GST 121: USE OF ENGLISH II

This is a two credit unit course. It is

compulsory for all 100 level students who
have enrolled for degree programmes in
Nigerian Universities.
The focus of the course is to train students
in the use of English language which is
necessary for all your academic work.
 COURSE CONTENT
• The course consists of 4 modules that are
discussed under 18 units.
• MODULE 1: READING TECHNIQUES AND
STUDY SKILLS
• MODULE 2: VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
• MODULE 3: THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
• MODULE 4: LITERARY PRINCIPLES
ASSESSMENTS
• There are two types of assessments for this course –
• the Self-Assessment Exercises which will help you to
understand each section;
• the Tutor-Marked Assessment which accounts for the 40%
Continuous Assessment (CA) score that is required for this
course.

FINAL EXAMINATION
• The final examination which attracts 60% of the total grade
of this course.
MODULE 1: Reading Techniques and Study Skills

• Unit 1 Concept of Reading, Purpose, and Types

• Unit 2 Effective Reading
• Unit 3 Reading Techniques and Strategies
• Unit 4 Reading Comprehension/ skills
• Unit 5 Summary writing
 Unit 1: THE CONCEPT OF READING, PURPOSES AND TYPES OF
READING

INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be exposed to reading and
reasons why you read. Reading is done at
various levels to obtain information from the
writer’s point of view.
We read all kinds of materials, books, journals,
reports, newspapers, letters, even materials
on television or computer screens etc.
Reading can also be of different types.
As students, you need to learn to read
effectively and efficiently so as to acquire
information for your academic needs as well
as for day to day life activities.
 The Concept of Reading
Reading is the process of looking at written symbols and
getting meaning from them.
Acquiring the ability to read comes in stages. At the
elementary level, reading is concerned with learning to
recognize printed symbols which represent speech and
to respond emotionally or otherwise, to the sound and
meaning of words.
For more experienced readers in schools and colleges,
reading involves the meaningful interpretation of written
symbols such as words, phrases and sentences, and at
the later stage (tertiary level), reading involves thinking,
evaluation, judging, imagining and problem-solving.
Reading is therefore the interpretation of
written language. It is a way of building up
from what has been put down in the written
form.
Written symbols are used to form words and
sentences which represent certain information
or intention.
• Aliyu (2006) defines reading as a form of
communication during which the content,
challenges and claims made by a writer are
taken in by the reader who tries to capture the
substance of the written material.
• Reading can therefore be defined as a
process that involves both the acquisition of
the meaning intended by the writer and the
reader’s own contributions in the form of
interpretation, evaluation, and reflection of
these meanings.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
• What is reading?
• How do you develop your reading?
• Discuss the three levels of reading mentioned
in the passage above.
HOW READING DEVELOPS
Reading is a progressive development of skills
ranging from recognition of verbal symbols to
the interpretation and evaluation of materials
of great complexity.
As a person’s reading ability matures, his
recognition of common words becomes faster
and more accurate. His sight vocabulary also
increases with constant and wider reading.
Reading purposes
Reading has many purposes such as:
(a)Finding and understanding the main ideas or
following the trend of thought.
(b)Selecting significant details for comprehension
(c)Answering specific questions, locating certain facts
or information
(d)Following a given direction on how to do or make
something
(e)Critically evaluating the writer’s ideas
(f)Analyze a concept, diagram or chart
(g)Deriving pleasure from creative literature
• To be an effective reader, you need to have a clear view
as to which of these purposes should dominate your
reading and to allow that view to influence your
strategies.
• This means that your reading speed will vary according to
the purpose of reading.

SELF- ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

1. Explain three purposes of reading
2. What is the role of reading purposes in reading success?
TYPES OF READING

Reading can be of different types depending on

the purpose of reading. You should know that
the way you read varies depending on your
reasons for reading. Below are some types of
reading that we do:
Scanning
• This is a reading type in which the reader seeks to
obtain specific information or idea from a given
reading material.
• Scanning involves skipping a large amount of
material that is not required.
• For instance, when you check for your name from a
list on the notice board or try to find the meaning of
a word from the dictionary, you are scanning.
• In scanning, a lot of words are not read because the
emphasis is on a phrase or idea or the word that is
needed.
Skimming
• This entails the ability to go over a given text in order to
get a general overview of such reading material.

• To skim implies going through a book, newspaper or any

reading text fast so as to have a general idea of what it
is all about.

