerits.

(ii) Creating awareness by advertising your products or services or even requirements.

This is what all the advertisements in the print and electronic media do.

(iii) Creating understanding through the use of explanations and descriptions, summaries,
analyses, and illustrations. These are all ways of communicating information in a way that
enhances the perception and understanding of your audience on your subject or point of
view, or product or service.

(iv) Influencing others -- a person becomes influenced only after awareness has dawned
on him/her and after he/she has been persuaded to understand and become convinced by
your information. It is only then that he/she is predisposed to change his/her attitude or
behaviour. As a communicator it is important to know this.

3. To establish, acknowledge or maintain links or relations with

other people.
One of the most vital functions of communication is to establish, acknowledge and
maintain relations with other people. This may involve non-verbal communication such as
an exclamation, a nod, a smile, a hug, a wink or a wave of the hand at a person to. show
that you recognize him/her from others or from a previous encounter or acknowledging
his presence even if you have not met before. To maintain good relations or rapport, your
reactions in these situations should or ought to be spontaneous. However, in business or
formal situations or contexts, things are quite different. In such situations, social instincts
are restrained by time, by formalities of protocol and even by the setting. You cannot for
example at a formal banquet where your former classmate who is now a Head of State call
out his nickname "Kaduna Bull" as you used to. That would be against protocol. People
would think you are mad and you would be lucky to escape a visit from the psychiatrist.
But have you ever paused to ask yourself why we receive or accept information or
communication for that matter?

We are most likely to attend to and accept a message if it has credibility and congeniality.
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When a message is credible, it inspires trust and belief in the recipient and when it is
congenial; it appeals to the recipient's need for satisfaction or confirmation, and his desire
to avoid unpleasantness, difficulty or dissatisfaction.

Credibility stems from two main sources: perceived authority and perceived
intention. Perceived authority manifests itself when we tend to accept information
or opinions from someone who is seen to have the right or authority to give out such
information on the basis of his position or status in the establishment or organization
or on the basis of his prestige or reputation and/or on the basis of his knowledge,
skills, expertise or experience. If the registrar of a university, or a headmaster or
headmistress of a school causes an advertisement to be published in newspapers or
announces over the radio or TV, re-opening dates of the institution, we are most likely
to accept that information as authentic than when such an announcement or
publication comes from someone else. We believe the message by virtue of the status or
authority of the source/originator. Also if, we attend a particular hospital for medical
attention, we do so on the basis of the reputation of that hospital or the expertise or
knowledge of its medical staff.

Perceived intention on the other hand occurs when the information given out is
ambiguous to the extent that recipients of the information or message tend to read
different meanings into it. To avoid this and gain greater credibility, the source or
originator of the information ought to:

a. appear honest and straight forward. This is achieved by giving both sides of
the argument.
b. appear to be an objective and an unbiased expert and
c. appear to be acting against his/her own best interests.

Let me explain point (c) above. The principle of disinterestedness means having nothing
to gain; it does not mean lack of interest. When you appear disinterested in giving out
information, you are in fact protecting your interests by being objective.
Therefore the elements of perceived authority and perceived intention are important in
gaining credibility for your message or information.

Congeniality is a state of pleasantness when one's tastes are in agreement with

nature. By implication therefore, if things or people are congenial, then they are;

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(a) friendly, pleasant or agreeable and
(b) compatible. When things are compatible then they have similar
dispositions,
tastes or attitudes etc.

Therefore congeniality in communication implies the acceptability of the message based

on its appeal to values, attitudes, beliefs and expectations the receiver already holds
and/or finds attractive.

But congeniality in effect creates bias. This is so because the receiver has a vested
psychological interest in accepting a congenial message or source over an uncongenial
one. That is why the experience of being proved right or being confirmed in one's own
beliefs is such a psychologically satisfying or pleasing experience. That is also why we
tend to relish being talked to, or being recognized in a crowd by an important or
famous personality.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is simply the imparting or exchange of information, ideas or
feelings/emotions. There are basically two types:

 Verbal
 Non-verbal

Verbal communication is communication through words (in oral or written form) while
NonVerbal communication is communication without words: by body language or
graphics. By body language we refer to gestures and expressions such as nodding, smiling,
winking, shuffling and such other actions or inactions. Sometimes these actions or
inactions are open to different interpretations because of different cultures or cultural
backgrounds. Graphics is simply the use of illustrations/drawings as supplements to the
words. As you read this handbook, you would know how to classify each unit - whether it
is verbal or non-verbal.

HOW WE COMMUNICATE
Now that we know why we communicate, how do we go about doing this?

In this section we shall learn about the communication cycle, the levels of communication,

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and the potential problems in the communication process. By the end of this section you
should be able to:
 demonstrate your knowledge of the communication cycle by being able to draw it.
 recall the various levels of communication.
 appreciate the problems involved in the communication process.

Now, let us begin our discussion with the communication cycle. Effective communication
is a two-way process, a sort of `to and fro' motion. Perhaps it is best expressed as a cycle
where signals or messages are sent by the communicator and received by the other party
who `sends' back some form of confirmation that the `message' has been received and
understood. This process of sending back some form of communication is called
„feedback‟.

The-diagram below illustrates this process very clearly

MESSAGE

SENDER RECEIVER

FEEDBACK

This is like sending a letter or phone call or e-mail and receiving an acknowledgement
from the recipient. But the communication cycle can even be expressed in greater detail
in the following form.

SENDER'S ACTIONS IMPULSE TO

COMMUNICATE
ENCODING OF MESSAGE
RELAYING OF MESSAGE

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RECEIVER'S ACTIONS - DECODING OF

MESSAGE SENDING
FEEDBACK

There are therefore five steps in the communication process. Let me first of all explain the
sender‟s action:
THE IMPULSE TO COMMUNICATE
The first stage of communication is when the sender decides to communicate and what
message to communicate. You might for example,
(a) Conceive the idea that you need a house of your own. You might then ponder over it
for a while and finally decide on how to achieve your objective methodically or
(b) You might chance upon a thief in your room. Your immediate impulse is to blurt out
or shout for help or attack the thief or even open wide your mouth in
amazement. These actions are involuntary.
Ideally a message must first be conceived, reviewed and then transmitted. This
includes planning - very much like writing, editing and re-writing. Thus planning is
very essential to efficient and effective communication.

ENCODING OF MESSAGE
Encoding of message simply refers to the form in which a message is to be transmitted.
Both the sender and receiver must understand this form. It must also be in such a way
that the receiver can correctly interpret the message. Words, pictures, figures,
numbers and even gestures for example, turn the idea or opinion in your brain into a
message. This can then be transmitted in whatever form you choose - orally,
graphically or written etc. Encoding a message is also very much like a code in the sense
that the words or figures, gestures or graphics that we use are only symbols representing
our idea or ideas. For the receiver to understand our idea or message he must be able to
"break" the code. That is to say, he must be able to decipher or translate the message back
into the idea. If he does this successfully then communication has taken place since
both of you (the sender and the receiver) have shared meaning of the message.

However we must remember that symbols may not be universally understood. A symbol that
you understand and use may be ambiguous or subject to different interpretations by
some one of a different nationality, age, race, education, experience, religious belief or
inclination. The Twi word "Nana" for example refers to a chief or an important person, but in
Guyana in Jamaica it means "chamber pot".
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RELAYING THE MESSAGE

Relaying the message to the receiver is the sender's last activity. Once the idea has been
encoded as a message, then the sender has to choose which channel or medium he would
use to transmit that message. He can make a choice from an array of choices such as
 Visual communication – body language (gestrure, nods, winks), charts, maps,
graphics, films etc.)

The choice of the medium or media or channel of transmitting the message will
depend on several factors such as:
 The time required to prepare and transmit the message.
 The level of complexity of the message i.e. the channel of communication that will let it
be readily understood.
 The physical distance between the sender and receiver - how far are you from each
other?
This will affect the condition in which the message will be when it finally arrives.
 The cost involved - how much will it cost? Which channel will be cheaper, faster and
most reliable?
 The desire for confidentiality or conversely the dissemination of the message to as
many people as possible.
 The need for interaction – will „feedback‟ be immediate or delayed?

The notion of sensitivity - what effect will the message have on the receiver?
Will it anger him, please him, or incite him? What is the core objective of
your message?
 The emotional distance between sender and receiver - is it close, very close, distant
hence impersonal, cold or cool?

These and other factors you might have thought of by now are important in the choice of a
transmission channel or medium.

Let us now turn our attention to the activities of the receiver or recipient of the message.
The obvious first step in communication from the receiver's point of view is to decode the
message- to understand it for what it is. The receiver does this by;

 Grasping the meanings of the words or symbols used by the sender. If he does so, then

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he has the"key' to the message.
 Interpreting the message as one whole piece. This includes `reading in between the
lines' to decipher hidden meanings disguised in the form of flattery, sarcasm or
patronage. What a message 'says' may not necessarily be what it "means" so one must
seek to arrive at the kernel of the message.

The receiver's second and final task is to send feedback to the sender. A feedback is
simply an indicator that the message has been successfully received or has not been
received successfully, understood and interpreted.

A feedback may be one of the following. It may be:

POSITIVE in which case

Action is taken as requested whereby a letter, memo or note or a smile, a wink or a

thumbs – up or phone call or e-mail etc. is sent confirming receipt of message.

Or
NEGATIVE in which case
No action or wrong action is taken.

We have almost come to the end of this section. Noting is better than summarizing the
communication cycle with a more complex illustration as follows:

Channel

SENDER Coded MEDIUM Decoded RECEIVER

Information, Message E.g. Letter, Message Understanding
Ideas, report, phone of message and
attitudes meaning and /
desired or action ideas,
action Verbal Sense of attitudes
(Writen or words/ desired action
E.g. Postal system,
oral) – non- interpretatio
telecomnnunication
verbal n of
system, notice
(pictures, underlying
numbers, board, etc.
meaning
body
language)
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From the above diagram, we can observe that communication is cyclical- from the sender
to the receiver and then back to the sender. However it is useful to take into account
variations in the communication process at different levels of communication. These
levels are:

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Where communication is between two individuals (one-to-one communication) or
between one individual to a group (where there is a need to address a group as a whole
since they may adopt attitudes and behaviours different to those of their individual
members or between a group to an individual (where a message transmitted on behalf of
an organisation, institution or corporation may take on the authority of that organisation,
institution or corporation, say for example, in requesting a pay rise or in carrying out
disciplinary procedures.)Interpersonal communication is thus direct communication
between the source (sender) and the specific receiver(s) with a high potential for feedback
and interaction. The medium of interpersonal communication may be written, oral, visual,
non-verbal or any mix of them through channels such as face-to-face, phone calls or postal
systems or even notice boards and circulars.

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
This is communication with oneself. This may sound odd to you because you are the
sender and receiver of the massage at the same time. But if you want for example, to remind
yourself to do something the question of a medium or channel will still arise, the message
will still require decoding and you can even give yourself feedback by taking appropriate
action or simply registering in your mind the recognition of your own message. Take for
example a schedule or a list of things you ;plan doing next week. You can write down in
your desk diary or planner the following: Monday -Board Meeting at 10 am., Tuesday -
Give lecture on the importance of communication skills to Mining I Students at UMaT
Auditorium at 9am., Wednesday - Dinner Dance at Hilda Hotel, 10 pm etc. At the end of
each event or each day you would have completed the cycle for you would have been
sender and receiver.

IMPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
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In impersonal or mass communication, the message is directed to a large, diffuse
audience with no direct contact between source and receiver. Like interpersonal
communication, it can be oral, written, visual, graphic or simulated. Channels that are
most suitable for mass or impersonal communication include television, film, radio,
newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards etc. Through these, individuals and groups
that the source wishes to inform or persuade are vigorously targeted. In this level of
communication too, feedback is very important in order to gauge the effectiveness of the
message. Achieving this would be very difficult since there is no direct contact between
Source and Target Audience. However feedback can be solicited by using:

i. Response mechanisms such as coupon returns, write-in offers and phone-in offers,
etc.
ii. Customer suggested or query or complaint boxes, hotlines, departments or
sections.
iii. Interactive devices such as television polls, draws or promotions inviting immediate
feedback by phone or fax or e-mail or even over the Internet.

You can see from our discussion above that it is absolutely important to know the level
of communication one is using during communication.

By way of bringing this unit to an end, we shall now turn our attention to potential
problems we would encounter in communication.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS IN COMMUNICATION

In communication there are two major problems or breakdowns – distortion and noise.

DISTORTION
Distortion refers to the way in which the meaning of a message is lost in ` handling' or in
transmission. It largely occurs at the encoding and decoding stages where the exact or
precise intention of the sender is not transmitted accurately into language, so that the
`wrong' message is sent. It can also occur when the language used is either ambiguous or
unclear. In this regard, the receiver would not properly understand the message.

SOURCES OF DISTORTION
There are several of them even when both parties are trying to understand and make
themselves understood. The source could be dialectical (regional dialects of the same

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language - AsanteTwi, Fante and Akuapem Twi for example are variants or dialects of
Akan) or an incorrect or wrong use of a word or phrase, or even the use of jargon or
slang. Other sources include the use of unfamiliar and unexplained diagrams, pictures or
animations and the use of ambiguous language. In addition even different opinions and
attitudes, inattentiveness or uncooperativeness can be formidable barriers to
communication. Either party may simply decide deliberately to make meaning unclear
or by choosing to understand only what they want the message to say.

Now let us look at Noise as a problem in communication.

NOISE
Noise refers to distractions and interference in the environment in which
communication takes place thereby obstructing the process of communication by
affecting the accuracy, clarity or even the arrival of the message.
Like Distortion, Noise also has different sources. They may include;
i. Physical noise such as other people talking in the room, or around the phone
booth, passing traffic, the clatter of machinery or even the crying of babies or
barking of dogs. All these and many others can prevent a message from being
heard or heard clearly.
ii. Social noise. This is interference created by difference in the personality,
cultures, religion or outlook of the sender and recipient. It includes difficulties in
communication experienced by members of different social classes, old and
young, male and female, boss and subordinate, student and lecturer etc.

iii. Technical noise. Technical noise is a failure or a breakdown of the medium or

channel of communication while the message is being transmitted. For example, a
breakdown in a computer printer, a crackle on a phone line or even very bad
handwriting may prevent an effective exchange of information from taking place.

iv. Psychological noise. When you are emotionally charged either with
excitement or sorrow or with anger or fear or with prejudice or nervousness, the
transmission of your message is likely to effectively affect the meaning of your
message. For example, your message is likely to be clouded by this irrelevant show of
emotion or attitude and may reach the recipient in a distorted version. This is
psychological noise.

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A solution to the problem of noise is redundancy. Redundancy simply means using more
than one channel of communication so that if a message fails to get through by one medium
or channel, it might succeed by another. The alternative channel thus serves as a back up.
A discussion in the office can be backed-up later by a phone call or a decision on when to
hold a meeting can be followed up by issuing a circular.

Besides Distortion and Noise there are other barriers to effective communication such
as differences in personality, cultural differences and even differences in language.
Let me explain them.

PERSONAL DIFFERENCES
There are many factors in an individual's personality, mentality, experience and
environment, which make him distinct from others. This uniqueness can be a big problem
in communication because these shape his attitudes and behaviour. He may be humble and
respectful or he may be brash and disrespectful. He may also have different interests or
perceptions. All these come into play during the process of communication and can
effectively be a barrier to communication.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Since we come from different cultural backgrounds our perceptions and attitudes vary.
What may be considered polite in one culture may be classified as rude in another. What may
be considered a taboo in one culture may be seen as perfectly normal in another. All these
negatively affect the communication process.

Language itself becomes a formidable barrier to effective communication when

people from different countries or even regions try to communicate. In Ghana for
instance, our many languages, dialects and even idiolects create numerous problems
when we meet. Even though English is our national language, not all of us are at
home with it. Other potential problems in the communication process are:
 Lack of credibility due to poor preparation and presentation (packaging) of the
message.
 Poor listening and / or reading skills, inattention, loss of concentration, or passive
uncritical reception.
 Perceptual bias or selectively - where the recipient decides to hear only what he
wants to hear.
 Not communicating- deciding to keep quiet at certain times. These so called

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`tactful' or `thoughtful' silences are open'to several misinterpretations. Sending the
`wrong' message - one that is meaningless or irrelevant or unsuitable for the purpose.
 Over loading - giving the recipient more than what he can digest in the time available.
 Non-verbal signals such as gestures, facial expressions, appearance, posture or poise
contradicting the verbal message thereby confusing the recipient.
 Failure to seek or offer feedback or even ignoring the feedback given.
 Choosing an unsuitable channel or medium of communication etc.

UNIT TWO

LISTENING SKILLS

How will you improve your listening skills? Listening is an active process not a passive
one. According to Larry L. Baker in his book Listening Behaviour, 70-75% of a person's
waking day is spent in communication of which 42% is listening, 32%is talking, 15% is
reading and 11 % is writing.

Listening is therefore very important. It is also a quick and direct source of information

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that gives you the opportunity to use the speaker's tone of voice to interpret underlying
messages. It is also interactive and flexible as it encourages an understanding of other
people's feelings and points of view. Through this, relationships are built. There are
several ways of improving your listening skills some of which are

 Readiness and interest- be ready and interested in the information.

