Points to be noted in the use library

Likely examination Questions

CHAPTER ONE
A BRIEF HISTORY OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN AND ITS LIBRARY METAMOPHORSIS
1. The University of Benin which was formally known as Institute of Technology was founded on Saturday
23rd November 1970.
The need to establish a University in Bendel State was recognized in 1965.
The University of Benin Library was established on November 23rd 1965.
The institute was accorded formal recognition by NUC of Nigeria on 1st July, 1971.
The first visitor to the university of Benin was the Military Governor of the then Midwest state.
The university of Benin Library is John Harris Library.
John Harris was the first formal University of Benin Librarian.
The university of Benin Library comprises John Harris Library (main library), the new Library extension,
faculty Libraries and Ekehuan Campus Library.
The John Harris Library building has 3 levels: the ground floor, first floor and the basement.
We have, the following in the ground floor: the main entrance, checkpoint, the lobby, the catalogue
cabinet and the circulation desk, the reference section, the cataloguing unit, acquisition, serial section
and the university Librarian’s office.
The activities in the cataloguing, unit, acquisition and serial section are regarded as behind the scene.
The first floor is essentially the student reading area.
Bindery section of the library assists in the mending/ repairs of torn books and journals.
The main library has a sitting capacity of 700 readers at a time.
The E – learning centre at the university main library is called Donals Patrick E – learning Centre.
Undergraduate Books on various disciplines are shelved on Open Access.
The textbook collection unit is on Closed Access.
Special collection section of the library houses books and publications of government and non –
government organizations of different countries, gazettes, materials from central and commercial banks,
materials from UN, AU, UNSECO, WHO. Etc. it ios also a collection of rare books, theses and
dissertation.
The name of John Harris Library software is called Strategic Library Automation and Management
(SLAM).
OPAC means Online Public Access catalogue.
Library registration is renewed at the beginning of each academic session.
Books marked reserved, not for loan and cannot be removed from the library.
The number of books undergraduates and postgraduates can burrow at a time in the Library is 4, for the
period of 2 weeks.
For staff, 10 books for the period of 2weeks and up to 3 months for special requests.
For students, the normal period of loans is 14 days after which the loan can eb renewed
Over due books attract N5 per day up to a maximum of 30 days. Thereafter, N50.00 per week; or part of
the week.
Any book specially recalled by the University Librarian will attract a fine of N100 per day after the third
day of such notice.
The reprography unit of the Library assists in the photocopying of materials to be delivered to their
universities to facilitate inter – library cooperation.

CHAPTER TWO
WHAT IS LIBRARY?
A Library is a room/hall containing a collection of book and non – book materials with a trained
professional charged with the duty to render them to its seekers. It is a store house of information.
Use of Library is the ability of a library patron to be able to navigate the library collection independently.
Library user education is the orientation given to library patrons to enable them to fetch materials for
themselves independently.
The head of the university Library is called University Librarian.
Some books are reserved in the library because they are in short supply but constant demand.
There are five division of library:
1. Administrative division
2. Technical Services Division
3. Readers’ Services Division
4. research and Bibliographic Services Division.
1. Administrative Division: (the university Librarian’s office): the University Librarian office is the seat of
Administration. The main function of the university Librarian resources and services in the university.
2. Technical Service Division: This division is considered as the behind – the – scene division. This is
because most of its services and activities are done out of sight of library user.
a. The Technical unit: This is where library materials are selected. Also, where stock is checked before
purchase.
b. Cataloguing unit: This is where library materials are arranged or catalogued on appropriate shelves.
c. catalogue card production and Maintenance Unit: This unit is responsible for the maintenance of the
catalogued cabinet.
d. Serial unit: Serials are primary sources of information. The various journals subscribed to by the
library are selected, ordered, received and processed in this unit.
3. Reader’s Services Division: This is also called Image Maker of the Library in that all the services and
activities in this division are done before the Library user.
The Reader’s Services Division has live units:
a. Circulation unit: Where books are loaned out to users and received on return to the library.
b. Reference Unit: Where interactions take place between a library user and the library personnel.
c. Reserved Book Unit: this is where books in short but high demand are kept for use within the Library.
d. Special Collection/Archives: Where materials which are for specified audience or class of readers are
kept. They are special because their information and content are from a special body or organization,
either governmental or non – governmental, local or foreign. E.g NAFDAC, EFCC, ICPC, AU, WHO, UN.
Students’ Thesis, Doctoral Dissertation, project Works are also available in this unit.
4. Research and Bibliographic Services Division: this division is similar to the special collection unit. For
instance, the John Harris Library of the University of Benin also refers to it as special Collection unit.
5. Media Resources unit: Materials in this division are non – print materials like slides, projectors, film
projectors of different sizes, microfilm and microfilms project, radio cassettes, CD – Rom, Video machine
and television.

CHAPTER THREE
TYPES OF LIBRARIES
1. School Libraries: these are the libraries in primary and secondary schools. They are also called School
Library Resource centres.
2. Public Libraries: These are libraries meant to serve the information, entertainment and leisure needs
of the general reading public without restriction to sex, age, education and social standing.
3. Academic Libraries: these are libraries in Higher Institution of Learning such as universities, Colleges
of Education, Colleges of Technology, Polytechnic and Monotechnic.
4. National Libraries: This is the apex Library of any country. It is the library of libraries. It is the rallying
point of other libraries within any given country. It is designated legal Depository of books, periodicals
and other information materials relating to the country,
RHEMA: An example of a national Library is the National Library of the United states, situated in
Washinton D.C. it is called the “National Library” of “National Libraries”. This is because it collects and
preserves materials form other nation’s national Libraries.
5. Special Libraries: A special library is a library that collects and preserves books and nun – bunk
materials of a particular discipline. E.g. Faculty of Medicine Library of Law, etc.

