OFC 017

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

OFC 017

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

(Including English Grammar)

OFC 017

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

(Including English Grammar)

P.P. Lipembe

Lecturer

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The Open University of Tanzania

The Open University of Tanzania P. O. Box 23409,

DAR ES SALAAM.

Tel: 22-2668992/2668820 Fax: 22-2668759

The Open University of Tanzania Kawawa Road,

P. O. Box 23409, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

©The Open University of Tanzania, 2008

ISBN 978 – 9987 – 00 - 152 - 1

FIRST EDITION, 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of The Open University of Tanzania.

CONTENTS

General Introduction ……… vii

Part One: Aspects of Communication

1.2 Meaning of Communication ………... 4

1.3 Essentials of Communication ………. 6

1.4 Main Categories of Communication ……….. 8

1.5 Communication Skills ………. 10

LECTURE 2: LISTENING 2.1 Introduction ………. 12

2.2 Meaning of Listening ………. 13

2.3 Listening as a Function of Communication ……… 14

2.4 Listening Strategies ………. 14

2.5 Types of Listening ……….. 14

LECTURE 3: READING 3.1 Introduction ……….……… 18

3.2 The meaning of the Nature of Reading ………..………. 18

3.3 Different Types of Reading ……… 20

LECTURE 4: WRITING 4.1 Introduction ………. 31

4.2 Writing an Essay ………. 32

4.3 Writing ……… 43

4.5 What is the Purpose of Writing Reports? ………..…. 46

4.6 Essential Elements of a Report ………... 46

4.7 Qualities of Effective Report Writing ………. 49

LECTURE 5: PUNCTUATION AND CONVENTIONS OF USE 5.1 Introduction ………. 51

5.2 What is Punctuation? ……..……… 52

LECTURE 6: THE INTERNET 6.1 Introduction ………... 71

6.2 What is the Internet? ………. 71

6.3 Internet as an Aspect of Communication ………. 72

6.4 Who is Using the Internet? ……… 72

6.5 Brief History of the Internet ……….. 73

6.6 Basic Internet Services ……….. 73

6.7 Using E-mail ………. 74

6.8 Advantages of E-Mail ……… 75

6.9 Search Engines ……….. 78

6.10 Metasearch Engines ……….. 79

6.11 Web Searching 80

Part Two: English Language Grammar

7.2 What is a Sentence? ……….. 86

7.3 One-Word Sentences ………. 87

LECTURE 8: TYPES OS SENTENCES

8.1 Introduction ………... 100

8.2 Significance of Sentence Types ………. 100

8.3 Classification of Sentences ……… 101

8.4 Sentence Types According to Purpose ……….. 101

8.5 Sentence Types According to Structure ……… 105

LECTURE 9: FORMAL AGREEMENT IN THE SENTENCE 9.1 Introduction ………... 110

9.2 Meaning of Formal Agreement ………. 111

9.3 Agreement of Subject and Verb ……… 111

9.4 Agreement of Compound Subjects ……….. 116

9.5 Agreement in Subjects Formed by Collective Nouns ………... 117

9.6 Agreement in Subjects Formed by Nouns with Summation Plurals. 118 9.7 Agreement of a Pronoun and its Antecedent ……….……… 119

LECTURE 10: COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH 10.1 Introduction ………... 122

10.2 Sentence Fragments ……….. 123

10.3 Correcting Sentence Fragments ………. 125

10.4 Agreement Faults ……….. 129

10.5 Correcting Agreement Faults ……… 130

10.6 Run-Together Sentences ……… 133

10.7 Faulty Parallelism ………. 135

10.8 Pronoun Reference Errors ………. 137

10.9 Faulty Modification ……….……….. 140

LECTURE 11: TEXT GRAMMAR: COHESION

11.1 Introduction ………... 148

11.2 Text and Textuality. ……….. 148

11.3 What is Cohesion? ……… 149

Introduction to the Unit

Dear Student,

This unit aims to introduce you to the principles and skills of effective communication.