 Patience - be patient by holding yourself back from interrupting when you disagree
with someone. Don't compete to get your viewpoint in before the previous speaker
has properly finished. Rather, wait until a suitable opening is offered. If you are not
patient, you will be so preoccupied with what you are going to respond that you will
forget to listen to what is being said.
 Open-mindedness - keep an open mind by not jumping to conclusions. This does not
mean accepting everything blindly. You will have to use your critical faculties.
 Concentration - it is important to concentrate otherwise you will get sidetracked by
irrelevancies. Therefore be well focused and receptive.
 Encouragement - encourage the speaker and your own understanding by sending
feedback signals particularly during pauses by nodding or murmuring agreement.
Ask questions referring to the speaker's words in a way that demonstrates your
interpretation of them, (For example "You said earlier that..." "You implied that...") the
speaker can then correct you if you have missed or misinterpreted something. Even
reading details back to the speaker is advisable when taking telephone messages.
You can even use non-verbal cues such as gestures and tone of voice where
applicable.

UNIT THREE
NOTE TAKING

Definition of Note
A note can be considered-as a record of the knowledge or information we acquired,
and it helps us to get back to the knowledge or information at a later time when we
require it. For instance, in your Education or Science lesson, you write down
important issues mentioned by your teacher so that any time you need that
information, especially during examinations, you can refer to the note for revision.

Note-taking and Note Making Compared

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We can differentiate between note-taking and note-making even though both are very
closely related. Let us look at them

Note-taking refers to the faithful recording or writing down what one hears either
during a lecture or during an interview. To do this, one needs to pay attention
closely to the speaker so as to write down the important issues mentioned. Of
course, the issues recorded as important vary from one person to another. In other
words the recorder determines what he should write down.

Note-making on the other hand, involves selecting relevant points and - recording
them. Such relevant points may be got from a note that has been taken from a
lecture or from a page one has read. For instance, after recording a note on a lecture,
you may decide to read relevant information from some other important sources. Then,
you may now put the information you got from the lecture and the one from the book
together. When you sit down to write this, one can say you are making notes.

Both note-taking and note-making involve planning. However, note-making involves

more planning than note-taking. Why do you think this is so? It is because when you
are taking notes from a lecture, for instance, you have very little time to think of
planning. The lecturer may talk at a rate at which you may not be able to plan. But
when you are making notes, you do so in a very relaxed atmosphere, so you plan what to
write and the order in which you should write it for easy study and recollection . Note-
making also involves putting your own thoughts and observations together.

Both Note-taking and Note-making are active processes. If you cannot take notes, neither
can you make them. Would you say one involves more activity than the other? Some
scholars argue that Note-making is a more active process than Note-taking. Such
scholars say that note-making involves serious consciousness since one has to read,
think, analyse and select before making the note. What is your view? In fact, both Note-
taking and Note-making require that the individual should be active, conscious and
sharp minded.

Features of Good Notes

A good note should be one that presents ideas that reflect exactly what can be found at
the source, that is either from a book, lecture, etc. If the note fails to represent the source,

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then it is a false one. That is, it is irrelevant and therefore, unreliable.

Another feature of a good note is that it must be readable and understandable. If the
note is written, it is for a future use. It is referred to later and cannot be deciphered by
the writer, then its purpose cannot be realized. Therefore it is imperative that we write
notes that we can read and .understand at any time that we need to use them. Is it
necessary to write notes.
(a) Notes serve as a record of what we studied. Can you readily mention all the courses or
topics you have studied so far in the university? If you take your note book(s) you will see
them all. This is because the notes serve as a historical record of your studies.

(b) Notes are very important in our academic work since they serve as a source of
reference. The human mind is limited. It cannot store all the information that we
require for our academic work. We may forget some but when we write notes on what -

we-hear at lectures or read them we shall always remember them.

(c) Notes also serve as a summary of what we have studied or read. Usually notes are
not as long as the information we get during lectures or read from books. Notes are far
shorter. Therefore, without the notes, any time we require information on what we
studied, we need to re-read the books we had read or go back to our lecturers for the
same long, winding information. But if our notes are available, we can easily read them
for the information we need without going to the source.

(d) Notes also aid comprehension of information. As we shall soon study, we write notes
after we have understood them. Therefore, once we have notes on a lecture or book,
information is in a language we can easily understand.

(e) Notes help us identify useful information and realize the relationship that exists
among the pieces of information have gathered. In making notes we ensure that we
select only relevant issues. We also arrange these information under subheadings. By so
-doing we can tell the relationship existing among the points

Can you think of any other value that your notes have for you?

Summary
In this seesion we studied note-taking and note-makiing. We saw that both are active

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processes in wich the studetn triwes to record what he has learnt, that is either from a
lecture or from a book. We also saw that notes serve as a historical record of our studies.
Also, they are useful for us as a source of reference-when we need the information in
them. In addition notes help our comprehension. Finally, they summarize our
information for us so that we do not have to re-read very long, winding pieces of
information again and again. Finally, they help us to select-relevant issues and realize
the relationship among the issues.

Taking Notes During Lectures

In our everyday life, we hear a lot of things. These include the noise from vehicles,
animals, birds and sounds from human beings. We listen casually to some of these
sounds while we become very conscious of others. A lecture for instance, is one that we
need to listen to carefully. As a student, you cannot just decide to get a professor to
lecture you at any time you wish. There is a time schedule for you and the lecturer,
within which time you are expected to listen him as carefully as you can, for the
information that he plans to pass on to you. Some fresh students get into their
lecture theatres quite determined to listen and store the whole lecture in their brain. Is
this possible? Some other students plan to record the whole on tapes. Is this allowed?
This is allowed only when a special permission is sought from the lecturer. In most
cases, however, lectures are generally not recorded. Even when the recording is
permitted, the part of the lecture that voice carries is far less than what actually goes
on. Why do you think so? That is why it is necessary to be able to take notes from
lectures. In this session we shall study how to take such notes

Taking Notes from Lectures

Taking good lecture notes is a complex task that involves listening carefully to all
that the lecturer is saying, analyzing and grasping the overall structure of the
lecture, selecting the main ideas and distinguishing the important details of the
lecture. It also involves the writing of a set of items or notes which you can use at a
later time so as to bring the contents of the lecture back to mind. In writing notes from a
lecture, the following points should be noted:

The Type of lecture

At this stage, of your course, you are away of the fact that not all lectures have the same

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
aim. Some lectures are intended to present ideas in the form of a reasoned argument while
others offer various pieces of conflicting evidence and then draw a final conclusion. Thus,
the student should try to decide at the onset which type of lecture he is listening to. In
other words, the organization of the notes may depend on the lecturer's purpose .and
method of presentation. How do you determine this purpose? This can be done by
considering the nature of the topic of the lecture. For example, a lecture with the
topic; "The Fall of the Ancient Ghana Empire" tells us that the presentation is likely to
proceed from the issues that led to the demise of the empire. This will include an analysis
of the causes.

Apart from the topic, the lecturer himself may mention, in his introduction what he
intends to do. This may tell you how the lesson is likely to progress.

How Much to Write

There are no rules governing the volume of notes one should write during a lecture.
However, it is not advisable to write down every word the lecturer says. Why do you think
this is so? For one thing, some lecturers speak very fast and so you cannot write
everything they say. (Well, with shorthand some may be able to write the whole
lecture). Apart from that some lectures are full of repetitions. The same idea may
be explained or repeated in several other words, so if you write down everything, you
may just waste your time. Moreover, you will only fall hopelessly behind when you
attempt writing down everything. You will also be too busy scribbling to listen
carefully to the explanations that are being given by the lecturer. In fact, try not to record
the exact words of the lecturer at all, except when record the exact words of the lecturer at
all, except when recording definitions or quotations, or when the lecturer uses a phrase
that you consider to be particularly appropriate in a context.

Items to Consider
While the lecturer is speaking, you need to take not of two major items. These are the extra
linguistic items and the linguistic items.

Extra linguistic Items

The extra linguistic items refer

Extra Linguistic Items

The extra linguistic items-refer-to –things that the lecturer does apart from using

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
words. These include the lecturer's cues li k e -tone of voice, body language gestures _
and so on. For instance, a lecturer may raise the tone of his voice because he regards a
piece of information as very important. He may also, wear a frown for an unacceptable
response from a student or smile

when he is pleased with a comment he is making or one that is a contribution from

his students. Thus, such extra linguistic items are important in helping you to select
items that you want to write as notes. So, you see why it is not advisable to absent
yourself from lectures?

Linguistic Items
The Linguistic items refer to the use of words during the lecture. To begin with, you
need to take note of the key expressions of the lecturer. From time to time, he may
summarize parts of his lectures orally, or write these summaries on the chalkboard:
You must regard them as important and so note them.

There are also the use of signposts. These are statements which signal the beginning of a
lecture. For instance, the lecturer may begin with ; introductories like:
"Today we are going to look at …”
“During this lesson, I want us to consider….”
"In our lesson today, we shall study….”

Such introductory statements guide you to know what to expect in the lecture.

As the lecture progresses, the lecturer may use enumerators to guide you in taking notes.
These enumerators are either cardinal numbers like, one, two, three, four, etc or ordinals
like. first, second(ly) third(ly), etc. For example

"First, we shall discuss ..."

"Secondly, you will see that .

"Thirdly, one notes that ..."

These enumerators guide you in keeping pace with the lecturer. They also help you to
know the number of issues or points raised.

The lecturer may also use frames. These are statements which show the beginning and
ending of topics and sub-topics. For example:
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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
“Let's now look at ..."
"We shall now focus on ...
"Another way of looking ..."
“ Let‟s now turn to ….”
"In conclusion…”

You must also pay attention to foci. These are statements which highlight and emphasize
key points. Some examples are:

"It's important to note that ... "

"Let me emphasize..."
"One very important reason for ..."
"Remember that ..."

If a lecturer uses such foci, you must note that what he says is worth noting.

The lecturer may also use links. Links are utterances which join sections of the lecture
together. Some important ones are:
Thus, the solution to …
Nevertheless, one notes that…

Apart from the negative effects of ...

Other hand ...
Therefore ...
Consequently ...
However,-we-must-not forget that ... "

These are very important in guidiing you I n taking notes from a lecture.

Methods of Making Notes

Different methods of making notes are identified by scholars. These can be put into
two broad groups:
i. the diagrammatic notes
ii. the undiagrammatic notes

Diagrammatic Notes
The diagrammatic or formulaic notes are artistically patterned. The items in the notes
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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
are written in a particular order to aid understanding. Examples of these notes are the
outline and the spidergram.

The Outline
An outline is a skeketal pattern or plan of a text. In the next session we shall discuss the
outline in much detail.

Spider gram
The spidergram which is also referred to as nuclear notes is one that is similar to an
outline. One needs to identify the various divisions and subdivisions of the points
stated under them. The diagram is presented in the form of a tree, with the main point
at the centre. The divisions spread out with their sub-divisions. For example:

The undiagrammatic Notes

The undiagrammatic notes are those taken in block form or in prose form. They are
writeen with no fixed patterns as we may find in the outline for instance. Examples of
these notes include the quotation, paraphrase, summary and the headline.

The Quotation
The quotation has to do with faithfully recording exactly what has been written in a
book or source. For example:

Much of what we usually call „politeness' or „etiquette‟ in social gatherings consists of

disregarding aspects of behaviour that might otherwise lead to a 'loss of face'.
Episodes in an individual's past, or personal characteristic that might produce
embarrassment if mentioned, are not commented on or referred to.

That is a sort of protective device which each party involved employs in the
expectation that, in return, their own weaknesses will not be deliberately exposed
to general view" (Giddens 1989/1993: 93)

Here the author's style-and language are wholly-written down. As such capital
letters, spellings and punctuation marks of the author as well as his words and
phrases, clauses and sentences are maintained. Quotations arc useful only when
one understands them and can explain them clearly

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The Paraphrase
Closely related to the quotation is the paraphrase. This involves picking the ideas of an
author and writing them in your own words. For example: The above quotation can
be paraphrased as:

We lead unavoidably social lives since we depend on each other, but as far as possible
we try to lead our lives without losing our own face. However our face is a very fragile
thing which other people can very easily damage, so we lead our social lives
according to the Golden Rule ('do to others as you would like them to do to you!')
by looking after other people's faces in the hope that they will look after ours. In
other words, face is something -that other people give to us, that is why we have to be
so careful to give to them.

If the paraphras is briefly stated then it becomes a summary. We shall look at the
summary later.

THE OUTLINE
Definition of Outline
The outline is a lineal representation of ideas or facts as presented in a topic. It is a
formal, detailed statement of the content and structure of written or spoken
communication. We say it is formal because it is constructed according to specifically
laid - down rules. It is detailed because it contains all the significant or relevant ideas
of the communication. The purpose of an outline is to present at a glance ideas
contained in the communication and the way in which these ideas are related to one
another. For instance, all ideas of a-certain in-level of importance are placed in a certain
order while other ideas -of a different -level of importance are placed in a different
order. We shall soon see how this is done.

Construction of the Outline

To write an outline you first need to comprehened the communication so as to be able to
select all relevant and significant materials.

Grouping
The materials selected must be grouped. This implies that related items which are
sometimes scattered in communication should be brought together and given specific
headings or subheadings. That is, the information should be presented in the order in

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
which they have been arranged in the origianl communication.

Labeling Divisions
A good outline is writeen in such a way that the topic, the major divisions and further
sub-divisions can be seen at a glance. This involves an orderly system of numbering
headings and sub-heading, and the indentation of sub-divisions.

In terms of labeling the following can be used.

I II III IV V ….
Used for major points
A B C D E… Z

Used for sub-divisions

1 2 3 4 5 ... Or
i ii iii iv v Minor points

a b c d e ..... z

One type of label is used for points of the same importance.

Layout of the Outline

Related the labeling is indentation. A good outline is written in such a way that the
topic, the major divisions and further sub-divisions can be seen at a glance, since each
group is set further on the page than the main headings.

Topic / Heading
I First main point
A Fist sub-division of main point I
1. First further division of subdivision A
2. Second further division of sub-division A
B Second sub-division of main points
1. Fist further division of sub-division of sub-division B
2. Second further division of sub-division of B

II Second main point

A First sub-division of main point II
1. Fist further division of sub-division of A
2. Second further division of sub-division A

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
B Second sub-division of main point II
1. Fist further division of sub-division of B
2. Second further division of sub-division B

III Third main point

A First sub-division of main point III
1. Fist further division of sub-division of A
2. Second further division of sub-division A
B Second sub-division of main point III

Power is the heart of political system. According to Max Weber, power is the ability to
exercise one's will over others. To put it another way, if one party in a relationship can
control the behaviour of the other, that individual or group is exercising power. Power
relations can involve large organizations, small groups or even people in an intimate
association. Blood and Wolfe (1960) devised the concept of material power to describe
the manner in which decision making is distributed within families.

There are three basic sources of power , within any political system - force, influence
and authority. Force is the actual or threatened use of coercion to impose one's will on
others. When leaders imprison or even execute political dissidents, they are applying
force: so, too are terrorists when they seize an embassy or assassinate a political leader.
Influence on the other hand refers to the exercise of power through a process of
persuasion. A citizen may change his or her position on regarding a Supreme Court
nominee because of a newspaper editorial, the expert testimony of a law school dean
before the Senate Judiciary committee, or starring speech at a political rally by a
political activist. In each case a sociologist will view such efforts to persuade people as
examples of inf1uence.

The third source of power is authority. The term authority refers to power that has been
institutionalized and is recognized by the people over whom it is exercised. Sociologists
commonly use the term in connection with those who hold legitimate power through
elected or publicly acknowledge positions. It is important to stress that a person's
authority is limited by the constraints of a particular social position. Thus a referee has
the authority to decide whether a penalty should be awarded during a football match but
has no authority over the price of tickets to the match.

Max Weber (1970) developed a classification system regarding authority that has
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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
become one of the useful and frequently cited contributions of early sociology. He
identified three types of authority: traditional, legal-rational and charismatic. Weber did
not insist that only one type is accepted in a given society or organization. Rather, all
can be present but their relative importance will vary. Sociologists have found Weber's
typology valuable in understanding different manifestations of legitimate power within
a society.

In a political system based on traditional authority, legitimate power is conferred by

custom and accepted practice. The orders of one's superiors are felt to be legitimate
because "this is how things have always been done". For example a King or a Queen is
accepted as a ruler of a nation simply by virtue of inheriting the crown. The monarch
may be loved or hated, competent or destructive in terms of legitimacy, that does not
matter. For the traditional ruler, authority rest in custom and not in personal
characteristics, technical competence or even written law. Power made legitimate by law
is known as legal-rational authority. Leaders derive their legal-rational authority from
the written rules and regulations of political systems. For example, the authority of the
president of Ghana is legitimized by the constitution. Generally, societies that are based
on legal-rational authority, leaders are conceived of as having specific areas of
competence and authority. They are not viewed as having divine inspiration as are the
heads of certain societies with traditional forms of authority.

The term charismatic authority referrers to power made legitimate by a leader's

exceptional personal or emotional appeal to his or her followers. Charisma makes a
person lead and inspire without relying on a set of rules to traditions. Interestingly,
charismatic authority is derived more from beliefs of followers than are the actual
qualities of leaders.

Let us write an outline on the following passage.

Power
I. The notion of power
A. Ability to exercise one‟s will over others.

B. Power relations involve small groups, large organizations and families

II. Sources of power within a political system.

A. Force (1) It is the actual use of coercion to impose one‟s will over

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
others.

B. Influence (1) It is the exercise of power through persuasion.

C. Authority
1. This is power that has been institutionalzed and recognized by
the people over whom it is exercised.

2. Legitimate power is through elections or publicly acknowledge

positions.
3. It is limited by constraints of a particular social position.

III. Classification of authoritative power

A. Traditional authority
1. Legitimate power is confered by custom and accepted practice.
2. The orders of one‟s superiors are felt to be legitimate.

B. Legal-rational authority
1. This power made legitimate by law.
2. power is derived from written ruels and regulations of political
system.
3. Leaders are conceived of as having specific areas of
competence and authority.