CHAPTER FOUR
CONCEPT OF LIBRARY USER – CENTEREDNESS AND LIBRARIAN
A Librarian can be defined as anyone who has taken prescribed professional course in a university or
Polytechnic, leading to the award of Bachelors/HND Degree in Library and information Sciences who
then become eligible to perform the duties of acquiring, organizing and making intellectual materials
accessible to its seekers.
The concept of library user – centeredness presupposes that users of any library are supreme and
attention should be focused on them.
A library Assistant or Attendant is a school certificate holder who performs clerical duties of shelving of
used books and journals, shelf reading, filling of catalogue cards, charging and discharging of books,
collecting fines on overdue books etc.

CHAPTER FIVE
USING LIBRARY REFERENCE SOURCES: A GENERAL GUIDE
1. Circulation Desk: This is where library users can receive information about the library’s procedures for
borrowing and returning materials. It is where the book’s are changed and discharged.
2. Card catalogue: it is the major guide to the library’s book collection. It is a 3 × 5 dimension.
3. Stacks: The long row of iron steel shelves where books are arranged,
4. Reference collection: they are materials that are not read from page to page. They include dictionaries,
encyclopedia, etc. reference books or materials are not given out on loan.
5. Reference Librarian: it is the person who provides reference service.
6. When books are on closed access, it means that users can only read such books for short tune with
permission and use within the library.
7. When books are said to be on open access, it means the user have freedom to read and burrow such
books.
8. inter – library loan is a practice that encourages interdependence amongst libraries on the realization
that no one library can but all the books.
RHEMA: reference materials are books that are meant for quick reference, but possibly not to be read
from cover to cover.
TYPES OF REFERENCE MATERIALS
a. Encyclopedia: they are informative in nature
b. Dictionaries: It is a book which deals with words of a language or of special author, subjects etc.
c. Handbook: It serves as a guide. It gives do’s and don’ts of a particular thing. It may contain tables,
graph etc.
d. Manuals: It is an instruction book.
e. Treatise: It is the summary of information on a subject.
f. Monograph: It is the summary of information on a particular subject.
g. Directories: it is a list of names and addresses.
h. Abstracts: A brief summary of an essay
i. Index: It is an alphabetical list of topics, names of persons, places etc. mentioned in a book. It is always
at the end of a book.
j. Indexing: This is an act of writing the index.
h. Gazette: it is an official government document

CHAPTER SIX
PARTS OF A BOOK
A book is a set of folded sheets of paper sewn or stapled along on edge and enclosed within a protective
cover, numbering at least forty – line pages.
The following hare parts of a book.
1. Cover page: this is the outermost part of a book, designed to give strength to the soft inner part of the
printed matter.
2. Title: It is a distinguishing word or phrase, naming the publication or work contained in it.
3. Title page: The page at the beginning of a book on which the fullest title information, statement of
authorship and the whole or part of the imprint is contained.
4. Half Title page This is the page in a book that contains the title of the book in the shortest possible
form.
5. Author: The person(s) or corporate body chiefly responsible for the creation of the intellectual or
artistic contents of a work.
6. Editor: An editor is one who prepares for a publication an item that is not the direct product of his
brain.
7. Preliminaries: These are the title page or title pages of a publication, together d any page(s) preceding
the title page(s), they are numbered in roman figures.
8. Verso: The left hand page of a book usually bearing an even page number.
9. Recto: the righthand page of a book usually bearing an odd number.
10. Frontis – Piece: This page immediately precedes the half page. It contains list of abbreviations,
illustrations, errata, etc. used in the book.
11. Copyright Page: This is the page in the book immediately following the title page. The address of the
publisher, name of the place of its publication, date of publication, edition statement stating whether it is
the second, third or fourth edition, etc. or whether it is a revised edition. In this page, we have ISBN
which stands for international Standard Book Number. ISBN is used for bpooks while ISSN is used for
Journals.
12. jacket: it is used to wrap the cover page of a book.
13. Spine: It is the thin narrow edge of the book designed to hide the folds of the bool.
14. Blurb: it is the part of a jacket if the book has a jacket.
15. Acknowledgement: It is the page where the author expresses his gratitude to all those who assisted in
the course of wrtting the book.
16. Dedication: This is a page where the author gives credence to anybody who matter or means much to
him.
17. Foreword: This is a page where a person who is an authority in the field of study of a book given an
introductory essay for the author.
18. Preface: A short essay writing by the author at the opening.
19. Table of contents: The part of a book that gives the reader a guide and quick reference to the topics
in a book.
20. The text: This is the body of the work where ideas, opinions and messages the author is treating are
expressed or immensely.
21. Subsidiaries: These are parts of a book which come after the main body of the work. E.g
reference/bibliography/index/appendix. Etc.
22. Bibliography: it is an alphabetical listing by author/ title all the books and journals consulted by the
author of the work in course of carrying out the write – up.
23. Appendix: it appears at the end of a book. It carries data or statistics that were found to be too
detailed to be inserted within the next Appendix include: interviews and questionnaire.

CHAPTER SEVEN
PRATICAL USE OF LIBRARY
1. A user who wants a book whose author is not known but little known will look up for the book under
subject index.
2. The catalogue card is a finding tool. It is also an access to the shelf.
3. Access points to a document refer to Author/Editor, Title, Series and Subject.
4. The catalogue is to the library as map is to a traveler.
5. If a user comes to look for a book under Wole Soyinka, he should best locate the book under “Wole”
6. A book entitled “the man died” Would best be located under the cataloging drawer marked “M”
7. A user failure results from: wrong title approach to a book, wrong author approach and wrong subject
– approach.
8. The class mark / call mark or call number s a number given to each book in the library to make it stand
out uniquely from other books.
9. The acronym OPAC stands for Online Public Access Catalogue.