During the course of your studies as a university student, you will have to communicate in various manners and with different categories of people. For example, in your small study groups, you will have to communicate with your fellow students in discussions, likewise while reading your study materials and other reference materials you will be communicating with the authors of the publications even though you will not be able to give feedback response the authors.

It is important to emphasize that your ability to communicate effectively is quite essential to your educational attainment, social acceptability, physical and emotional well being, and ultimately your chances for securing employment.

This course consists of 11 lectures totaling 30 contact hours. Each lecture is divided into two parts; Part one deals with various aspects of communication, and part two presents grammar topics relevant to communication. Each lecture begins with a presentation of objectives, an overview and then a treatment of the main aspects of the topic. In addition throughout the unit, end-of-chapter exercises are provided to give you practical, hands-on assignments. You are advised to try to complete all these exercises so that you may harness the full potential of the course.

Part One

Essentials of Communication

Lecture One: Meaning and Aspects of Communication Lecture Two: Listening

Lecture Three: Reading Lecture Four: Writing

Lecture Five: Mechanics of Writing

LECTURE ONE

MEANING AND THE ESSENTIALS OF

COMMUNICATION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The term is quite familiar to most of us. It refers to an activity that people perform everyday. Actually it is said that as humans we begin to communicate the moment we are born. For example, the cry of a baby draws the attention of its mother thus making the mother to either feed or comfort it. In this case the baby’s cry communicates a message to its mother.

Communication refers to an activity or process that serves to connect people through space and time. All communication involves a person understanding others and having others understanding him/her. In this way it unites person and person, person and group or group and group.

Studies have found out however that even through people communicate since their infancy, they are not as affective as they should be, The process of transmitting information from an individual (or group) to another is a very complex process as it involves different stages hence the purpose of this unit of study, to train you on how best to communicate with others.

OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you should be able to: (i) Define communication;

(ii) Describe the process of communication;

(iii) Describe essential elements of communication; (iv) Explain the importance of communication.

1.2 MEANING OF COMMUNICATION

The word communication derives from the word “common” which infers to share, exchange, send along, transmit, talk, gesture, write, put in use, relate, etc. Humans communicate in order to share knowledge and experiences. Since time immemorial human beings are known to have communicated in a number of ways. In the tradition African society people used to communicate in different ways. For example in some communities, a certain form of wailing or cry denoted occurrence of a dangerous situation in the society, like an attack by a wild animal or some other calamity. Likewise different forms of drum-beat carried different messages e.g. joy and celebration, sorrow and grief, invitation and reception. In some cases the drum was used to announce the demise of the ruler of the land like the chief or king.

In modern times, communication between people and groups has evolved very much especially after the establishment of the print, audio and the visual media. Further more the advent of the internet has, metaphorically speaking, reduced the size of the world by making it possible for people from different places in the world to carry out face-to-face interaction.

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What is communication

In this unit, the term communication is used to refer to the process by which people are able to transfer meaning between themselves. It is the process that allows people to share information ideas and feelings. Where no meaning is transferred no communication has taken place. Communication is a learnt skill. Most people are born with the physical ability to talk but we must learn to speak well and communicate effectively.

Speaking, listening and our ability to understand verbal and non-verbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modeling our behaviours based on what we see.

ACTIVITIES

Discuss with your colleague the forms of communication that traditional people of your ethnic community used.

Communication as an academic discipline embraces a large body of study and knowledge that relate to all the ways we communicate. It focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels and media. In all, the field promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.

TAKE NOTE

WHY IS COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT?

In our daily undertakings, we spend most of the time communicating with one another. It is estimated that 75% of a person’s day is spent communicating in some way. Most of our communication time is in spent in listening and speaking, while a minority of that time is spent in reading and writing. These communication actions reflect skills which foster our personal, academic and professional success. The ability to speak clearly and eloquently on one hand and to write effectively on the other, have been recognized as the hallmarks of an educated person. Put in other words, these actions of communication are central in determining a person’s ability to succeed or fail in life.

Explore how you interact with others in various kinds of contexts as a university student, an employee or member of society in general. Who do you interact with and what information is exchanged?