IV. Charismatic authority

1. This is power made legitimate by a leader‟s exceptional
personal or emotional appeal to his/her followers.
2. A person leads without relying on a set of rules or regulations.
3. Power id derived from beliefs of followers.

Look closely at the outline again, and you will observe the following features
1. The outline includes all the main points in the passage.
2. It does not contain any ideas that are not in the passage.
3. The points in the outline do not necessarily correspond, sentence by sentence,
with the passage.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
4. The points are all expressed in the same grammatical form. That is noun prases,
prepositional prahres etc.
5. the points are all related to the topic either directly or indirectly.
6. The points are not expressed in complete sentences, but in phrases.
7. This is meant to save time. But, they may be written in senteces

With the above, you need to give yourself a lot of practice in writing the outline, and you
will find it very useful in your studies.

Uses of the Outline

An outline is useful in the organizing and planning process that should precede all forms
of writing composition and examination essays. Do you outline your essay before you
write them? Begin to do so and your essays will probaly be bettter organixed than they
are now.

The outline is also useful for takiing lecture notes, because it helps the studetn to
organize the ideas presented. If you want your lecture notes and notes you prepare from
other sources to present facts to you in an organixed way, then you need to use the
outline.

In addition to the above, the outline aids comprehension. While you outline reading
material, the major issues raised in the material come out clearly. This helps us to
understand what we read, and further helps us to remember what is read.

Moreover, since the outline provides a visual representation of the ideas and their
relationship within a communication, it serves as a useful kind of mnemoni device. The
information is presented in an order in which it can be easily memorized and easily
recalled at the time of need.

Yet another use of the outline is that it forces the user to become activley involved in
what he is listening to, or reading. This is because the construction of the outline
requires analysis and assimilation of information.

WHAT IS SUMMARY
Shakespeare states.
Since brevity is the soul of wit

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
And tediouness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.
He implies that it is better to be brief in your speech. It is a process familiar to everyone
of us, for we are summarizing one way or another everyday of our lives. For instance, we
are often asked to give an account of a book we have read or a film we have seen, or
what happened at our office yesterday. We do this in a few sentences, ralating only the
essential facts and leaving out much of what is less important. In brief, that is the art of
summarizing.

Essentials of Summary Writing

To make a good summary, especially when listening to a lecture or reading a book,
requires good understanding. You need to have a critical eye and a thoughtful
analytical mind. If you do not understand the lecture, or ,the book you are reading, it
will be difficult for you to summarize the information that is being given to you. Have-
you ever-tried-to interpret a language you do not know? How did you find the
experience? It is highly impossible. That is how it is if you do not understand
what you are required to summarize.

Another important issue in summarizing is to ensure that you follow the trend of the
information that is being passed on to you. As a beginner. (of course, you a re not
actually a beginner) you need a methodical approach to summarizing. It is
advisable to proceed by easy stages in the information flow to you. You must be. alert
enough_ to determine when there is a change in the direction of information flow.

If the speaker was talking about the causes of drug abuse for instance, and
changes to talk about the effects of drug abuse you must notice the change quickly
enough. That will help you to summarize the information in an
orderly manner.

Yet another important issue in summarizing is selection. Identifying the essential

pieces of information that should be included in your summary requires serious
concentration. It is necessary to consider the topic under discussion. Considering
the topic, you will note that all issues related to it become part of the summary.

Summarizing the Phrase or Clause

To write summary, one sometimes needs to express ideas that are stated in phrases or
clauses in single sentecnes. Look at these:
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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes

1. the policy was one that can not be put into practice.

The underlined group of words can be replaced with one word “impracticable”. Thus,
the sentences becomes :

The plicy was impracticable.

2. the board of Governors suspended proceedings and dispersed until the following
Friday.

The underlined words can be replaced with the single word, “adjourned” The sentence
then reads:

The Board of Governors adjourned until the following Friday.

Summarizing Sentences
The most important parts of a sentence are the subject and the finite verb. If the finite
verb requires an object then it must be supplied. Qualifying words and pharases may be
omitted, unless they form an essential part of the meaning of the sentence. Look at these
senteces.

The secretary, a very important member of the Manufacturers‟ Association, began

business with very little capital and extensive debts, owing to the upkeep of his estate.

The essential parts of the sentecne are underlined.

The important part of a complex sentence is the main clause, and this or some portion
of it must form part of the summarry. The dependent or subordinate clasues are
normally left out except those that limit some words in the main clause. Let us consider
the following.

If we finish our paper early, I will call on you tomorrow, and we can talk about the
research which you mentioned in your letter.

Summarising the Paragraph

A well constructed paragraph deals with only one main idea or topic. Therefore, if we

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
determine the topic of the paragraph or the topic sentence, -it will help us to
summarize the content of the paragraph. After the topic sentence is stated in a
paragraph, other sentences in the paragraph are inferences or conclusions that
are drawn from the topic. Normally illustrative or explanatory materials can be
omitted so that the content of the paragraph can be expressed in a single sentence.

Let us consider an example:

Passage A
Tidiness is one of the hallmarks of an efficient secretary. Her dress, her appearance, her
room, her desk and her work must all be tidy. Her shorthand notebook will be a model
of tidiness. Each day‟s work will be dated: there will be a margin down the left-hand side
for notes and each letter will be numbered, and each letter before it.

Far too many typists use their notebook as if it were a rough book. They take no pride in
its apprearance, no pride in orderly setting out, so that they cnnot easily turn up a
particular letter. The efficient secretary on the other hand realizes that her notebook
may be useful for reference in an emergency and will keep it methodically and itidily.

Can you summarise the above passage in one or two sentences? What is the central
idead of the passage?

It can be observed that the central idea of the paragraph is the secretary‟s shorthand
notebook. We can, therefore, summarize the paragraph as:

Passage B
A methodically and tidily kept shorthand notebook is one of the marks of an efficient
secretary, and has the advantage of being available as a source of reference, whereas a
badly kept notebook cannot be conveinently used for this purpose.

You will notice-from the above summary that we left-out examples and illustrations.

When making a summary of a lengthy passage that is not put in paragraphs, it is

necessary to mark the passage off into sections and identify the-topic sentences. When
these sentences are arranged in their right order, they provide a useful basis for the
summary.

Definition of Abbreviations
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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words. They save pace and time. They also
prevent unnecessary wordiness. For instance, B.C. is more concise and easier. than
before Christ, and A.M. more common and easier than in the morning. Most
abbreviations require periods or full stops after them.

If you are not sure of the form of a particular abbreviation, it is better to check it from a
dictionary.

Punctuations in Abbreviations
In using abbreviations, we use only one full-stop if the abrevation occurs at the end of a
sentece that would ordinarily take a full stop on its own.
Fro example:
i. They left at 9.00 P. M.
ii. I spoke to the M. D.
iii. We visited Washington D. C.
iv. The empire reached its peak around 100 B. C.

However, if an abbreviation occurs at the end of a sentence that ends with a question
mark or an exclamation mark, we use a full stop and the question mark or exclamation
sign. Look at these sentences:
i. Did John leave at 8.00 P. M. ?
ii. Has he returned from the U. K. ?
iii. Have you applied for the M. A. ?
iv. How we loved Washington D. C. !

Capitalization of Abbreviations
Usually we capitalize abbreviations of proper nouns. For instance we write,
Dr. Martings
Prof. Oppong-Mensah
P. O. Box 301
Gov. Maclean
Many abbreviations of orgaizations and government agencies are formed by using the
initail letters of the complete name. Such abbreviations, whether pronounced letter by
letter or as words, omit full-stops. For example
MBA, WHO, UNESCO, UNDP, AIDS

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
Such abbreviations are referred to as acronyms.
When abbreviating a person‟s first and middle names, leave space ater each initial.
Look at these:

J. D. Mills, W. H. Mahama, T. S. Eliot. Write your name using initials

The following abbreviations related to historical dates and times should be capitalized:
A. B. (Anno Domini|) “ in the year of our loard” since the birth of Christ we normally
place abbreviation before the date.
Fro example A. D. 60, A. D. 2004

B.C.E. (before the Common Era). This is equivalent to B.C., and is also placed after
the date. 1000 B. C. E., 400 B. C. E.

C. E. (Common Era). This is similar to A. D., but placed

after the date. Example 40 C. E. , 300 C. E.

A.M. (Ante Meridian), "before noon", placed after exact times as in 4.15 A.M., 6.05A.
M.

P. M. (Post Meridian), “after noon”. This is placed after exact times. Example
6.30P. M., 7.05 P. M.

Abbreviations of Titles of People

We use abbreviations for some personal titles. These invlude titles like Mr., Mrs., Ms.,
Sr., and Jr. which of the above is your title?

Titles that indicate profession and academic degrees are also abbreviated. Fro examples,
Kethleen Peterson, M. D.
Mensah Budu, Dr.
Henry Kellen, D. D. S.

Abbreviations of Units of Measure

We usually abbreviate units of measure used with numerals in technical or scienctific
writing but not in ordinary prose. Look at these.
Ft - foot
Gal - gallon

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
In - inch
Ib - pound
Mi - mile
Mph - miles per hour
Oz - ounce
Pt - pint
Qt - quart
Tbsp - tablespoon
Tsp - teaspoon
Yd - yard
of - degree fahrenheit
cg - centigram
cl - cnetiliter
cm - centimeter
g - gram (or gramme)
kg - kilogram
km - kilometer
l - liter
m - meter (metre)
mg - miligram
ml - mililiter
oc - degree celsius or entigrade

Persoanl Abbreviations
Apart from the standard abbreviations, there are also personal ones which. are written
for our convenience. Our notes are meant for us., In writing them e wish to be as brief as
possible and to write as fast as possible. We, therefore, occasionally' use some signs
or letters to represent certain words or sentences. This is regarded as a personal
abbreviation since your writing may not be understood by other people. For example,
some people write.

 a for that
 e for the
Wh For who, which, whom, whose etc.
Univ for university
Lec for lecture or lecturer

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes

These are not conventional and so cannot be used when we are writing documents that
we expect other people to read. We use them for our convenience. They are useful in
writing notes. Why do you think so? Yess, they aid our speed. They also help to save
space.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
UNIT FOUR

READING SKILLS
There is a common assumption that all kinds of reading materialas should be read in
similar ways. Do you think this is right? Is that the way you read all materials that you
come across?

In fact, experienced readers approach different reading materials differenly. That is why
Francis Bacon says:
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and
digested; that is, some books are to be read only and in parts; others to be read but not
curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some
books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others.

What Bacon is saying is that we should not pay equal attention to all kings of books or
reading materials; instead, we need more time for some written documents thatn
others. For instance, if you receive a letter from a friend, you may perhaps not read it as
closely as you may read your lecture notes. Why do you think this is so? It is probably
because of the purpose for which you are reading both materials. Thus, we need to adopt
different reading styles in response to different reading materials.

Considering the kinds of materials we read as mentioned above, we can identify three
major reading styles. These are skimming, scanning and close reading

Skimming
Skimming is a kind of fast or speed reading which involves reading quickly in order to
get the gist of a reading material or passage. It is sometimes done to locate a specific
section. By skimming, one does not pay attention to individual words, figures and
phrases, but rather seeks general information or ideas. For instance, if you want to skim
a chapter of a book you may quickly look at items like;

i The heading of the passage: This is to give you an idea about what the passage is
on.
ii the sub-topics. If there are any sub-topics, or sub-headings, they may throw
light on the information contained in various sections of the chapter or passage.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
iii Topic sentences: The topic sentences are sentences which contain the
controlling ideas of each paragrph. When you glance quickly through them, you
may get an idea about the message of the chapter.
iv Illustrations and diagrams: If there are any illustrations or diagrams they may
give you a hint about the information in the chapater.
v Highlighted words and expressions: There are words and expressions that have
been given some emphasis by the author and are written in italics, capitals or
underlined. A quick glance at them will give you some idea about what you are
about to read.

Let us skim through this passage.

Passage 3
My ten years in America had been happy and eventlfu, but at the same time they had
been so much easier if I could have devoted all my time to study. As things were,
however, I was always in need of money and had to work out ways and means of earning
my livelihood.

On one occasion I found a job in a soap factory. I had imagined that I would leave work
each day exuding the scent of roses or honey suckle but this was far from the case. It
turned out to be by far the filthiest and most unsavoury job that I ever had. All the
roting entraisl and lumps fat of animals were dumped by lorries into a yard. Armed with
a fork, I had to load as much as I could of this reeking and utterly repulsive cargo into a
whell barrow and then transport it, load after load, to the processing plant. At the end of
two weeks, I was almost fit to be tranformed into a bar of soap myself.

A doctor friend of mine advised me strongly to leave the job. If I did not, I would
certainly not complete my education in America.

Taking his advice, I began to look for other work. I decided to go to sea, and was lucky in
getting a job abroad the Shawnee, a ship ply between New York and Vera Cruz in
Mexico. The pay was reasonalyb good and we were alsways assured of three good meals
a day. On the other hand, there was always a most haunting feeling of loneliness, not
walked in the streets of Vera Cruz or in other foreign port; the thought struck me that
anybody could have set upon and killed me and nojbody would have missed me induly.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
I learned too, that to sleep under the stas in my native Africa was, in spite of the raiding
mosquitoes, a far happier prospect than sleeping out in cities of America. When I first
visited Philadelphia with a fellow student neither of us had any money for lodgings and,
as we had nowhere else to go, we walked back to the railway to pass the night there. We
had not reckoned with the ubiquitous American police. At about midnight we were
rudely shaken out of our dose and greeted by a firm but not unkind voice saying move
on, chums, you can‟t sleep here. Thereafter, I devised another plan. For a nickel I
bought a subway ticket and boarded a train plying between Harlem and Brooklyn. With
this ticket I travelled backwards and forwards on the train the whole night, getting what
sleep I would. It was, of course, a very disturbed night, for every time the subnway
reached its destination, I got out and changed coaches in case the guard became curious
about me being in the same coach for so long.

1. What is the jamor issue being discussed by the passage?

2. Why did the writer leave the soap factory?

Scanning
Scanning is a good method of speed-reading. It implies glancing speedily over a text to
locate spcific information. For instance, if you are interested in finding a name on a list,
or getting a specific answer to a question, or getting a figure from a passage. Scanning is
the method of reading to use.

Scanning operates on the following principles:

I the reader must have an idea about the item he is looking for
II the reader must focus on only one or two items at a time. It is not useful
scanning for several items at the same time;
III the information that the reader is looking for must be a short one. That is either
figures, words or expressions;
IV the reader does not need to read the whole passage. He may skim some parts,
skip others and pay attention to some parts.

Close Reading
Close reading is not a speed-reading method as we saw in skimming and scanning. As
the name implies, it is the kind of reading done when the reader‟s aim is to examine a
text carefully. It enables the reader to get the full meaning of the text. By so doing it
takes more time than skimming and scanning. Every aspect of the text including the

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
spelling and meaning of words, sentence structure, pucntuation and capitalization, as
well as everything that goes to give meaning to the text are carefully considered. At the
end, it is sometimes possible for the reader to remember parts of the passage, or all the
major issues raised in the passage for analysis.

Close reading is the technique a good student should adopt in reading reference books
and notes. Used this way, it enables the student to acquire certain useful vocabulary and
expressions that he /whe can use in connection with his subject.

Close reading can be considered in two forms depending on the reader‟s concentration
and memorization of facts in the text. These, are intensive and extensive reading.

Extensive Reading
Extensive Reading, as the term implies, refers to reading widely with the purpose of
getting infromation to enrich your personal knowledge. It is not scholarly to concentrate
on only your notes or just some partifular reference books. One needs to read journals
that give information that the individual needs. For instance, as a science student you
need some knowledge about Arts or on economics and of course, general knowledge
about the world around you. Without these, you may be narrow minded. The reading
that one does in order to get this knowledge is referred to as Extensive Reading.

You may note, however, that Extensive Reading does not involve as much concentration
as you read your notes for examinations. On the other hand, it is sometimes done in a
more serious manner than skimming and scanning. The concentration depends on the
kind of information and the interest you have in it. Let's read this text:

High blood pressure can cause many problems, such as heart diseases, kidney disease,
and stroke. Fat people are especially likely to have high blood pressure. Some signs of
high blood pressure arc: frequent headaches, pounding of the heart or shortness of
breath with mild exercise, weakness and dizziness, and occasional pain in the left
shoulder and chest.

All the above problems may also be caused by other diseases. Therefore, if a person
suspects he has high blood pressure, he should see a health worker and have his blood
pressure measured.

To prevent high blood pressure, one thing to do is to lose weight especially when you arc
University of Mines and Technology 38 Mrs. Cecilia Addei
Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
fat. Too much fat is unhealthy since it causes not only high blood pressure, heart disease
and stroke, but also gallstones, diabetes, arthritis in the legs and feet, and other
problems.

It is easy to reduce fat or lose weight. All you need to do is to avoid eating greasy, fatty or
oily foods. You must also avoid sugar or sweet foods. Then you must engage in gentle
daily exercise. In fact, you need to eat only half of what you now eat.

Another thing you can do to prevent high blood pressure is to eat food prepared with
very little or no salt.

Now,

1. What method of reading have you applied?

2. Why have you chosen that method?
3. Does the passage interest you?
4. What is interesting about the passage?

Well, you may be interested in the passage because it deals with a health problem that is
very common these days. Knowing about it will help you to protect yourself and help
other people around you to do the same.

Intensive Reading

Intensive reading is the close reading that is undertaken for academic or for professional
work. Intensive reading is the one we do for examination It, therefore, requires more
concentration than extensive reading because failure to note certain issues in the
reading is likely to create problems. For example, you are likely to answer your
examination questions wrongly.

Similarly, if a teacher does not read his information closely for teaching, he will end up
deceiving not only one student but all his students together with other people who will
be at the receiving end of the students.