CHAPTER EIGHT
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION SCHEME.
1. The following are some of the classification scheme in use: Library of Congress Classification Scheme
(LC).
2. Library congress uses Arabic numeral and alphabets.
3. The reserved alphabets of library congress arc I, O, W, X and Y
4. The classification scheme used by John Harris Library is LC.
5. The use of a combination of alphabets and Arabic numerals is also referred to as alpha - numeric

CHAPTER NINE
BIBLIPGRAPHIC CITATION
1. Bibliographic citation; methodical listing of all the sources - books, articles, government and whatever
is relevant to your topic in the course of writing i.e. the books and journals you drew or burrowed ideas
from.
Note: The following are the styles in use: Modern language Association (MLA), American Psychological
Association (APA), Footnote/ Endnote style; the number style.
2. The style of documentation by Modern Language Association (MLA) is author/ year style.
3. The style of documentation by American Psychological Association (APA) is author/page style.
4. The style of documentation whereby a raised numerical is placed after each statement of quotation is
called footnote /endnote style.
5. As a student, the style of citation to be adopted is simply a matter of faculty choice.
6. At your final, you will be required to write a project with the aim of making your own contribution to
growth of knowledge.
7. if you adopt APA style of in- test citation you will still need a title shown bibliographic citation at the
end of the entire book.
8. When quotation is made under APA in test citation, cite the specific passage, provide pages chapter of
figure number where the statement is burrowed.
9. if a source has more than four authors, to the same document, use only the first name, author’s
surname followed by et al.
10. When citing several works by different authors within the same parenthesis, list authors
alphabetically within the same parenthesis, separate them with semi – colon, arrange them with the least
year of publication to the highest.
11. When you are to make reference to the year of publication of a book, put the date in parenthesis.
12. Source cited in any work when alphabetically arranged at the end of the work are titled references,
bibliography or citation.
13. If a book is written by more than four authors, acknowledge the first name and say et. Al.
14. When several dates of publication are provided, the most recent of all the dates. When an author has
more than one book published in the same year, distinguish the different work by adding the letters A, B,
C and so on to the various years of publication of each of the different books.

CHAPTER TEN
DOCUMENTING SOURCES TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
1. Plagiarism is the copying of the work of another person and publish it as if it is yours. It has led to
celebrated law suits.
2. When quoting from another author, don’t distort or confuse meaning by quoting out of context.
3. To avoid be a victim of plagiarism, you must:
i. Properly acknowledge ideas, opinions and information borrowed.
ii. Quote properly, paraphrase and documents.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOW TO USE PUNCTUATION MARKS
1. Hyphens are used to denote compound nouns and adjectives.
2. Comma can be used with coordinating conjunction that joins independence clauses.
3. Period should be used after the closing quotation mark when used,

CHAPTER TWELVE
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA: RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW
1. Bibliotehque Nationale is the national library of France located in Paris. It is the oldest National
library in the world. Founded in 1795.
2. The national library of the USA is called Library of congress, established in Washington DC.
3. The national library of Nigeria was established in 1964 but started working in 1970.
4. The national library of any country has the statutory function of legal deposit.
5. Functions of National Library are:
i. Establishment of the CIP centre
ii. Production of the national bibliography of Nigeria
iii. Compilation of the national union catalogue
iv. Compilation and publication of NULOS
v. Establishment of ISBN Agency and ISSN centres
vi. Compilation of Name Authority, file for Nigeria Authors.
6. Legal deposit started in Europe when Monarchs granted royal privileges to important libraries to
receive copies of books free of charge.
7. The first publication law in Nigeria was an ordinance to provide for the preservation of copies of book
printed in Nigeria.
8. ISBN – stands for International Standard Book Number. It is unique number assigned to a particular
book by a publisher so as to differentiate it from any other book in the world.
9. ISSN stands for international Standard Serial Number. It is used of identification of serial publications
such as journal.
10. The book a publisher is required to deliver to the national library shall be the cover of the book in the
number of copies should be deposited.
 USE OF ENGLISH
COMMUNICATION
NOTE THE FOLLOWING POINTS ABOUT COMMUNICATION
1. Communication is the sharing of elements of behavior.
2. An absolute understanding of the rules governing whatever we are sharing is necessary.
3. Language is the means by which human beings communicate.
4. The minimum unit of language for the purpose of communication is a sentence.
5. A sentence is made up of words.
6. If a sequence of words is to constitute a sentence, it must be meaningful.
7. Sentences are interpreted not as strings of individual words but as sequence of words/ word – groups.
8. Within words/word group in a sentence, there exist a network of relationship.
9. The network of relationship is known as the structure of a sentence
10. Clues for identifying the structure of a sentence can be found in its word order as well as in the
meanings of the words in the sentence.
11. However, sentence structure is not always observed in terms of the linear sequence of the words in
the sentence.
12. The essence of communication is to achieve unit or oneness.
13. The core of the study of communication is the sign used in communication and the rules operating
upon them and upon the users.
14. the English language is the system that is made up of elements and structures.
SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Sentences can be constructed in various ways depending on the occasion, audience, personal
disposition of the speaker etc. Sentences have some elements in common called elements of sentences
(SVOCA). These elements help to realize various sentence patterns.
RHEMA: Sentence elements are also known as clausal elements, linguistic units, constituents, syntactic
units or part of a sentence. The position an element occupies in a sentence is called functional slot.

