Effective Study Skills PDF

CHAPTER 19 EFFECTIVE STUDY SKILLS Sarat Adenike Salihu Introduction Studying is one of the most important learning activities for students. As no individual is an island of knowledge, there is a need to stud...

CHAPTER 19 EFFECTIVE STUDY SKILLS Sarat Adenike Salihu Introduction Studying is one of the most important learning activities for students. As no individual is an island of knowledge, there is a need to study in order to acquire the desired knowledge. Ibrahim (2009) avers that “to study is to devote time and attention to the acquisition of knowledge and competence on an academic subject” (p. 10). In other words, studying is not reading for leisure. Studying transcends simply reading notes and textbooks. It involves the acquisition of knowledge through conscientious efforts and certain measures for particular academic purposes or achievements. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the unit, you should be able to: (i) differentiate between reading for leisure and studying. (ii) identify your purpose for studying and the kind of learner you are. (iii) list three studying strategies. (iv) state two factors that can impede effective study skills. Main Content Why do we Study? Studying is done to achieve certain goals. It has to do with learning for a particular purpose (Ibrahim 2009). The goal or purpose of studying usually determines the extent to which studying is done. According to Open University Strategies Handbook (2007), there are two (2) basic goals for studying; long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals: Long-term goals relate to career developments. This is the acquisition of knowledge for different future endeavours. The knowledge acquired now has a purpose for examinations, acquisition of qualifications and other future endeavours. Short-term goals: This involves studying meant to serve an immediate purpose. These include assignments, discussions and even competitions. These goals will help in guiding the students to make necessary plans. Effective Study Skills Effective study strategies are very important for students to be able to acquire adequate knowledge which would help them score better grades and prepare them for other future endeavours. Over the years, there have been specific learning approaches proffered for students as principles for an effective study. Types of Study Strategies Block (1986) cited in Ibrahim (2009) identifies various study strategies which can aid an effective acquisition of knowledge. These include: Personal Motivation Strategy: This stipulates that a learner must have interest in learning. The interest would help to overcome different challenges like boredom and stress while reading. Content Anticipation: This involves the prediction of the next content in any reading material in the process of reading. Nature of the Material under Study: The kind of material a learner studies is very important to the learner’s acquisition of knowledge. A good learner should be able to identify and read current and relevant materials and not irrelevant and out-dated materials. The PQRST Strategy: The PQRST technique according to Robinson (1979) includes Previewing the Material, Question Formula, Reading for Inferences, Summarising the Processes and Testing and Assessment. In preview, the student scans through the research materials in order to identify significant topics and points in the text. The student thereafter generates questions from each of the sub-topics in the text. For instance, if the sub-topic reads “Skills for Effective Study”, a likely question would be “What are the skills for effective study?” This would enable a better understanding of the material. Reading for inferences requires the student to do an intensive reading in order to identify the answers to the previously generated questions. The student would then summarise what has been read through note-taking, diagrams and maps. The last stage involves general assessment of what has been read through providing answers to the question without checking the materials used. - Other measures identified by Block (1986) cited in Ibrahim (2009) include Memorising Strategy, Outline Strategy, Summary Skill, Time Management, Note- Making Strategy, Recognition of Texts structure, Paraphrasing Strategy and Information Integration. The Open University Study Strategy handbook (2007) identifies Active learning, Learning Skills, Reflections and Management of time and space as important strategies which help to achieve an effective study. It can be observed that many of these strategies overlap. They would therefore be categorised into effective study habits, organisation skills, reading and comprehension skills and learning styles. - Effective Study Habits: A habit deals with repeated behavioural pattern which can help to make or mar an individual. They can be good or bad habits. A good habit generally helps an individual to achieve set out dreams while a bad habit can destroy good efforts. It is important for a student to develop good reading habits. This will positively enhance other study skills. These include developing a penchant for reading, having positive attitude to learning, attending classes regularly, not having prejudice about a teacher/lecturer/course, self-discipline and determination to succeed, keeping good friends and getting rid of all sorts of distractions and avoiding procrastinations. Organisational Skills: Important organisation skills include identifying a specific purpose, planning and prioritising, time and space management. The purpose for which any activity is meant for is very important. It serves as a guide and also helps to sustain an interest in it. As a student, you need to identify the purpose for which you are studying; is it for assignment submissions? Is it for exams? Is it to acquire general knowledge? These questions would help in making adequate plans. Planning and setting priorities are important aspects of studying. Like the popular maxim, ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’, planning is required to avoid failure. A student is expected to make necessary plans that would have positive effects on his/her knowledge acquisition at the beginning of every semester. Every activity should be planned and prioritised. There should be study plan which would involve, identifying all the courses for the semester, the course content, study materials for the courses, and a time table for reading. There should also be plans for break or rest; this would help create the necessary balance for a mental wellbeing. Making plans will also help to avoid multitasking which  could be tiresome and boring. Effective time and space management is also very important in studying effectively. Once a plan has been made, this would make managing time very easy. Each activity has a speculated time, therefore the goal would be to complete each reading task at a specified time. Also, as a student, there is the need to identify the best place that would help to achieve the desired knowledge. Every individual has specific places for studying, however, it is advisable to get a venue devoid of all forms of distractions. Reading and Comprehension Skills: These are the most important skills for effective study. A student can acquire knowledge if he/she reads and understand the content of the materials read. Methods of reading and understanding texts include getting the necessary reading materials, adequate concentration, adopting the PQRST method or the SQ3R strategy. The SQ3R strategy includes surveying, having a general overview of the text; Question, formulate necessary questions from the titles in the text; Read, intensive reading to generate answers; Recite/Recall, read out loud or summarise what you have read; and, Review, critically assess yourself, generate note and answer the questions generated (Adegbija 1998). Another important method of reading and comprehension is note-taking. It is important for students to take notes during classes or while reading. This would make reading and understanding much easier. A student can have two different note types; class notes and reading notes. Class notes are lecture notes taken by students in order to make research easier while studying. A student is not expected to quote the lecturer verbatim while taking the notes, there should be use of paraphrase, shorthand, abbreviations, symbols and most importantly written in the student’s expression. Reading notes are notes taken by students while reading. This can come in the following ways according to Harboe and Mullen (2007): 1. Margin notes and highlighted texts: These are notes recorded directly on the text. Margin notes are written on the sides of the texts while points in the texts are highlighted using pen markers or pencils. Highlighted notes can be in different categories depending on the importance of the highlighted material. Wavy line can be used under vague words, question marks against difficult expressions, bold line under keywords and important concepts, vertical line against important sections and double vertical lines against sections that are central to the text you are reading. This can only be done on books that belong to you. 2. Mind maps: This is another note taking measure. It involves a graphic representation of concepts and ideas that are interwoven in order to identify their connection. This can come in different methods depending on a student’s inclination and the interconnectedness of different concepts and keywords. See the example below:  Sourced from Harboe and Mullen (2007) University of Copenhagen Study Skills Learners Style of Learning: Learning styles according to Brown (2000) is the way in which information is perceived and processed by an individual (cited in Gilakjani 2012). Every individual has specific styles by which s/he can acquire knowledge. It is very important to understand definite methods by which we approach learning. These methods involve the use of our sensory organ. There are three different ways identified by Gilakjani (2012): 1. Auditory Style: Auditory learners learn best by listening to lectures or recorded tapes or reading out loud to themselves. Although reading out loud is usually regarded as a bad studying habit which does not aid the in the comprehension of text items, however, it is important to note that some learners find this method easy. Thus, it is important to learn the best way possible in order to achieve the best. An auditory learner can have group discussion with friends or read in places with subtle music at the background. 2. Visual Style: Visual learners learn through visual images and pictures. They can learn through non-verbal parameters such as cue notes, flash cards, diagrams and charts. They can easily remember what they have read through a mental picture. 3. Kinaesthetic Style: This is referred to as a ‘hands on’ approach. This type of learner engages in active discussions, writing ideas on paper for easy analysis, or read through materials while doing active work. It should be noted that a learner is not restricted to only the above learning styles. An individual can be multi-sensory, that is, a learner can be visual and kinaesthetic. Cottrell (2013) notes that: the more we use our senses of sight, hearing and touch, and the more we use fine muscle movements in looking, speaking, writing, typing, drawing, or moving the body, the more opportunities we give the brain to take in information using our preferred sense (p. 4). The most important thing is to identify what works best while studying. Factors Impeding Effective Study Skills There are several factors which hinder the acquisition and use of effective study skills which thus prevents the acquisition of knowledge. Some of these factors as identified by Adegbija (1999) and Cottrell (2003) cited in Ibrahim (2009) include: 1. Negative attitude to learning: A student must have a positive attitude to the acquisition of knowledge. A negative attitude will prevent a student from generating the adequate skills that can help in studying. 