1.3 ESSENTIALS OF COMMUNICATION

The purpose of communication is to pass on your intended meaning to others. Studies conducted on the way communication takes place have shown that it is a well defined process that comprises a number of components.

The main components of communication are summarized in the following diagram which shows that communication takes place through a staged process of five essential elements shown below:

Figure 1.1: The communication Process

1.3.1 Sender

This is the source where information comes from; it could be an individual speaking, writing, signaling or gesturing.

FEEDBACK

Message

This refers to the ideas, data or feelings that the sender intends to share with others.

1.3.2 Channel

This is the route travelled by or used to send the message as it goes from the sender to the receiver. It refers to the form in which the idea, or feeling is delivered across. In spoken communication this could include face-to-face, meetings, telephone or video conferencing. In written communication it includes letters, emails, memos and reports.

1.3.3 Receiver

This refers to one or more individuals for whom the message is intended. This is the goal to which the message is targeted.

1.3.4 Feedback

This refers to the verbal or non-verbal reactions from the audience who receive the message. This gauges whether or not the receiver has understood the message.

1.3.5 Noise

This is the interference that keeps the message from being understood. Interference to communication may be physical or psychological in nature. Physical interference keeps a message from being heard properly. Psychological interference occurs when the communication receivers are distracted by feelings that disturb the mind of the receiver. This explains for instance, why a hungry person cannot be able to read, listen or write effectively.

1.4 MAIN CATEGORIES OF COMMUNICATION

We send or receive information through a number of ways. These ways can be categorized as verbal-communication and non verbal-communication.

In order to become a successful communicator you should make sure that you understand well the verbal and non-verbal communication strategies of communication. In any organization like a school or workplaces, these types of communication are continually exchanged often times without much planning or even thought that such communications are taking place.

1.4.1 Verbal communication

This refers to the various modes of sending and receiving by using words. This includes both spoken and written modes of communication.

1.4.2 Nonverbal Communication

This refers to forms of communication which make use of body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language, or other forms of communication. It includes all manners of interaction that allows us to communicate without using words. Facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact are examples of nonverbal communication.

Non-verbal language is important in one-on-one communications, and may be even more important in group communications. In group situations, often only one person at a time is speaking, while non-verbal response is coming from each individual in the group. The larger the group, the more impact body language may have.

In social communication we understand spoken remarks within the context of an exchange of ideas between rational and emotional beings in a social situation. We

become aware not only of what one says, but what one does by uttering such a remark, and the effect they might bring about by such a remark.

ACTIVITIES

Pair up with a colleague to discuss the advantages and disadvantages” of using the following communication mode shown below.

Verbal Communication Advantages Disadvantages

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There are many reasons to believe that verbal language is not always adequate. Communication experts have conducted studies to try to find out which

communication mode is practised more in our daily life?” Is it verbal

communication or non-verbal communication? One such study revealed that

almost 55% of what we emotionally try to communicate in a conversation is communicated through facial expressions and gestures (Mehrabian, 1972). It was

shown that the total impact of a message is about 7 percent verbal (words only)

and 38 percent vocal (including tone of voice, inflection, and other sounds) and 55

percent non-verbal.

Another study also done in the United States showed that 93 percent of a message was transmitted by the speaker’s tone of voice and facial expressions. Only 7 percent of the person’s attitude was conveyed by words.

These studies draw us to conclude that apparently, we express our emotions and attitudes more non-verbally than verbally.

EXERCISES

Discuss with a colleague different forms of expressions which fall under

1. Verbal communication 2. Nonverbal communication

1.5 COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Your ability to transfer meaning or information to others and from them to you requires you to master communication skills which include reading, listening, thinking, studying, writing, remembering, speaking and mastery of the grammar of the particular language you communicate in. Hence these aspects form the main body of the subject matter of this course unit.

REFERENCES

Albert Mehrabian (1972); Nonverbal Communication. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton,

Argyle, M. (1990); Bodily communication (2nd edition). New York: International Universities Press.

Livingston, Drs. Sharon and Glen (2004); How to Use Body language. Psy Tech Inc.