FUNCTIONAL PART OF A SENTENCE

Basically, a sentence can be divided into two parts: subject and predicate.
RHEMA: A subject is a doer of an action (Agentive function) or what is being discussed or the topic of
discussion in a sentence. While the predicate is the action performed or what is said. Example:
1. The tall boy is handsome
S P
2. The men slapped the class rep
S P
RHEMA: The subject is usually realized by a (Noun phrase) NP, while the predicate is realized by a VP
that must be a finite verb (a verb that shows tense, number and person distinction) and its complements.
The complements can be (Cs), (Co), (Od), (Oi) and (A).
RHEMA: We cannot have a sentence without (S) and (V). Also, the subject of a sentence can be equated
with the topic of the sentence
RHEMA: The two compulsory or constant elements in a sentence are subject and verb.
FEATURES OF SENTENCE ELEMENTS
1. The Subject: It can be of any of the following:
(a) A single noun e.g. Akin bought is wife a car
(b) A pronoun. E.g. He considered her beautiful
(c) A clause e.g. What he said is bad.
(d) A long construct e.g. Journal of Nigeria English Studies Association is small.
(e) A nominal (anything that is not a noun but performs the function of a noun e.g.
(i) Dancing is good (gerund)
(ii) Between six and nine is okay (Perp. Phrase).
2. The Verb Phrase:
i. It can be a lexical verb e.g. He killed the dog.
ii. It can be an auxiliary + lexiacal verb e.g. He has been dancing.
iii. It can be two auxiliaries e.g. He has been here.
RHEMA: If the verb is single, it is called simple (VP), while it is complex if the verb phrase has two or
more verbal elements.
The (VP) can be used in three ways: transitively, intransitively or copulatively (linking verb).
1. It is transitive if it takes object(s) E.g.
George finished the work.
S V O
John killed the snake
S V O
2. It is transitive if there is no object. e.g.
i. Jesus wept ii. Dogs bark.
S Vi S Vi
3. it is copular if it links the subject and its complement. E.g.
1. Cultism is evil 2. Jane is beautiful
S V C S V C
3. The complement: it completes the meaning of the verb. It is divided into two:
Subject and Object complement. The subject complement refers to the subject while the object
complement refers to the object. E.g
i. Mary is a mother ii. The student made him class rep.
S V Cs S V O Co.
4. The Object: The object can be realized by what realized the subject slot.