READING FOR COMPREHENSION

Using Context to Get Meaning

The words that you recogl1lze when you listen or read can increase your comprehension
of what you have heard or read. Developing a good vocabulary can add to your ability to

University of Mines and Technology 39 Mrs. Cecilia Addei

Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
use and recognize words. Let us study some strategies that will help us to learn new
words.

When you come across an unfamiliar word in your reading, you may be able to
determine its meaning by examining the context. That is the words that are used
together with the unfamiliar word. In fact, the words that precede and follow the
unfamiliar word and the general meaning of the passage in which the word appears will
help you to get the meaning of the word.

These are the steps that you should follow:

1. Use the general sense of the passage along with your existing knowledge of what
is being described to infer the meaning.
2. Look for a synonym or re-stated definition of the unfamiliar word.
3. Look for examples in the passage that may help to determine the meaning of the
unfamiliar word.
4. See whether the unfamiliar world IS compared or contrasted with a familiar word
or idea. If it is, use that known idea to help you determine the meaning of the
unfamiliar word.

Now, let's read the following passage paying special attention to the words underlined.
For each of the underlined words write the meaning that you think the, word has in the
passage.

Farmers who live in arid areas have developed ingenious ways to provide water for their
crops. A simple method that they use is to leave half their land fallow or unplanted, each
year. That land accumulates moisture during the year and is suitable for growing crops
the next year. Farmers , who want to utilize all of their land use irrigation: that is, they
send water from lakes or wells to the crops through canals. These canals are lined with
fine materials so that, little water can pass though it. These two methods allow crops to
flourish in areas that would otherwise be barren.

Explain the underlined words as used in the passage.

GETTING MEANINGS FROM WORD PARTS

If you know the meaning of some common roots, prefixes and suffixes, you can often
use them to determine the meanings of some Latin and Greek roots. If you recognize a
root, the central or basic elements of a word, you can use this clue to figure out the
University of Mines and Technology 40 Mrs. Cecilia Addei
 Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
meaning of an unfamiliar word. For example, you may recognize the common roots, -
magn (which means "great", "grand" or "large") in the words magnificent, magnify,
magnitude, magnanimous. You can, therefore, use the meaning of the root to guess the
meaning of the word. Sometimes, the spelling of a root may change slightly when it is
combined with a prefix, a suffix or another root. Let's consider a few roots at this point.

latin Roots Meaning Examples

-ag- (-act) do, drive, lead agent, action
-am- (-amic-) love, friend amorous, amicable
-cent- hundred centimetre, century
-sol- alone isolate, solitude
-aqua- water aquarium, aquatic
-circ- circle circus, circulate
-equ- equal equidistant, equation
-seq- (-sec-) follow sequel, consecutive
-jur- (-jud-, -jus-
Law, justice Jury, judge, justify
)
-rupt- Break Abrupt, interrupt

Common Greek Roots

Root Meaning Examples

-cycl- circle bicycle, cyclone

-hydr- water hydraulic, hydroplane

-zo- animal zoology, protozoan

-hydr- water hydraulic, hydroplane

-iso- equal isosceles, isotope

-micro- small microbe, microscope

-morph- form amorphous, metamorphosis

-neo- new Neolithic, neophyte

-nom- divide astronomy, binomial

Prefixes and Suffixes

A prefix is a letter or a group of letters placed before a word or a root to create a

different word. A suffix is a letter or a group of letters placed at the end of a word or a
root to change its function and sometimes to change its meaning. The spelling of a root
word does not change when you add a prefix. The spelling may change however, ""hen
University of Mines and Technology 41 Mrs. Cecilia Addei
Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
you add a suffix. Two or more suffixes may be added to a base ,word to make another
word. For example, residentially is made up of reside, -ent-, -ial- and -ly.

If you know the meanings of several prefixes, suffixes, and roots, you can use this
knowledge to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. For example, if you know
that con means 'together'; that juncle means 'to join', and that -ion means 'state of, you
can guess the meaning of conjunction as 'the state of being joined together'.

A Passage for Comprehension

Now read the following passage and show your comprehension by answering the
questions based on it.

CAUSESOFWAR

There is a danger that we may be led into an artificial and over simplified explanation of
war. We can, for example, find this artificiality in the writings of those who treat war as
if it were a purely psychological problem. While maintaining that the essential
explanation of war lies in human aggressiveness, these writers seem often to have at the
back of their minds a very false idea of the facts that have to be explained. They write as
if they thought that since men are from birth quarrelsome, it is their own inner natures
that lead them to fight wars. Now the view implied here, that the men of different
nations would always fly at each other's throats unless they were restrained by some
higher authority, is certainly not true. It may he the case that men's own aggressive
natures lead them to be quarrelsome, but not to be quarrelsome with a selected group of
other nations, and certainly not to express that quarrelsomeness by the methods of
warfare.

The kind of argument that these writers use runs something like this: "we find the
behaviour of fighting amongst children and amongst animals. It is agreed that this
behaviour is instinctive" The fallacy of the argument lies in the fact that the one word
"fighting" is used for two different kinds of behaviour, and that any statement true of
one of these kinds of behaviour is not therefore necessarily true of the other. The
quarrelling of children and animals is not the same bchc1\iour as making war. Nothing
can stop us, if we wish to, from using the same word "fighting" for both, hut our decision
to use the same word for two things is not a proof that one of those things has the same
properties as the other. On the other hand, it is very likely to mislead the reader into
supposing that this has been proved since he may not notice the change of meaning.

There are many differences between the quarrelling behaviour of children or of different
individuals of the same species amongst animals on the one hand and war on the other.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
First, the aim of such quarrelling behaviour is generally although not quite universally
true; some fights between individuals of the same species do normally end in death of
one or the other antagonist although this is relatively rare. Secondly, the occasion of
such quarrelling behaviour is an emotional outbreak of anger and it eases when this
emotion passes. Thirdly, it is spontaneous behaviour of an individual or a small group of
individuals; it is not the organized behviour of a large mass of individuals acting as a
unified whole ...

A great deal of the debate that goes on as to the real cause of war is academic and
profitless, and it may be sufficiently disposed of by saying that there is no reason for
supposing that there is only one cause of war. On the contrary, it is only by considering
all the different kinds of causes (economic, sociological and psychological) that we can
hope to gain a true view why

wars take place.

(Straight Thinking in Wartime) Robert H. Thouless

Answer the following questions

1. What example of an over-simplified explanation of war does the writer deal with in
the first paragraph?
2. For what might human aggressiveness account, and for what will it not account,
according to the author?
3. Why, therefore, is it over-simplifying matters to say that "the essential explanation of
war lies in human aggressiveness"?
4. Explain in your own words upon what depends the fallacy of the argument of the
writers Professor Thouless is criticizing.
5. Of what point in the second paragraph is the third paragraph an elaboration?
6. Express in your own words the three respects in which the fighting of children differ
from
7. the fighting that takes place in war.
8. What reason does the author imply for his assertion that a great deal of the debate as
to the real cause of war is profitless?

DEVELOPING FASTER READING

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
VOCALIZATION, SUBVOCALIZATION AND POINTING

Vocalization and subvocalization are reading faults that refer to pronouncing words on
the lips or using a pointer to pick out words. They are the outward signs of reading
word-for -word. When you read word for word your reading will be very slow and this
makes understanding rather difficult.

Do you read that way? Some people do because they want to impress other people. That
is why is very common among children who wish to impress their parents or teaches.
You vocalize words in your reading only when your purpose is to give yourself some
training in pronunciation or when you are reading for other people to hear.

Fixation or Fixity Gaze

Fixation or fixity gaze comes close to sub vocalization. It is also a process of reading
word for word. Here you fix your eyes on a word at a time. It is entirely unnecessary to
fix each individual word with the eye because we read for meaning but not for words.
Fixation or fixity gaze is often the result of longstanding habit of reading aloud in class.
When we have passed the elementary stage, we read to encourage ourselves to read
silently and faster.

To be able to read faster, we should make a quick sweep of a line with our eyes by taking
in groups of words at a time. This is because ideas in a sentence arc organized in groups
of words. Look at the way the following text is grouped into meaningful segments.

The ability/ to select/ important points/ and to paraphrases/ is essential/ for effective
note-taking/. In many cases/ all you need/ to note down/ is the controlling idea/ in each
paragraph.

Thus, if we train ourselves to read a text by fixing our eyes on a group rather than the
single words, we are likely to read faster than our usual speed.

Regression

Regression is a reading habit which refers to the practice of reading and going back
immediately to read what we have already read. Sometimes we do this probably to get
the pronunciation of a difficult word right in our mind. It may also be because we have
failed to understand what we have read. What do you think causes this? It may be due to
inattention. If one has a divided attention, poor reading posture or is under some

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
psychological stress, regression may occur frequently and this slows our reading.

When you come across a word with a 'difficult' form, you should not stop but you should
carryon with your reading task. In a long text the word may recur. Even if it does not,
you can always look it up in a dictionary after the reading task is done.

Regression is however, permissible if you, do not understand what you are reading. For
it is better, in the long run to regress a few sentences, or even a paragraph to gain
understanding rather than read without understanding may force us to re-read a whole
chapter which is longer than re-reading a paragraph.

Faster Reading

We must note that faster reading is never an end in itself. It only makes it possible for us
to read as much as is expected of us. What's more important is for us to be able to adjust
our speed to the text we are reading. Reading at a constant speed is not a good habit
because not all texts are the same. Some texts are more difficult than others and some
contain more facts than others. Good readers vary their reading speed to suit the level of
difficulty of a text. If a text is easy to understand, we need to read it fast. On the other
hand, a difficult text should be read fairly slowly. This implies that even within the same
text, some portions may be read faster than others.

THE SQ3R METHOD (I) - SURVEYING A BOOK

THE SQ3R APPROACH

'SQ3R' is an abbreviation that can be interpreted as follow:

S Survey
Questio
Q
n
R Read
R Recall
R Review

It is a very useful method of approaching a passage such as a chapter of a book which

you will want to study or master.

Survey

The survey constitutes the first stage of the reading approach. This stage is like the
skimming process 'which we discussed earlier. The purpose is to find out whether the

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
book or a piece of material will be useful for your purpose before you begin to do a close
reading.

To survey a book you consider the following

Title

Author

Date of first publication and the present edition

Preface and introduction

Content page

Chapter headings and sub-headings

Index

The Title

The title of a book is the item that first strikes you about it. It gives you a hint about the
subject area of the book, that is whether science, economics, religion etc. It also gives a
hint on what is likely to be discussed. Consider the following titles.

1. The study of language

2. A course in oral English

Author(s)

Having studied the title of a book, it is necessary to look at the author(s) or editors. You
may probably be interested in the work of a particular author. Even if you know the title
of his book, it may happen that other writers have written using the same title.
Therefore, you must look at the author to be sure he is the one whose work you are
looking for. If you are not looking for any particular author you may consider authors
who are authorities in the subject area you are dealing with.

Date of First Publication and the Present Edition

The date of first publication and the present edition are important in your survey. It is
because you need to know how current the information is. If a book was first published
in 1930, and the edition you have found was published in 1938, then it is not likely that
the information is current. Probably there have been some new editions because 1938 is
a long time ago. You need to get the latest editions which are likely to contain very
current information.

University of Mines and Technology 46 Mrs. Cecilia Addei

Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
Preface and Introduction

The preface and introduction are very important in our survey. They normally give us
general information about the book. For instance they may mention the level the book is
written for. Thus, you may know whether the book is of your level.

Otherwise you may use a book that is either too low or too high for your course. It is the
habit of students to skip the preface and introduction. Is it also your habit? It is very
useful to skim through the preface and introduction because they ensure that you
understand the author's purpose for writing the book.

The Content Page

I hope you are already familiar with the content page of a book. What is normally stated
there? Yes, the chapter headings and subheadings. A good look at the chapter headings
and sub-headings will tell you whether the book will be useful. Probably you are
interested in a particular topic. The content will guide you to the topic.

Chapter, Headings and Subheadings

We have already discussed this under the content. The chapter headings and sub-
headings will give you a hint about the subject matter of every chapter or session.

Index

The index is at the end of a book. It consists of all the major terms used in the book
together with their page references or sub-heading number. Normally the terms are
arranged in alphabetical order. For example;

Away from 6.9

Axis 4.52

Bacillus 4-48

Back-formation 1.42

Looking at the index which acts as a guide to the type of note you might wish to make,
you can say that a poorly indexed book, or one with no index at all, requires better note-
taking than a well-indexed book.

THE SQ3R METHOD (II) – QUESTION, READ RECALL AND REVIEW

Stage 1- Question

Having surveyed a book or a reading material, the next thing to do is to question. By

this, you ask yourself what you expect to gain from the material. This will depend on
University of Mines and Technology 47 Mrs. Cecilia Addei
Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
your purpose for reading the material. In other words you begin by asking:

i. Why am reading the material or book?

ii. What are the particular issues that I am interested in?

lll. Are there any questions that I wish to answer by reading this material or book?

IV. Is the material worth reading.

Theses types of questions ensure that you approach the material with a purpose. Since
you have these questions which you need to answer, you first read the introductory and
concluding paragraphs of the materials.

Why do you think we need to do this? It is because the writer will state his purpose or
thesis in the introduction so that if we read it, we shall get some idea about what the
material will deal with. In the concluding paragraph, the writer is likely to summarize
his points. Therefore, if we read it we shall know in advance the important issues the
writer has dealt with. Consider the way your notes are written and see whether what we
are saying here is true.

If your purpose is to read the whole book, then you need to read the whole of the first
and last chapters of the book to help you decide whether the book is worth studying.

Stage 2 - Read

In the case of reading one chapter of a book, we will find it best to read it at least twice
at a fairly fast speed before we begin to study it in detail. This will enable us determine
the author's general stance for the chapter and also get some fundamental ideas about
each paragraph before we start serious reading. Some questions that we need to
consider while we do the initial reading are;

i. What are the arguments the author is putting across?

ii. What evidence does the author produce to back up his argument?
iii. Are there any contrary examples or argument we can think of?
iv. Is there any flaw or inconsistency in his arguments or proofs?

We also need to look at the diagrams and illustrations. The question we must ask here
is;

Obviously, he must have a purpose for these. Yet another thing to consider at this stage
University of Mines and Technology 48 Mrs. Cecilia Addei
Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
is to consider the author's case or ideas

1. Are they convincing?

11. Are there any alternative ideas which contrast his or support his in the
circumstance?

Ill. What are the probable outcomes of the author's theory?

iv. What are the probable outcomes of the alternatives you think of?

Answers to such questions will help you read and analyse the chapter or book.

You will observe from the discussion so far that at the beginning of the stage, your
purpose is to grasp what the author says and understand his argument. These will help
you to analyse and criticize the work after a more conscious reading.

The kind of reading style you must adopt next is close reading and particularly intensive
reading. This will enable you pay attention to every detail.

Stage 3 - Recall

The stage of recall is the one that follows the reading stage. The purpose of this stage is
to try to recollect the information you have read. Reading does not mean rote learning.
However, learning, we all know, is the ability to recall or remember what you have been
taught at any time that you need to. Thus, if you read and you cannot remember what
you've read, then no studies have taken place.

After reading, you must try remember what you have read. You may choose to do this at
regular intervals during the reading. That is, after reading a paragraph or two, you
probably close the book and ref1ect on what you have read. You may say it out or write
the information down so as to check whether it agrees with what has been read.

Stage 4 - Review

The review stage is the checking that follows the recall. Having attempted to remember
and jot down what you read, it becomes necessary to check on the amount of
information you have recollected correctly. You must now make a special note of
important items you could not recall. If possible you can build a mnemonics of the
information to help you recall it easily.

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
Now let us try applying the SQ3R method to the following passage.

Passage

The ideal classroom atmosphere allows for learner's questions. Where, after the end of a
lesson, no questions are asked the teacher should not be pleased with himself. In fact,
the exact opposite might be the case. Unfortunately, many a teacher-trainee gets scared
of learners' questions when the lesson has been poorly delivered, or that learners
challenge the teacher's authority through questions. In reality, however, questions are
asked sometimes when the lesson has succeeded brilliantly. Even when learners ask
questions because they are somehow confused, the teacher should endeavour to handle
the questions with skill. So, let us consider how one might handle some typical learners'
situations.

Quite often, learners ask questions on a point which the teacher has just finished
dealing with. The teacher feels frustrated and angry since he might fail to see how a
normal learner would fail to comprehend when he had just presented in a very clear and
simple language. He could do better no t to boil over. Rather, he might do one of two
things.

First, he might ask another questions in return. This might serve to probe why the
learner could have failed to get the point. A question asked from a learner who appears
to have failed to follow the teacher's point might enable that learner to reason out the
point on his own. It might also serve to draw out from the learner the kind of response
which could show what problems he actually has. A good question asked in response by
the teacher might also serve to show that the learner had been allowing his mind to go
on adventure while the lesson was in progress. This, done quite often, would serve to
warn the learners to be attentive whenever a lesson is on.

Second, rather than ask another question in response, the teacher might throw that
Learner's question to the class. He might do this for an important reason. Should most
of the others signify that they can tackle the question, this will reassure the teacher that
he has not failed as the nature of the learners' question might have suggested. Should
most of the others fail to signify their ability to answer it, however, the teacher should
accept that he has not presented the point as clearly as possible.

Should the teacher discover that the learners genuinely do not understand the concept
taught, he should restate the points in simpler, clearer language. He might use

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
illustrations, examples, analogies, etc in order to make himself clearly understood. This
is usually the stage at which changing his method would be in order. If, for instance, he
had utilized the lecture method earlier on, he might now like to try the discussion
method.

