Chronicle EditorCharles Dube, Highway to Success
THIS is a follow up to last week’s article. Have 3: actions. We often use have + object to talk about actions and experiences especially in an informal style – Let’s have a drink. I’m going to have a bath. I’ll have a think and let you know what I decide. Have a good time. In expressions like these, have can be the equivalent of eat, drink, enjoy’, experience many other things – the exact meaning deepens on the following nouns.
Common expressions have breakfast/lunch/supper/dinner/tea/coffee/a drink/a meal. Have a bath/ awash/a shave/ a shower/ have a rest/ a lie down/ a sleep/ a dream/ have a good time/a bad day a nice evening/ a day off/ a holiday/ have a good journey/flight/trip have a talk / a chat/ a word with somebody/a conversation/ a disagreement/ a row/ a quarrel/a fight/have a swim/ a walk/ a ride/ a dance/ a game of tennis etc./ have a try/ a go/ have a look, have a baby/give birth/have difficulty/trouble/ have an accident/ an operation and a nervous breakdown.
As stated earlier in English Language we will always go back to areas where we probably started. For example, we are going to give brief advice on planning and writing texts. Before you tackle any writing activity, you need to ask yourself a number of questions. Use the following hints to plan your written texts — what genre or type of writing is needed? Who is the intended audience? What special features are needed? How will you conclude your writing? How will you introduce the topic? How will you arrange ideas into paragraphs?
While you are writing ensure that you are using: a variety of sentence lengths and styles, a range of punctuation, interesting varied vocabulary. When you have finished writing, check your spelling and your punctuation. Remember to keep the task in mind as you write, using any suggested opening sentences and making sure that you include everything that is required. Do allow time at the end to check through what you have written.
Newspaper reports — Newspapers are important tools in the learning process in the classroom. This emphasises the need for students to read newspapers be it soft copies or hard copies. Newspaper reports should always aim to answer the following What happened, when and when, who was involved, and if possible, how and why it happened. Along with headlines and subheadings newspaper reports frequently feature a stand first paragraph, quotation and emotive language.
The stand first paragraph is used to summarise the key points of the story. Whatever your content, remember to use an appropriate style and range of features for a newspaper story. You can use the following example to develop the report. Feature: What? (main topic/ issue, Where (more details, When, Who? Why? Quotation, alternative viewpoint, emotive language (emotional or moving language).
How can you maximise your potential marks in writing? You can do this by showing that you understand the audience that you are writing for, you are familiar with the feature of the genre within which you are writing, you can use tone and language choice effectively to suit your purpose, you can organise and link your paragraphs to structure and develop your ideas, you are able to vary the length and type of sentences used in order to keep the reader interested, you are confident with the conventions of Standard English punctuation, spelling and grammatical structures.
Technical accuracy refers to the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar. You should separate your sentences correctly by using full stops and ensure that you know when and when not to use apostrophes.
Although you should take special care to spell correctly, do not avoid using ambitious vocabulary because you are not sure how to spell it. Even if the spelling is incorrect, if it is the right word you will get credit for using it.
Try to show the examiner that you are in control of your writing and using more sophisticated forms of punctuation correctly, like semi-colons, so one way of doing this. Other points to bear in mind: it should be useful to consider the following: Make sure you provide adequate content for your writing so that the reader will understand what you want to say.
Although there is need to write with imagination, your writing is likely to be more convincing if you base it within your experience where possible. Letters and reports — The form and structure of some type of written communication, such as text messages, email and informal letters can be quite straightforward. Formal letters and reports however, are often more complicated.
Here are some points to remind you of some key features of each type: Letters include your address and the date on the right-hand side. Reports use a title which state the subject briefly who is it for. Letters put the name and address of the person you are writing to on the left hand side.
In reports the first paragraph should outline the topic. Under letters — Do you know the name? “Dear Mr Jacobs” ends with “Yours sincerely” and signature. This discussion will be completed in the next article.
For views link with [email protected] or sms to 0772113207
Online Reporter