5. adverbial: It is volatile, i.e. it can be compulsory or optional and it can appear at the beginning, in the
middle or at the end. E.g. She angrily shouted at him.
Note: The adverbial tells use about place, time, manner, location, condition, degree etc.
BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
The elements discussed above can be used to realize SEVEN ENTENCES PATTERNS with specific
reference to positions:
i. SV e.g. Jesus wept ii. Dogs bark
S vi S vi
RHEMA: The verb in any h(SV) sentence structure is usually intransitive.
iii. SVOO. E.g. Angela bought her guy a car
S V Oi Od
RHEMA: The verb in any (SVOO) structure is called di – transitive verb because it takes two objects
(indirect and direct).
iv. SVOC. E.g. The girl appears lazy
S V C
RHEMA: The verb (SVC) structure is called copula because it links the subject and its compliment.
vi. SVA. E.g. The paintings are on the table.
S V A
vii. SVOA E.g. He put the bag on the table.
S V O A
RHEMA: The following verbs cannot generate (SVO) when used alone; the verb ‘be’ (is, am, was, are,
been, were), seem, look, appear, sound etc.
THE SENTENCE
Sentences can be looked in two ways (syntactically and semantically).
Syntactically (Structurally), sentence is a group of words that has a subject, finite verb and other optional
elements such as complement, object or adverbial e.g. The bag is big.
Semantically, a sentences is two word group of words that makes a complete sense (meaningful). E.g.
come here.
Types of sentence
Syntactically (structurally), sentences can be divided into three:
1. Simple sentence: A simple sentence is a grammatical unit that can be analyzed into clause elements. It
expresses a single idea. It has single subject and predicate. Example of simple sentences are:
i. Onome kicked the door.
ii. He proved himself a great soldier.
iii. Sam was very pleased that he passed.
RHEMA: No syntactic unit of a simple sentence can be realized by a clause.
2. Complex Sentence: Here, one or more of its functional elements are realized by a clause e.g
i. The lecturer said we must work hard the following year.
ii. The lawyer made those chambers what it is today.
iii. Jennifer’s opinion is that the lecture is interesting.
RHEMA: If a sentence contains the following subordinator, it is usually a complex sentence: if, because,
when, that, while, how, although, until, unless, why, that etc.
THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
It is a sentence that contains the following independent clauses or sentences which have been joined by
means of a coordinator such as: and, but, or
RHEMA: if but, or and comes in the middle of the sentence, it is compound. E.g
i. John has bought a new car but his wife prefers a different make of car.
ii. We gave whoever came to the party a bottle of beer but we still had many bottle of beer left.
Semantically, we have declarative interrogative imperative, volitive sentences.
a. Declarative sentences: A declarative sentence is used to express factual statement or to say that
something is not true. E.g.
i. The boys are wicked. (fact)
ii. The boys are not wicked. (denial)
b. Imperative sentences: These are sentences that are used to give commands and to express requests
e.g.
i. Could I take you out now, please (request)
ii. Could you tell me your name. (request)
iii. Get out now. (command)
iv. Come here immediately (command)
SUMMARY
A summary is a precise rephrasal of the substance of a text.
RHEMA: The key word in summary definition are:
1. Substance: this means the important idea(s) or main points of the text with all the irrelevancies
omitted.
2. Rephrasal: This means using our own words to convey the main idea(s) (the substance) of the text.
3. Precise: It means that the substance rephrased should be accurate, clear and brief.
RHEMA: Summary is a text n condensed form.
USE OF SUMMARY
It is used to:
i. Simply, reword as well as shorten texts.
ii. Do selective extraction of information
iii. Make notes from books and lectures, prepare and take examinations
iv. Demonstrate expertise in composition (introduction and conclusion)
v. Participate actively in the learning themselves with abilities equally useful for business and
scholarship.
HOW TO SELECT THE ESSENTIAL IDEAS OR MAIN POINT
To select the main points, there should be thorough comprehension of the text before
summarization begins.
RHEMA:
i. Comprehension precedes summarization.
ii. Intensive reading aids us to understand the text to be summarized.
iii. One way to show that you understand a passage is to give it a suitable title.
iv. To begin the summary process, first of all skim through the material for a general statement, then do
several re – reading and careful study to add to the generation.
v. The main ideas are found in the topic sentence and are usually in the main / independent / principal
clauses.
HOW TO ACHIEVEV PRECISION IN OUR STATEMENT OF THE MAIN POINTS
To achieve precision, there should be;
1. Clarity i.e. making the main ideas easy for the readers to understand.
2. Brevity i.e. making the summary shorter than the original text.
3. Correctness i.e. keeping to the original tone and line of thought of the text.
4. Using of compendium words. i.e. reducing structures, sentences, clauses, phrases to single words.
THE PARAGRAPH
STRUCTURE OF THE PARAGRAPH
The paragraph is composed of two types of sentences, topic sentence and the subordinate
sentence. The topic sentence otherwise is called the main sentence carries the then central message, idea
of the paragraph, however, it can be found either in the middle or at the end of the paragraph. The
subordinate which are also called the supporting sentences are not as important as the topic sentence.
They only develop, buttress or provide extra information about the idea of the topic sentence. They only
develop , buttress or provide extra information about he idea of the topic sentence. They could be
examples or illustrations made in the paragraph. A topic sentence can be presented in the following
ways: by putting it in the form of a question, by presenting it as if it were a problem by the topic
sentence, that is starting with the general to the specific.
RHEMA: A paragraph can be developed in various ways; illustration, by comparison and contrast
examples etc.
A paragraph should not contain more than one idea.
TYPES OF PARAGRAPH
1. Transitional paragraph: This type of paragraph draws a link between what has been said and what
comes up next. It marks the end of an idea and introduce another.
2. Loose Paragraph: It has the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph.
3. Periodic paragraph: It has the topic sentence at the end.
4. Introductory Paragraph: The thesis comes under here.
5. Body Paragraph: The points mentioned in the introduction are discussed here.
6. Block
7. Intended
RHEMA: Different ways or strategies of paragraph development are:
a. Cause and effect
b. Analysis / classification
c. Definition / process
d. Comparison/ contrast
It should be noted that the effectiveness of a paragraph is determined by the appropriates use of
examples.
FUNDAMENTAL OF ESSAY WRITING
1. An essay is a piece of writing or a composition. A composition is the art of composing and to compose s
to make up, form or put words together.
2. The end – product of an essay is the creation of a text.
RHEMA: The material we require in the composition of text is language.
3. A text is known as any piece of writing of whatever length that has UNITY.
4. There are four stages in writing an essay. These stages are
i. words
ii. sentences
iii. paragraphs
iv. text
AN OUTLINE OF AN ESSAY
5. An outline of an essay is a plan or an organization that shows the form the essay should take.
NOTE: THERE ARE THREE REASONS FOR WRTING AN OUTLINE.
i. It makes a well – shaped essay
ii. it makes it easier for you psychologically.
iii. It caves time because out time is limited
6. There are two stages involved in the design of an outline:
i. Identification of the kind of essay, i.e argumentative, narrative, descriptive etc.
ii. Arrangement of the ideas into a general patterns
7. The purpose of this preliminary outline is to give a sense of direction to your essay.
RHEMA: At this point, you must decide on what type of outline to use.
8. There are three types of outline.
i. topic outline ii. sentence outline
iii. paragraph outline
9. The topic outline presents the information in phrases or single words
10. The sentence outline presents its idea in grammatically correct sentences.
11. The paragraph outline presents its idea in paragraph form.
RHEMA: The topic outline is the best of them all
12. An essay is normally divided into three parts: introduction, body and conclusion
13. Thesis statement encompasses the point to be discussed in the body of the essay.
14. The thesis statement controls the whole essay.
15. The thesis statement occurs often at the beginning of the essay, i.e. the introductory paragraph.
16. The two types of thesis statement are enumerated (micro) and broad (macro).
17. There are five types of essay.
i. A narrative essay: it tells a story or give an account of an event. It focuses on incident. The event or
incident are arranged in a chronological order.
ii. A descriptive essay: It is an essay that describes the nature of something, or it tells us more about the
appearance of something. The writer makes his/her readers see, feel, and hear what he has seen, felt and
heard. He pictures object by the use of words.
iii. An expository essay: It explains or exposes to us how something is done. It defines a process, analysis,
or classifies something.
18. there are three types of exposition:
a. analysis / classification
b. Definition/ process
c. Comparison / contrast
19. An argumentative essay: it is a type of essay used to support, oppose or support and oppose a
proposition. It demands the full services of logical reasoning and critical judgement in defending a view
point by providing evidence and proofs. It is sometimes called opinion essay. It is one of the means of
persuasion.
20. A persuasive essay: it is a type which persuades the listener or reader to accept a belief which they do
not hold.
PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
1. Phonetics and phonology are broadly divided into two (2): Segmental and Supra – segmental.
2. under the segmental, we have vowels and consonants
3. under the supra – segmental, we have stress, intonation and rhythm.
4. the sound system of any language is grouped into two major parts.
5. Phonology deals with the sound patterns of a particular language.
6. There are 44 phonemes (sounds) altogether in the English language.
7. The 44 phonemes are grouped into 20 vowels and 24 consonants.
8. RP – stands for received pronunciation.
i. It is the type of pronunciation used by BBC o national and international transmission
ii. It is neutral and regionless.
iii. It is used by educated class.
9. A phoneme is the smallest distinctive and contrastive unit of sound that can cause a change in the
meaning of a word. It is one of the basic (vowel / consonant) units from which all words are formed.
10. The air stream used in the production of English sounds is known as pulmonic eggresive.
VOWEL SOUNDS
A vowel is a sound produced without a structure or blockage of airstream anywhere in the vocal
tract (the mouth). Vowels are divided into: 12 monopthongs and 8 diphthongs.
RHEMA: There are four parameters used in the description of vowel sounds. They are
i. A vowel is either long or short (length)
ii. A vowel is either rounded or unrounded
iii. A vowel is either high (closed) or mid or low (open)
iv. A vowel is either front or central or back
Monothongs (pure vowels)
RHEMA: A monothong is a sound of unchanging quality i.e. it is relatively steady in quality.
ii. Those with two dots /:/ are called long or tense vowels while those without dots are called short or lax
vowel
Monothongs are divided into five longs and seven short vowels.
SAMPLE OF VOWEL PHONETIC SYMBOLS:
1. /i:/ as in bead, quay, amoeba, sheep, reason, veto, penalize, cedar
2. /i/ as in bid, women, appetite, blessed, Banquet, lucky
3. /e/ as in bed, said, ate, breath
4. /æ/ as in cat, plant, plan, man
5. /a:/ as in cart, aunt, laugh, staff
6. / / as in lot, cot.
7. /ɔ:/ as in board, floor, portable, flaw, story, glory, taunt, form etc.
8. /u/ as in book, bosom
9. /u:/ as in boom, root, loot, route, rude
10. /^/ as in cut, run, son, sun, lucky, come
11. /Ʒ:/ as in girl, nurse, curtain, skirt.
12. /ə/ as in father, sister, control etc.
DIPHTHONG
13. /ei/ as in age, affidavit, buffet, hate, say
14. / əu/ as in old, no, go, though, etc
15. /au/ as in noun, now, how, etc.
16. / ɔi/ as in oil, toil, boy, toy, coy.
17. /iə/ as in tears, fear, hear, hero, mere etc.
18. /ea/ as in air, hair, chair, bear etc.
19. /uə/ as in poor, sure, pure, etc
20. /ai/ as in high, dry, eye, ice etc.
CONSONANTS
This is a sound produced with total or partial obstruction of airstream.
RHEMA: The consonants are classified in three ways:
i. Place of articulation: The point at which the sound is produced along the vocal tract
ii. manner of articulation: the kind of gesture employed in the production of a sound,
iii. State of the glottis (voice): All sounds either voiced or voiceless, i.e. they are produced with the vocal
fold vibrating or not.
RHEMA: A voiced sound is a sound produced with vibrating of the vocal cords.
Under place of articulation, we have the following:
1 Bilabial: /p, m, b/: The two lips are pressed together.
2. Labio dental /f, v/: The lower lips and the upper teeth are involved
3. Dental /θ , ð /¿: The tip and blade of the tongue articulate with alveolar ridge
5. Post alveolar /r/: The teeth and blade of the tongue against the rear of the alveolar ridge.
6. Palatal alveolar /t∫, dƷ, ∫, Ʒ/: The blade of the tongue touches the alveolar.
7. Glottal /h/: the vocal folds are brought close together in the larynx.
8. Palatal /j/: the front of the tongue is raised against the hard palate.
9. Velar /k, g, ɳ/
Under manner of articulation, we have the following:
Total Obstruction
Plosive: /p, b, t, d, k, g/ - Here, there is a complete closure of the articulators
Affricate: / t∫, dƷ/
Nasal: /k, g, ɳ/
Lateral: /l/
Note: It is clear it appears before vowel of /j/ while dark /l/ if it comes before a consonant sound or at the
end of a word.
Partial Obstruction:
Fricative: /f, v, s, z, θ , ð , ∫, Ʒ, h/
Semi – vowel (approximant) / r, w, j/
Below are the 24 consonant sounds and the letter(s) they can be found in:
1. /p/ as in corpse, pot, pure, etc. It is silent in cupboard, phone, corps.
2. /b/ as in able, rubber, bat etc.
It is silent in de(b)t, thum(b), com(b), plum(b)er, clim(b), num(b), de(b)tor, bom(b)ing, tom(b), inde(b)ted
etc.
3. /t/ as in Esther; teeth, take dental, pistol
4. /d/ as in debt, dull, did, dad
It is silent in han(d)some, gran(d)son, etc.
5. /k/ as in character, chemist, stomach, kind, cheque.
6. /g/ as in agree, gather, goods, against, gander
7. /f/ as in Chief, graph, ,safe, off
8. /v/ as in of, save, Stephen, etc,
9. ¿ θ/¿ as in both, thousand, through, healthy, teeth, beneath, think, thigh.
10. /δ/ as in with, breath, the, brother, soothe
11. /s/ as in Kerosene, cease, assume, geese, student
12. /z/ as in visit, season, noise
13. /∫/ as in pressure, social, shoot, chose, archbishop, action, conscious
14. /t∫/ as in chief, chew, ritual, nature, Christian, situation
15. /Ʒ/ as in measure, leisure, pleasure etc.
16. /dƷ/ as in John, George, soldier, gesture
17. /h/ as in hot, hate. It is silent in home, (h)unor, (h)onourable
18. /l/ as in leave, plead, please
19. /r/ as in rain, rough, road
20. /w/ as in wind, whom, etc. It is silent in s(w)ord, (w)ho, etc.
21. /j/ as in yam, unique, yes, yesterday. Etc.
22. /m/ as in master, mass, mate etc.
23. /n/ as in next, name, gnaw. It is silent in condem(n), colum(n) solem(n), bri(n)g, dra(n)k.