• Scanning and skimming are parts of the total reading

programme that will help you to increase both speed
and understanding in reading. These techniques should
be used at the preliminary stage of reading before
reading each section thoroughly
Academic or Study Reading
This kind of reading relates to some form of
academic enterprise like reading for an examination.
a. As a result, it is required that you get information
on topics or subject from books, journals, lecture
notes etc.
b. Draw out the main points and other related points.
c. Put together these points in note form.
d. Use these notes as reading materials to prepare you
to tackle examination questions, tests, assignments,
group work/projects and other related academic
activities.
Critical Reading
• In this type of reading, you are expected to
have the ability to differentiate between facts
and opinions.
• The purpose of critical reading may include
analysing, criticizing, interpreting, reordering
and arguing a writer’s point of view.
 Extensive Reading
This is done by reading a wide range of reading materials. This
may include even materials outside your field of study.
Intensive Reading
This involves reading for deeper meaning. It focuses on
mastering a text or subject area.
Anytime you study, you will be engaged in one type of reading
or the other. The type of reading you do is related to the
purpose, and the speed at which you read. You are
therefore advised to read constantly because the more you
read, the more you develop your vocabulary and the easier
it becomes to comprehend what you reading.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1. Differentiate between scanning and

skimming.
2. What type of reading do you do frequently as
a student?
3. Under what type of reading would you
classifying reading for pleasure.
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been exposed to the
concept of reading, purposes of reading as
well as types of reading. Reading well will help
you acquire success in life because the more
you read, the more information you will have
to enable you meet the challenges of life.
 Unit2 : EFFECTIVE READING
Introduction
• In the previous unit, you learned the concept
of reading and the reasons why we read.
• In this unit, you will be shown different
strategies of reading that will ensure effective
reading. You are advised to study the unit well
and practice the suggestions given to you.
EFFECTIVE READING
• Effective reading means being able to read accurately
and efficiently as well as understanding the passage
in order to achieve your purpose. It may be necessary
to reproduce the content of the passage in some other
way such as discussing its main ideas or writing a
summary. In order to achieve effective reading,
follow the suggestions below:
Decide the purpose of reading:
[Link] be an effective reader, you should always
decide the purpose of reading because your
reading speed will vary according to your
purpose of reading. For instance, if you want
to locate a point or information from a text,
you would need to skim or scan through the
passage which is reading at fast rate.
2. Decide what you want to read: It is necessary that before
you begin to read you should look at the content page at
the beginning of the book so as to decide the relevant
chapters or pages you are interested in reading. A look at
the chapters, headings and sub-headings is also important
for your reading task.
3. Get to know the content to be read: Anytime you want to
read, you should get a general overview of the content
you are about to read by skimming the material. This will
help you to know the relevance of each section of the
material. A quick view of the introduction or summary of
the book gives you the direction of the material and also
gives you the knowledge of whether the material is
relevant or not.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

• [Link] any book of your choice and skim

through the table of contents to get a general
idea of what the book contains.
• [Link] a word in your mind and scan for it in a
dictionary.
READING STRATEGIES
In acquiring reading efficiency, it is important to consider some useful
techniques and devices called reading strategies. These are:
[Link]
As mentioned earlier, this is the practice of varying one’s speed of
reading to suit one’s material and the purpose of one’s reading.
Effective reading demands flexibility so it is important to know
when to read slowly and when to read fast. For instance, first you
need to preview a passage or book by skimming to know its general
content or the trend of thought before reading it slowly for good
comprehension. After this, read it rapidly to check on half-
comprehended aspects of it and then review it so as to make a final
check before attempting to recall what has been read. This is quite
a long process but rather than plodding through the material, it is
very effective particularly for reading difficult materials.
 2. ANTICIPATION
This is another important reading strategy. It is a very useful
technique for predicting what the writer is going to say.

This is done by previewing the table of contents. The fact that

you are not anticipating the correct thing is immaterial.
Anticipating the author implies that you are already beginning
to think about the topic and this helps the learning process.

Of course, it is impracticable to anticipate the author in all cases,

particularly if the reader has not read the topic widely
enough. Yet, in many cases, the headlines or table of contents
can in fact set the experienced reader thinking about the
author’s possible line of approach.
[Link]
Organization is the general arrangement of a piece of writing.
The ability to identify the structure of a piece of reading
material can help you to focus on important ideas
contained in it. This is can be done by noting the
arrangement of the text and the signal words used.