2. Time of Study: There should be proper time management which can be achieved through the creation of a study time table. Time mismanagement can lead to failure. 3. Study Venue: A student needs to find a appropriate venue for studying. The venue should include a suitable venue (for the student, not necessarily a library) with adequate lightening and good reading table and chairs. The student must ensure that all reading materials are available at the venue in order to avoid running around which would lead to a waste of time. Also, wrong venues can lead to distractions. 4. Lack of Rest and Inadequate Sleep: It is important to have adequate rest or sleep. This would ensure an effective studying. There is usually no reason to read all through the night, to ‘pull an all-nighter’ as the students say. Once there is an effective study plan, there will not be any need to stay awake through the night when you are supposed to be sleeping. 5. Mental Instability: An effective study would not be achieved when a student is mentally unstable. The mind should be cleared of all distracting thoughts while studying. Summary Studying is an art which needs to be mastered (Adegbija 1998). There are various study strategies that can aid effective acquisition of knowledge and there are also various factors that can impede effective study skills. In essence, the success of every learner is determined by how well and how fast knowledge has been acquired. This can only be achieved through having adequate and effective study skills which can be used at all times. Self-Assessment Questions 1. Explain the difference between reading for leisure and studying. 2. State two reasons why we study. 3. List three study strategies that can aid effective acquisition of knowledge. 4. Explain three factors impeding effective study skills. Tutor Marked Assignment 1. What are your goals for studying? 2. Identify three major effective study skills given in this chapter. 3. Discover your learning style through answering the following using the keys below: 1 = Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3= Undecided 4= Agree 5= Strongly Agree References Adegbija, E. (1998). Studying effectively: The art and the strategies. In E. Adegbija (Ed.) Effective communication in higher education (pp. 1-8). University of Ilorin: General Studies Division. Cottrell, S. (2013). The study skills handbook: Fourth Edition. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. Developing Effective Study Strategies (2007). Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/skillsforstudy Gilakjani A. P. (2012). Visual, auditory, kinaesthetic learning styles and their impacts on English language teaching. Journal of Studies in Education, 2. (1), 104-113. Harboe T., & Mullen. R. (2007). Study Skills for International Students. University of Copenhagen: The Teaching and Learning Unit of Social Sciences. Further Reading Ibrahim, B. F. (2009). Developing effective study habits and skills. In V. A. Alabi, S. T. Babatunde & F. A. Adekola (Eds.), The use of English: in higher education (pp. 10-22). University of Ilorin: General Studies Division. Robinson, F. P. (1970). Effective study. New York: Harper & Row. Study Skills Guide (2004). University of Newcastle UPON TYNE. Retrieved from http://www.ncl.ac.uk/disability.service/  CHAPTER 20 ENGLISH USAGE IN SELECTED SPECIALIST DOMAINS Ibukun Titilayo Osuolale-Ajayi Introduction: English in specialist domains is predominantly concerned with the peculiar English used in professional and institutional settings. These ‘specialised’ terms are mostly known to people in similar profession. It can be referred to as a ‘private language’ in a community as it is a feature which distinguishes people according to their profession. However, this ‘private language’ can also be adapted by people in different walks of life in their day-to-day interactions as long as they are aware of the semantics and implications of such terms. Thus, this chapter shall try to explain the notion of ‘Specialised English Usage’, as well as, describe the graphological and syntactic features of three specialist domains: Law, Medicine and Business. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the module, you should be able to: (i) explain the notion of specialised English usage; (ii) describe the graphological/syntactic features of specialised varieties of Legalese, Medical English, Business English; (iii) classify sample texts according to their specialised domains of use; (iv) use selected words accurately in given contexts; (v) suggest how to adapt sample texts to fit a different specialised language field; and (vi) extract structures that constitute specialist language use in their core discipline lecture notes. Main Content: Specialised English Usage The lexicon of English language has over the years changed numerically; it can be said that the lexical entries have increased drastically rather than decrease. These changes can be traced to linguistic, cultural, historical, social and economic factors. Specialised English Usage, thus, refers to the English words associated to a group of people’s profession or discipline. Specialised English Usage is also known as jargons. According to Hudley and Mallinson (2011), jargon is the specific terminology used to support our interests and occupations. Citing NIYB jargon is the language, especially vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession or group and also “language that is characterised by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning”. From the foregoing, it can be inferred that each profession has its own special vocabularies which are often unintelligible to outsiders. However, the fact that a person does not belong to a profession does not mean that s/he should not seek to have an understanding of the vocabularies of that profession. The knowledge of specialised English words is pertinent in ensuring a smooth inter-professional communication. In fact, the understanding of the syntactic and graphological structures of specialised English lexicons would help in facilitating the easy comprehension of professional jargons that one may encounter. The syntactic and graphological features of the English Language of law (legalese), Medicine, and Business shall be examined and characterised into their various categories in this chapter. The Syntactic Features of Medical English 1. Modal auxiliary verbs are often used as hedging devices and face saving strategies. Pelvin (2014, p. 43) asserts that the use of hedges represents the expression of judiciousness and possibility which plays a major role by allowing medical professionals to formulate statements with appropriate accuracy and caution, expressing possibility rather than overconfidence. Examples include: a. We may need to increase the dosage of your medication. b. It could take a while before it becomes symptomatic. 2. The structure of medical English is usually in the passive voice because the form is usually impersonal. An example is in the following: a. The drugs were administered by the medical consultant on Lassa fever patients. 3. Variation of tenses: simple present tense is most commonly used when describing processes, functions, mechanisms, diseases; it is also used when asking questions about present illnesses: Do you skip meal? Do you take fatty or fried foods a lot? Do you have any other symptoms other than heart burn? Past tense on the other hand is used especially when taking a medical history, such as: when referring to childhood/adult diseases, previous hospitalisation and the onset of a symptom, etc. “For example: when was your last menstrual cycle? When did you first notice the lower abdominal cramps?” (Pavel, 2014, p.43). 4. Nominalisation: in specialised texts, the derivation of a noun from the related verb appears to reflect the same process of deduction of results from experiments or the same process of derivation of objects from a manufacturing process. Examples include: a. “Modifications of the dose of cetuximab were made only in cases of toxic effects to the skin, and modifications in the dose of irinotecan were made in cases of hematologic or non- hematologic toxic effects”. b. “Concurrent chemotherapy and radiation has improved the outcome for patients presenting with locally advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHS). These improvements have come at a cost of increased-treatment-related toxicities” (Maglie, 2009, p.34). 5. Impersonal mode: sentences in Medical English often express impersonality. For instance, it is common for doctors to say: “A 30 year old premiere that was at the latent phase of labour was referred from Adepoju hospital. She was placed on admission and subsequently examined” rather than “A 30 year old premiere that was at the latent phase of labour was referred from Adepoju hospital. I placed her on admission and after a while, she was examined by me”. Graphological Features of Medical English 1. Acronym and Abbreviations: some common abbreviations and acronyms in medical English include the following: i. Formation by the initial letters of words: a. C&S: culture and sensitivity (performed to detect infections) b. PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ii. Formation by clipping: a. Urinalysis: from Urino analysis b. Patofiza: from Patofiziologija iii. Formation by blending which consists of the initial or final syllables of words: a. Cap: capsule b. LINAC: Linear Accelerator iv. Pleonasms, that is the use of more words or word parts than necessary: a. PMS sindrom: premenstrual syndrome  Medical acronyms may have more than one referent, thus, one has to be very careful when confronted with them. One of the ways of identifying the right referent is by considering the linguistic context of the expression. Also it is possible for different medical acronyms to mean the same thing. Examples of such include: a. Ca: which means cancer (noun) and carcinoma (verb) b. DNC, D&C, or D and C: dilation and curettage 2. The use of signs and symbols: the field of medicine is one of those that make the most use of numbers, signs, symbols, notions, scientifically-generated term, etc. among other communicating devices (Odebunmi, 1996, p. 265). Examples are: a. x/7: where X represents the number of days the ailment started in the week. Thus 3/7 means three days or thereabout. b. x/52: indicates number of weeks and x/12: represents number of months as in 1/12 for one month or since a month. c. 0: means none d. (+++): means the ailment is intense. The Language of Business English Business English language is a variety of English used locally and internationally to transact business. The internationalisation of English in business world, according to Dalalau (2017, p.1), can be traced to the irreversible growth in business institutions and the micro revolution and computerisation worldwide. This specialised English has to do with the language of trade, work place, business, and international relations. Business English is not only constituted of English words but French, Greek and Latin words; just like other jargons, it has its lexical features which include formal words: Formal words Common Words i. purchase buy ii. approximately around iii. commence start/begin iv. execute sign v. terminate end Examples of documents written in Business English include application letter, curriculum vitae andminutes of meeting. Oral Business English is used in business telephoning, interviews, business presentations, etc. Some examples involve but oral and written aspects of language. One of such examples is adverts. The following are general syntactic and graphological features of business English The Syntactic Features of Business English Business English according to Yanxin (2015, p.31) have the following syntactic features: 1. Conciseness and tightness: Business English is characterised with its targeted, direct and practical language which ensures that business information are disseminated promptly and effectively. The conciseness of Business English sentence is mainly reflected in the use of simple sentence, compound sentence, and parallelism sentence. An example can be seen in the following: We aspire to the highest standards in secondary school education. We offer intensive trainings in educational, moral, extra-curricular and life-survival skills. 