LECTURE TWO

LISTENING

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Somebody once told me that we were given two ears and only one mouth for a purpose. The continued, saying;” we can expect to listen twice as much as we speak” for this matter therefore one ear would not be able to carry out effectively the task of listening.

Humour aside it remains amply true that listening is a communicative activity that we carry out more often than any other in our daily life.

As explained earlier on, skill in communication demands that one masters a number of specific sub-skills. The first skill we will discuss in this course is the listening skill.

Expressing our needs, feelings, thoughts and opinions clearly and effectively is only part of what is required to complete a communication cycle. The other part is listening and understanding what others communicate to us. Listening is the communication skill most of us use more frequently. This makes listening one of the most important sub skills of communication. Various studies point to the importance of listening as a communication skill. As already said in the previous lecture, in a typical study we are informed that many of us spend 70 to 80 percent of our working hours in some form of communication. Of that time, we spend about 9 percent writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking and 45 percent

listening. This reveals how important the skill of listening is in our daily life.

inefficient in the skill of listening. Hence the purpose of this unit is to help you improve your listening skill.

OBJECTIVES

After finishing this unit, you should be able to; (i) Define listening as a function of communication;

(ii) Recognise the importance of listening as part of communication; (iii) Apply effective listening strategies to a given situation.

2.2 MEANING OF LISTENING

Communication scholars estimate that listening takes up more working hours than any other activity we deploy for communication. This confirms that listening is an important skill in our daily life. But what does listening mean?

TAKE NOTE

Listening is defined as the physical reality of hearing what another person says and a suspenseful waiting that reflects psychological involvement with that person. It is a process that involves active decoding and interpreting verbal messages.

Most of us tend to mix up the meaning of hearing and listening, we assume that the two are synonymous. There is indeed a big difference. Hearing is the process of capturing the sound waves through ears and sending this data to the brain. Once the data reaches the brain, based on past experiences and learning, the brain will interpret and classify it as word, noise, music etc. Hearing is thus merely the physical component of listening. Listening on the other hand, involves much more than hearing a message. Besides decoding and interpreting the verbal stimulus, listening also involves cognitive attention and processing of information.

2.3 LISTENING AS A FUNCTION OF COMMUNICATION

Listening is categorized as a receptive communication skill that is one that helps us to acquire ideas, information and other people’s feelings. Effective communication depends very much on our ability to listen well. Listening provides us with the aural input that serves as a basis for us to acquire information, ideas, attitudes and feelings of the speaker. Listening then involves communication of an oral message between the speaker and the listener. Furthermore, as an aspect of communication, listening involves a dynamic interaction that varies depending on both the internal and external situations of the speaker and the listener involved in the communicative context.

2.4 LISTENING STRATEGIES

Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input.

2.4.1 Background Knowledge

This is a listener based strategy. Listening will be much improved if the listener knows the topic of the talk, is aware of the situation or context of the talk and the cultural background of the speaker.

2.4.2 Knowledge of Text

The listener will understand the talk better if he/she is familiar with the sounds, words, and grammar that creates meaning used by the speaker

2.5 TYPES OF LISTENING

Listening as an act of hearing and discerning meaning from an audio source can be classified into two broad types.

2.5.1 Attentive Listening

The main goal of the people who listen attentively is to understand and remember what they hear. They have in addition the intention to give a positive impression, advance a relationship or demonstrate care.

Communication scholars have identified three listening skill clusters and accompanying behaviours that are used by attentive listeners. As you read the information below try to determine which one of these behaviours you already use in your listening interactions.

Following below are three skills you could use to optimize your attentive listening:

(a) Attending skills

These have to do with the way the listener positions oneself before the speaker. The position you assume has a lot of influence on your understanding and remembering what you hear.

The following are some of the attending skills:

(i) A posture of involvement

You should incline your body toward the speaker, face him/her squarely, maintain an open body position and position yourself an appropriate distance from the speaker.

(i) Appropriate body motion

Occasionally nod your head, use facial expression to reflect emotions back to the speaker.