4. ATTITUDINAL CHANGE
This implies the proper adjustment of one’s attitude to the
reading task. The author’s prejudices may lead to a
legitimate questioning of his credibility or his authenticity.
On the other hand, the prejudices of the reader may also
prevent him from seeing the author’s point of view.
5. MEMORY IMPROVEMENT DEVICES
What is meant by memory improvement in this context is any
device that aids better recall, remembrance and retention.
This can be achieved by writing down short notes while
reading or through the use of mnemonics e.g. asterisks,
highlighting and so on.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

[Link] four reading strategies.
[Link] how you would use three of the strategies in your
reading activity.
STUDY-TYPE READING TECHNIQUES: SQ3R

• The SQ3R technique involves five steps. Each

letter stands for a step. The S stands for ‘Survey’
which means to look through the pages of a
chapter, lightly skimming, reading sub-headings
and so on to get a general idea of the content
and scope of the material. Q stands for
‘Question’, which implies that the reader should
on the basis of initial survey of main ideas,
formulate questions in anticipation of the
author’s answers.
Such questions should be formulated mentally, thus acting as a kind of
mental stimulant for further reading or they could be written down on a
scrap of paper for later reference. The third step, the first R, means ‘Read’
the chapter or section carefully, partly to discover the answers to initial
questions. The reader may then note the way that his curiosity is
disappointed, or the way his anticipated answers to questions have been
confirmed or contradicted.
The second R which is fourth step means ‘Recite’. In this case, the reader is
required to recite mentally or orally to himself or even write down the
questions based on text.
The last R, which is the fifth, final step is ‘Revise’. After completing the first
four steps, what remains is for the reader to ‘revise’ what he has learned.
This revision may take the form of reviewing the whole chapter for a
second time, re-identifying the points that have emerged, re-reading
some sections that have been underlined, reviewing margin notes and
footnotes and so on for the sake of learning the material. This revision
may be resumed periodically over a long time to keep the details fresh
and familiar.
• The SQ3R method teaches you how to first
survey the entire reading material from table
of contents, opening paragraphs, chapters,
headings sub-headings to concluding
paragraphs. You can then raise questions
about why you want to read, what
information you need etc. You then start your
reading with these questions in mind, after
which you recite or go over the important
points to see how much you have gained. And
finally, you review what you have done with
emphasis on unclear points.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

• 1. When do you use the SQ3R reading

technique?
• 2. Can you describe the sequence of the SQ3R
technique?
• 3. Practice the use of SQ3R to study this unit
CONCLUSION
In order to be an effective and efficient reader, you should take
into consideration the strategies discussed in this Unit. This will
make it easier for you to read with proper comprehension and
at a better reading speed.

TUTOR- MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. There are requirements for effective reading. You state them.
2. We have discussed flexibility in reading. What role does it play?
3. When your purpose is to find answers to specific questions,
what reading technique would you use?
4. For academic reading, describe an appropriate technique you
can use.
 UNIT 3: READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS
INTRODUCTION
In the previous units, you learned about reading types and
strategies of reading. This unit will talk about
comprehension which is very important in listening,
speaking, reading and writing. As a student you will need
to comprehend this manual and also your lecturers so as
to benefit from this programme.
Any message that is not comprehended is lost.
Comprehension enables you to respond to information
passed to you both in and out of school. Therefore,
please to go through the unit carefully so as to derive
maximum benefit from it.
 WHAT IS COMPREHENSION?
Comprehension is the skill of extracting meaning
from either speech or written language.
Comprehending a text simply means to
understand it. The term comprehension
suggests some understanding that follows a
thoughtful process about an event, idea or
occasion. The most important task of a reader
is to understand the writer’s or speaker’s main
ideas and thoughts.
 Levels of Comprehension
Comprehension proceeds in at least three stages
• We comprehend at a factual level when we
understand the words and sentences on the page
we are reading.
• At the inferential level, we comprehend
relationships and ideas implied rather than
explicitly stated through the use of figurative
images or idiomatic expressions.
• At the conjectural level, we comprehend the
writer’s ideas as a basis for projecting new ones.
 Mental processes involved in comprehension
• Recognition: with reference to reading, recognition can be regarded
as the ability to understand the familiarity or relationship of a word,
a phrase or an idea to another word, phrase or idea previously
known. For comprehension and summary assignments word, phrase
or sentence recognition is essential.

• Retention: this is the act of storing in the memory or of organizing

mentally into familiar meaningful units any information, fact, or
expressions that have been understood.

• Recall: this is a measure of what is actually remembered.