UNIT FIVE

SUBJECT AND VERB CONCORD

The term 'concord' or 'agreement' III grammar IS used to describe the relationship
between the inflectional forms of different elements within a sentence. For example,
pronouns agree with their head nouns or antecedents in terms of number, gender and

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Communiction Skill I Lecture Notes
person:

[Link] man came He came

[Link] woman came She came
[Link] man and the woman came They came

Speaker (singular) I

Speaker (plural) We

Listener (singular and plural) you

Topic (singular) He

Masculine He

Feminine She

Neuter It

Topic (plural) They

Verbs Agree With Their Subjects

Generally, verbs agree with their subjects 111 number and person. The grammatical rule
about subject and verb concord can be stated simply as: "A singular subject takes a
singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb". Put another way, we can say "a
singular verb agrees with a singular subject and a plural verb agrees with a plural
subject e.g.

4. The man dances

5. The men dance

Simple and clear as these rules are, there are areas of sentences construction in which
we encounter a lot of trouble with agreement. We will use the rest of the unit to examine
such trouble areas.

Singular subjects joined by the coordinator 'And'

When two or more singular subjects are joined together by "and", the plural form of the
verb is used.

6. She and her mother are away on holiday

7. "A fool and his money are soon parted"

8, He and I are old school mates

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9, Both the farmer and the fisherman are poor.

You may note three modifications of this general rule:

a, When each of the singular subjects is considered individually, the singular form of the
verb is required. This is normally the case if the singular subject is modified by the
determiners 'each' and 'every'.

10. Every junior worker and senior officer contributes to the growth of the company.
Each man and woman submits a good report.

b. When the two singular subjects refer to one and the same person or thing, the
singular verb is chosen.

1. Kofi and staff secretary (ie. Kofi, who is the staff secretary,) is leading the
delegation
2. Red and red is a good meal (i.e. fried plantain and bean stew is considered
as one)

c. Mathematical computations admit both singular and plural verbs.

1. One and one is two

2. one and one are two
3. Four times five is twenty
4. four times five are twenty
5. four squared is sixteen
6. four squared are sixteen

Singular Subjects Connected By 'Or', 'Nor', 'But'.

When two or more singular subjects are joined together by 'but', 'or', 'nor', a singular
verb is selected.

a. Fati or Evelyn is likely to go.

b. Not only the husband but also the wife needs advice.
c. Neither the student nor the teacher is blameless.
d. Not my uncle but my father has won a prize.
e. Neither Hearts nor Kotoko is likely to lose.
f. Either the pastor or the Catechist is invited.

The Rule of Proximity

When one of two subjects joined together by 'or', 'but', 'nor' is singular but the other,
plural, the verb agrees in number and person with the nearer one. This is what is
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referred to as proximity rule:

g. Either the girl or her parents are to blame.

h. Either the girl or the parent is to blame.
i.1. Kojo or I am to go.

J. You but not Kate is likely to be appointed

If in applying this rule, you find your construction awkward, recast your idea in form
that is correct, clear and natural. For instance instead of

k. Neither Allotey nor you areto pay for the lost book.

l. She or I am the more popular candidate.

m. You or Ama is the leading candidate.

You may recast the idea thus:

n. Allottey is not to pay the lost book nor are you.

o. Either she is or I am the more popular candidate.
p. You are or Ama is the leading candidate.

Singular Subjects Followed By Pseudo-Conjunctions

Expressions such as: as well as, in addition to, including, no less than, with,
together with etc are not true conjunctions; they, therefore cannot connect two singular
subjects to make them plural. Let us then state our fifth subject and verb concord rule
as:

A singular verb that is followed immediately by such expressions as: as well as, in
addition to, including, no less than, with, together with, along with, or a similar
construction requires a singular verb:

q. The teacher as well as the head teacher requires patience.

r. The minister together with his secretaries is expected back today.

s. The bricklayer no less than the plumber is to blamed for the shoddy work.
t. The house in addition to the furniture was destroyed by fire.
u. The chairman along with the secretary has been arrested.

Do you find these constructions illogical because more than one person or thing is
included in the subject noun phrase? Some people do, so they try to avoid the
construction altogether and write:

v. Both the teacher and the head teacher require patience.

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w. The minister and his secretaries are expected hack today.

x. Both the brick-layer and the plumber are to blame for the shoddy work.
y. The house and the furniture are destroyed by fire.

z. The chairman and the secretary have been arrested.

Plural Modification of Singular Subjects

Examine the following sentences carefully and draw a general rule of usage for them.

1. The bahaviour of these students is unfriendly.

2. The leader of the students is expected to address the staff.

3. One of the schools in the district is to be made a model institution.

You observe that the underlined part is a modifier of the noun which is the true subject
of the sentence. All the three heads "behaviour", "leader" and "one" are all singular
followed by plural modifiers. Can you now state the concord rule of usage here? "A
singular subject followed by a plural modifier takes a singular verb". Note, however, that
"a number of' and "the number of' behave differently. "A number of' takes a plural verb
as in:

4. A number of students have been promoted. (proximity rule)

5. A number of books are missing from the library.

But "the number of' takes a singular verb as in :

6. The number of stolen mobile phones is seventy-two.

7. The number of new students admitted has risen considerably.

Now state the reverse of this rule and compare your statement with this "A plural
subject followed by a singular modifier requires a plural verb"

8. Four panes in the window have been broken.

9. The twin daughters of my mother are identical. Write down one more examples.

Indefinite Pronouns

Write down as many indefinite pronouns as you can recall. They include:

Anybody is allowed to apply. Either of the answer is acceptable. Each of the books costs
a fortune.
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Nobody is permitted to skip classes these days.

Write down sample sentences with the rest of the indefinite pronouns. Note that the
indefinite pronouns "any" and "none" take plural verbs in casual usage.

a. Are any of the teachers present?

b. None of the candidates are allowed to enter the exam hall.

In the formal style, however, the singular verb is required:

c. Is any of the teachers present?

d. None of the candidates is allowed to enter the exam hall.

Concord in Relative Clauses

Can you give an example of a relative clause? Here are some examples underlined.

The man who is standing behind is Janet's father. The pupil that has been caned is still
crying.

The books which are on the table are new.

The relative pronouns in the sentences are who, that and which. Can you state the rule
regarding relative pronouns? Compare your answer with: "v\Then the subject is a
relative pronoun, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the pronoun"

In the sentences above, the antecedents are:

The man singular

The pupil singular

The hooks plural

Collective Nouns

Can you give examples of collective nouns? They include: army, flock, crowd, staff,
audience, team, family, committee, clergy, jury, government, etc.

The general rule is that a collective noun takes a singular verb when the class is
considered as a unit, and a plural verb when the members are considered as individuals.

(a) The class as a single unit:

The jury is expected to come out with its verdict soon. Our family is united on the issue.

The clergy is nowadays well paid.

(b) The class as individuals - plural. (This is called Notional Concord) The jury were
unable to agree on a verdict.

Our family have been arguing among themselves. The clergy are divided on the issue of
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the trinity.

To make the (b) part more acceptable to some writers, we may introduce the term
"members" and make the collective nouns modifiers.

The members of the jury were unable to agree on a verdict.

The members of our family have been arguing among themselves.

The members of the clergy are divided on the issue of the trinity.

Note that (a) and (b) sentences are acceptable alternatives. You may choose to adopt
one

Now choose any two other collective nouns to use to convey both singular and plural
meanings.

Plural Numbers Perceived as a Unit

Generally, plural numbers are followed by a singular verb when they are used to convey
the idea of a unit or sum:

Two thousand dollars is a lot of money. Is five years too long to wait?

Forty hours is the regular work week.

One hundred yards is less than one hundred metres.

Three million cedis is what she has invested.

Ten tons of cocoa has been brought into the port.

Singular Nouns in Plural Form

Let us begin with some examples:

a. News

No news is good news.

b. Names of some diseases: measles, mumps, rickets, etc.

Measles is quite infectious.

c. Subject names in - ics: classics, dynamics, ethics, economics, linguistics,

mathematics, physics, etc.

John is reading Economic, which IS a social science subject in the university

Note that "Statistics" may take a singular or plural verb depending upon the meaning.
For example:

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Statistics (as subject) is an interesting subject.

Statistics (meaning figures) on accidents are frightening

d. Games: billiards, darts, dominoes, ninepins, etc.

Dominoes is Mary‟s favourite game.

e. Proper nouns: Algiers, Athens, Flanders, Netherlands, Wales, etc.

Netherlands is in Europe

Nouns in the plural only

Nouns that occur in plural only include:

1. Cattle, people (plural of persons), police, etc. The Police are on the road to
check vehicle papers.
2. Tools, instruments and articles of dress in two equal parts joined together; e.g.
jeans, pants, shorts, trousers, tights. Jeans are fashionable among ladies these
days.
3. Binoculars, glasses, spectacles, pliers, scales, tongs, etc. These spectacles are
expensive.

4. Archives, arms, means, oaths, funds, outskirts, premises, stairs, thanks. Many
thanks are given for the drink. Arms are stolen into the prison.

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UNIT SIX

AMBIGUITY

A statement is said to be ambiguous when it is subject to different interpretations.

There are several factors that contribute to this and they are discussed into details
below.

COMMON SOURCES OF AMBIGUITY

PRONOUN REFERENCE

Sometimes there may be two nouns in the sentence but a pronoun which can refer to
both nouns is used in the statement. This can pose a problem of understanding since
the pronoun can refer to any of the nouns. Here are examples

a. Kwame asked his friend if he was invited.

b. John told his father he did not know what he was doing.

In the above examples, he can refer to any of the nouns. In example (a) the speaker is
not certain whether it was Kwame who was invited or his friend. To avoid this, we
can re-write the sentence as: Kwame wanted to know if his friend had invited him or
Kwame wanted to know from his friend if he had invited him. Example (b) can also
be re-written as: John complained to his father about not knowing what to do.

AMBIGUITY IN WORD ORDER

This is where the word which is modifying another word is not placed close to it but
close to another word. In this case, the modifier seems misplaced therefore
subjecting the statement to different interpretations. Here are examples:

a. An organ is being sold by a lady with carved legs.

b. The car stalled in the dark tunnel but I calmed the children by telling them the
story of the bear who will not speak until the engine started.
c. You can't catch butterflies resting on your bed.

In example (a), it is the piano which has the carved legs but not the lady so it should
be written as: A piano with carved legs is being sold by a lady. Try and identify the

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problems with example (b) and (c) and write them correctly.

UNCERTAIN MEANINGS OF WORDS OR PHRASES

a. The police are trying to stop drinking at football matches.

b. He had only one rotten tooth
c. Flying aeroplanes can be dangerous

In example a, the question is , is it the police themselves who are trying to stop
drinking or they are trying to stop people from drinking? The correct form should be:
The police are trying to stop people from drinking at football matches. Example two
should also read: Only one of his teeth is rotten, whilst example © should read:
Aeroplanes which are flying can be dangerous.

PARKING TOO MUCH MEANING INTO FEW WORDS

a. Adwoa likes me more than you.

b. I wish Kofi had come to me instead of Ama.
c. The little boy walked towards the man intending to kidnap him
d. People are going and coming.
e. Call me James.

It is clear that in the above examples the sentences are ambiguous because some
words are missing. Example a, can mean that Adwoa likes me more than she likes
you or Adwoa likes me more than you like me. The correct form can be Adwoa likes
me more than she does to you.

Try and solve the others yourselves.

MISRELATED CONSTRUCTION OR DANGLING MODIFIERS

What is misrelated construction?

There is something unacceptable about the sentences below:

1. On opening the door, Ama's gaze fell on the broken vase.

2. Like all adolescents, my grand father finds Kofi a curious person.

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3. I saw a monkey driving to Accra.

4. As a student of UMaT, the Vice-Chancellor would like you to tell him about
your study plans.
5. Broken down in the middle of the road, I had to call on a passerby to help push
my car to safety.
6. With a lot of money in his pocket, a disco was Kojo's target.

What do you find unacceptable with each sentence above? I admit you have found
some of the sentences either ambiguous or outright absurd in meaning.

English grammatical rules require that opening prepositional phrases or nonfinite

participial clauses as found in the sentences above, should generally relate to the first
noun, pronoun or noun equivalent that follows. Each of these constructions above
has contravened this rule and this has brought about a conflict between this
grammatical requirement and the meaning intended. Each opening construction,
except (3) is known as a "misrelated modifier" (or a "misrelated adjective / participle
or phrase")

Common Causes Of Misrelated Construction

Let look at three common causes of misrelated constructions.

1. Wrong word order: When elements of a sentence are wrongly ordered, the
result can be a misrelated construction. We have already stated the basic
English grammatical rule that "opening prepositional phrases or non-finite
participial clauses should generally relate to the first noun, pronoun or noun
equivalent that follows". In (3) above, the mis-relation is caused by wrong
word order. The non-finite participial clause "driving to Accra" is placed near
to the noun, "monkey". This makes monkey the doer of the action, "driving to
Accra". But the actual doer of the action is '1', not 'monkey'. By re-ordering the
words of the sentence, we now get the acceptable sentences.

2. Separating the modifier from its antecedent: In the sentences above, the
modifiers were separated from their antecedents. The antecedent of 'Like all
adolescent' is Kofi (2), and that of 'as a student of UMaT' is 'you' (4). When
modifiers are placed as close as possible to their antecedents, we avoid misrelated

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constructions and eliminate ambiguity.

3. Careless Choice of Subject: In examples (1), (5) and (6), we have instances of
careless choice of a subject - 'gaze' in (1), '1' in (5), and 'a disco' in (6). If the writer
is a little more careful, or has taken time to edit his work, these errors could be
avoided.

Exceptions

Certain grammatical constructions that qualify as misrelated constructions have

been accepted as notable exceptions. They include:

a. Absolute constructions, which have subjects of their own:

 "That said we can examine the next issue

 That being the case, you can go home.
 All things considered, Kojo has done very well.

b. Construction that function as "sentence adverbials" - that offer

comment on the main clause, or link it With other sentences.

 To be frank, Kofi is brilliant.

 Speaking frankly, Kofi is brilliant.
 Frankly speaking, Kofi is brilliant.
 Simply stated, Kofi is brilliant.
 To sum up, Kofi is brilliant.

c. Construction with participial clauses that function as prepositions or

conjunctions.

 Considering his age, my grand father is strong.

 According to my father, the earth-quake struck in 1939.
 There is always something to say regarding health.
 The police question the man concerning his sudden wealth.
 He missed his flight owing to a traffic hold-up.

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d. Other acceptable forms include: broadly speaking, strictly speaking, putting it

simply, taking every thing into account, coming down to details, assuming,
depending on, granting, granted etc.

UNIT SEVEN

WRITING SKILLS

The Simple Sentence

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A simple sentence is a sentence which is made up of only one clause. Here are
examples.

1. Kojo has gone to school.

2. Where are you going?
3. Do the right thing.
4. What a risk!
5. Kofi has eaten his food.
6. He loves his wife.

THE COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence is a sentence that is made up of a main clause or main clauses

and a subordinate clause or subordinate clauses. Here are some examples.

1. The thief was arrested as he was leaving the bank.

2. The man was arrested and sent to the police station where he pleaded guilty
3. The man who came here left a note, since he could not wait.
4. Though he studied well, he failed.
5. Although he has a lot of money, no woman wants to marry him.
6. Wherever she goes, people propose love to her.

All the above examples are complex sentences because they are made up of main
clauses and subordinate clauses. All the underlined clauses are main clauses. You
realise that some of the sentences have two main clauses and one subordinate clause.
It is also possible to have two or more subordinate clauses but is not advisable to do
that because it will make your sentence too long.

THE COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence is a sentence, which is made up of two or more main clauses.

The clauses are joined by co-ordinate conjunctions like 'and' 'or' and 'but'. Examples
are as follows:

1. He came here but he did not meet me.

2. He came and left money for me but I did not get it.
3. Joanna will go to school or travel abroad.
4. The man claims to be a Christian but he does not go to church.
5. She loves her husband but her husband does not love her.

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. It does not express a complete

thought. Sentence fragments can be used in informal conversation but it is wrong to
use them in writing. Let us see this conversation.

Ama: Where‟s Kweku?

Ato: In the garden.

What Ato says is not a sentence but a sentence fragment but Ama can understand it
because he knows it is Kweku who is in the garden. However, if we use such

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fragments in our writings, we do not express complete thoughts. This is because in a

fragment, either the subject or the verb or sometimes all of them are missing. In the
example above, we see that both the subject and the verb are missing otherwise the
sentence should have been "Kweku is in the garden."

CAUSES OF FRAGMENTS

Fragments usually result form incomplete thought and incorrect punctuation.

FRAGMENTS RESULTING FROM INCOMPLETE THOUGHTS

Sentence fragments in writing always result from carelessness. The writer writes a
piece of idea without finishing it. Then he or she races on to the next idea. May be the
writer's pen isn't keeping up with the steam of ideas. Eg The leaders of the two
nations. A summit conference in Paris. Discussing nuclear weapons.

The writer intended these complete thoughts.

The leaders of the two nations met yesterday. They held a summit conference in Paris
and discussed nuclear weapons.

You can see that the group of fragment is confusing but the group of complete
thoughts is much clearer.

FRAGMENT RESULTING FROM INCORRECT PUNCTUATION

A sentence ends with punctuation. That is a period, a question mark or an

exclamation mark. A new sentence begins with a capital letter. Sometimes, a writer
uses an end mark and a capital letter when he/she has not finished writing a
sentence. Here are some examples:

Fragment: Ushers at each show. Handed out programmes.

Sentence: Ushers at each show handed out programmes.

Fragment: By the final quarter of the game. Yaw had recovered from his injury.

Sentence: By the final quarter of the game, yaw had recovered from his injury.