(ii) Eye contact

(b) Following skills

These are behaviours meant to inform the speaker that you are following the talk - Use of inviting comments to the speaker e.g. what’s up

- Use of minimal encouragers. These are brief indicators to the speaker that you are with them e.g. “mmmhmmm” “oh” “I see” “Right” “Really?” “Go on” - Use of infrequent questions, open ended, one at a time.

(c) Reflecting questions

These include paraphrasing and questions reflecting feelings or meaning.

2.5.2 Critical Listening

When people listen critically, their goal in addition to understanding and remembering is to evaluate, assess or interpret what they are hearing; whereas attentive listening emphasizes nonverbal skills along with some verbal skills, critical listening emphasizes critical thinking skills. Like attentive listening, critical listening is related to asking questions. Listening attentively enables you to ask good questions of clarification; listening critically provides the basis for good probing questions.

ACTIVITIES

1. Practice blind listening

This involves choosing a surrounding which has background noises. Start listening to the noises in the background/surrounding.

Distinguish as many noises as possible and label them.

2. Spotlight listening

Tune to a TV station which has a lot of chattering. Choose one of the speakers and focus on what that person is telling. Mentally tune out the others. After you are sure you are sure you have actively

listened to him/her, shift attention to another person and focus. This is like putting on a spot light on one person at a time.

3. Tonality and body language

Listen to someone speaking. Focus on the shift of tonality, rate of speech and other vocal changes. Track the pattern and complement it by observing the body language, changes in facial expressions etc.

REFERENCES

Carey,C (1996); Listening Is A Skill, Hayward Publishing, New York, N.Y.Goh, C.C.M.(2000); A Cognitive Perspective on Language Learners’ Listening Comprehension Problems. System, 28,55-75

Mendelson,D.J. (1994); Learning to Listen: A Strategy-based

Approach for the Second Language Learner. San Diego:

Dominie Press

LECTURE THREE

READING

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Reading is going to be an essential element during the course of your university studies. This is not only because reading is a principal means of obtaining information, expanding your knowledge and understanding of your subjects but also because a large proportion of your time of study will be spent working with written sources of information and because you have to cover a great deal of material in a short amount of time. For these reasons it is essential that you develop a reading capability that is both purposeful and efficient. People generally tend to assume that “every one knows how to read”, the truth is that not every one does and those who do are often not reading as effectively as they should be. This lecture intends to provide you with guidelines that will turn you into a more effective reader.

OBJECTIVES

After studying this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Define reading;

(ii) Note the relation between reading and communication; (iii) Describe main types of reading.

3.2 THE MEANING AND NATURE OF READING

People conceptualise reading in a number of ways. We need not necessarily be tied to one particular definition. It is necessary however to review some of the ideas before we opt for one working definition.

The Wikipedia definition of reading categorizes it as a way of getting information from something that is written. It is a process that involves recognizing the symbols that make up language. The Michigan language programme on the other hand defines reading as a process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among the reader’s existing knowledge, the information suggested by the text and the context of the reading situation.

3.2.1 Author’s Purpose and Reader’s Purpose

A number of assumptions underlie these definitions. The first assumption is that reading is a component of communication. That the meaning constructed by the reader is dependent to a large extent on the relationship between the author’s purpose of writing the text and the reader’s purpose of reading. Consider for example, the differences in meaning a reader might construct regarding information about “a flower” as presented by the other of a poem, an encyclopedia entry or a science fiction. A person reading these sources will construct different senses and images of the word” flower “.

3.2.2 External and Internal Factors

The second assumption is that the characteristics of the reader (e.g. psychological social, cultural or linguistic background) interact with the characteristics of the reading task (e.g. purpose for reading assignment, characteristics of the reading material, the setting in which reading occurs, nature of reading instruction) to influence the process. In this sense, reading involves a dynamic interaction that changes depending on both the internal and external factors of the reader, for example, the ability for one to understand the main idea of a text and his/her consequent performance may vary considerably depending on the interaction among factors such as the readers familiarity with the topic.