Remembering is seen from the standpoint of reproducing what you
have retained. The reproduction of what was already
comprehended and related in the memory is referred to as recall.
SELF –ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

[Link] what level of comprehension listed above

does your reading fall?
[Link] in your own words the mental
processes involved in comprehension.
Causes of low rate of reading comprehension

Low rate of comprehension is caused by a

number of factors such as:
• Deficiency in basic comprehension ability.
• Faulty word identification and recognition.
• Deficiency in rate of comprehension.
Deficiency in basic comprehension ability. This is
demonstrated by the following factors:
• Limited vocabulary, that is a lack of adequate store of
functional words or a strong vocabulary necessary for the
reader to understand the thoughts and ideas expressed in
a passage. This can lead to a low rate of comprehension.
• Inability to read by thought units. Reading is effective if
you read by thought units; that is, reading phrase by
phrase. If on the other hand you read words in isolation of
others i.e. word by word, then comprehension will be
difficult.
• Inability to appreciate the author’s explanations also
affects comprehension.
Faulty word identification and recognition. This is caused by-
• Failure to use context and meaning clues in the passage.
• Inefficient visual analysis of words found in the passage.
• Limited knowledge of visual, structural and phonetic
elements of words.
• Tendency to over analyse words resulting in a waste of
time.
• Lack of auditory blending and visual synthesis. For instance,
when you come across words like cod, card; caught, cot,
cult, court you have to exercise a great deal of attention to
recognize, comprehend, distinguish, retain and recall their
sounds and meanings in comprehension exercises.
• Lack of ability to locate errors which may occur in a reading
passage.
Deficiency in rate of comprehension
A high rate of comprehension is required for successful
performance in comprehension and summary exercises.
However, this may be lacking due to the following factors:
• Inability to adjust the rate of reading to the level of difficulty of
the passage.
• Inefficient or slow word recognition while reading a passage
• Being an over analytical reader. This results in much romance
with words, phrases, and concepts found in the passage.
• Use of mental crutches such as finger-pointing at words or
head movements while reading. This weakens your
concentration in reading.
• Vocalization or sub-vocalization. This means moving your lips
and sounding the words while reading. This slows down the
rate of reading and comprehension.
SELF –ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
• List and Explain three factors responsible for
low rate of comprehension.
• How would you ensure a high rate of
comprehension in your reading?
 THE TOPIC SENTENCE
• When reading to understand the main ideas or to follow
the general trend of thought, you should quickly go in
search of the topic sentence. This is a sentence that
summarizes the main idea of a paragraph. It usually
appears at the beginning of the paragraph but sometimes
they are placed either at the middle or the end of the
paragraph. They may be left unstated and it is up to you to
make correct inferences of the main idea in the paragraph.
• To follow the trend of thought, you must track of all the
topic sentences. To be able to do this you need to read
rapidly and focus not on individual words but on groups of
word and sentences which help to identify the main ideas.
• Example 1: Topic Sentence at the Beginning
• The vast majority of people, wherever they live and whatever their
occupation come in contact with animals in one way or another and have
to deal with them. It is obvious that the hunter has to know the ways of
his quarry, the farmer must be aware of the habits of his farmyard
animals and of creatures that damage his crops; the fisherman must
know when and where to find his fish and how to outwit them. Even the
modern city dweller meets animals. He may want to ward off the roaches
in his kitchen or he may keep a dog or a bird and grow familiar with the
way his pet behaves. All over the world, among primitive tribes as well as
in the modern society, there are those who delight in the observation of
animals and there is a growing awareness of the fact that sharing our
world with our fellow creatures is like traveling together – we enjoy being
surrounded by other beings who, like ourselves, are deeply absorbed in
the adventure of living. There is a growing sense of marvel and affinity.
• (From Niko Tinbergen (ed). ‘An infant science’ in Animal Behaviour Time-
life Books.)
• Example 2: Topic Sentence at the End
• In the year 1830, a French official unearthed in the valley of
the Somme, strange implements of flint now recognized as
weapons with which the men of the Old Stone Age made
war. With these modest tools of death, it seems
Neanderthal men from what is now Germany and Cro-
Magnon men from what is now France, fought fifty
thousand years ago for the mastery of the continent, and
after a day of lusty battle, left perhaps a score of the dead
on the field. Twenty years ago modern Germans and
modern Frenchmen fought again in that same valley for
that same price with magnificent tools of death that killed
ten thousand men in a day. One art alone has made
indisputable progress in history and that is the art of war.
• (Adapted from Will Durant: ‘why Men Fight’)
SAMPLE READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGES
The following passages are to help improve your rate of reading comprehension.
Read the following passage and note the information given in the numbered paragraphs