Fragment: The dance floor was crowded. With young couples.

Sentence: The dance floor was crowded with young couples.

Now Try This Exercise

For each group of words that is a sentence, write S against and write F against all
fragments.

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1. I saw a TV show last Sunday afternoon.

2. The show was about dolphins.
3. Actually a kind of small whale.
4. Dolphins are very intelligent.
5. Playful animals.
6. Under the water in the big tank.
7. It is very entertaining to watch the dolphins.
8. Just for fun.
9. Dolphins can hear very well. 10. Because dolphins breathe air.

Avoiding Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence is two or more sentences written as one. A run-on joins two ideas
that should be separate. The resulting sentence is confusing because the reader needs
a signal at the end of each complete thought. You can correct a run-on by using a
period at the end of each sentence.

EXAMPLES:

Run-on: Seth opened the garage door inside was a motor cycle.

Correct: Seth opened the garage door. Inside was a motor cycle.

Run-on: Our state has a lottery the grand prize is hundred Ghana cedis.

Correct: Our state has a lottery. The grand prise is hundred Ghana cedis.

Run-on sentences can also result from using a comma instead of a

period.

EXAMPLES:

Run-on: The man was arrested, he was held without bail.

Correct: The man was arrested. He was held without bail.

Run-on: Frank‟s dog was lost, we searched the neighbourhood for it.

Correct: Frank‟s dog was lost. We searched the neighbourhood for it.

EXERCISE:

Correct the following run-on sentences:

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1. Metro TV is becoming popular, it has varied programmes.

2. Julie runs everyday, she usually runs three miles.
3. One Scientist made a man-power plane, it flies short distances.
4. Kweku put his books into his locker, then he went to the cafeteria.
5. The committee held a hearing; the topic was new energy sources.

TYPES OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

There are four types of sentences. These are the declarative, the interrogative, the
imperative and the exclamatory sentences.

THE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE

An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a question. There are two types of
question. These are questions that begin with wh-words also referred to as wh -
questions. Eg. What is your name? Where are you going? The other type of question
is the yes/no question. It always begins with a finite verb also known as auxiliary
verb or operator eg. Do you enjoy fufu? Is your mother in the house? Can you do
the work?

While the wh - question seeks information, the yes/no question demands a

confirmation or a denial. The interrogative sentence has the v-s structure and ends
with a question mark.

The imperative sentence

An imperative sentence makes a command or gives an order.
Egs. Shut the door.
Give me the pan, Jane.
Kill the snake, someone.

Imperative sentences have no stated subjects but the subject is always understood to
be 'you' singular or plural. However, if the speaker wants a particular person or
persons to carry out his instruction, he mentions or writes down the person's name.
As a rule, the subject if present comes at the end of the sentence. The structure is V-
O-(s). The imperative sentence must end with a full-stop. Where the subjects are
given, a comma separates the imperative structure form its subject.

THE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE

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An exclamatory sentence is a sentence that expresses the emotion of the speaker

(attitude & mood)

They have varied structures.

1. Interjection eg.
Heavens – Express fear Hurry! – Express Joy
2. Clauses reduced to noun phrases What
a beauty! (it is) What a risk! (you‟ve taken)
3. Clauses reduced to adjective phrase
How wonderful! (you are) how clever! (she is)

THE DECLARATIVE SENTENCE

A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement. It generally has a subject
followed by a finite verb phrase. It is the verb phrase that selects an object , a
complement or an adverbial. Eg.

Kofi bought a new car (S V O)

The poor boy cried bitterly (S V A)
Many of the pupils in the new teacher‟s class have not paid their school fees (S V O)
A declarative sentence usually ends with a full stop.

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

The English Sentence

An English sentence is an organixed string of words that vonveys meaning. Here are
some examples ;
1. Kofi killed the snake
2. The boys arrived late
3. The visitor wanted the principal

These are simple sentences and organized strings of words. The sentences are said to
be simple because each of them has a single verb in it. Note that the sentence will still
be simple if the verb phrase is compound as in

4. He has bought the book

5. My friends will come tomorrow

or in complex as in

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6. Their friends will be waiting for them

7. She might have paid the money

A simple sentence is so called because it has only one clause in which may be found
Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (O), Complement (C) and Adjunct (A). These are called
element of clause structure. An English clause, as you have studied, must contain a
subject and a finite verb. Depending on the type of verb, there may be an object or
complement following the verb. An adjunct may be brought in to tell time, place,
reason or manner expressed by the verb.

THE IMPORTANCE OF WORD ORDER

Is every string of words a sentence? Of course, the answer is no. Examples are

1b. The killed Kofi snake

2b. Late the boys arrived
3b. Wanted the principal visitor the.

These are not English sentences because these strings of words are not organized
conventionally to convey meaning.

We observed that the strings contain identical words with the other strings, and yet
they are not acceptable English sentences because the strings are not properly
ordered. An essential feature of modern English structure is what is referred to as
word order or the sequencing of words in a sentence. For example, the S must
precede the V followed by the O or C in an English statement. It is word order that
enables us to interpret.
 Kofi killed the snake and
 The snake killed Kofi

As acceptable English sentences with different meanings. Can you offer the different
meanings of the two sentences? Yes. In (1c), we are happy because the snake is dead.
But in (1d), we are very sad because our friend, Kofi, is no more, he is dead.

Very often, it is the word order or the position of a word that determines its part of
speech. Let us look at an example. The word “round” can be classified into five
different parts of speech depending on the word‟s position (and function) in the
sentences below:

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1. The last round of the race was the most exciting (Noun)
2. John has just purchased a round table (Adjective)
3. The joggers rounded the field twice (Verb)
4. That athlete went round the field (Adverb)
5. The thief fled round the corner (Preposition)

Note that the violation of word order may

a. result in unacceptable strings or sentences as in (b) sentences above
b. cause ambiguity. Examine the sentence below:
Mary does not eat breakfast normally

This sentence is ambiguous. Can you get two different meanings from it? Write down
your answers and compare them with:

 Mary eats breakfast rather abnormally; or

 Mary does not normally (regularly) eat breakfast.

The explanation is that the adverb normally is wrongly positioned. In general,

adverbs of manner (e.g. fast, early, heartily) appear after the verbs they modify while
frequency adverbs, (e.g. often, always, generally, etc,) precede the main verb. Thus,
sentence 13b has „manner‟ interpretation and 13c has “frequency” interpretation.
Note that a simple sentence may take the form of a
a. statement: you are a student.
b. Question: Are you a students? How old are you?
c. Command: Shut the door, please

THE SIX BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

A basic sentence pattern is determined by the type of verb chosen and how it is
complemented. In spite of this, different writers give us different numbers. A. S.
Hornby in Guide to Patterns and Usage in English and also Oxford Advanced
Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English listed 25 basic patterns. But we may find
leech and Svartvik‟s (A communicative Grammar of English p. 308) 6 patterns as
adequate for our purpose. Here they are:

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a. The child cried (Intransitive verb) - SV

She danced gracefully - SVA
The bird flew away - SVA

b. The boy is handsome (linking verbs required complement) SVA

He appeared tired yesterday - SVCA
John is a student - SVC

c. He wrote a book (Transitive verbs require objects) SVO

He sold the land several years ago - SVOA
She cooks rice often - SVOA

d. May gave Mother a kiss (Ditransitive verbs take direct and indirect objects )
(SVOOA)
We sent Father a Christmas Card last year (SVOOA)
He posted John some money last week (SVOOA)

e. We named the baby Grace (Complex transitive verbs admit Object

Complements) (SVOC)
The Judge found the accused guilty yesterday (SVOCA)
We elected Kufour President four years ago (SVOCA)

f. I told the boy to wait (The object is followed by an infinitive) (SVOV)

He ordered me to kneel on the grace (SVOVA)
Do you want her to go? (SVOV)

Remember that adjuncts are optional elements of structure, but they have the ability
to appear sentence initial:

Yesterday he bought a book (ASVO)

Generally, hard work pays (ASV)

ii. Sentence Medial

 She regularly comes late (SAVA)
 She does not always dance (SAV)

iii. Sentence final

 I shall wait here (SVA)

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 They won the prize last year (SVOA)

Achieving Parallelism In Sentences

What is Parallelism?
Parallelism is an important element in English writing, especially when you are
listing and comparing and contrasting items or ideas.

Parallelism means that each item in a list or comparison follows the same
grammatical pattern. When you write words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence to
match in their grammatical forms, the result is parallelism. If you are writing a list
and the first item in your list is a noun, write all of the following items as nouns also.
If the first item is an infinitive verb phrase, make all of the others infinitive verb
phrases; if it is a dependent clause, make all of the others dependent clauses. If you
are making a comparison or contrast, make sure that the items you are comparing or
contrasting are the same.

Example:
The deer often come to eat their grain, the wolves to destroy their sheep, the bears to
kill their hogs, and the foxes to catch their poultry.

[The message of the multiple, accumulating assaults is echoed by the parallel

structures]
-J. Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer
Advantages of Parallelism
You gain several advantages in using parallel structures:
 You can express ideas of equal weight in your writing.
 You can emphasize important information or ideas.
 You can add rhythm and grace to your writing style.

Many writers attend to parallelism when they are revising. If you think while you‟re
drafting that your parallelism is faulty or that you can enhance your writing style by
using parallelism, underline or highlight the material and keep moving forward.
When you revise, you can return to the places you‟ve marked.

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What is a balanced sentence?

A balanced sentence is a type of parallelism in which contrasting content is delivered.
The two parallel structures are usually, but not always, independent clauses. A
balanced sentence uses coordination. The two coordinate structures are
characterized by opposites in meaning, sometimes with one structure cast in the
negative.

Example:
By night, the litter and desperation disappeared as the city‟s glittering lights
came on; by day, the filth and despair reappeared as the sun rose.

Note:
Authorities differ about using a comma, a semicolon, or nothing between the
parts of a short balanced sentence. In Academic Writing, to avoid appearing to
make the error of a comma splice, use a semicolon (or revise in some other
way), as in the following sentence:

Mosquitoes don‟t bite; they stab.

How do words, phrases, and clauses work in parallel form?

When you put words, phrases, and clauses into parallel form, you enhance your
writing style with balance and grace.

Parallel Words: Recommended exercise includes running, swimming, and

cycling.

Parallel Phrases: Exercise helps maintain healthy bodies and handle mental
pressures.

Parallel Clauses: Many people exercise because they want to look healthy, because
they need to increase stamina, and because they hope to live
longer.

How does parallelism deliver impact?

Parallel structures serve to emphasize the meaning that sentences deliver. Deliberate,
rhythmic repetition of parallel forms creates an effect of balance, reinforcing the
impact of a message.

Example:
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go
back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our

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northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

- Martin Luther King Jr, “I Have a Dream”

If King had not used parallelism, his message would have made less of an impact on
his listeners. His structures reinforced the power of his message. A sentence without
parallelism could have carried his message, but with far less effect:

Return to your homes in Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia,

Louisiana, or the northern cities, and know that the situation will be changed.

Activity:
Here‟s a longer passage in which parallel structures, concepts, and rhythms operate.
Together, they echo the intensity of the writer‟s message.

You ask me what is poverty? Listen to me. Here I am, dirty, smelly, and with no
“proper” underwear on and with the stench of my rotting teeth near you. I will tell
you. Listen to me. Listen without pity. I cannot use your pity. Listen with
understanding. Put yourself in my dirty, worn-out, ill-fitting shoes, and hear me.

Poverty is getting up every morning from a dirt-and illness-stained mattress. The

sheets have long since been used for diapers. Poverty is living in a smell that never
leaves. This is a smell of long-cooked onions. Onions are cheap. If you have smelled
this smell, you did not know how it came.

It is the smell of the outdoor privy. It is the smell of young children who
cannot walk the long dark way in the night. It is the smell of the mattresses
where years of “accidents” have happened. It is the smell of the milk that has
gone sour because the refrigerator long has not worked, and it costs money to
get it fixed. It is the smell of rotting garbage. I could bury it but where is the
shovel? Shovels cost money.

- Jo Goodwin Parker, “What Is Poverty?”

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*Working individually or with a group, highlight all parallel elements of the Jo

Goodwin Parker passage above.

How can I avoid faulty parallelism?

Faulty parallelism usually results when you join non matching grammatical forms.
1. Parallelism with coordinating conjunctions
The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, for, or, nor, yet, and so. To avoid
faulty parallelism, write the words that accompany coordinating conjunctions
in matching grammatical forms.

No: Love and being married go together.

Yes: Love and marriage go together.
Yes: Being in love and being married go together.

2. Parallelism with correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are paired words such as not only … but (also), either
… or, and both … and. To avoid faulty parallelism, write the words joined by
correlative conjunctions in matching grammatical forms.

No: Differing expectations for marriage not only can lead to

disappointment but also makes the couple angry.

Yes: Differing expectations for marriage not only can lead to

disappointment but also can make the couple angry.

3. Parallelism with “than” and “as”

To avoid faulty parallelism when you use “than” and “as” for comparisons,
write the elements of comparison in matching grammatical forms.

No: Having a solid marriage can be more satisfying than the acquisition of
wealth.
Yes: Having a solid marriage can be more satisfying than acquiring wealth.
Yes: A solid marriage can be more satisfying than wealth.

4. Parallelism with function words

Function words include articles (the, a, an); the “to” of the infinitive (to love);
prepositions (for example, of, in, about); and sometimes relative pronouns.
When you write a series of parallel structures, be consistent in the second and
successive structures about either repeating or omitting a function word.
Generally, repeat function words only if you think that the repetition clarifies
your meaning or highlights the parallelism that you intend.

No: To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, free us from the

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expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – here lies the great,

singular power of self-respect.

Yes: To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the
expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – here lies the great,
the singular power of self-respect.
Exercise C
Two or more items in each of the following sentences are written in parallel
grammatical form. Underline the items or ideas that are parallel, and circle the word
or words that connect the parallel structures.

Example: An ideal environment for studying includes good lighting, a spacious

desk, and a comfortable chair.

1. You know you are truly bilingual when you can calculate in your second
language and when you begin to dream in it.
2. People often spend as much time worrying about the future as planning for it.
3. You can learn a second language in the classroom, at home, or in a country
where the language is spoken.
4. My new personal computer is both fast and reliable.
5. My old typewriter is neither fast nor reliable.

Exercise D
Correct the following sentences with faulty parallel structures.
6. My English conversations class is made up of Chinese, Spaniards, and some are
from Bosnia.
7. The students who do well attend class, they do their homework, and practice
speaking in English.
8. The teacher wanted to know which country we came from and our future goals.
9. My grandmother not only speaks four languages but also she understands six.
10. Difficult bosses affect not only their employees‟ performance but their private
lives are affected as well.

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UNIT EIGHT

CONVENTIONS OF USAGE

Common Grammatical Errors

WHAT‟S THE PROBLEM? There‟s at least five common reasons writers mismatch
subjects and verbs. Did you notice the error? Let‟s take a closer look.

The subject of a sentence ( the main who or what of the sentence) and its
corresponding verb (the word [s] expressing the subject‟s action or state or being )
must agree in number. An agreement error occurs when a singular subject is used
with a plural verb or a plural subject is used with a singular verb.

The example above includes a subject-verb agreement error because the main part of
the subject, “reasons”, is plural, and the verb, “is” (contracted with “there”), is
singular. We can avoid the error by making the verb plural:

There are at least five common reasons writers mismatch subjects and verbs.

WHY IS THIS ERROR SO COMMON?

Many writers can easily make the subject and verb of a sentence agree when the
subject is simple and directly precedes the verb. However, there fare many situations
that make agreement more difficult.

 When a sentence begins with “There is” or “There are”, the true subject follows
the verb:

i. There are many ways to complete general education requirement at

UO.
ii. There is plenty of time to choose courses for next semester.

 In long or complex subjects, the main noun (i.e. subject) may be difficult to
identify.

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iii. The benefits of earning a Bachelor‟s Degree are worth the trials along
the way.

In this example, “Degree” is the noun closest to the verb, and because it is
singular, a writer may be tempted to use the singular verb “is” after it.
However, “benefits”, a plural word, is the main noun of the subject and
requires the verb “are”. The words “of earning a Bachelor‟s Degree” simply
expand on the idea of “benefits” and should not be mistaken for the main
part of the subject.

 Some words that may seem plural, such as everyone, anyone, no one, each,
either, and neither, are grammatically singular:

iv. Everyone enjoys having a day off from time to time.

v. Neither of us wants to spend all weekend cleaning the house.

 Some Pronouns (words that stand in for nouns) like all, any , more, most,
none, and some may be either plural or singular, depending on whether they
are used in a general, collective way or, instead, with emphasis on the
individual. The same is true of some words that identify groups,
measurements, and disciplines:

vi. None of the students carries umbrellas.

vii. None of the tea is decaffeinated.
viii. The faculty is the finest in the Northwest.
ix. The faculty are prepared to vote at the next meeting.
x. Six hours is too long to wait.
xi. Six hours have passed since we came here.
xii. Statistics is a challenging subject.
xiii. These statistics support your theory.

 Titles or names that end in “s” may be singular.

xiv. A few Good Men is my sister‟s favourite movie

xv. Academic Learning Services is located in PLC.

 When a subject includes nouns joined with “and”, it is usually plural.

However, when the nouns are considered a single unit, they form a singular
subject:

xvi. Peaches and cream is a delicious dessert.

 When two nouns are joined by “or” or “nor”, the noun closest to the verb
determines whether the verb should be singular or plural:

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xvii. Neither Judy nor my sisters enjoy opera.

xviii. Neither my sisters nor Judy enjoys opera.