Interest in the purpose of reading and the content and structure of the text self. This principle explains the factors that increase or decreased motivation for the reader to read a particular text. Reading together with hearing are the two most common ways of getting information. There is a wide range of information that one could gain through reading. This includes news, entertainment, autobiography and academic information.

3.3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF READING

When we read, we usually do so for a purpose, therefore depending on our purposes of reading different texts, we deploy different methods of reading them. Think of the various items you may have read just today. They might include a newspaper, a lecture hand out, a course material text or a poster. Did you read them all in the same way? at the same speed and in the same detail? Your answer to those questions would probably be “No”

TAKE NOTE

The way we read different texts differs because we always read for different purposes.

In general, we do not read something without first haring good reason for doing so. We read posters found along the road because they catch our eye and awake our interest. Likewise when we read newspapers we do so for various reasons including finding out the political situation of the day or following up developments in our areas of interest like sports, drama or even continuation of a story.

On the other hand when read for academic purposes we do so because we have to, but we are still doing it for a purpose, like preparing for an examination, writing

an essay, gaining an insight into different authors’ opinions, or just trying to understand a subject. The following are some of the major types of reading:

3.3.1 SCANNING

This is a fast reading technique. It is a way of reading to look for specific information in a text. When you scan read, you ‘see’ every item on the page, but you don’t necessarily read the pages. You ignore anything you are not looking for. In this way, when you discover the key words being searched for, you will be unable to recall the exact content of the page.

Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you’re looking for, so you’re concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer your questions.

When scanning, look for the author’s use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or colour. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin.

• Uses of scanning

There are many areas where the use of scanning would be of necessary importance. First, reading off a computer screen has become a growing concern. Research shows that people have more difficulty reading off a computer screen than off paper. Although they can read and comprehend at the same rate as on paper, scanning on the computer is much slower than on paper.

Similarly, scanning skills are valuable for students studying at university level. First, they are an aid in locating new terms, which are introduced in the chapter. Unless you understand the new terms, it is impossible to follow the author’s reasoning without a dictionary or glossary. Thus a preliminary scanning of the chapters will alert you to the new terms and their sequence. When you locate a new term, try to find its definition. If you are not able to figure out the meaning, then look it up in the glossary or dictionary.

TAKE NOTE

Usually new terms are defined as they are introduced in academic texts. If your text does not have a glossary, it is a good idea to keep a glossary of your own in the front page of the book. Record the terms and their definition or the page number where the definition is located. This is an excellent aid to refer to when you are reviewing for an examination, as it provides a convenient outline of the course.

Secondly, scanning is useful in locating statements, definitions, formulas, etc. which you must remember completely and precisely. Scan to find the exact and complete statement of a chemical law. The formula of a particular compound in chemistry, or the stages of cell division. Also, scan the charts and figures, for they usually summarize in graphic form the major ideas and facts of the chapter.

Scanning can be used to look up a telephone number, read through the small adverts in a newspaper or for browsing TV or radio programmes, timetables, lists, catalogues or web pages for information. For these tasks, you don’t need to read or understand every word. Scanning is also useful when studying or looking to find specific information from a book or article quickly as there is not always time to read every word.

• Hints and Tips for better scan reading

- Don’t try to read every word. Instead let your eyes move quickly across the page until you find what you are looking for.

- Use clues on the page, such as headings and titles to help you.

- In a dictionary or phone book, use the ‘header’ words to help you scan. You can find these in bold type at the top of each page.

- If you are reading for study, start by thinking up or writing down some questions that you want to answer. Doing this can focus your mind and help you find the facts or information that you need more easily.

- Many texts use an alphabetical order. These include everyday materials such as the phone book and indexes to books and catalogues.

- There are many ways to practise scanning skills. Try looking up a favorite recipe in the index of a cookbook, search for a plumber in your local Yellow Pages, or scan web pages on the Internet to find specific information.

3.3.2 SKIM READING (or Skimming)

Skimming is a reading technique that can help you to read more quickly or decide if the text is interesting and whether you should read it in more detail. Skimming is when you “browse”, or glance randomly through a book. It has great importance in learning and is emphasized as a strategy in speed reading particularly for exam taking.