• The Pneumatic Tyre

• The pneumatic tyre was invented by a Scotsman, R.W. Thomson and first patented by him in 1845. A set of tyres made
according to Thomson’s design were fitted to a horse-drawn carriage and covered more than 1600 km before they
needed replacing. It was not until nearly 50 years later, however, that the modern tyre industry was found by J.B.
Dunlop, an Irishman from Belfast.
• A modern vehicle tyre consists of an inner layer of fabric plies which are wrapped around bead wires at their inner
edges. The bead wires hold the tyres in position on the wheel rim. The fabric piles are coated with rubber which is
moulded to the sidewalls and the tread of the tyre. Behind the tread is a reinforcing band or breaker, usually made of
steel, rayon or glass fibre. The radial ply tyres fitted to most modern cars differ from cross ply tyres in that they are
constructed with very flexible sidewalls and have breakers which are most in-extensible. These properties are achieved
by altering the side-position of the fabric plies run from one bead wire to the other making an angle of 90% with the
crown’ of the tyre (the circumferential line around the middle of the tread). Radial tyres have better wear
characteristics at high speed than cross ply tyres.
• The process of making modern tyres involves three separate stages: the preparation of the various component parts,
their assembly into the shape of a tyre and finally, heating with sulphur in a suitable mould to vulcanize the rubber.
During vulcanization, the rubber in the tyre structure combines with the sulphur, which sets it in its final pattern and
gives the rubber components the required physical properties.
• The main materials in tyre construction are steel wire for the extensible beads, textile fabric or steel for casing and
reinforcing breakers and of course rubber mixed with various additives to give the required strength and resistance to
wear and fatigue. For tyre castings, rayon, nylon and polyester are the most commonly used materials, although thin
steel cable is often found in truck tyres. The breaker was originally made of steel and still is in truck tyres, but
nowadays, rayon and other materials such as glass fibre are more common in car tyres. The rubber mixes are made
from modern synthetic rubbers for car tyres: heavier truck tyres tend to be made of natural rubber because it is cooler
running than synthetic rubbers.
• COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
• a. Give a suitable title for paragraph 1.
• b. In paragraph 2, which sentence do you consider to be the most important?
• c. Which phrase in paragraph 3 would you consider as important in the final
process of making a modern tyre?
• d. What is the topic sentence in this essay?
• 2. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences according to information in the
passage.
• a. Early tyres designed by Thomson were………to a horse-drawn carriage
which travelled more than…………kms.
• b. Basic components of a vehicle tyre are:
• i…………………………………..ii……………………………………….
• iii…………………………………….iv……………………………………
• C. The materials considered to be important in tyre industry are:
• i.
• ii
• iii
•
CONCLUSION

• Reading constitutes an important aspect of

any reading exercise. It is necessary for you
and learners at every level of education
because without comprehension you will find
it difficult to respond to questions in texts,
assignments, or examinations. Therefore, it is
necessary that you make use of what you have
learnt in this unit to be a successful reader.
 TUTOR- MARKED ASSESSMENT
• 1 Define comprehension and explain the
three levels of comprehension in reading.
• 2. Explain five factors responsible for low
rate comprehension.
• 3. Discuss how to guard against the factors
you have mentioned.
 UNIT 4: SUMMARY WRITING