2. Omission of Prepositions, Articles and Objects: some syntactic elements are sometimes omitted in Business English: a. We have accepted your order for 1,000 cases (of) Toilet soap. (Omission of preposition) b. We acknowledge (the) receipt of your letter. (Omission of article) (Yanxin 2015, p.32)  3. The usual and unusual use of pronouns: the pronoun, it, is often expected to be used for companies, however, the first person plural pronoun is mostly used in business correspondence. This is instantiated in the following: In reference to your application, we have found out that Jide & Ropo law firm cannot represent you in court as they have irreconcilable conflicts of interest in the matter. Also, the use of first person singular pronoun ‘I’ in business correspondence is often avoided. The second person pronouns are often employed in order to convey politeness: for instance the sentence: “Your goods will reach you before 20th March” is preferred to: “I tell you that your goods would get to you before 20th March”. According to Yanxin (ibid), the former sentence sounds comfortable and euphemistic and it shows the concern with the reader’s convenience than the latter. 4. The use of passive voice: Yanxin (2015, p.33) submits that passive voice are usually employed in unpleasant transactional situations, to achieve language euphemism and appropriateness. a. You have to make an offer before next Friday. b. The offer has to be made before next Friday. The first example cannot be said to be polite as it sounds almost rude, while the second would make the decoder comfortable. Graphological Features of Business English As said earlier, Business English is a type of English that covers communication in the worlds of finance, trade, as well as presentations at workplace and report writing. Thus, the graphology of the different areas where business English is used varies. However, the common graphological features that cut across the different types are: punctuations, upper case, italics, acronyms, etc. Punctuations, uppercase, bold fonts and italics retain the functions they perform in general English when used in Business English. The use of upper case, italics and bold fonts is to draw the attention of the receiver of the message. Some acronyms and Abbreviations that cut across the various types of business English include: a. AOB: Any other Business b. LLC: Limited Liability Company c. SME: Small to Medium sized Enterprise d. EOD: End of Day e. VAT: Value Added Tax f. HLML: Hypertext Make-up Language Some of the graphological features of the language of print advert which is an aspect of business English include the following: a. Punctuations: as a stylistic tool helps the writer’s meaning clearer. In the language of adverts, they are used with other linguistic tools in the bid of convincing the audience of the adverts. Examples include: i. Make the right choice now! ii. Do you want double value for your money? Come to Adeks Bank and have a feel. The punctuation mark used in the first sentence is an exclamation mark and it indicates the interest of the advertiser(s) which is too intimate the public of the services being advertised. The first sentence in (ii) ends with a question mark which is stylistically aimed at appealing to the emotions of the audience. b. The use of colours and pictures: Pictures and colours are often heavily exploited in print adverts. Usually, the colours used in print adverts are usually those which reflect the brand. For instance, a page coloured ‘yellow’ would likely be an MTN advert. Logos and emblems of brands are also  used in print advert to differentiate it from other types of adverts. All of these work hand in hand to sell a brand or a product to the unsuspecting audience. Exercise 5: Using Business English features, discuss ‘corporate entertainment’. Exercise 6: What department does which job? Match each job from the column on the left to a company department from the column on the right: Puts products into boxes Personnel Recruits new staff Packaging Deals with complaints Advertising Plans to promote products Sales Buy media space/ design copyrights Customer service (Business English by Nikolaenko, 2008) Summary: This chapter focuses on specialised discourse or specialised language which is an aspect of English for Specific Purposes. For detailed illustration, the syntactic and graphological peculiarities of Legal English, Medical English and Business English are sampled for description. It is deducible that each of these specialist domains/ professional fields has its distinguishing linguistic elements for adequate, and possibly accurate, expression of authorial intentions. Self-Assessment Questions: (i) What do you understand by specialized English usage? (ii) Distinguish between the graphological features of Medical English and Business English. (iii) Explain the meanings of the following common words in general English words and use them in possible sentences in the specifics of your own field or area of specialisation: (a) Inform (b) Require (c) State (d) Convene (e) Sufficient (f) Certify (iv) In your field of study, write out ten (10) vocabulary items that have specialist use in that domain, and use them in correct context-sensitive sentences. Tutor Marked Assignment: (i) Drawing copious examples to illustrate, discuss the prominent graphological features of Legal English. (ii) Compare the syntactic peculiarities of Medical English with those of Business English. References: Alabi, V. A., & S. T. Babatunde (eds.) (2005) Basic Communication Skills for Students and Humanities. Ilorin: University of Ilorin, Ilorin. Babatunde, S. T., Alabi, V. A., Alabi, T. A. & Egbewole, W. O. (Eds.)(2018). Fundamentals of the Use of English. Ilorin: Published by the GNS Division, University of Ilorin. Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1973) A University Grammar of English. London: Longman. Further Reading: Alabi, V.A. (2015). Abbreviations and symbols in science and humanities. In V. A. Alabi, & S.T. Babatunde. (Eds.), Basic communication skills for students of science and humanities (pp.192- 206). Ilorin: Department of English, University of Ilorin. Dalalau, D. (2017). Key linguistic characteristics of business English. Retrieved from www.educationdocbox/language learning /70148224.com. 23/08/17 Halliday, M.A.K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Hudley, A.H., & Mallinson, C. (2011). Understanding English language in U.S. schools. USA: Teachers College Press. Khan, R.B., & Khan, S.Q. (2015). Stylistic study of legal language. International Journal of Engineeering Research and Central Science. 3(1), 631-647. Maglie, R. (2009). Understanding the language of medicine. Roma: ARACNE. Nikolaenko, E.B. (2008). Business English. Russia: Tomsk Polytechnic University Publishing House. Odebunmi, A. (1996). Abbreviations and acronyms in medical, science, technology and agriculture (MESTA) texts. In E. Adegbija, & A. Ofuya. (Eds.), English language and communication skills for medical, engineering, technology and agricultural students (pp.248-261). Ilorin: University of Ilorin Press. Pavel, E. (2014). Teaching English for medical purposes. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. 7(56), 39-46. Yanxin, J. (2015). Study of language features of business English. Retrieved from www.cscanada.net. 23/08/17.  CHAPTER 12 ESSAY WRITING Mahfouz A. Adedimejl (Ph.D.) Introduction: We are today living in a world of words that has been aptly described as the Information Age. We encounter words everyday and we also make use of words in order to explain our views, clarify our points, express our feelings, set records straight or socialise with one another. You cannot just take words for granted. As Birk & Birk (1959, p.3) tell us, "mere words can make and prevent wars, create understanding or inflame prejudice, form constitutions or destroy them, sell shoddy or superior products or ideas, justify man's worst actions or express his highest ideals." Thus, in the beginning was the word and God taught Adam all words/ names (Q 2:31). As if you don't know, writing is a way of communicating, and of course you communicate all the time (Conlin, 1991 p. 1). It is the process of codifying one's thought such that another person is able to share one's experience. This is why reading and writing go hand-in-hand. The essence of writing is to make others read or share one's viewpoint or idea. People write to inform, recommend, motivate, prompt or play a part in debate, persuade, impress, record, reinforce or build on existing situations or beliefs and instruct (Forsyth, 2010, p. 11) Before one can do any meaningful writing, one must have read widely. According to Saul Bellow, "A writer is a reader moved to emulation" (Kennedy, Kennedy and Aaron, 1997 p.iii). Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you should be able to: (i) list the types of essays alongside their accompanying sub-types; (ii) describe the different parts of an essay; and (iii) explain the features of the various essay types. Main Content: Writing (Essays)  While composition can be defined as a piece of continuous writing on one topic, an essay is a kind of composition in which a writer states his knowledge or gives his opinion about a particular subject (Udofot & Ekpenyong, 2008 p. 194). An essay generally enlightens a reader about a particular issue or phenomenon. This is why an essayist will always bear in my mind what he intends to achieve in the reader. Writing an essay structurally consists of composing a passage of three parts. These are the introduction or the opening, the body or the middle and the conclusion or the end. The introduction states the purpose of writing or whets the appetite of the reader. After reading an introduction, a reader makes up his mind on whether the essay is worth reading or not. The introduction of your essay is like the perfume that either attracts or repels. If the introduction states the aim of the essay, gives a clue into what the reader is to expect or arouses the reader's interest, it is successful. If it is drab and dull, clumsy or boring, a potential reader would think of doing something better with his precious time. Strategies of writing catchy introductions include (a) relating a pertinent and interesting anecdote, (b) beginning with an arresting quotation (c) summarising a commonly held view in the body of the essay (d) explaining the specific occasion that gave rise to the essay and (e) emphasising the importance of the subject matter of the essay (Eko, 1999, p.25). The introductory part of the essay is very important as it is what sets the pace for the remaining part. If it is not catchy, the reader would not be encouraged to read the work. For example, can you identify the strategies used in the beginnings of some essays I once presented thus? Introduction 1 The story is told of a poor man who lived with his wife. One day, his wife, who had very long hair, asked him to buy her a comb for her hair to grow well and be well groomed. The man felt very sorry and said no, explaining that he did not even have enough money to fix the strap of his watch he had just broken. She did not insist on her request. The man went to work and passed by a watch-shop, sold his damaged watch at a low price and went to buy a comb for his wife. He came home in the evening with the comb in hand ready to give his wife. He was surprised when he saw his wife with a  very short hair-cut. She had sold her hair and was holding a new watch band. Tears flowed simultaneously from their eyes, not for the futility of their actions but the reciprocity of their love. This is love. To love is nothing extra-ordinary; to be loved is something but to love and be loved by the one you love is everything, that is the lesson.... Introduction II A few weeks before he was assassinated in 1947, the esteemed advocate of non- violent opposition and resistance, Mahatma Gandhi, had a conversation with his grandson in which he provided him the "seven blunders" that accounted for the violence that ravaged the world. These seven blunders, which he had earlier called "seven social sins" in an article he published in his weekly newspaper "Young India" of October 22 1925, are: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle. His grandson, Arun Gandhi, added the eighth later, which he called "rights without responsibilities". Now, if being an ardent fan of Gandhi entitles me to anything, I would add two blunders of our modern age, which account for both passive and active violence, to the list to make them ten altogether. These are democracy without decorum and courts without justice. Introduction III When the German philosopher, Georg Wilherm Hegel, wrote that "nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion" or when Anthony Robins said that "passion is the genesis of genius", they could have both had the Oloyede administration in mind because it is passion personified. Right from the beginning of the administration, the commitment with which the principal officers and other key officials of the administration do their work is legendary and infectious. In the wee hours of the day and into the late hours of  the night, the University of Ilorin is the institution that works with extraordinary zeal. Now if you do not feel like reading the rest of the essays, the writer should either stop writing or you stop reading. The body or the middle of the essay contains the main points that the writer wants to pass across. The body is developed through devoting a paragraph to a point and making a good use of transition devices or paragraph linkers to make the points cohere. Apart from grammatical correctness, all essays should persuade the reader that they are worth every minute spent on them and the content and manner of presenting the points go a long way in determining whether the readers should continue or not. In terms of length, it is the most extensive part of the essay and as such, paragraphs must be arranged in a systematic manner such that each paragraph connects with the one that follows it. More importantly, each paragraph should discuss a specific point that will ultimately justify the thesis statement or persuade the reader to identify with the writer's point of view. Consider the body of the following essay and determine the strategies the writer used to develop it: One of the most exciting and thought-provoking definitions of the media is the one offered by Littlejohn and Foss in their book, "Theories of Human Communication" (2005) in which they offer eight metaphors to deconstruct the concept. Types of Essay Having defined what an essay is, it is important to identify the various types of essay in which the POWER of writing earlier discussed would be deployed. This is not by any means a full discussion since you are familiar with essay writing. You have certainly written essays before. There are basically four types of essay. These are the expository (presenting and explaining information), argumentative (convincing readers of something), descriptive (telling what things are like) and narrative (recounting how things happen) essays. Each of these essays has its focus which is achieved through exposition, argument or persuasion, description and narraflon. However, most essays include two or more of the modes. An expository essay explaining the process of operating a machine may have a paragraph or two devoted to the description of the engine. Expository Essay An expository essay explains basic things about a subject. The main purpose is to make a reader know what he does not know about a phenomenon. The world is knowledge-driven and expository essays expose us to information, details and knowledge that abound on a particular subject. "Exposition is the writing used most often in school, in daily life, business and professions. When you write a book report, an essay examination, or a research paper, you use expository writing; directions, recipes, instructions, and business reports are other examples of exposition" (Winterowd & Murray, 1985 p-94). A writer of an expository essay must be grounded in the subject himself because he who lacks something cannot give it. In writing an expository essay, a writer must be guided by evidence and logic. An expository writing can be done through a) enumeration and examples (presentation of details in logical sequence) b) analyses (carefully examining issues and explaining the relationships among various parts which can be done through division and classification) c) definition (explanation of the terms and concepts for effective communication) and d) comparison and contrast (weighing alternatives and grouping similarities and differences around a definite thesis). The various examples of these strategies are provided by Eko (1999 pp. 109 - 124). Argumentative Essay An argument is the process of organising and stating objectively and dispassionately, the facts and reasons surrounding a particular stand or point of view (Eko, 1999, p. 126). Otherwise known as a persuasive essay, the aim of the writer is to convince or persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. There are many approaches to writing an argumentative essay. For instance, a "writer can argue objectively, that is looking at all sides equally until he gets to the end of his essay before he makes concrete his stand" ( Asonibare & Atanda, 1994 p. 137). Alternatively, a writer may reveal his "stand from the beginning of his writing. Then, he would go on to mention views that are opposed to his stand. In a skillfully presented language with plausible evidence that can challenge other points of view, the writer can win his audience to his side of reasoning" (Asonibare & Atanda, 1994, p. 138). Topics which may require argumentative writing are: 1. Why farmers are more important than doctors 2. Should dress code be abolished? 3. Women are better as wives than as workers 4. The President should contest in the next election 5. Education should be free for all 6. Public universities are better than private ones Descriptive Essay A descriptive essay is that which creates an image of an event, person or situation in words. Virtually everyone has in varying degrees of success, tried to describe something to someone before. Doing a good description requires being a good observer. As an essayist, you can describe a person, a festival, a city or a phenomenon. A description can be objective or subjective. An objective description recreates for the reader the image that may appear to any observer with preciseness. A subjective description on the other hand describes the image as it appears to the writer as well as his/her emotional reaction to the image under description. Descriptive essays rely on imagery and adjectives to evoke consciousness in the m^er. A good descriptive essay appeals to the senses of hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste of the reader. A descriptive essay must have a purpose as well: why are you describing what you are describing? (Neuleib, Cain, Ruffus & Scharton, 2005, p. 109). Narrative Essay A narrative essay essentially tells a story. You must have experienced something that is uorth sharing and when you write or narrate it to your reader, you are engaged in narrative writing. More often than not. the goal of narrative writing is to describe an experience, real or imaginary. that has some unusual meaning for the reader and the writer. According to Thomas and Pink (1981. p. 180), all that the writer has to do is to present his facts in proper sequences-generally in order of time and group them into paragraphs according to the stages in the narrative. Nothing impresses one better than a story well told. Characteristics of Effective Writing Writing effectively requires that some conditions are met. There are writers and there are writers. What defines each writer is the style or how s/he expresses himself or herself, The characteristics of writing the various types of essays are all the same. To write right, the following characteristics should be borne in mind: Economy "The first quality of any good writing is economy" (Eko, 1999, p. 1). Economy is the management of expressions in such a way that unnecessary words are avoided while detailed information is provided. Eko further cites Shrunk and White in their Elements of Style as follows: A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer makes all his sentences short or that he avoids all detail... but that every word tells. As the difference between a child and an adult is that a child says it in several words but an adult's language is more precise, a writer must express himself with the consciousness of the principle of economy. The shorter the expression, the better it is as that is a mark of maturity. Simplicity The choice of language should not be unnecessarily flamboyant or pompous. It is more difficult to write in simple language and as such, simplicity has to be cultivated. Simplicity does not mean that one's expressions should be monotonous, restricted to wishy-washy talk of the street, it rather involves cultivating a good style without being stiff or pretentious. According to Mozart, "simplicity is the true mark of genius". Clarity  In his essay. "Politics and the English Language". Orwell (1977) insists that "the great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and undeclared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms." Clarity involves avoiding obscurity, vagueness, ambiguity, redundancy and long windy expressions. The essence of writing is to communicate and functional communication is marred by unclear language. According to Wittgeinstein. "whatever can be said can be said clearly." Clarity concerns writing straight and direct to the point without fuss and unnecessary flourish. The advice of Thornton Wilder, poet and novelist, is apt and memorable: "if you write to impress it will always be bad. but if you write to express it will be good." Correctness Effective writing is marked by not only the correctness of the information provided, it also covers the avoidance of errors of grammar and mechanics. A piece of writing riddled with grammatical problems is boring and repulsive. No effort should be spared in ensuring that correct information is provided in correct language. In this respect, a good writer knows the rules of grammar, from the morphemic to the sentence level, and how they relate and function on the paradigmatic and syntagmatic axes. Summary: 1. The reality of today's life is that you cannot successfully pass through it without writing. You need writing in school because you must convey your understanding of what you have been taught through it. You need writing at work because you are going to write reports or respond to queries, prepare proposals or do other sorts of things. 