 A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and a noun or pronoun that is

the object of the preposition. A prepositional phrase that comes between a
subject and verb acts as an adjective to describe the subject. Here are some
common prepositions:

along with
in
in addition
including of
The object of a preposition does not affect the number of the verb. For
example, if the object of the preposition is plural and the subject of the
sentence is singular, you must use a singular verb.

Eg. The manager, along with all assistant managers, invites you to the
company barbecue. [NOT The manager, along with all assistant
managers, invite you ….]

How can we identify subject-verb agreement errors?

1. First, locate the verb in the sentence. Is the corresponding subject singular or
plural? If the subject is singular, the verb should (usually) end in “s”. If the
subject is plural, the verb should (usually) not end in “s”.

2. If the subject is complex, the first noun of the subject usually determines whether
the verb should be singular or plural. To check the agreement, eliminate
prepositional phrases and modifiers in the sentences and test the subject and verb
when they are immediately next to each other.

(xix) One of the teachers I met during my high school years has published a book.

3. Check sentences beginning with “There is” and “There are”. The first noun after
the phrase is probably the subject. Does it agree with the verb? If you‟re not sure,
rearrange the word order of the sentence to check for proper subject-verb
agreement.
(xx) There are twenty people on the partly list so far. Twenty people are on the
party list so far.

Exercise
Directions : Revise any errors in agreement between subject and verb in the
following sentences.

1. There‟s two good reasons to help me clean the garage.

2. During the violent wind storm, everything ioose in the cabins were thrown to
the deck.
3. Each of these articles are an excellent reference for your research paper.
4. Planning, including planning for all assignments, are crucial to your success as
a student.
5. Either Jared or his cousin are willing to help you move on Sunday.

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ERRORS IN PRONOUNS

Pronoun Agreement and Cases Errors

WHAT‟S THE PROBLEM? If every writer avoided this in their papers, this topic
wouldn‟t be necessary for you and I. did you notice the errors? Lets take a closer look.

1. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun. Without pronouns, sentences

would be much more cumbersome:

Elizabeth shoved Elizabeth‟s books into Elizabeth‟s backpack hastily because

Elizabeth forgot to set the alarm clock the night before, causing Elizabeth to
oversleep and nearly miss Elizabeth‟s first college exam.

Wow! Words like “she” and “her” certainly come in handy, but they can also be
tricky.

2. A pronoun agreement errors occurs when the pronoun doesn‟t match the noun it
refers to. The most common pronoun agreement errors occur when a plural
pronoun is used with a singular noun.

The first example above includes an agreement error:

If every writer avoided this in their papers ….
“Every writer” is grammatically singular, and the pronoun “their” is plural. This
error could be corrected by making both parts singular or plural:

If every writer avoided this in his/her papers …. (both singular)

If all writers avoided this in their papers …… (both plural)

3. A pronoun cases error occurs when the wrong form of a particular pronoun is
used.
Consider the following two sentences:
She sees him.
He sees her.

The verb, “sees”, is the same in both sentences, but the situation described in each
sentence is clearly different. If we ask, “Who or what „sees‟ ? the answer to the
question (“She” , “He”) is the subject of the sentence. If we ask, “sees‟ whom or
what?” the answer (“him”, “her”) is the object of the sentence. A noun following a
preposition (words such as with, from, to, by, near, between, etc.) is also an
object. The pronouns “you” and “it” take the same form whether they are subjects
or objects, but other pronouns have different forms:

Singular Plural

Subject form: I he she who we they

Object form: me him her whom us them

The latter half of the first example above contains a case error: ….. this topic

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wouldn‟t be necessary for you and I. In this situation, “I” is incorrectly used as an
object of the preposition “for”. Replacing “I” with the object form, “me”, corrects
the error:
…. This topic wouldn‟t be necessary for you and me.

WHY ARE THESE ERRORS SO COMMON?

1. Singular words like every, each, someone, anyone, nobody, either and neither
may seem plural, so it‟s tempting to use plural pronouns in their place.

2. English doesn‟t have a gender-free pronoun to represent a singular person. In

order to avoid the sexism of using only either “he” or “she” and the awkwardness
of the expressions “he or she”, “him or her”, and “his or her”, many writers use
the plural “they”, “them”, or “their”.

3. Some writers have the impression that the subject form is more formal or correct
than the object form. Of course, both forms are necessary and may be correct or
incorrect, depending on the situation.

4. Many people have a natural “ear” for the correct form of a pronoun, but hearing
an error is more difficult when the pronoun in question is part of a compound
subject or object such as “she and Sandy” (subject) or “Greg and me” (object).

How Can We Identify Pronoun Agreement And Case Errors?

1. First, identify all pronouns in a sentence. Next, find the nouns they stand in for. A
plural noun requires a plural pronoun; a singular noun requires a singular
pronoun. Do the pronouns and nouns you identified agree grammatically?

2. Pay special attention to plural-seeming words that are grammatically singular.

The words every, each, someone, anyone, nobody, either, and neither commonly
mislead writers. Depending on the context, such errors may be revised in multiple
ways:

 Did anyone lose their chemistry book? (incorrect)

Did anyone lose his/her chemistry book? (correct)
Did anyone lose a chemistry book? (correct)
 Did everyone remember to bring their permission slips? (incorrect)
Did everyone remember to bring his/her permission slips? (incorrect)
Did you remember to bring your permission slips? (correct)
 Every student should post their questions by Friday. (incorrect)
Every student should post his/her questions by Friday. (correct)
Students should post their questions by Friday. (correct)

3. Also ask yourself whether the pronoun is serving as a subject or an object in the
sentence. If the pronoun is joined with another noun (perhaps a name), test for

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the correct form of the pronoun by eliminating the other noun and the joining
word.

i. Is the gift for Jennie or me?

ii. My parents and they are going to the concert.
iii. Did you see Darren and her in class yesterday.

4. In other situations, you can test for the correct pronoun form by adding a word or
phrase that completes the idea of the sentence.

iv. Shirandra is taller than I (am).

v. My roommate sleeps even later than I (do).
vi. My sister likes coffee more than I (do)
vii. My sister likes coffee more than (she likes) me.

5. To decide between “who” and “whom”, test for the correct form by replacing it
with “he” or “him” (if singular) or “they” or “them” (if plural). For a handy
mnemonic device, not that all three object forms – “whom”, “him”, and “them” –
end in “in”.

viii. Who/Whom are you inviting to the party?

I am inviting him
ix. Who/Whom is your favourite singer?
He is my favourite singer.
x. Who/Whom gave you the beautiful flowers?
They gave me the beautiful flowers.
xi. I don‟t know who/whom I will vote for.
I will vote for them.

COMMON ERRORS WITH PRONOUNS

Incorrect: The boy who works hard he will win.

Correct: The boy who works hard will win.

Explanation
This sentence has two clauses: „the boy will win‟ and „who works hard‟ and each
clause has its won subject. There is no need to use a pronoun when the noun it stands
for is already present in the clause.

Incorrect: Whoever does best he will get a prize.

Correct: Whoever does best will get a prize.

Incorrect: Who painted this picture? Myself

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Correct: Who painted this picture? I (myself)

Explanation
An emphatic pronoun (e.g. myself, himself, herself, themselves, yourself) cannot be
used as the subject of sentence.

Incorrect: I and her are brothers.

Correct: He and I are brothers.

Explanation
It is considered conceited to put I first when there are two subjects.

Incorrect: I with my friends watched the show.

Correct: I watched the show with my friends.

Incorrect: He himself hurt due to his carelessness.

Correct: He hurt himself due to his carelessness.

Explanation
When a personal pronoun is used as a subject it should not be separated from its
verb if possible.

Incorrect: He is taller than me.

Correct: He is taller than I (am).

Explanation
The pronoun following than should be in the same case as the pronoun preceding it.
Note that this rule is no longer strictly followed and the sentence “He is taller than
me‟ is considered correct.

Incorrect: None of us have seen him.

Correct: None of us has seen him.

Explanation
The words every, each, none etc, are singular in number and should be followed by
singular verbs.

Incorrect: My car is better than my friend.

Correct: My car is better than that of my friend.

Incorrect: The size of the shoe should be the same as this shoe.
Correct: the size of the shoe should be the same as that of this shoe.

Incorrect: His teaching was like Buddha.

Correct: His teaching was like that of Buddha.

Explanation
In a comparative sentence we must be careful to compare the same part of two
things. That of, these of and those of are necessary words often omitted by ESL
students.

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Editing For Noun Errors

One of the easiest errors for ESL students to fix in their writing is singular/plural
errors with nouns.
Noun Problems
As you edit your writing, you need to check for four noun problems:
1. Check each noun to decide if it is plural/singular or uncountable:

2. Check for consistency for plural and singular usage:

3. Check that each singular noun has a determiner:

4. Check that each singular subject agrees with present tense verbs:

I will explain each of these error types.

1. Plural or Singular?

If you decide a noun should be plural, make sure it has a plural form “s” for most
nouns, and plural forms of irregular nouns such as “people,” “children”, “feet”, and
“women”.

Useful Advice
Plural nouns lead to fewer errors so make your nouns plural whenever possible.

Countable or Uncountable
ESL students often have trouble with two kinds of uncountable nouns:
a. English has many “group” or “category” words which are not countable, such
as equipment, furniture, grammar, research, vocabulary garbage, advice.

To learn more about these words, do an internet search to find more

information about uncountable nouns in English.
b. English has many abstract words that can be count in some situations and non
count in other situations (such as “culture”, “society”, and “experience”) often,
it is safe to treat words like these as uncountable nouns.

 However, the most convenient step to take when you are not sure is to
look up the word in a good learners‟ dictionary (ESL Dictionary)to find
out in which situations the words is used in an uncountable way. A
good online dictionary is:

[Link]
 Another good editing step is to ask a native speaker how to use any
specific abstract word you are not sure how to use.

For editing, remember how noncount nouns are treated as singular nouns for subject
verb agreement and for pronoun reference.
For example:

Subject Verb Agreement for Uncountable Nouns

“Although most of office equipment is more than five years old, it still works well.”
Notice in the example that, when using a pronoun to refer back to noncount noun,
you should use “it” rather than “they”.

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2. Plural / Singular Consistency

A frequent error in ESL writing is a switch between plural and singular

meanings of the same noun in sentences and paragraphs. So, if the nouns at
the beginning of a sentence are plural, make sure reference to the same nouns
later in the sentence continues as plural.
Example with weak plural/singular consistency:
Student should read the textbook before class. This preparation helps the student
understand the lecture better.
Revised sentence with improve plural consistency:
Student should read their textbook before class. This preparation helps student
understand the lecture better.
3. Singular Nouns Must have Determiners

As you carefully check your nouns to decide if they are singular/plural or

uncountable, you also need to make sure each singular nouns has correct
grammar in the words around it. Because singular nouns lead to fewer errors,
it is safe to make as many nouns as possible plural in your writing.
With singular nouns, you need to check for two kinds of problems:
 determiners / articles

A frequent error in ESL writing is missing determiners on singular nouns. The

articles “a”, “an”, and “the” are the three possible determiners you can use.
Plural and uncountable nouns sometimes have determiners and sometimes they
don‟t. However, all singular nouns must have determiners.
The rule is simple: If a noun is singular, it must have a determiner.
 The determiners can be classified as:

Specifiers
 “th” specifiers (the, this, that)

 Possessive specifiers (my, your, her, his, Mary‟s etc.)

Quantifiers (a/ an/ one, any each, every, either, neither, no etc.)
4. Each singular subject must “agree” with its verb if the verb is in the present
tense.

Another singular noun error is subject/verb agreement. This error is a concern

primarily in present tense sentences because agreement errors seldom happen in
other tenses (the only exception is past tense “be” verbs – was, were).
Other Nouns Errors
1. Expression that take singular verbs

Some common expressions take singular verbs even though they may contain a
plural noun.
Examples are: bacon and eggs; cheese and biscuits; fish and chips etc.
a. Bacon and eggs was served for breakfast.

b. Where is the cheese and biscuits?

c. Fish and chip is popular in England.

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2. Nouns that do not have a plural form

Not all nouns have a plural form: for example, furniture, wheat, dust, news, advice,
information, language, bread, trouble and scenery normally have only a singular
form.
a. The scenery here is good.( NOT the sceneries here are good).

b. I have not my furniture.( NOT …my furnitures)

c. We have received no information. ( NOT … no informations)

d. He told his mother this news. (NOT … these news)

e. There is no bread in this shop. OR There are no leaves in the shop. NOT
There are no breads in this shop.

f. Please excuse me for the trouble I have caused. (NOT … for the troubles I have
caused.)

g. I am learning a new poem. ( NOT …a new poetry)

3. A plural noun that names a single subject.

When a group of words containing a plural noun represents a single subject, you
must use a singular verb.
a. The Adventure of Tom Sawyer is my favourite novel.

b. The crusades is a book that comes in two volumes

c. Memories of War is worth reading.

4. Collective nouns

Collective nouns take a singular verb if you are talking of the group as a whole.
They take plural verb if you are talking about individuals within the group.
Compare:

a. The team is on the field.

The team are changing.

b. The class is a bright one.

The class are a mixed lot.

c. His family is living in the house.

His family is living in various parts of Sydney.

d. The jury is in the court room.

The jury is still debating the case.

5. Pants and trousers

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Pants means underclothes covering upper part of the leg. Trousers means outer
garment for the legs, reaching from waist to ankles.

a. Students should wear white trousers. (NOT … white pants)

6. Theater, Play and Drama.

A theatre is a building where plays are acted, not the play itself.
Drama is rarely used nowadays in the sense in which foreign students are
likely to use it, that is to say to mean a play, whether acted by professionals or
amateurs.

a. We saw a play. (NOT We saw a theatre)

b. We like acting plays (NOT We like taking part in drama)

7. Man and gentleman

Gentleman is a difficult word to use correctly in colloquial English.

Use the term when you are referring to a man‟s character.
a. He is a real gentleman.( Praising him)

b. He is not a gentle man.(Criticizing him)

Use man to denote adult of the male sex.

e. g. He is a tall man.

8. Lady and woman

Woman is the usual word to denote an adult of the female sex. It is quite
polite. „She is a lady‟ means that “She is a woman of particularly good birth,
breeding and taste”.

a. I saw two women. (NOT I saw two females)

9. Dress

The word dress is generally used with reference to women‟s attire.

a. He was wearing a new suit. ( NOT He was wearing a new dress).

But note that we do say “a man in full dress” or “evening dress”

10. Relations

The English language uses relatively loose terms to express relationships.

Aunt means the sister of either father or mother. Uncle means the brother of
either mother or father. Cousin means any child of any aunt or uncle.
e.g. He is my cousin. (NOT He is my cousin brother).

Avoiding Common Errors with Verbs.

This unit explains how to recognize and avoid common errors in the forms
and uses of verbs.
Incorrect Verb Forms

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Problem: not using d or ed with the past tense or past participle of a regular
verb.
Examples:
a. I used to lack self-confidence, but now I am perfect. (NOT I use to lack ...)

b. Hilary was supposed to meet us at Tim Horton‟s, but she forgot. (NOT
Hilary was suppose to ...)

c. Has Daniel asked you to be a member of his group? (NOT Has Daniel ask
you ...?

Problem: Confusing the past tense with the past participle of irregular verbs.
Examples:
a. I saw the video three times. (NOT I seen the video …)

b. Someone has drunk all the chocolate milk. (NOT some has drank ...)

c. Joe has swum every summer since he was a child. (NOT Joe has swam … )

Remember: Helping verbs such as have, had, has, or will have are used with
participles to create complex tenses.
a. The past tense does not take a helping verb. ( Lee wore his new jeans.)

b. The past participle does take a helping verb. ( Lee has worn a hole in his
new jeans.)

Problems: Using of as a verb. Of is a preposition ( George is a barrel of fun.) Have

is a verb.
Examples:
a. You should have seen the look on his face (NOT You should of seen…)

b. If I had known about the party, I would have gone. (NOT I would of gone.)

c. You could have done better if you had studied harder. ( NOT you could of …)

Problem: Using the wrong verb form in an “ if” statement.

Examples:
a. If I had known your car battery was dead, I would have given you a lift.
(NOT if I would have known ...)

b. If a had had more time, I could have finished the exam. (NOT If I could
have had more time ...)

Problem: Confusing verbs with some similar forms

Examples:
a. I think I will lie down and have a nap. ( NOT I think I will lay down ...)

b. Yesterday, John lay down for a short nap but slept for two hours. (NOT
Yesterday, John laid down…)

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c. The dog has been lying in the sunny spot on the carpet all afternoon. (NOT
The dog has been laying …)

d. The dog has lain in the same spot all afternoon. (NOT The dog has laid …)

Remember: lie means “ to recline”. The principal parts are lie, lay, lying, lain.
Lay means “to place” The principal parts are lay, laid, laying.
The only way to avoid errors is to memorize the principle parts and to know which
part to use with a helping verb.
Here are some tense of lie.

Present Tense Past Tense

I lie we lie I lay we lay
You lie you lie you lay you lay
He /she / it lies they lie he /she it lay they lay

Progressive Tense
I was / am/ will be lying we were / are/ will be lying
You were / are/ will be lying you were/ are/ will be lying
He /she/ it was / were / will be lying they were/ are/ will be lying

NOTE: Don‟t confuse lie meaning „to recline” with lie meaning “ to state an untruth”)
The principal parts of the latter are lie, lied, lying, lied. So you would say “Hank lies
all the time” or “ Yesterday Hank lied to me” or “ I can‟t tell whether or not Hank is
lying”.

If English is Your Second Language

If English is your second language, the following tips may be helpful.
1. When the complete verb is made up of two or more verbs, do not add „– s‟ or
„– es‟ to the last verb.

No: The child does sings well.

Yes: The child does sing well.
2. Use am between I and an –ing verb

No: I be leaving soon.