SPECIAL NOTICE
i. All these consonant sounds /m, b, r, I, n, g, t∫, Ʒ, dƷ, z, v/ and all vowel sounds are voiced.
ii. /t, k, s, p, f, ∫/ are voiceless
iii. //w/ and /j/ are characterized as semi – vowels.
iv. The airstream used for the production of speech sounds in English is called aggressive airstream
v. Every rhymes with never, noise, joys, tax – lacks, fine – shine, teeth – beneath.
READING SKILLS
There are five types of reading:
a. Scanning
b. Skimming
c. Light reading
d. word by word reading
e. Study reading or reading to study
a. Scanning: This is used when searching to get the general gist in a text (looking for relevance of the
material).
b. Skimming: it is a reading to get the general gist in a test (looking for relevance of the material).
c. Light reading: This is reading for pleasure. It is also known as leisure reading or reading for
entertainment or superficial reading.
d. Word by word reading: this method is used when reading text in specialized areas of knowledge. Such
as materials in a foreign language you are not familiar with, formulae, unusual medical or pharmaceutical
words, etc.
e. Study Reading: this is the method required at the university level or tertiary institutions. It is used
when material is to be evaluated or summarized and the reading place is usually very careful and slow
because our purpose here is to get the main point of the text. It is also called evaluative reading.
READING STRATEGIES
The following are the four popular reading techniques:
i. PR4: Preview, read, recall, re -read, review.
ii. SQ3R: Survey, question, recall, recite, revise
iii. OK4R: Overview, key points, read, recite, reflect and revise.
iv. 3S3R: Survey, stud – read, speed – read, recite / record.
RHEMA: Students in higher institution gets information from the notice board.
The most suitable of all these reading techniques is SQ3R and it was in (1958) by Unoh; while the
founder is OK4R is Pauk in (1962).
LISTENING SKILLS
Points to watch out for listening skills:
1. Listening is a basic skill like speaking. It means absorbing vital information from what is said. It also
means paying deliberate attention to a lecture.
2. Reading and writing are secondary skills.
3. Hearing is not listening because hearing is passive skill, while listening is an active or deliberate art
(concentrated hearing).
4. Also, listening is selective, discriminatory, absorbing, basic and concentrated.
5. Listening and speaking are primary language.
CAUSES OF POOR LISTENING
a. Poor concentration
b. Listening too hard (concentrating on every word spoken by a lecturer listening to both the relevant and
irrelevant things during lectures).
c. Jumping into conclusion
d. Focusing on delivery and personal appearance (i.e. allowing your intention and concentration to be
affected by the accent and appearance of the lecturer.)
HOW TO IMPROVE LISTENING
i. take listening seriously (take is an active process)
ii. Resist distractions
iii. Don’t be diverted by appearance or delivery
iv. suspend judgement
v. Focus your list.
RHEMA: Effective listening requires the ear and mind.
NOTES:
Notes are records of important information that you have either heard in a lecture or read in a book,
written down in a notebook or jotter for easy access at a later time.
REASONS FOR WRITING NOTES
We take notes because;
i. Human memory is limited
ii. It helps us to recall what we heard or read.
iii. It helps us to save time and energy that would be spent re – reading our written text.
iv. The books and other materials we read may not be available for subsequent reading.
RHEMA: notes are neat, handy, precise and systematic records of essential facts and information
RHEMA: Good notes should be summaries of main ideas, clear, unambiguous, easy to understand and
meaningful, handy, properly maintained and keep safe.
NOTES TAKING FROM A LECTURE
There are three stages involved in notes – taking
i. Before the lecture (pre note – taking activity)
ii. During the lecture (during note taking activity).
iii. After the lecture (after note – taking activity).
SECRET: During lecture, some lectures use certain signals to structure their lectures.
RHEMA: These signals are also known as semantic markers or signposts. They are listed below.
a. Markers for enumerating sequence of ideas: Firstly, in the first place, secondly, thirdly, my next point,
finally, in conclusion. Etc.
b. Markers for expressing, time relationship: Previously, while after that, then, when, next, etc.
c. Markers for emphasis or repetition: I would like tom emphasize, this is important because.
d. Markers used for transition: consequently, nevertheless, for this reason etc.
e. Summary and redundancy markers: To conclude, in summary, as we have been, what I have been
trying to say is this, let me say, etc.
f. Markers used to show contrast: Although, even if nevertheless, on the other hand, however, and yet
unless, but eetc.
NOTE: The best time to write down points during, lecture is when the lecturer pauses.
RHEMA: Note taking requires the following.
i. Hearing correctly
ii. Understanding what has been heard
iii. Making useful note of what has been understood.
RHEMA: Note taking during lecture involves listening for the topic and concentrate on it.
They facilitate fast note – taking.
RHEMA: There are about three abbreviations:
i. Discipline based abbreviation
ii. Commonly understood abbreviations (the ones in common use such as viz)
iii. Personal abbreviations (The one made up by the student himself)
Note the following abbreviations:
Op. cit. – already cited -B – from – to, results NB – Note well - + is given by
Et al – and others
Lang – language
Med – medicine
+ - add, plus, more
> - is not equal to
RHEMA Note taking during lecture involves listening for the topic and concentrate on it.
READING
PURPOSE OR ESSENCE OF READING
The essence or purpose of reading skill is to acquire the ability to from the visual representation of
language into meaning. It also means to get meaning from the printed page.
RHEMA: This purpose can be achieved in two ways:
1. Reading aloud: it is the type of reading that newscasters do or those that give public lectures. It is oral
in nature. It is done with a text one is familiar with. It uses auditory medium.
2. Silent reading: (reading that students at the tertiary level engage in).
RHEMA: There are five uses of silent reading
i. Survey reading: To get general or overall information
ii. Skimming: To locate a particular item
iii. Superficial reading: to get brief of little understanding like reading for pleasure.
iv. Content Reading: to study the content of what is read.
v. Linguistic study Reading: to study the language in which that you are reading is written.
OTHER TYPES OF READING ARE:
i. Extensive: The object of extensive reading is to cover the greatest amount of text in as short a period of
time as it is possible.
ii. Intensive: It is concerned with the study of those features of language syntactic, lexical that the
student or reader requires or draws upon in order to interpret a message.
RHEMA: Survey Reading, Skimming and superficial reading are known as Extensive reading while
Content Reading and Linguistic Study Reading, are known as intensive Reading.
The common technique for intensive reading is known as SQ3R.
Our eyes make two basic movements when we are reading:
i. The saccadic movements(when you stop and focus at different points on the line and move forward)
ii. The regressive movement (when the eyes jump backwards on a line of print to re – look at words or
phrases that have been passed).
Watchout: Saccadic movement is also known as little forward jumps.
READING DEFICIENCES
Below are some reading deficiencies:
a. Head movements: Moving head form one side to another while reading.
b. Pointing to words: following a line with your finger, a pen of a ruler.
c. Vocalization: When you say the words to yourself or move your lips.
d. Sub – vocalization: When you say the word to yourself mentally
e. Regression: This is known as Backward reading. It is done when one goes back to what one has already
read.
f. Eye movement: A poor reader moves his eye across a line of print in haphazard manner.
g. Small recognition span (It is an evidence of poor reading. It means picturing few words at each
fixation).
READING SPEED
The two major determinants od reading speed are:
i. Saccadic eye movement and
ii. Comprehension
1. Reading speed is facilitated by Rhythmic Eye Movement.
2. Rhythmic Eye Movement is another name for saccadic eye movement or saccade.
3. Excessive Eye Fixation is reading problem. It is the opposite of Rhythmic Eye Movement.
4. Rhythmic Eye Movement was found by Paul Leedy in 1956:

REPORT WRITING
A report is a formal statement of the result of an investigation, or of any matter on which definite
information is required, made by some person(s) or body instructed or required to do so.
A REPORT HAS THE FOLLOWING ESSENTIAL QUALITIES.
- Clearness of expression
- Completeness and accuracy
- Readability: It means it must have clear presentation and interesting to read.
- Tone: It should be very formal and impersonal
TYPES OF REPORT
There are many types that could be used: but L. Gartside (1986) has distinguished two types:
(a) Informal verbal reports (of a telephone conversation or interview) and
(b) Formally written reports of considerably length, which are either routine or special reports.
RHEMA: the routine reports are submitted at a regular interval such as by:
i. Travelling salesmen to their sales managers.
ii. Department heads on the work of their departments;
iii. Reports made at committee meetings; or
iv. Annual reports at general meetings of shareholders.
Note: they include death report, laboratory reports, and annual performance report of staff members.
Special reports on the other hand are required in an organization and they deal with special situation of
all types. It required those who submit not only their details of their findings but also to make
recommendations on the course of action to be taken.
PLANNING A REPORT
It involves the collection, assembly, selection, logical arrangement and interpretation material form
which conclusions are drawn and recommendations are sometimes made.
Assembly & selection the usual source could be one or all of the following:
i. Recorded information from previous reports document, tile.
ii. investigated information from source of questionnaires, interviews with first hand experience or
special knowledge of the kind with which the report is concerned.
ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION
i. After collecting enough information, jettison all irrelevant defects.
ii. Supplements and Expand on other information, where necessary.
iii. Provide section for your findings, giving each section a defining heading.
REPROT FORMATS
The format adopted for report depends largely on its nature whether it is a short letter style or a
detailed, long schematic report.
The short or letter – style focuses mainly one topic and its subject matter is simple and straight
forward. It is often unsolicited. It is used to make request, pass on necessary information, suggest
actions or bring some matters to the attention of another or other member of staff. It could be a report
submitted by a company’s board of director, with its paragraph often numbered and appropriately
headed. It is used for lighter and detailed communication than a memorandum would cover, but headed
like a memorandum. The names of the person or people for whom such a report is intended would
appear in the heading “to:
RHEMA: “Cc” means circulate copies. This appears at the right – hand corner after the logo.
The following sequence is suggested for this type of report.
i. Title: It contains the date, subject matter of the report and the writer(s) name(s)
ii. A statement of objective of the report (purpose)
iii. A statement of fact about the subject being investigated.
iv. A presentation of possible solutions, with the advantage and disadvantage of each course clearly
indicated.
v. The recommended solution with reasons
vi. The supplementary evidence in appendices so that the body of the report is not obscured by detail.
RHEMA: Some may not require recommendation e..g report of conference attended, or the significance
of a learned symposium / seminar.
The detailed or schematic reports deal with a number of related topics and it is usually requested by a
senior management executive, and it is presented in a particular format under specific headings. It
requires more organization. It includes a table of contents and a synopsis.
A typical arrangement is as follows:
a. Title page: It should be brief but informative enough to show clearly what the report is all about, by
whom it is submitted and date,
b. Table of contents: It provides easy access to sections needed by the reader who may not have time to
read the full report.
c. Synopsis (Abstract executive summary)
d. Body of the report: it is arranged in sections or chapters each with its appropriate heading and sub –
headings.
i. An introduction terms of reference
ii. Investigation methods adopted
iii. Findings: contains the details of what was done, observed or discovered
iv. Conclusion drawn: it contains the conclusion drawn from the findings
v. Recommendations: It contains the course of action to be taken
vi. Acknowledgement
vii. Appendices if any
EDITING THE REPORT
Under this report, we have the following:
a). Proof reading: The draft of the report should be checked and edited carefully to make sure that facts
especially figures are correctly quoted, and that the language is easy and smooth.
Note: It means correcting your own work by spotting errors and it is done before submission
Note: A report can be deficient if:
i. Incorrect layout is used
ii. there is the omission of terms of reference or you go beyond terms of reference
iii. You include irrelevant materials.
iv. Findings or recommendations are not in logical order.