• INTRODUCTION
• In the previous unit, you learnt about reading
comprehension. In this unit, the concept of summary
writing is explained and what to take into account when
writing a summary. Summarisation is a skill that you will
be called upon to do from time to time in your
academic work. You need to summarise all lectures and
notes. You need to summarise all points given during
lectures and private reading activities when preparing
for examination. Sample summaries from passages will
also be given.
• Summary is a condensed version of a larger
reading passage, such as books, essays or
paragraph. It is a process of reading a text,
identifying the main ideas, describing those
ideas in your own words. It is produced to
show the teacher that you have read and
understood the reading material. You can only
summarize a passage if you have read and
understood it. In this way, you have to know
the main points in the passage after reading it
several times. Summary makes a piece of work
easier and faster for you to understand.
• Summary is a condensed version of a larger
reading passage, such as books, essays or
paragraph. It is a process of reading a text,
identifying the main ideas, describing those
ideas in your own words. It is produced to show
the teacher that you have read and understood
the reading material. You can only summarize a
passage if you have read and understood it. In
this way, you have to know the main points in
the passage after reading it several times.
Summary makes a piece of work easier and
faster for you to understand.
 Guidelines for writing summary
• To be efficient in writing summary, you have to consider the following
guidelines:
• (1) Read the passage or article to be sure you understand it.
• (2) Outline the article to note the major points.
• (3) Write the first draft of the summary in present tense without looking at
the article.
• (4) Always paraphrase when writing a summary i. e use your own words but
if you have to copy a phrase from the original article, be sure it is a very
important phrase that cannot be paraphrased and put quotation marks
around the phrase.
• (5) Substitute a general term for lists of items or events and combine several
main ideas into a single sentence.
• (6) Target approximately ¼ of the length of the original. That means you
have to be brief and do not put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations
into the summary.
•
 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
• Mention and explain three guidelines for
effective summary.
• What role does summary play for a reader?
• Summarize the main content of this unit.
 SAMPLE SUMMARY
• The Nile
• The great river Nile flows gently in its course through the hot plains in the first half
of the year, but later on, when the melting snows and the rains on the mountains
far to the south swell its tributaries, the Nile overflows. It spreads rich, muddy soil
from Ethiopia over its valley and forms deep stretches of green, fertile lands along
its banks. The settlers found, in the soft rich earth, barley and wheat and other
crops could be planted even without the use of the plough and they began to make
many settlements of farmers. They used more implements for tilling the soil and
flint for their weapons and as time passed they learnt the use of copper.
•
• Now, read the passage a second time, sentence by sentence. After reading each
sentence state which words you think you can remove from that sentence without
destroying its meaning in the passage. Then, we shall discuss the reasons for
including/deleting certain words, before proceeding with the next sentence in the
same way. We can then put together, in paragraph form, the new sentences that we
have created by means of these deletions or removal of words. These will form a
summary of the passage.
• Now read the next sentence:
• 2. ‘It spreads rich, muddy soil from Ethiopia over its valley and forms deep
stretches of green, fertile lands along its banks.’
• You notice that what is being described here is the action of the river. Is there
anything in this sentence which is not absolutely essential for its meaning?
• Consider which words you can remove and write these words in the blank
spaces below.
• Both single words and phrases can be cut out.
• Once you have written something down, look at the following words/phrases.
Have you removed any of these? (i) rich (ii) muddy (iii) from Ethiopia (iv) deep
(v) stretches of green (vi) fertile.
• Let us consider which words can in fact be deleted. In doing this, you have first
to be careful to retain the most important words, from the point of view of
the meaning. The sentence states that during its course, the Nile spreads rich
soil over its valley and form fertile lands along its bank. So, if you delete the
word ‘rich’ or’ fertile’ from your version of the sentences, the meaning will be
lost. But you can, in order to shorten the sentence remove (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v)
above, because these words relate to the sub-ideas and not to the main idea
of the sentence.
• 3. ‘The settlers found that in the soft rich earth, barley and wheat and
other crops could be planted, even without the use of the plough, and
they began to make many settlements of farmers.’
• What can you remove from this sentence without damaging its basic
meaning? In the blank space given below, write down what you think
can be deleted.
• Now that you have chosen to remove some words, check if you have
deleted any of the following:
• (i) soft (ii) rich (iii) barley and wheat (iv) even without the use of the
plough.
• If you read the sentences carefully, you will find that not only the
richness but also the softness of the soil is important here because of
the statement that crops can be planted without the use of the plough.
So, (i) and (ii) cannot be removed without damage to the sense. Notice
that (iv) is required because it indicates an amazing softness of soil,
something that normal fertile soil doesn’t possess. So it needs to be
retained.
• 4. ‘They used stone implements for tilling the soil, and flint for their weapons; and as
time passed they learnt the use of copper.
• Do you think any words can be removed from here? If so, write down these words in the
blank space below.
• You may find it difficult to select the words which can be removed from here. Remember
that it is not always possible to do so. In this case, it may, instead, be possible to reduce
the length of the sentence by writing a generalisation to cover the examples listed here.
The examples given are:
• (i) making stone implements for tilling the soil
• (ii) using flint for their weapons
• (iii) using copper.
• What general statement can you make to cover these examples? Perhaps it is possible to
say:
• 4(a) ‘They learnt the art of tool-making with the use of stone, flint and copper.’
• ‘Tool-making can cover the making of tools and weapons.
•
• Summary
• The river Nile flows in its course in the first half of the year but later overflows. It spreads
rich soil and form fertile lands along its banks. Many farm settlements were formed there
because of the rich earth on which crops could be planted even without the use of the
plough. They learnt the art of tool-making with the use of stone, flint and copper.
 MODULE 4: THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

• INTRODUCTION
• In the previous unit, we looked at the guidelines for effective
listening. In this unit, we shall look at public speaking and its
components. Public speaking as the name applies means
speaking to a group of people called audience or listeners.
For instance, a lecturer giving lecture to his or her students, a
politician presenting his speech at a rally or a health
personnel addressing the public on the outbreak of a
disease, can be classified as public speaking. Public speeches
have different functions based on why they are given. They
also have some components which will be discussed in the
following sections.
 OBJECTIVES

• At the end of the unit, you be able to:

• Define public speech
• Give examples of public speech
• List and explain the components of public
speech
• Explain the importance of listening in public
speech.
 Components of public speaking
• The Speaker: This is the person who prepares and
delivers speech to the public. For instance in a
classroom situation, the speaker is the teacher or
lecturer. When you are a speaker, you are the
source, or originator of a message that is transmitted
to a listener. The speaker may be speaking to a small
group of about ten people or a group of as large as
five hundred people. The major concern of a speaker
is to make the communication a success. You should
try to get through your listeners so as to engage
their minds and full attention.
• The Message: The message is the subject-
matter or content to be delivered to the
public. In the classroom, the message is the
lesson. The message is sent in the form of
symbols-verbal or non-verbal. Verbal symbols
are words used to represent things and ideas
the speaker is talking about while non-verbal
symbols are what the speaker conveys with his
tone of voice, eyes, facial expression, gestures,
posture and appearance.
• The Receiver: the receiver is the target
audience who listens to the speaker. In
classroom situation, the students are the
receivers of the information. You are also
receiver in this class and as the receiver you
must pay attention to the speaker so as to
benefit from the information being conveyed.
You have to listen with an open mind; do not
let your mind to wander out of what goes on
in class.
• The Channel: the channel is the medium used to
communicate the message. A speech can reach the
audience by means of a variety of channels: such as
radio, television, the internet, public address system
or face-to face. In the class, the channel of
communication is the teacher’s voice through face-to-
face medium of communication. The teacher’s voice
may be accompanied by visual channel such as
gestures, facial expressions, visual aids among others.
For speeches outside the classroom, you may need to
have a public address system which enables you to
speak in an easy and conversational style without
over tasking your voice.
• FEEDBACK: this is the response given by the listeners. The
response may be verbal or non-verbal. Verbal response
involves asking questions or making contributions during
lectures. In some public speeches, listeners give feedback at
the end of the speech during question- and-answer session.
Listeners could also give non-verbal responses such as
smiling, nodding of head, clapping of hands, frowning,
yawning sleeping, etc. While frowning and sitting with folded
arms by listeners signify negative feedback, smiling, clapping
of hands, nodding of heads by listeners may connote positive
feedback. Moreover, if the listeners yawn or look at you with
gazed expression, it may be a sign of boredom or fatigue. It
therefore rests on you as the speaker to adjust your
presentation so as to achieve the desired success.
• CONCLUSION
• This unit has looked at the components of
public speech communication. These
components are very vital in both verbal and
non-verbal communication. They are also
referred to as elements of communication
because without them there can be no
communication. You should know that
everyone, including yourself is either a speaker
or listener, because you talk and write for to
others to listen or read and also others do the
same for your sake. It is therefore necessary
 SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
• What is public speaking?
• What is the role of a speaker in a communication
process?
• What is the major concern of the speaker?
• What do you understand by the term feedback?
• State two types of feedback
• What is the role of feedback in speech
communication?
• Can there be a communication without feedback?
 UNIT 4: OCCASIONS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING

• Policy forming
• Professional
• Social occasions
• Ceremonial
• INTRODUCTION
• The occasions for public speaking can be
referred to as the motive behind giving the
speech. In Public speech, many people are
involved in listening to the speaker, and this
implies that there must be a cogent reason
behind giving the speech. The motive behind
public speaking can therefore be divided into
four general categories. They are:Policy-
forming,Professional, Social and Ceremonial.
• Policy - forming occasion is also known as
deliberative which involves speeches on political
issues as in democratic system of government
practised in Nigeria and several other countries. In
this situation, the speaker gives a speech in form of
keynote address, campaign, inaugural address,
legislative speech, all geared toward supporting a
policy, highlighting the fitness of a candidate, seeking
votes in an election, or advocating the passage of a
bill in a legislative assembly. In each of these
speeches, the speaker supports his/her point of view
through facts, figures and opinion, to gain the support
of the audience.
• Professional occasion: this speech varies from
the bureaucratic occasions of the ministry to
the commercial efforts of the salesman. In this
occasion, the speaker gives speech on his
profession or field of study to his associates.
The speaker may be a lawyer, journalist,
diplomat, or a lecturer. A speaker may also
give a speech in a semi-profession capacity to
a variety of non-professional groups.
• Social occasions: This involves speeches which
enable the audience to relax and to enjoy the
speaker's experiences. Examples are speeches
at thanks giving, Book launch, etc.
• 3.1.4 Ceremonial occasions: These are
speeches given at ceremonies such as
naming, wedding, funeral services, presenting
a gift, eulogizing a founder, celebrating an
anniversary, etc. This occasion calls for a
speech to impress the audience.
• SELF-ASSESSMENT
• What do you understand by the term feedback?
• State two types of feedback
• What is the role of feedback in speech communication?

