Oral English Success Tips for Students

by  Mr. Inah Stephen, Upperroom International School Idah, Kogi State 

 

It is ridiculous for any candidate to sit for an examination without sound preparation. It is said he who falls to prepare has already prepared to fail. However failure is not your portion if you are  thoroughly knowledgeable about the subject you will be tested on.

The aim of this piece is to highlight on tips, clues, secrets for a candidate to perform well and gain mastery in English language before writing WAEC, NECO, GCE NAPTEP etc. 

Of course , there is no learning English for learning sake. English is the gate way to the cream of wider world culture. It is the language of science , technology and International trade. In Nigeria , English is an official language, even a lingua franca to some citizens. The business of National Assembly cannot be successfully conducted without the Use of English. 

English is the language of instruction in schools and colleges. At least a credit pass in English language is a prerequisite to gain admission to any university in the country. 

 Any damage done during 11 years of primary and secondary school education through little learning . The One year (100 L) use of English course cannot redress it. 

Taking the dimension of Oral English as it is called in Secondary Schools in a second language learning milieu like Nigeria , Ghana etc. It is the most  dreaded aspect of English language by most students and candidates. But with sound knowledge and good understanding one can emerge excellent in any oral test.

The most  common mistakes identified among the teachers and learners of English as a second language today include improper pronunciation, mispronunciation, poor intonation, as well as misrepresentation of phonetic sounds.  

The sound system of English is made up of two main features : the segmental  and supra segmental features

a..the segmental features are simply the vowels and consonant considered as individual sound segment whereas

b. The supra segmental features are stress, rhythm, and intonation which mainly affect the quality of sounds used to form words , phrases to sentences or utterances

There are forty four (44) sound  segments in English. We have twenty (20) that is -twelve (12) pure vowels or monothongs, - eight (8) diphthongs and twenty four (24) consonants. 

A vowel sound is the type of sound produced from the lung WITHOUT OBSTRUCTION OR STOPPAGE of the free air -flow through the mouth. see table (1) with ash colour background above. 

However, table (2) in yellow colour background  contains consonant sounds. A consonant sound  is the type of sound  produced from the lung WITH OBSTRUCTION OR STOPPAGE of free air-flow through the mouth. All the sounds cannot be discussed here at ones , we will take them one after the other for clarity sake.

In the English language, spelling and pronunciation have a funny relationship. How we write a word and how we pronounce it often do not agree. A system of spelling from letters of alphabet A-Z used in writing is called orthography. However , a system of signs and symbols used to speak is called Phonetic Symbols, Oral and so forth. 

Many a candidates failure or inability to identify sounds symbols used to pronounce words like "sheep" different from "ship". It is because of the inability or failure to  study and constantly apply the underlying speech sounds that make up the acceptable pronunciation daily. 

For a candidate to be succesful in the learning and mastery of  Oral English, he or she should endeavour to acquaint him/herself with letters of alphabets used to identify a particular vowel sound in a given word.

1. /I:/

Vowel sound number one (1) is a front and  long one. Lips are pulled out, well spread ton pronounce it . This is marked by a colon in its transcription. It is identified mostly through words carrying a spelling pattern with letters of alphabets i, ee, ea, ey, eo, ay, ea, ei, ie 

i - police, machine, magazine, routine, amoeba, prestige, suite, clique, critic, caprice, sardine, marine, funny

e - scene, scheme, key, regal, check

ee - bee, feet, kneed, need, peel, sheep, peel, been, heel, seek, flee,  fee,  cheek, peep

ea- feat, cleave, seal, breach, read, leak, cheat, seal, league, leave, least, conceal, feast, breach, colleague, weak, cheat, least , peal 

ay - quay

eo- people

ei- seize

ie - chief, achieve, 

2. /I/. 

Vowel sound number one (2) is a front and  short one. The tongue is forward enough to see when produced. The lips are spread and more relaxed. This sound is not marked by a colon in its transcription. It is identified mostly through words carrying a spelling pattern or letters of alphabets I, a, e, y, ay, u, ui, ei ,ia, ie, ey

I, - willing, sick, live , rich, lick, fill, ship, brick, putrid, list, favourite, click, pip, sit, bin, hit, chick, fill, chilled, kin, police, fit, lit, sin, pick, vineyard, sycophant, live, chick, 

a - courage, climate, manage, private, palace, village, luggage, orange, sausage, preface

e, - wanted, market, women, English,  lowest, employ, finale, college, pocket, 

y, - symbol, hymn, lyric, lady, party, lorry

ay - Friday, Monday, 

ey, - monkey, 

u, - cuisine, built, busy, business

ui,- guild, build, exquisite, 

ie, foreign

ia, - marriage, carriage

ie, - piece, pierce

A candidate's failure or inability to constantly identify the disparity between long vowel sound (number one) and the short counterpart. He or she may not perform well in any test situation. e.g sheep- ship, these- this, leave- live, leak- lick, been- bin, rich- reach, etc.

 A candidate is considered fit for Oral English examination, if he or she spend at least thirty minutes every night or day or both learning oral English, listen to , and watch radio, TV programmes , films produced in Standard British English. A candidate who is fond of watching American film may not be able to develop much interest in learning Oral English in school. Because America English is not used as a means of instruction from elementary, to secondary and tertiary level in Nigeria.  It is by following this simple idea, one can internalize the nitty-gritty of the  topic learnt and develop a relatively permanent understanding or level of competency before sitting for any examination. Below are common examination questions in areas discussed so far.

Exercise:

From the word lettered A to D , choose the word that contains the same sound as the letter(s) underlined against each number 

1. Build 

A. mend B. hoot C. pulled D. lit 

2. pip

A. pipe B. mine C. hit D. peep

3. piece

A. pierce B weigh C. heal D. Kill

4. Pit

A . Pat B. pet   C .  tip  D . peel

5. league 

A . lick.  B . pleasant C . people D . learn

6. chilled

A . build B. child    C.heal   D. lied

7. police 

A . lice  B . list  C . less  D . lest

8.flee 

A . sway B . creative C . breach  D . dread

9. kin

A. Knife B. scheme C. scene D. known

10. league

A. dead  B . critique C. willing D. fit

11. Monday

A. age.  B.  day   C. pretty heal

12. people 

A . quay B. wedding. C. Silk  D. pep

13. Sick 

A. spike B. sake C. peak D. Woman

14. kill

A. enough B. machine C. conceal D. Achieve

15. ship

A. peep B. feast C. wine D. brick

... to be continued 

NB : send your answers, questions , observations to this watsaap number 0702 589 2001, an English Grammar Expert is there waiting to attend to you , and at your discretion , add you to English Grammar watsaap learning Group for further study especially in preparation for first school leaving certificate exams, you will be glad you did.

All Rights Reserved