2. If you write a good essay, every other type of writing becomes easy as it is the adaptation that you will do. Before you engage in writing, you have to assure yourself of what it requires. Writing requires knowledge: know yourself. Writing requires discipline: discipline yourself. Writing requires expressiveness: express yourself (Adedimeji, 2013). Self-Assessment (i) List the types of essays alongside their accompanying sub-types. (ii) Describe the different parts of an essay. (iii) Explain the features of the various essay types. (iv) Carry out the following tasks: 1. Write ten topics related to the state of Education in Nigeria. 2. Compose any type of essay on any subject of your choice. Tutored Marked Assignment: 1. To what extent does each paragraph of your essay observe the laws of paragraph development'? 2. Discuss what you understand by the POWER of writing. 3. Study ten passages from ten different sources (newspapers, books, magazines, etc.) and identify the strategies used in developing the paragraphs. References: Adedimeji. M. A. (2013) The art of writing. Paper presented at the Writing/Editing. Workshop of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria. LAUTECH Branch, Ogbomoso on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at LALTECH, Ogbomoso. Asonibare, J. B. & Atanda, S. S. (1994). Paragraph development and essay writing. In E. B. Bolaji, & V. A. Alabi (Eds.) The principles and the practice of communication (pp. 124- 141). Ilorin: Department of English, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin. Babatunde, S. T. (1998). Developing effective writing skills: Basic requirements. In E. E. Adegbija (Ed.) Effective communication in higher education: The use of English, (pp. 185 - 196) Ilorin: The General Studies Unit, University of Ilorin. Birk, G. B., & Birk, N. P. (1959). Understanding and using English. 3rd ed. New York: The Odyssey Press. Conlin, M. L. (Ed.) (1991). Patterns: A. short prose reader. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Eko, E. E. (1999). Effective writing. (Revised edition). Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books (Nig.) Further Readings: Forsyth, P. (2010). How to write reports and proposals. Revised 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page. Hacker, D. (2003). A writer's reference 5th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins. Kennedy, X. L., Kennedy, D. M., & Aaron, J. E. (Eds.) (1997). The Bedford reader. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford Books. Neuleib, J., Cain, K. S., Ruffus, S., & Scharton, M. (Eds.) (2005). The Mercury reader. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing. Obah, T. Y. 1981. Essay writing. In B. O. A. Oluikpe (Ed.) The use of English for higher education, (pp. 231-264) Onitsha: Africana-FEP Publishers Limited. Orwell, G. (1997). Politics and the English language. In X. J. Kennedy, D.M. Kennedy & J. E. Aaron (Eds). The Bedford reader. 6th ed. (pp.525 - 543) Boston: Bedford Books. Thomas, S., & Pink, M. (1981). English grammar composition and correspondence. London: Cassel. Udofot, I., & Ekpenyong, B. (2008) A comprehensive English course for schools and colleges. Ikot Ekpene: Development Universal Consortia. Winterowd, W. R., & Murray, P. Y. (1985). English writing skills. San Diego, CA: Coronado Publishers.  CHAPTER 10 PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT Victoria A. Alabi (Ph.D.) Introduction: A paragraph is a section of a piece of writing and is made up of a group of sentences, all of which deal with a common idea that is, a single subject. With respect to structure and purpose, a paragraph could, among other types. be introductory, body, concluding, inductive or deductive. The development of each of these types of paragraph is hinged on the writer’s ability to deftly present the relationship between the topic sentence and the supporting sentences, carefully organise the ideas in paragraphs, aptly utilise the characteristics of a paragraph as well as employ appropriate transitional markers to achieve coherence. An analysis of five structures of paragraphs, the relationship between a topic sentence and supporting sentences, how to develop and organise ideas in paragraphs, the characteristics of a paragraph as well as the appropriate use of transitional markers will be undertaken in this chapter. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the module, you should be able to: (i) identify the techniques for paragraph development; (ii) differentiate between the topic sentence and supporting sentences; (iii) show competence in the appropriate use of transitions in paragraph development for the purposes of coherence; and (iv) use all kinds of paragraphs for efficient discourse writing. Main Content: The Structure and Purpose of Paragraphs The structure and purpose of paragraphs could be introductory, body, concluding, inductive or deductive. Background information is given in an introductory paragraph. It could also contain the overall plan of the way the argument in a written discourse will be developed as well as the scope of the discourse. It is expected that a discourse would contain several body paragraphs. The first body paragraph logically follows the introductory paragraph and the other body paragraph lucidly follows each other. Usually, each of the body paragraphs should center on a single subject in line with the focus of the discourse. Sometimes however, an idea may flow from one paragraph into another.one. The concluding paragraph contains the summary of the argument in the discourse. An inductive paragraph is usually referred to as ‘conclusion-oriented’. It is generally known to start with either proof or reasons culminating in the author’s assertion at the end of the paragraph. The end of a paragraph thus houses a conclusion, which is the most important part of the reasoning. A deductive paragraph is the converse of an inductive paragraph. It opens with the author’s assertion of the most important part of the reasoning. The remaining sentences in the paragraph are used as proofs to support the author’s assertion of this most important part of the reasoning Components of a Paragraph The first sentence of a paragraph starts on a new line and the central idea of a paragraph is summed up in the sentence called the topic sentence. The other sentences which expand the topic are referred to as supporting sentences. The Topic Sentence could be the first sentence in the paragraph as an introduction. The topic sentence(s) and supporting sentences develop into a paragraph or paragraphs through various techniques. These include definition, explanation, exemplification, simplification, description, comparison and clarification, that is, giving further details or enumerating facts about the topic sentence. Carbello (2014), for example, identifies eight different methods of paragraph development as follows: “Facts and statistics, examples and illustration, process, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, classification and analysis, definition, and analogy”. The Characteristics of a Paragraph Among the characteristics of a paragraph are Unity, Coherence, Completeness and Emphasis. UNITY A writer of a paragraph must be concerned with one main idea or topic. Everything in a paragraph must be related to the main topic being discussed and must be capable of being summarised in a single sentence. A well written paragraph must have unity. If a writer adds any material irrelevant to his central idea, then he violates unity. COHERENCE Well-written paragraphs must be coherent. Coherence may be achieved within sentences that make up a paragraph or among paragraphs in a text. Ideas in a paragraph must be arranged in a clear logical order. Linear structuring of time sequence or space order, contrast and comparison may be used. Also transitional devices should be used to achieve coherence. Key words may be repeated, pronouns may be used as references. Transitional words and phrases such as ‘consequently’, ‘meanwhile’, ‘however’, ‘furthermore’, may also be used. COMPLETENESS A paragraph must show evidence of a reasonable development of a central point. If a writer focuses on an idea that cannot be fully developed, the paragraph becomes incomplete. The reader would thus not understand what he should know. EMPHASIS The central idea of a paragraph must also be emphasised. Enough space must be devoted to discussing it. The idea must be repeated many times including repeating or summing it up in the conclusion. Expressions like ‘chiefly’, ‘of course’, ‘importantly’, ’mainly’, ‘indeed’, ‘especially’, may also be used to emphasise the main idea. Summary: This chapter presents a discussion of some structures of paragraphs, the relationship between a topic sentence and supporting sentences, how to develop and organise ideas in paragraphs, the characteristics of a paragraph as well as the application of transitional markers. It is noteworthy that although paragraphs are not written in isolation, the principles of writing paragraphs highlighted in this chapter are aimed to assist in developing good essays. Self-Assessment Questions: (i) Read the following paragraph and identify the techniques which the writer employed to develop it. There are many steps to making pancakes. First, collect your ingredients. You will need, flour, sugar, milk, and eggs. You will also need a frying pan. Next, mix a cup of flour with half a cup of sugar. Add a teaspoon of salt. After that, mix the eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Add a tablespoon of oil. Then mix the liquids and solids together until you have a smooth batter. Pour some batter into a frying pan. Wait for the pancake to start to bubble. Then flip it over. Last, take the pancake out of the pan. (Carbello, 2014) (ii) Underline the topic sentence in the passage above. (iii) Compose a short four-paragraph essay demonstrating your understanding of the use of transitional markers. Tutor Marked Assignment: (i) Read the paragraph below and underline and list the various words and phrases the writer has used to emphasise his central idea. There are twelve words/phrases used for emphasis. Training the student for a profession is one of the important functions of a college or university. In the first place, professional training confers certain benefits upon the student himself. It enables him to enter a respected occupation, and it usually assures him of a higher income than he would otherwise hope to receive. More important, professional training provides our technological society with the trained men and women it so sorely needs. In an age of space flight, automation, and nuclear research, there is an increasing need for skilled personnel. Most important of all, professional training helps to safeguard our way of life. (Unpublished Manuscript) References: Alabi, V. A., & S. T. Babatunde (eds.) (2005) Basic Communication Skills for Students and Humanities. Ilorin: University of Ilorin, Ilorin. Babatunde, S. T., Alabi, V. A., Alabi, T. A. & Egbewole, W. O. (Eds.)