• Write short notes on the five components of speech

communication
• Explain the subject matter of policy-forming
communication

• What is the role of both the speaker and listener in

social and ceremonial speeches?
 CONCLUSION

• The primary aim of speech is to communicate. In

order to convey our thoughts or ideas effectively,
the speaker must understand the meaning of
what he wants to communicate and the
appropriate situation or occasion in which to do
it. He/she must be able to evaluate the effects of
his speech on his audience and must also know
the principles underlying all speech situations
and occasions so as to achieve the desired
purpose.
 TUTOR-MARKED ASSESSMENT
• Name and explain the four main situations of
giving public speech
 UNIT 5: METHODS OF SPEECH DELIVERY

• CONTENTS
• 3.1 Impromptu delivery
• 3.2 Extemporaneous delivery
• 3.3 Manuscript delivery
• 3.4 Memorization
• 4.0 Conclusion
• INTRODUCTION
The previous units have introduced you to public
speaking including the components and the
occasions that call for it. This unit shall expose
you to the different methods of delivering public
speech. The purpose of the speech as well as the
speaker may play a vital role in determining what
method of speech deliver to adopt. The
following sections of the unit would introduce
you to the different methods by which public
speech can be delivered.
• Impromptu delivery
• In an impromptu deliver you are called upon to
speak without prior notification. You are called
to speak in a public gathering on the spur of
the moment with no opportunity for extensive
preparation. For example, you are called to
give a talk to fellow students about the efforts
being made by the present administration to
solve the problem of insecurity and corruption
in Nigeria. If you find yourself in this situation,
how would you go about it?
• Here are some guidelines to help you out.
• a. Do not bring in points that you lack the time
or knowledge to handle
• b. Explain or prove your points by using
specific details, examples, anecdotes, and
other supporting materials.
• c. Be brief
• d Conclude by a restatement of your points.
 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

• What are the merits and demerits of

impromptu speech delivery?
• If called upon to give an impromptu speech,
what measures would you adopt?
• Extemporaneous delivery
• In extemporaneous delivery, you speak from notes, but these
notes do not contain your speech written out word for word.
The notes contain only your basic ideas, expressed in a few
words. When you speak, therefore, you make up exact words
as you go along. You only glance at the notes occasionally to
remind you of your next point, but most of the time you look
at the listeners and speak in a natural, conversational tone of
voice. The merit of this method is that its conversational
toneis valued in a speech because it is easier for the audience
to listen to, understand and remember. However, though the
method is popular if it not properly handled it can make you
stumble if the outlined is not well-organized and rehearsed.
Therefore in order to achieve success through this method,
you need to spend a lot of time on preparation and rehearsal.
• Manuscript delivery
• In manuscript delivery, you put the entire speech on a
manuscript word-for-word. This can be done in two ways.
The first is that you simply read the manuscript line by
line, in most cases very fast, without looking at the
audience or speak with adequate expression. This
approach destroys spontaneity and enthusiasm. The
second way is to use the manuscript as a reference, but
not actually reading it. In this way, the speaker underlines
the salient points in the speech, read it over several times
and during the delivering, he talks to the manuscript and
glances at the key words to refresh his memory. I think
the second method is more conversational if you take
time to prepare the speech very well.
• Memorization
• Some speakers memorize the entire speech and
then deliver them without any notes or scripts.
The disadvantages of this method are obvious.
One of them is that you spend a lot of time
committing an entire speech into memory.
Secondly, during delivery you may forget what
comes next; and this may embarrass you before
your audience and you may find it difficult to get
back on track. Moreover, even if you are able to
remember the entire speech, you may sound
unnatural, lifeless and boring.
 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

• What are the merits and demerits of impromptu speech

delivery?
• If called upon to give an impromptu speech, what
measures would you adopt?
• Why is theextemporaneous speech delivery method
popular among speakers?
• Explain the disadvantage of manuscript method of speech
delivery
• What do you think is problem of memorization as a
method of speech delivery?
 CONCLUSION

• This unit has taken you through the different

methods of delivering public speech. The most
important thing about any speech delivery is
adequate preparation. You need to be well
prepared to avoid embarrassment. You also
need to make your speech very interesting by
taking your audience along.
 TUTOR-MARK ASSESSMENT
• Write short notes on the four methods of
speech delivery
• Which of the four methods of speech delivery
do you recommend?
• Give reasons for your choice.
•
•