English Language Lesson Note For SS2 (Third Term)
Scheme Of Work
WEEK 1: SUBORDINATE CLAUSE AND SKILL FOCUS
WEEK 2; WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
WEEK 3: PREFIXES AS WORD EXTENSION; VERB FORMS: ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VERBS
WERK4: ESSAY WRITING- ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY; GRAMMAR: THE RULES OF CONCORD
WEEK5; VOCABULARY ASSOCIATED WITH BANKING; INFLECTIONAL PREFIXES
WEEK 6: ADVERBS
WEEK 7: PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES; VOCABULARIES ASSOCIATED WITH HOTEL AND CATERING
WEEK 8: IDIOMS; VOCABULARY: WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE
WEEK 9: SPEECH WORK: NASAL CONSONANTS; STRUCTURE: ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE
English Language Lesson Note For SS2 (Third Term)
Week 1
Contents:
Clause: Subordinate
Skill Focus: How to do a WASSCE Examination
Writing Skill: Argumentative Essay
Clause: Subordinate and Insubordinate
A subordinate clause (or dependent clause) is a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought.
A subordinate clause is a group of words, which include a finite or non-finite verb. The subordinate clause cannot stand independently as it is not complete as a statement, and thus remains a dependent clause. it has to join the main or independent clause to complete a sentence.
A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but (unlike an independent clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence because something about it implies that there is more to come. On its own, a subordinate clause is left hanging, it’s meaning incomplete. It must be combined with an independent clause in order to form a complete sentence. It is also known as a dependent clause. To learn more, click here.
What are Conditional Clauses?
Conditional Clauses (also known as Conditional Sentences or If Clauses are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled. There are three types of Conditional Clauses as you shall see below-
Conditional Sentence Type 1
It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.
Conditional Sentence Type 2
It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled. To learn more, click here
Week 3
What is a Prefix?
To understand what a prefix is, it is imperative to first understand what a root word is. That said, a root word is a word that can be changed into a new word by adding a beginning and/or an ending. In this light therefore, a prefix is a beginning that is added to a root word. For example, take the root word “purpose.” By adding the prefix “multi” to “purpose,” the new word “multipurpose” is formed.
Every prefix has its own meaning. When added to a root word, a prefix changes the meaning of the root word to which it is added. The root word “purpose” means “an aim or a goal one wishes to achieve.” The prefix “multi” means “many.” The new word “multipurpose” means “designed or used for many purposes.”
Learning to identify prefixes and knowing their meanings are great ways to expand your vocabulary. An expanded vocabulary will increase your listening and speaking comprehension. It will also help you communicate more effectively when writing or taking tests. To learn more, click here
Week 4
How to Write Argumentative Essays
A good introduction in an argumentative essay acts like a good opening statement in a trial. Just like a lawyer, a writer must present the issue at hand, give background, and put forth the main argument — all in a logical, intellectual and persuasive way.
Start With a Hook
Start your introduction with a sentence that gets the reader interested in the topic. To pique the reader’s interest, you can begin with a quote, a personal story, a surprising statistic or an interesting question. For example, if you are arguing that smoking should be banned from all public places, you can start your introduction by referencing a statistic from a verified source: “Tobacco use kills more than five million people every year — more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, according to the World Health Organization.” This strategy grabs the reader’s attention while introducing the topic of the essay. To learn more, click here
Week 5
What is Speech Writing?
Speech writing is the art of writing a speech for public presentation. There are certain things you need to keep in mind – flow, the ability of the audience to understand you, who your audience is, time limits, and being able to get your point across the first time through.
Tips on how to Write perfect Speeches
Pick Your Main Ideas
Don’t try to put too many ideas into your speech. Research shows that people remember very little from speeches, so just give them one or two ideas to hang onto. Remember, you only have one minute for your speech!
Write Like You Talk
Remember that you’re writing a speech, not an essay. People will hear the speech, not read it. The more conversational you can make it sound, the better. So try these tips:
- Use short sentences. It’s better to write two simple sentences than one long, complicated sentence.
- Use contractions. Say “I’m” instead of “I am” “we’re” instead of “we are.”
- Don’t use big words that you wouldn’t use when talking to someone. To learn more, click here
Week 6
Adverb: Definition
An adverb is the part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can also modify prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. In other words, adverbs tell us in what way someone does something. Adverbs can modify verbs (here: drive), adjectives or other adverbs.
POSITIONS OF ADVERB
An adverb that modifies an adjective (“quite sad”) or another adverb (“very carelessly”) appears immediately in front of the word it modifies. An adverb that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: it may appear before or after the verb it modifies (“softly sang” or “sang softly“), or it may appear at the beginning of the sentence (“Softly she sang to the baby”). The position of the adverb may have an effect on the meaning of the sentence.
FUNCTIONS OF ADVERB
Temporal Adverb – An adverb (such as soon or tomorrow) that describes when the action of a verb is carried out. It is also called a time adverb. An adverb phrase that answers the question “when?” is called a temporal adverb. e.g I always thought that the river was deep, but now I see that deep down it’s shallow. To learn more, click here
Week 7
Definition of Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase is a group of words containing a preposition, a noun or pronoun object of the preposition, and any modifiers of the object. A preposition sits in front of (is “pre-positioned” before) its object. The following words are the most commonly used prepositions: about. below.
A prepositional phrase can also be defined as a phrase that starts with a preposition and ends with a noun (or a pronoun). A prepositional phrase is a group of words that lacks either a verb or a subject, and that functions as a unified part of speech.
Example of Prepositional Phrase
from Canada – from (preposition), Canada (noun)
Other examples of Prepositional phrase
By the ocean
Near the window
Over the cabinet
Under your hat To learn more, click here
Week 8
Definition of Idiom
The term refers to a set expression or a phrase comprising two or more words. An interesting fact regarding the device is that the expression is not interpreted literally. The phrase is understood as to mean something quite different from what individual words of the phrase would imply. Alternatively, it can be said that the phrase is interpreted in a figurative sense. Further, idioms vary in different cultures and countries.
Idiom Examples
1. “Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint.”
The statement quoted above uses “silver lining” as an idiom which means some auspicious moment is lurking behind the cloud or the difficult time.
2. “American idioms drive me up the hall!”
Here, the word “idioms” is used as an idiom.
3. “I worked the graveyard shift with old people, which was really demoralizing, because the old people didn’t have a chance in hell of ever getting out.”
In the extract quoted above, “graveyard shift” is employed as an idiom. To learn more, click here
Week 9
Nasal Consonants
Nasals are consonants that are formed by blocking the oral passage and allowing the air to escape through the nose. Present-Day English has three nasals, all of which are voiced (vocal cords vibrating during the articulation of the nasal). (The nasals, the lateral /l/, the retroflex /r/, and the semivowels /w/ and /j/ are sometimes called the resonants.) A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to come out through the nose, while the air is not allowed to pass through the mouth because something (like the tongue or the lips) is stopping it.
Two major things to be noted:
- The air is completely blocked from leaving the mouth, and is instead released out through the nose
- All three nasal sounds are voiced, meaning that the vocal cords vibrate during the creation of the sound
A subtle aspect of the n sound to be aware and attempt mastery of is: The n sound can become syllabic consonant on unstressed syllables. To learn more, click here