The purpose of skimming is to get an “overview” not the specific details of the material. We use it to decide if the book, article or report is worth our time, and has anything new and worthwhile to tell us. Why waste time on an item if it is stuff we already know?

You use skimming when you want to quickly find the main ideas of a text. When you read a newspaper for example, you’re probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you’re skimming the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your assignment or research.

They are many strategies that you may use when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summaries and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you’re seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.

(a) How do you skim read?

Don’t read the whole text word-for-word. Use as many clues as possible to give you some background information. There might be pictures or images related to the topic, or an eye-catching title. Let your eyes skim over the surface of the text and, whilst thinking about any clues you have found about the subject, look out for key words.

TAKE NOTE

1. Read the title, subtitles and subheading to what the text is about. 2. Look at the illustrations to give you further information about the topic.

3. Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph.

4. Don’t read every word or every sentence. Let you eyes skim over the text, taking in key words.

5. Ski by zooming through the text quickly trying to spot key words. Don’t start at the beginning and plod or shuffle through the text. After you have scanned the text and found the bits that you think look relevant and interesting then skim read. Concentrate to keep your keywords and questions in your mind.

6. Continue to think about the meaning of the text.

When reading extensive material, you can first skim over the chapter and section titles to give you an idea of when the material is about. Then quickly scan through the material again to get a better idea of the topic. Finally, you read the assignment, but still reading rapidly.

Skimming is a step you should always take before you read any article of factual or practical narrative. You will soon be able to detect most important facts, strange vocabulary, and words that are clues to important relationships.

It’s a good practice to skim everything in mass media after reading the title and first paragraph. You may get all the information you want. This keeps your skimming skills from deteriorating, or will give you the practice you need to develop necessary skills.

Skim everything you intend to read before you make a final decision to read, discard, or study the material.

Skim all highlighting and develop a read-skim pattern to use for rapid review. And don’t overlook this! Reviewing frequently and rapidly is the best way to memorize (or simply remember information) from notes and long text assignments.

Some speed reading methods require you first to skim-read the material and then read it over a second time more carefully, but yet still at high speed. In skim reading you often just scan through the material, letting your eyes catch key words that give you the crux of the written material.

Take some reading material and read it as fast as you can for a minute. When reading at this pace you do not have to understand a single word of what you are reading. Then start over for another minute and try to get to a further point that you did the last. Repeat this step over and over trying to beat the place where you got to last. Eventually time yourself for a minute and read for comprehension and you will see how fast you can really read.

Like scanning, skimming requires you to read quickly. When you skim a text, though, you are not looking for specific information, but rather, you are trying to get the main idea or point of the text you are reading. When skimming a reading section, start with the title of the text. Then read the topic sentence of each paragraph. Skimming is a skill that is especially suited for doing research. By skimming a few pages of a reference book or novel, you can generally tell if the novel will be useful for your research.

(b) How is ‘skimming’ different to ‘scanning’?

The term skimming is often confused with scanning. Remember: Skimming is used to obtain the gist (the overall sense) of a piece of text. e.g. use skimming to get the gist of a page of a textbook to decide whether it is useful and should therefore be read more slowly and in more detail. Scanning is used to locate specific information from a piece of text. e.g. use scanning to find a particular number in a telephone directory.

Sometimes you can use both reading methods. After you have skimmed a piece of text to decide whether the text is of interest, you may wish to use scanning techniques to locate specific information.

3.3.3 Specific Reading

This strategy is usually employed in conjunction with skim reading. It is especially useful if you are looking for specific information which may be contained in a variety of books, journals or articles. The process is one of search and discovery. It requires you to skim read, locate, mark and then return to close reading. When doing this across a number of texts, you will need to reference the materials as you proceed.

3.3.4 In-depth (or Intensive) Reading

This is the most essential of all reading skills. It involves reading a text thoroughly in order to comprehend the ideas and arguments it contains.