(2018). Fundamentals of the Use of English. Ilorin: Published by the GNS Division, University of Ilorin. Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1973) A University Grammar of English. London: Longman. Further Reading: Amaudet, M. L., & Barret, M. E. (1990). Paragraph development: A guide for students of English. (2nd Ed.). England: Pearson ESL. Indiana University Bloomington. (2018). Paragraphs and topic sentences. Retrieved from https://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/paragraphs-and-topic-sentences.html Meyers, A. (2002). Writing with confidence. Writing effective sentences and paragraphs. (7th Ed.). Mishawaka (USA): Better World Books.  CHAPTER 21 REGISTERS AND JARGONS IN SPECIALIST DOMAINS Monsurat Aramide Nurudeen Introduction: People use different linguistic varieties in different situations and for different purposes. Speech, thus, reflects and constructs the context in which language is used. The context of situation determines language use and usage and as such, different fields of academia and other varying spheres of human life are distinguished by the content and language use uniquely associated to them. The ability of an individual to manipulate and understand language discourses in different situations that confront her/him is one of the essential tools for her/his success in the academia and the society at large. In this regard, it will be erroneous to say or use words not associated with the context in which they are employed as this may impede effective communication or cause chaos between or among participants in such situations. These various contexts of speech situations are known as ‘Domains’; a term popularised by an American Sociolinguist called Joshua Fishman in the early 1970s to depict “a socio cultural construct abstracted from topics of communication, relationship between communicators, and locales of communication, in accord with the institution, of a society and area of activity…” Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you should be able to: (i) define the concepts of register and jargon; (ii) mention and explain the types of registers; and (iii) differentiate between various types of registers like frozen, formal, consultative, casual and intimate. Main Content: Registers The term ‘Register’ was coined by Thomas, B. Reid in 1956 and brought to fore by a group of linguists in the 1960s notably Michael Halliday (Leckie-Tarry 1993 in Zequan 2003, p. 2)”. It is defined as how the language we speak or write varies according to the type of situation (Halliday 1978, p.32). In essence, we use appropriate codes in appropriate contexts. The context in which a word is used has an effect on the meaning that is actually taken for granted. This is in tandem with Alabi (1994) cited in Balogun, Durosinmi & Inyang (2015) who opines that registers are situational varieties of any language mainly categorised according to phonological, syntactic, lexical and semantic levels of choice. The situation or context always guides the selection of words in different social or official roles. For instance, the language of the classroom is different from that of the home; also, ‘wife’ or ‘spouse’ is more formal than ‘old lady’ or ‘missus’, such synonyms associated with these different fields may also portray positive or negative attitude of the speaker, for example ‘naïve’ or ‘gullible’ seem more critical than ‘ingenuous’ (Saeed, 2009). In addition, when speaking in a formal setting, an English speaker may decide to choose more formal words such ‘sister’ as opposed to ‘sis’ child as opposed to ‘kid’ and so on and also avoid using ‘chill’ as opposed to ‘relax’ than when speaking in informal settings. Sometimes we say or use words not appropriate to the setting. Crystal (1987, p.52) submits that “People often have different reasons for deviating from a particular norm at a particular time. This may be as a result of a need to portray their personal, social, or religious identity. Other reasons may have to do with the dislikes of the listener’s appearance or behaviour or a more deep rooted person”. Halliday (1985) proposes three main levels of registers which are useful for distinguishing the nature of social interaction of participants. They are field, mode and tenor. The field of a discourse refers to the social setting or what the discourse intends to investigate (Idiagbon, 2007, p.130). What the text is all about, what is happening or the subject matter of the discourse. The field is most clearly reflected in the lexical items chosen and sometimes the way the language is structured. For instance, if two people are discussing on health related matters, their vocabulary will reflect the topic. This depends on the specific area of health they are discussing. Likely topics to be found in this field are: uterus, x-ray, haemorrhage, lesion, vaccination, tremor, surgery, haemorrhoids, etc. Mode is the medium or channel of communication. The three major channels of communication are: speech, writing, and nonverbal means of communication which includes gesture, sign language, and mime. These nonverbal communications are sometimes used to complement speech. Tenor is concerned with participants and their role – relations; for example, teacher/student, parent/child, preacher/congregation, boss/subordinate, buyer/seller and so on. Participants in a discourse have social roles, which could be temporary or permanent. Different individuals may assume different roles in different linguistic domains. This determines the choice of lexical items and may reflect equality, power or solidarity. For instance, a lecture room where a student’s mother is the lecturer, the student in questions calls her parent ‘Dr. Lawal’ instead of ‘mum’. The level of formality of speech is the focal concern of register language usage. In a friendly chat, people use colloquial language, the casual and/or intimate style. For instance, when having a casual conversation with friends one is likely to use more colloquial words, contractions, and incomplete sentences than one would when responding to a question posed during a lecture. Vocabulary also varies with the situation of use or setting for example, one can either ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ depending on the setting, ‘munch’ with friends in an informal setting and ‘dine’ with the king or president of a country in a formal setting. Also, the words ‘live’ and ‘reside’ are more casual than ‘domicile’. Joos (1961, p.13) describes five major classification of degrees of formality. These style types in English include: Frozen register: They are static or unchanging scripted language such as preamble to constitution, wedding vows, biblical quotations, pledges of allegiance of a particular country and other static language. The wordings of this register are exactly the same every time it is spoken. It sometimes contains archaic words. These are example of frozen usage: Example 1. Wedding vow: I, ---, take you, ----- to be my lawfully wedded (husband/ wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Example 2. Declaration of an election result to the populace by the chairman of an electoral body: I, …… hereby certify that ……., having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes is hereby returned the winner.  Formal register: They are complete sentences and specific word usage. - Formal English often used to show respect, used in places such as work, academic environment public offices and business settings. Thematic pre occupation include interviews, speeches etc. the use of difficult/ dictionary words are also common e.g. hegemony, bluster, juxtapose etc. These are sentence example of formal usage: Example 1: The students in the apex premises of education and learning worked collaboratively on unfamiliar and open-ended problems. Example 2: The professor of literature is an embodiment of knowledge, idolized by contemporary youth and intellect alike. Consultative register: They are used in conversations between pairs or two-way participation; for example, teacher/student, doctor/patient, expert/apprentice, colleagues, peers, strangers, etc. And as such, it features more complex syntax or long phrases, interruptions and feedback fillers such as ‘uh-huh’, ‘I see’, like, know what I mean, o.k., etc. In its use, prior knowledge is not assumed. Sentence examples of this style are; Example 1: Conversation between a man and a stranger Man: pardon me: do you think you can give me the time? Stranger: certainly, it’s nine o clock. Man: thank you. Stranger: not at all. Example 2: Conversation between a doctor and a patient Ms Adewale: Good morning, Dr. Gobir! Dr. Gobir: Good morning, what is wrong with you? Ms. Adewale: I have been suffering from fever since yesterday. Dr. Gobir: Do you have any other symptoms? Ms. Adewale: I also feel headache and chills. Dr. Gobir: Let me take your temperature. At this time, the fever is 100 degrees. Don’t worry. I would prescribe some drugs and you will be alright in a couple of days. Ms. Adewale: Thank you doctor. Casual register: They are everyday words used by members of a group to signal membership, friends and acquaintances; ellipsis, abbreviation and slangs are common. Interruptions are also regularly used like the consultative register. Casual register is also found in communications in social media platforms like chats, blogs, emails, etc. Slangs and abbreviations common in this style include: Bae: someone who is dear; Slay/slayer: to describe someone looking attractive; Shade: to slightly insult someone; Stay woke: a reminder to people to be aware of happenings in the society; TBT: means throwback Thursday; used with a hash tag for posting a reminiscence for example, a picture (from a long time ago). Intimate: They usually express close relationship among the users e.g. lovers, spouses, siblings, best friends etc. It involves private vocabularies not for public information such as pet names (sweetie pie, honey, sunshine), inside jokes, etc. More word examples of intimate style include: chairman (best friend), irawo (Yoruba meaning for star), sweetGaf, sis/ sisterly (sibling or a female best friend), darling, dear, babyboo, Joshy josh (best friend), stud, mushy face, orente, Jaybear, butter fingers, etc. Students need to be familiar with these registers. To illustrate each of these register styles, we provide five examples of different situations using different types of language to express similar effect: Example: Order Frozen - Participants should remain seated throughout the ceremony; Formal -. Those taking part should sit during the proceedings; Consultative - Would you please stay in your seats; Casual - Don’t get up; Intimate- sit tight. Example: Greetings Frozen – Good day listeners, you are listening to Unilorin 89.3FM, the official radio station of the better by far community. Formal - Good afternoon. May I speak to the Chairman, please? Consultative - Hello, Dr. Johnson. How are you this morning? Casual – Guy, what popping? (‘Guy refers to a male friend of the same peer, ‘popping’ is a slang which means ‘how are you’?) Intimate- How is my stud muffin doing? (referring to a lover or a child) Example: Encouragement Frozen - I offer you all my prayers. Formal - Thank you for applying for this position. We'll let you know within a week if you are been chosen for an interview. Consultative - Thanks for following-up on the Nnamdi Kanu IPOB agitation case. Great job! Casual - Whoa, way to go! Nice catch! Intimate- I am crazy about you honey, you are the best. Example: Complaints Frozen - This is a complaint for damages