Past Questions
1. __________ defines free will as the choice of a person to act in a manner suitable to a particular
situation (a) Clement of Alexandra (b) Sophists (c) St. Augustine (d) Echekwube
2. The title GST112 textbook is ___________ (a) Philosophy and Logic: A Concise Approach (b)
Philosophic and Logic: A First Course (c) Philosophic and Logic: general Studies (d) All of the
above
3. Is science an objective discipline (a) false (b) A and B (c) true (d) probably
4. A goal definition should ______ (a) Neither be too broad nor too narrow (b) Not be negative where it
can be affirmative (c) State the essential attributes of the species (d) All of the above
5. _____________ which of the following is not a function of language (a) directive (b) multiple function
(c) interrogative (d) Transparency
6. “For an action to have moral worth it must be done out of duty”. This was proposed by _______________
(a) John Rawls (b) Emmanuel Kant (c) Thomas Aquinas (d) none of the above
7. “if Ezine is Lazy, she fails the examination” is known as a ___________ (a) Hypothetical proposition
(b) an example of non – categorical proposition (c) compound proposition (d) All of the above
8. In the I proposition the subject term is undistributed, the predicate term is __________ (a)
undistributed (b) distributed (c) undetermined (d) none of the above
9. In a verbal argument if all the premises of an argument are true,