No: I is leaving soon.
Yes: I am leaving soon.
3. Use have or has before been.

No: The lazy employee been fired.

Yes: The lazy employee has been fired
4. Remember that to form the future tense, you do not add „– s‟ or „– es‟ to the
base form of the verb.

No: The bus will arrives on time.

Yes: The bus will arrive on time.

5. Certain words are often used with the present perfect tense to show that
something began in the past and continues into the present. These words are
since, for, until now, so far, now, and these days.

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a. John has been a boy scout leader since 1985.

b. Katie has worked as a professional photographer for 10 years.

c. No one has done that job until now.

d. These days the pollen count has been high.

6. Certain other words are often used with the present perfect tense to show that
something just recently ended. These words are just, already, and recently.

a. The movie has just ended.

b. The instructor has already passed out the test paper.

c. A new project director has recently joined the firm.

7. The following verbs are rarely used in a progressive tense.

appreciate hate mind recognize

be know need understand
believe like prefer want
dislike

No: I am appreciating your help.

Yes: I appreciate your help.

8. The following verbs rarely appear in a progressive tense, unless they are
describing a specific action, or they are part of certain expressions.

appear see sound

hear seem taste
look smell

Examples:
a. I am hearing something in the distance. (A specific action)

b. I hear the church bells.

c. Your plan is sounding better all the time. (An expression)

9. The following verbs almost never appear in a progressive tense.

belong to own
cost posses

No: As a teenager, I was owning a dog.

Yes: As a teenager, I owned a dog.

10. The progressive form of is used with a form of be to mean “ be experiencing”

or “ be eating” or “ be drinking”.

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Examples:
a. I am having trouble with my English homework.

b. Diana is having soup for lunch.

c. We are having wine with dinner.

11. In a progressive tense, think refers to a mental process. In a simple tense, it

refers to a conclusion or opinion that has been reached.

a. I was thinking of changing my major ( A mental process)

b. I think we should leave now. (A conclusion)

12. Tense Shift

Sometimes, writers must move from one tense to another to show a change in
time.
Move from present to future: Maris says that Larry will arrive tonight
present future
Move from past to present: Last year, I worked at Hamburger Heaven, but I
past
now am tutoring in the Math lab.
present

NOTE: If you move from one tense to another without a valid reason, you
create a problem called tense shift. An inappropriate tense shift is a problem
because it confuses the time frame of your writing.

Examples:
1. Confusing tense shift: after I stepped on the gas pedal, the light turns red.

past present

Correction: After I stepped on the gas pedal, the light turned red.
Past past

2. Confusing tense shift: I walked into my morning class and found a seat.

Past past
The instructor began lecturing, so I took notes. Then I realize that I am in
past past Present present
the wrong class.

Correction: I walked into my morning class and found seat.

past past
The instructor began lecturing, so I took notes. Then I realize that I am in
past past past past
the wrong class.

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ERRORS WITH ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Definition: Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They may come
before the word they describe (That is a cute puppy.) Or they may follow the word
they describe. (That is a cute puppy).

Definition: Adverbs are words that modify everything but nouns and pronouns.
They modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. A word is an adverb if it answers
how, when or where.

The only adverbs that causes grammatical problems are those that answer the
question how, so focus on these.

Examples: He speaks slowly.

Answers the questions how.
He speaks very slowly
Answers the questions how slowly

Rule 1: Generally, if a word answers the question how, it is an adverb. If it can have
an – ly added to it, place it there.

Examples: She thinks slow / slowly.

She thinks how? slowly.
She is a slow / slowly thinker.
Slow does not answer how, so no –ly is attached.
Slow is an adjective here.
She thinks fast / fastly.
Fast answers the questions how, so it is an adverb. But fast never has an
–ly
attached to it.
We performed bad / badly. Badly describes how we performed.

Rules 2: A special –ly rule applies when four of the senses – taste, smell, look, feel
– are the verbs. Do not ask if these senses answer the question how to determine if –
ly should be attached. Instead ask if the sense verb is being used actively. If so, use
the – ly.

Examples: roses smell sweet / sweetly.

Do the roses actively smell with noses? No, so no –ly.
The woman looked angry / angrily.
Did the woman actively look with his eyes or are we describing her appearance? We
are only describing appearance so no –ly is added.
She feels bad / badly about the news.
She is not feeling it with fingers, so no –ly

Rules 3: Good vers well.

The word good is an adjective, while well is an adverb.
Examples: You did a good job
Good describes the job.
You did the job well.
Well answers how.

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You smell good today.

Describes your odor, not how you smell with your nose, so follow with the adjective.
You smell well for someone with a cold.
You actively smell with your nose here, so follow with the adverb.

Rule 4. When referring to health, use well rather than good.

Examples:
I do not fell well.
You do not look well today.
Note: You may use good with feel when you are not referring to health.

Examples: I feel good about my decision to learn Spanish.

Rule 5: a common error in using adjective and adverbs arises from using the wrong
from for comparison. For instance, to describe one thing we would say poor as in,
“She is poor”. To compare two things, we should say poorer, as, “she is the poorer of
the two woman” to compare more than two things, we should say poorest, as in, “ she
is the poorest of them all”.

Examples: one two three or more

Sweet sweeter sweetest
Bad worse worst
Efficient* more efficient* most efficient*
 Usually with words of three or more syllables, don‟t add –er or est. use
more or most in front of the words.

Rule 6: Never drop the –ly form an adverb when using the comparison form.
Correct: she speaks quickly.
She spoke more quickly than he did.
Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did.
Correct: Talk quietly
Talk more quietly.
Incorrect: Talk quieter

Rule 7: When this, that, these, and those are followed by nouns, they are adjectives.
When they appear without a noun following them, they are pronouns.

Examples: This house is for sale.

This is an adjective here.
This is for sale.
This is a pronoun here.
Rule 8: This and that are singular, whether they are being used as adjectives or as
pronouns. These points to something nearby while that point to something “over
there.”

Examples: this dog is mine.

That dog is hers.
This is mine.
That is hers.

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Rule 9: These and those are plural, whether they are being used as adjectives or as
pronouns. This points to something nearby while those point to something “over
there”.

Examples: These babies have being smiling foe a long time.

These are mine
Those babies have been crying for hours.
Those are yours.
Rule 10: Use than to show comparison. Use then to answer the question when.

Examples: I would rather go skiing than rock climbing.

First we went skiing: then we went rock climbing.

Common Errors with Adjective.

Incorrect: In our school the number of student is less.
Correct: In our school the number of students is small.

Explanation:
Less is the comparative of little. Comparative form is not used in sentence where no
comparison is implied. But is the sentence in our school the number of students is
little” correct? No. the adjective little can be used only in the attributive position
(before a noun). In the predicative position (after a verb like “is”). We have to use a
verb with a similar meaning.

Incorrect: From the two she is the pretty.

Correct: she is the prettier of the two.
Incorrect: Of the two routes this is the short
Correct: Of the two routes this is the shortest.

Explanation:
When a comparison is made between two people or things we use a structure with of,
not from. Note that we use an adverb or adjective in the comparative form to
compare two people or things.

Incorrect: From the three she is the smarter.

Correct: He is the smartest of the three.

Explanations:
It is wrong to use comparative or superlative form when no comparison is implied.
Compare:
Charles is the smartest boy in the class. (Here Charles is the being compared with
other boy in the class. Therefore we use a superlative adjective.)
He is the smarter of the two brothers.(Here a comparison is made between the two
people. Therefore we use the comparative adjective.

He is a smart boy or he is very smart. (Here no comparison is implied. Therefore we

use a positive adjective.
Incorrect: I have never seen a so good boy.
Correct: I have never seen such a good boy.
Correct: I have never seen so a good boy.

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Incorrect: He was a so big man that he could not sit in that chair.
Correct: He was so big a man that he could not sit in that chair.

Explanation:
So is very often used in the rather formal structure so + adjective + a/ an + singular
countable noun. Note that it is wrong to put the article before so in this structure.

ERRORS WITH PREPOSITIONS

OBJECTIVE: To enable the learners to identify some of the common errors

pertaining to use of prepositions in sentences.
Preposition is one of the parts of speech which means to place something before
(pre+position) a noun or pronoun. The role of preposition in a sentence is to show
the relationship between subject and object/noun and noun/noun and
adjective/noun and pronoun etc.
1. The cow is on the field.

2. She is fond of ice cream.

3. She told me about it.

4. They were nice to her.

Although preposition is generally placed before the words it governs, it will also
appear in some other positions.
1. Who are you talking to?

2. The boy wants something to play with.

3. What are you arguing for?

Prepositions are mainly of three kinds. They are:

1. Simple (ex: in, on, at, by, which, into, about, across, along, among, between,
etc.)

2. Complex or phrasal prepositions(ex: in spite of, in addition to, along with,

because of)

3. Prepositions which look like adjectives/ verbs(ex: including, following,

barring, unlike)

FUNCTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS
Preposition have a wide variety of roles to play in the sentences they are used. For
instance, they indicate things like time, place, direction, movement, comparison,
means/ instrumentality, concession and source of manner.
The following sentences explain different roles of prepositions in the sentences.
1. Ram confuses to make a choice between mango and apple. (position)

2. The [Link] starts from Hyderabad to Delhi .(movement and direction)

3. The programme was over by 3 O‟clock. (time)

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4. He could not attend the meeting due to his ill health.(reason)

5. They went to hotel for Biryani. (Purpose)

6. Mary chops meat with a knife.(instrument)

7. They are traveling by a car.(means)

8. Despite of the busy schedule, the chairman turned up to the meeting.

(concession)

9. He fights like a lion. (comparison)

10. John does his job with utmost care. (manner)

11. They brought vegetables from market. (source)

COMMON ERRORS WITH PREPOSITION

Incorrect: He is ill since last week.
Correct: He has been ill since last week.
Incorrect: He has been working since two hours.
Correct: He has been working for two hours.
Incorrect: I have not played cricket since a long time.
Correct: I have not played cricket for a long time.

EXPLANATION:
When reckoning from a particular date we use “since”: examples are since last
Friday, since May, since morning, since July 8th. But note that we always use “for” for
a period. Examples are: for a week, for a long time, for two hours, etc.

Incorrect: This paper is inferior than that.

Correct: This paper is inferior to that.
Incorrect: He is junior than me.
Correct: His is junior to me.
Incorrect: He is superior than you in strength.
Correct: He is superior to you in strength.

EXPLANATION:
The comparatives senior, junior, superior, inferior etc. are followed by to, and
not than.
Incorrect: He rides in a cycle.
Correct: He rides on a cycle.
Incorrect: He rides on a car.
Correct: He rides in a car.
Incorrect: He sat in a table.
Correct: He sat on a table.
Incorrect: The cat is in the roof.
Correct: The cat is on the roof.

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EXPLANATION:
Use „on‟ when the meaning is clearly “on top of. Example, on a horse, on a bicycle, on
a table, on the roof etc. Use „in‟ when, on top of, is not appropriate. For example, in a
car, in an airplane etc.

Incorrect: There was a match between team A against team B.

Correct: There was a match between team A and team B.
Incorrect: The meeting will be held between 4pm to 6pm.
Correct: The meeting will be held between 4m and 6pm.

EXPLANATION:
Between is followed by and, not to or against.
Incorrect: The First World War was fought during 1914 and 1918.
Correct: The First World War was fourth between 1914 and 1918.
Incorrect: There was a fight with John and Peter.
Correct: There was a fight between John and Peter.
Incorrect: England grew prosperous between Queen Victoria reigns.
Correct: England grew prosperous during Queen Victoria‟s reign.

EXPLANATION:
Two events or people should be mentioned if you want to use between.
 If English is your second language

If English is your second language, the following tips may be helpful.

1. A number of English verbs are made up of two words. Some of these two –
word verbs can be separated, and some cannot be separated. For example,
give in cannot be separated, but put off can be separated. However, verbs
that can be separated do not always have to be separated.

Separable: I must put that appointment off until next week.

I must put off that appointment until next week.

Inseparable: The police will not give in to the protestors‟ demands.

NOTE: If you are unsure which verbs are separable and which are not, you can
consult the list that follows. Example sentences appear with the first nine verbs in
each list.
Separable Two – Word Verbs
Ask out: I will ask her out.
Burn down: We must burn the tree down.
We must burn down the tree.

Burn up: The fire burned the papers up.

The fire burned up the papers.
Bring up: Bring the issue up at the next meeting.
Bring up the issue at the next meeting.

Call off: The umpire called the game off when the rain began.
The umpire called the game when the rain began.

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Call up: Call the porter up to get our bags.

Call the porter to get our bags.

Clean up: You should clean this mess up yourself.

You should clean up this mess yourself.

Cut up: The butcher cut the meat up into chops.

The butcher cut up the meat into chops.

Drop off: I dropped Karen off at school this morning.

I dropped off Karen at the school this morning.
Other separable two- word verbs are
Fill out help out point out take out
Fill up leave out put away think over
Give away look over put off throw away
Give back look up put on try on
Hand out pick out shut off wrap up
Hand up pick up take off

Inseparable Two – Word Verbs

Come across: I come across old letters in the attic.
Drop in (On someone): my neighbor drops in every day to visit.
Get along (With someone): my sister and I never get along.
Get away (With something): students rarely get away with cheating.
Get up: Get up at six O‟clock if you want to leave with me.
Give in: The parent gave in to the crying baby.
Give up: The robber gave up and put down his gun.
Go out (With someone): jean and I go out every Saturday
Go over (Something): let‟s go over the notes together.
Other inseparable two – word verbs are
Grow up run out (of something)
Play around speak up
Quiet down stay away from
Run across (someone or something) take care of
Run into (someone or something) wake up

2. Be aware of the uses of in, on, and at, to show time and place.
A. Use in for seasons, month, and year that do not include specific dates, use on if a
specific date appears.
I was born in 1949.
I was born on May 4, 1963.
B. Use in for a period of the day. Use on for a specific day. Use for a specific time or
period of the day.

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I like to run two miles in the morning.

I will run two miles on Wednesday.
I like to run two miles at dawn.

C. Use for a location that is surrounded by something else. Use at for a specific
location.
I lived in London for a year.
Join me in the living room.
I lived at 518 Tod Lane.
Meet me at the crossroads.

3. Prepositional phrases that show place come before those that show time.
NO: Edmund worked in 1992 in Mexico.
YES: Edmund worked in Mexico in 1992.

Common Expressions with Prepositions

A number of expressions customarily use certain prepositions. Some of these
expressions are listed below, with examples.
1. Use accompanied by with a person; use accompanied with a thing or an object.
The actor was accompanied by his agent.
The fever was accompanied with a sore throat.
2. Use angry with and upset with a person; use angry at and upset at with a thing
or a situation.

Peter is still angry with Troy.

I am upset at your stubbornness.
3. Use between for two things; use among for more than two things.

I cannot decide between the black suit and the brown one.
I cannot decide among the black suit, the brown one, and the navy one.
4. Use correspond to in a comparison; use correspond with to mean letter
writing.

Your facts correspond to mine.

I have corresponded with Isaac for years.
5. Use differ with to mean “ disagree with; use differ from to mean “is like”

I differ with you about who the best candidate is.

This product differ from its picture in the magazine.
6. Use different from, not different than.

NO: Your beliefs are different than mine.

YES: Your beliefs are different from mine
7. Use disagree with a person; use disagree on with a topic or a thing.

Julie disagrees with everyone.

We disagree on the meaning of the novel.
8. Use identical with, not identical to.

NO: Your shoes are identical to mine.

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YES: Your shoes are identical with mine.

9. Use independent of, not independent from

No: This University is independent from the state.

Yes: This University is independent of the state.
10. Do not use like to mean „for example” or “such as”.

No: Stephen King has written many books, like Christine, Misery, and Needful
Things.
Yes: Stephen King has written many books, such as Christine, Misery and
Needful Things.
Yes: Stephen has many books. For example, he wrote Christine, Misery and
Needful Things.
11. Do not use over to or over at for to or at.

No: We went over to Janine‟s to eat.

Yes: We went to Janine‟s to eat.
12. Use responds with a reaction; use responds to with a procedure or an action.

Responding with anger will not solve the problem.

The upset child responded to my kindness.
13. Use responsible for with an action; use responsible to with a person.

I am responsible for my own behavior.

Senator must be responsible to the people who elected them.
14. Use similar to, not similar with.

No: Your schedule is similar with mine.

Yes: Your schedule is similar to mine.
15. Use towards, not toward.

No: We steered the boat toward the shore.

Yes: We steered the boat towards the shore.

Incorrect: None but I turned up.

Correct: None but me turned up.
Incorrect: They are all wrong but I.
Correct: They are all wrong but me.

Explanation
When but is used as a preposition it means except. The preposition but should be
followed by a pronoun in an objective case.

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REFERENCES

Adolinama, P.P. (2001), Business and Technical Communication,

Sanko Publications Ltd. Accra.

Afolayan, A and H. E. Newsum (1983), The Use of English, Longman,

London.

Campbell, Elaine (1995), E S L Resource Book for Engineers and

Scientists, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , New York.

Gborsong, P. A. (2001), A comprehensive Guide to Communicative

Skills, CTA Press, Kumasi

Gogovi, GAK et al (2005) Communicative Skills for Secondary School

Teachers, Centre for Continuing Education, U.C.C. Cape
Coast Ghana.

Littell, McDougal (1985), Basic Skills in English, McDaugal Little

and Company, Evanston, Illinois.

Opoku-Agyernan, Naana J. (1998), A Handbook for Writing Skills, Ghana

Universities

Sekyi-Baido Yaw (2000), Learning and Communicating, Wilas Press

Ltd., Kumasi

University of Mines and Technology 101 Mrs. Cecilia Addei