and injunctive relief arising out of manipulative activities in the gold market from 1994 to the present time. Formal - I hope you don't mind my stating that the service is unsatisfactory. I would like a refund. Consultative - Excuse me Ms Wahab. As I understand the task, we need to focus on improving our delivery times rather than blaming our suppliers. Casual - Oh, Bash. Just a moment! Listen, you know... well... what was yesterday joke all about? Intimate - I'm sick and tired of your crap! The examples above adequately illustrate how we vary our language to suit particular situations, particular media or particular human relationships (Tinuoye, 2003). We can clearly see how the tenor of interaction influences the register and other language choices, from the most rigid-frozen, to the least rigid- intimate. However, there may be overlaps in the use of the registers and their related styles, that is, a person can move from one register to another, this is influenced by a number of social factors. As earlier explicated on the discussion on tenor, it is pertinent to note that people’s roles in formal contexts determine the appropriate register regardless of the social relationship that exists between them. For instance, a very formal setting such as a law court will influence language choice regardless of the personal relationship between the speakers. In a classroom where a child’s mother or father is the teacher, the same pattern is usually found. A catholic priest will be addressed as ‘father’ even by his own father during a religious ceremony. A register can also reflect the specific style of language one uses. For instance, one could speak or write in an academic register, a business register, a legal law or legalese register, medical register, computing register and so on. We shall give a full explication of various vocabularies associated to some of these specialist fields in our next discussion on jargons. Jargons Jargons are the actual compendium of technical words of a particular topic, field or profession. Yule (2007, p.245) emphasises that jargons help to connect those who see themselves as ‘insiders’ in some way and to exclude ‘outsiders’. In juxtaposing register and jargons as a single and related language variations, Holmes (2008, p.259) describes Jargons as registers which a group of specialists often develop to talk about their specialty. Journalese, legalese/legal language, medical language and so on are all to be considered as examples of different jargons. Occupation, therefore, is another factor that can cause language to vary; the use of technical terms constitutes jargons of one’s vocation. Unlike registers which takes cognisance of formality, setting, task, participants and topic as determining factors, jargons are concerned with specialised terminologies. For example, words like atom, catalyst, solvent, and spectroscopy indicate scientific jargon; likewise, words like virus, bacteria, syndrome, tremor, and abdomen indicate medical jargon. Jargons can also have ordinary word alternatives. Ofuya (1996) states that specialised vocabularies (scientific jargons as the basis for her discussion) grew out of the ordinary usage and have in turn influenced it. She gave the following illustrative expressions to substantiate her submission: God is the architect of one’s life; he shuttles between Ilorin and Abuja on a weekly basis. Likewise, these medical jargons also have ordinary word alternatives; for example, sign-symptom, eye problem-ocular defect, fear-anxiety-phobia, etc. Occasionally, Jargon words are shared by different professions; two or numerous professions/ fields might use similar vocabularies for different purposes. For example, the word ‘port’ is used in computing to mean the act of converting software so that it can run on a different operating system, in the military; a small opening in an armoured vehicle, in the maritime field; a place by the sea or river or other waterways where ship and boats can duck, load and unload. Also, the word ‘register’ is used varyingly in different fields. In English or Linguistics it is often referred to level of formality of a speech, however in music it refers to the sound quality of a note or melody, and in computing it refers to a device used for storing information. Similarly, the word ‘bond’ is used in the scientific field (Basic Science/ Chemistry to be precise) to mean attraction and repulsion between atoms and molecules while in the legalese or legal language it means an agreement with legal force. So it is with the word ‘virus’ used in the fields of computing and medicine. Most of these specialised words are also used in our daily interactions. Consider the following examples: Field Word specialised Usage Ordinary Usage Law minor under aged/not legally an adult insignificant bill proposal for law amount you owe Banking freeze to legally stop the supply of when liquid turns to money to somebody solid Stock share one of the equal part of a A part of the total Exchange company that you can buy number of something Computing notebook A portable computer A book for recording notes Students should therefore selectively attend to only the specialised meanings of words in the course of their study. To use jargons effectively, you must know your audience. Hence, you should avoid using terms your readers or listeners will not understand, well- placed jargon in speaking or writing can lend the voice of authority or the face of genuineness on the speaker. Oloruntoba-Oju (1996, p.195) notes that, the use of vocabularies in their appropriate specialisation shows erudition and competence in that discipline and therefore wins greater respect for the user. In essence specialised terms must be used where, whom and when appropriate. In the domain of medicine for instance: A Medical student can say to an Obstetrician: ‘Dr. Chuma, we have a case of primiparous woman in obstructed labour with failure to progress at 6cm dilation. She may need a Ceasarian Section’ A doctor should not say to his patient: ‘It must be a viral attack’ but instead say ‘it must be some kind of infection’ or; ‘You are suffering from an unestablished syndrome’ but instead say ‘you seem to have a fairly uncommon ailment and we are not too sure of its characteristics yet’. ‘Jaundice refers to yellow pigmentation of the skin due to an accumulation of the pigment bilurbin in the blood owing to acute liverishness’ but instead say ‘Jaundice refers to yellow colour of skin or the changing of skin colour to yellow due to the accumulation of yellow substances in the blood owing to certain disorders in the functions of the liver’ (Adapted from Oloruntoba-Oju, 1996) These medical jargons evident in these statements may hinder the patient’s comprehension, scare them away and or present the doctor as being egotistical. The context is also paramount in jargon use and usage. For example, you cannot say ‘I domicile in….’ to a friend but rather ‘I live or reside in….’ this is also applicable when speaking to a boss. The word ‘domicile’ is a legal jargon which means a permanent legal residence as such it is not applicable in a casual setting. Ferguson 1994 cited in Wardhaugh (2010) gives the significance of specialised use and usage by asserting “that people participating in recurrent communication situations tend to develop similar vocabularies, a characteristic bit of syntax and phonology that they use in these situations …seem to facilitate speedy communication, establishing feeling of rapport…”(p.48.). A person can control a variety of jargons: you can be a lawyer and a stockbroker, or medical personnel, and an academic. Summary: 1. This module explained the use of English in some specialist domains through the use of registers and/or jargons. 2. It is evident that there are many features of language use that are exclusively related to specific domains. 3. The appropriate use of registers and jargons can enhance effective communication while the incorrect use can hinder comprehension and send the wrong message. 4. However, in order to communicate well in English, it is important that students involve themselves in constant practice in understanding and mastering the fundamentals of correct register use in various domains especially in their specific disciplines as well as have the ability to manipulate such registers outside of their respective domains of use. Self-Assessment Questions: 1. What are Registers? 2. Mention and explain the main types of Registers. 3. Differentiate between various types of registers like frozen, formal, consultative, casual and intimate; Tutored Marked Assignment: 1. Draw a distinction between the following pairs; frozen / consultative registers; formal/intimate registers. References: Abdullahi-Idiagbon, M.S. (2007). Trends in sociolinguistics discourse. In O. Obafemi, G. A. Ajadi, & V.A. Alabi. (Eds.), Critical perspectives on English language and literature. (pp.123-144). Ilorin: Department of English, Unilorin. Balogun, J., Durosinmi M., & Inyang, U.(2015). Register and lexical relations. In V.A. Alabi, & S.T. Babatunde. (Eds.), Basic communication skills for students of science and humanities. (pp. 73-88). Ilorin: Department of English, Unilorin. Crystal, D. (1987). Cambridge encyclopaedia of language. London: Cambridge University Halliday, M.A.K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Edward Arnold: London. Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold. Holmes, J. (2008). An introduction to sociolinguistics. (3rd ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited. Ibe, C.U. (2005). Complete English course for secondary schools. Enugu: Africana. Joos, M. (1961). The five clocks. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. Lawal, A. (1996). Intensive reading as a study skill for MESTA students. In E. Adegbija, & S. Ofuya. (Eds.), English language and communication skills for medical engineering, science, technology and agriculture (MESTA) students. (pp.63-71). Ilorin: English language outer circle. Further Readings: Ofuya, A. (1996). Word formation in medical engineering, science, technology and agriculture MESTA English. In E. Adegbija, & A. Ofuya. (Eds.), English language and communication skills for medical engineering, science, technology and agriculture (MESTA) students. (pp.1-19). Ilorin: English language outer circle. Oloruntoba-Oju, O. (1996). Aspects of communication in the medical class. In E. Adegbija, & A. Ofuya. (Eds.), English Language and Communication skills for medical engineering,  science, technology and agriculture(MESTA) students. (pp.187- 201). Ilorin: English language outer circle. Oladunjoye, O. (2005). Systematic English for schools and colleges. Ilorin: SO41publishers. Quirk, R. Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvic, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman: Harcourt. Saeed, J.I. (2009). Semantics. (3rd ed.) London: Blackwell. Tiersma, P. M. (1999). Legal language. The university of Chicago press: Chicago. Tinuoye, M. (2003). What is language? In O. Obafemi, & S.T. Babatunde. (Eds.), Studies and discourse in English language. (pp 1-27). Ilorin: Haytee press. Trudgill, P. (1983). Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society. England: Penguin Book. Wardaugh, R. (2010). An introduction to sociolinguistics. (6th ed.) UK: Blackwell. Yule, G. (2007). The study of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zequan. L. (2003). Register analysis as a tool for translation quality assessment. Translation theory.7 (3). Retrieved fromhttp://accurapid.com/journal/25register.htm on October 5, 2017.  