Study and test-taking skills
GOOD study skills grow out of good habits. Examples of some useful studying guidelines: Keep an assignment notebook. For each assignment, set a study goal. Take notes on your reading. Gather information about the test when preparing for tests. Exactly what material will it cover? Review material from your textbook, class notes, homework etc. Make up some sample questions and answer them. As you skim selections try to predict what may be asked. Remember what your teacher stressed when the material was presented in class.
Give yourself plenty of time to study. Avoid staying up late cramming before a test. In addition to studying alone, study with a partner or small group. Quiz one another on topics you think the test will cover.
On this highway to success we cover a lot of ground. We are on a long journey and as we travel we are not only focusing on the straight stretch of the road but we are also conscious of what is by the road. We take along what might help the learner succeed in the examinations. For example for the learner to do well in the English Language examinations we remind them to have a proofreading checklist after every piece of writing.
Sentences are made from different parts of speech summarised as the noun, which is a naming word, pronoun which takes the place of a noun or another pronoun in a sentence. An adjective which modifies a noun or pronoun, a verb which shows action or state of being, an adverb which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. There is the preposition which relates a noun or pronoun to another word, a conjunction which joins words or groups of words and the interjection which shows emotion — example: “Hey! What are you doing there?”
From parts of speech there develops the sentence. Remember a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. A thought is complete when it makes sense by itself. Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. The punctuation mark that follows a sentence depends on the purpose of the sentence. Sentences are classified according to purpose as declarative, imperative, interrogative or exclamatory.
A declarative sentence makes a statement. All declarative sentences end with a period. Example: All people should wash hands before meals. Imperative sentences usually end with periods, but a very strong command may end with an exclamation point. Examples: Please be quiet or Shut up! An interrogative sentence asks a question. Interrogative sentences end with a question mark: Examples: What is the title of your project? Have you done your homework?
An explanatory sentence expresses strong feelings. Explanatory sentences end with exclamation points. Examples: How excited you are. What a surprise to see you here. A group of words that looks like a sentence but that does not make sense by itself is a sentence fragment. There is nothing as annoying as a sentence fragment to the examiner. Examples: The water in the bay. The prize giving ceremony scheduled for November 10.
There is need to proofread your work after writing to avoid these sentence fragments. Ask yourself the following questions: Have I avoided run-on sentences and sentence fragments, have I used every word correctly, including frequently confused words and homophones? Have I formed plural and possessive nouns correctly? Do verbs agree with their subjects? Are verb tenses correct? Does verb tense shift correctly to show sequence of events?
Do pronouns refer clearly to their antecedents and agree with them in person, number and gender? Have I avoided or corrected dangling participles and misplaced modifiers? Are all words spelled correctly? Has every unfamiliar word been checked in a dictionary? Are all punctuation marks used correctly? There is little doubt that a learner who makes sure all these shortfalls are avoided achieves high marks. Above I made reference to run-on sentences.
A run-on sentence is two or more sentences written incorrectly as one sentence. The problem could be: two main clauses separated only by a comma. Example: Keith saw one movie yesterday, he saw another one today. The first solution to such a problem could be: Replace the comma with a period or other end mark. Start the second sentence with a capital letter. Keith saw one movie yesterday. He saw another one today.
The second solution to the cited problem could be to replace the comma with a semicolon. Keith saw one movie yesterday; he saw another one today. Another example of a run-on sentence is two main clauses with no punctuation between them. Faith trained hard for the half marathon, she won it. The solution to this is to separate the clauses with a period or other end mark.
Example: Faith trained hard for the half marathon. She won it. Second solution: Place a semicolon between the main clauses. Faith trained hard for the half marathon; she won it. Lack of subject-verb agreement. A singular subject calls for a singular verb. A plural subject calls for a plural verb. Before we end this week’s article let us go over more troublesome words that are often confusing or misused.
Accept, except — accept means to receive. Except means other than. That shop accepts EcoCash payments. She marked all the books except mine. Farther. Further — Farther refers to physical distance. Further refers to time or degree. How much farther is your home from school? We have to discuss this a little further. Beside, besides. Beside means next to. Besides means in addition to. He parked his car beside his house. Besides sport the school also takes part in other activities.
Loose, lose — Loose means not firmly attached. Lose means to misplace or to fail to win. His belt was loose and he continuously pulled his trousers up. You will lose the game if you do not train hard. Did you lose any coins last night?
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