CHAPTER 14 REPORT WRITING Oyinkan C. Medubi (Ph.D.) Introduction: As a researcher, when you have gathered the materials relevant to your subject matter through the various means discussed in other aspects of this book, you need to package the findings in such a way as to facilitate easy absorption by your readers. It is often in the form of a report. Thus, a completed research work is presented as a report. Our focus in this chapter is thus to take you through the process of writing reports in ways that will adequately answer a reader’s questions such as what happened, where, why, when and how it happened. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the module, you should be able to: (i) organise report according to their structure, language and tone; (ii) specify if the types of reports accurately achieve their purposes; and (iii) compose a report of any type. Main Content: What is a Report? Generally, a report is said to be a body of facts written down for preservation. Specifically, a report is a description of the investigation that you as an individual or your group have completed. Weissberg and Buker (1990 p. 1) describe the experimental research report as ‘a paper written by an investigator to describe a research study that he or she has completed.’ In this instance, the report explicitly explains the problem investigated, steps taken in the experiment and results obtained from the investigation. A report is also the record of events or activities of a group of people neatly encapsulated for the consumption of the appropriate person or body. Such events are simply and faithfully set down as they occur, and may be disseminated to the public immediately or filed away for future reference. A report thus sets down events in such a way that all pertinent questions regarding what has been done, where the event took place, who are those directly and indirectly involved, how an action has been done, and what effects have been noticed or envisaged, and so on, are answered. For instance, when one narrates how an accident happened, one is giving a report. The sequences of events and utterances at a formal meeting of a group of people will also constitute a report. Purpose of Reports To make sure that your reader understands your report, you need to ensure that the pieces of information you give are neatly categorised so that all future actions expected from it are clearly recognised. This way, it can fulfill its purpose. How can you recognize the purpose of reports? You can recognise the purpose of reports by the things they do such as: a) Explaining: When you give a report, your reader must be able to understand exactly what happened and why. The main objective of your report in this case is to explain an action from all angles and provide interpretations of the event so that the reader can understand all its implications. It attempts to provide the basis for, and examines the underlying causes of, people’s actions and the possible  consequences of such actions. Examples of this category are your reports on experiments, researches and investigative matters. b) Informing: This means that you recount a sequence of events for the purpose of acquainting your reader with the order in which these events occur. In most cases, the report simply keeps the record of events and satisfies the desire of the reader to know exactly when an event begins, what happens as it unfolds, at what points the significant happenings occur, and how it all ends. It satisfies the urge to know; there is no judgement involved neither does it require any significant interpretive processes. Examples of such reports are news reports and business meetings. c) Documenting: A report presents the facts of an event in the sequence and order in which it happens. In this way, it documents the event for posterity. In other words, it sets down the record of the event in written form so that it is never forgotten, even long after the main actors in the event have gone. This means that all books ever written are reports since they document events surrounding man and all his activities from the beginning of time. So also your activities, utterances and/or researches may someday be put together in a report that may be a story, biography or autobiography. d) Summarising: A report is only a record of events set down in a brief form. It is almost impossible to put down everything regarding an event or a subject or an experiment since such a venture would not only be wasteful but also boring. For example, it is unnecessary for an autobiographer to relate how many times in a day his heart beat or he breathed or an ant walked across his path, etc. We do not need to know the frustrations an experimenter endures during an experiment or how many times his beaker falls to the ground and breaks. We do not need to know how many times members of a group nearly exchange fisticuffs during a meeting. However, in concentrating on the important things about the day, e.g. location, dates, events, etc., the reader is given an idea of the event. Therefore, the highlights of the event or sequence are presented in such a way that they would represent the whole picture. e) Teaching: This brings us to the very important part that a report plays: it helps us to learn from events. An experimenter’s report helps us to replicate the experiment. A narrator helps us to recognise mistakes made in an event through the causes and effects. An autobiographer helps us to learn from his/her decisions in life. From the minutes of a meeting, we learn what the group is doing, what mistakes are made and how to move forward. The didactic role that reports play cannot be downplayed. They exist to teach us great lessons about life. Structure of Reports Now, purpose alone is not the only thing that distinguishes reports from other writings. One of the other things that differentiate reports concerns their structure. The structure of a report depends largely on its purpose and the use to which it is put. In the section above, we mentioned that reports could be employed either to explain, inform, document or teach. Each of these implies changes in structure in terms of length and language use. In general, reports can be formal or informal. Formal reports provide accounts of projects, experiments or meetings, hence they are usually lengthy. From the long accounts, the reader can obtain some recommendations. On the other hand, informal reports may be brief and directed at specific groups. Business correspondences such as memoranda, letters or circulars may fall in this category. Formal reports do not have any specifiable length. A report can range from a few paragraphs to a few pages to even volumes. The law report is published in volumes, experimental reports take only a number of pages while news reports are often only a few paragraphs or columns. Greater differences lie in the sentence structure. In most cases, reports are written in declarative sentences which simply state facts. The sentences in the reports of business meetings, for instance, occur in the reported or indirect speech, since the utterances of participants are often just reported, hardly quoted directly. Only news reports sometimes resort to the direct statements of participants to give the sense of greater authenticity, recency and thus credibility while those reporting experiments are quite often in the passive voice. As we examine the types of reports below, we will see how the structures differ from one to the other. Types of Reports In general, reports can be classified into any of the following: a) Experimental b) Investigative c) Field Research d) Factual Reports e) Business Meetings f) Reviews Language and Style of Reports The language of report writing is generally formal and impersonal. The form or structure is predominantly constrained by the genre. For instance, the format of memorandum report is different from minutes of as report of proceedings at a meeting. Remember that the strength of your own report lies in its accessibility. This is why you need to strive to use clear, concise and lucid prose that will not only make reading easy but will also make comprehension easy. Demarcate your sections appropriately and choose your words carefully. These will ensure that the purpose of your report is achieved. Summary: This chapter has examined report writing with samples of the common genres provided as illustrations. Also, the chapter presents the various rungs, and how to write them. Self-Assessment Questions: Putting yourself in the shoes of the Secretary, and following the structure of Minutes writing, write a report of the proceeding of a meeting you attended in the recent past. Tutor Marked Assignment: In about 400 words, conduct a review of one of the products you consider to be new on the market, taking care to highlight what it is about, what you like or dislike about it, and how successful you think the product can be in the market. References: Alabi, V. A., & S. T. Babatunde (eds.) (2005) Basic Communication Skills for Students and Humanities. Ilorin: University of Ilorin, Ilorin. Babatunde, S. T., Alabi, V. A., Alabi, T. A. & Egbewole, W. O. (Eds.)(2018). Fundamentals of the Use of English. Ilorin: Published by the GNS Division, University of Ilorin. Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (1973) A University Grammar of English. London: Longman. Further Reading: Alabi, V. A. (1998). Writing paragraphs, reports, academic and technical texts’. In E. E. Adegbija (ed.) Effective communication in higher education: The use of English (pp.11-242). Ilorin: General Studies Division. Sobowale, I. (1985). Journalism as a career. Ikeja: John West Publications Limited. The Guardian. (August, 2009). Lagos, Nigeria: Guardian Newspapers Limited. The Nation on Sunday. (January, 2012). Lagos: Vintage Press Limited. The Writing Center, University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill,http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/book-reviews/ Accessed on 22/3/13. Weissberg, R., & Buker, S. (1990). Writing up research: Experimental research report writing for students of English. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall.  CHAPTER 17 REVISING AND EDITING Kifayat Gambari-Olufadi Introduction: Writing is one of the four basic communication skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Writing is considered the most difficult, tasking and demanding of the four language skills because the writing process calls for the writer’s rapt attention. Apart from the information a piece of writing contains, it also tells us much about the ability of the writer. A good writer is that person who is able to combine ideas, beliefs, styles and all other activities involved in effective writing. In this module, we shall discuss revising and editing as post-writing processes. The writing process begins when the writer pens the last word of the first draft. It is in the process of revising and editing that the draft takes a shape and becomes a piece of art. Writing, according to Smith (2003), is an art. A good writer continues to work on a piece until it has the desired shape. In writing, revising and editing are two distinct processes. Revising looks at ways of improving your writing. Editing on the other hand, is the process of correcting the inappropriateness of your writing like sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Since revising and editing are post-writing tasks, we shall start our discussion with writing as a process. Writing is a major task involving a number of steps which must be taken one after the other so as to have a good product. Three major activities are identified as writing stages, these are