In-depth reading is consequently much slower than skim reading, and you may find that you need to read certain sections of a difficult text more than once. When reading in-depth it is useful to:

(a) Read the opening paragraphs and conclusion first. This will help you to digest the intention and conclusion of the writer prior to a closer reading of the text.

(b) Go back to the beginning, and read through the whole text, marking out and noting:

- key words and phrases;

- ideas, facts, and data you think are important; - the structure of the argument.

make sure you understand the writer’s main ideas and arguments, and the overall message of the text.

3.3.5 Critical Reading

Critical reading is a further dimension of in-depth reading. Reading a text critically means that you do not accept what you are reading at face value. This does not necessarily mean that you should find fault with a text, but rather that you should question and judge the merit and worth of the information it contains. A number of inter-related processes are involved in critical reading. They are: Interpretation, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Whether you use all, or only some of these processes, will depend on both the particular reading situation, and your purpose for reading.

(a) Interpretation

When we read critically for interpretation, we read to discover meaning in a text, that is, to determine what conclusions can be drawn about the various messages the text contains. Sometimes, there is more than one possible interpretation, and in such cases it is possible that our reading may be directed at the best, or most likely meaning. Interpreting a text will also frequently involve the processes of analysis and synthesis.

(b) Analysis

This is the process by which we examine the way the ideas and messages in a text fit together to crate the overall meaning. When analyzing a text we focus on:

(i) Identifying assumptions

The hidden values that underlie what a writer is saying e.g. that everyone who cleans their teeth uses toothpaste, or that anyone who loves Africa supported Ghana during the world cup matches.

(ii) The structure of the argument

The development and sequence of ideas, the relationship between ides, whether the argument is inductive or deductive.

(iii) The relationship between evidence/data and argument

Whether the evidence supports and illustrates the argument, and whether it supports any conclusions that are drawn. Synthesis usually occurs in conjunction with analysis, and involves the drawing together of the results of the analysis into a conclusion on which to base an interpretation or evaluation.

EXERCISES

1. Discuss with your colleague the reasons that would normally lead you to choose to read one newspaper instead of others.

2. Identify the reading methods you would use in the following situations; [Note there is often not a single answer, several choices may be possible according to your reading purpose]

(a) A TV guide to world cup matches (b) An English grammar book

(c) An article in the Chronicle Magazine the loss of indigenous languages

(d) The opinion page in your local newspaper

(e) Shoprite commodity advertisement in the local daily newspaper

(f) A novel (g) A poem

(h) An examination timetable (i) A letter from your best friend

REFERENCES

Afolayan,A.& H. Newsum (1983); The Use of English:

Communication Skills For University Students. Longman,

London

Harris. (1966); Reading Improvement Exercises For Students of

English as a Second Language, Englewood Cliffs. California

Hewett,R.P. (1960); Reading and Response. London Hwrrap: London

Nuttall,C. (1982); Teaching Reading Skills in A Foreign Language (Practical Teaching No. 9) Heinemann Educational Books Ltd; London

LECTURE FOUR

WRITING

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Writing for the purpose of making your ideas and intentions known to others is different from writing for the class teacher to read. When you were still in school, you remember being asked by your teacher to write essays in the form of composition. The essays you wrote were intended by your teacher to assist him/her in identifying and eventually rectifying your errors of language usage and of writing. In real life however, writing is a serious activity which is carried out to accomplish communication. Writing for communication is goal oriented. It does not aim merely at transferring information but delivering information that is purposeful.

This lecture is going to introduce you to the techniques and skills of writing two types of discourse which are of great importance to you not only now as a student but also after you have finished your studies. The two types of discourse are essay and the report.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lecture you should be able to: (i) distinguish between an essay and a report;

(ii) describe the general techniques of writing an essay and a report respectively;

4.2 WRITING AN ESSAY 4.2.1 What is an Essay?

An essay is a prose form which is created by putting together ideas and linguistic expressions to create a larger composite. The large unit so formed must be a unified whole consisting of a paragraph or more.

Depending on the purposes or desired effects of writing, essays may be categorized into three major forms namely description, narration and exposition. These will be explained. The idea is that whatever forms of essay you will engage yourself in, you will require the same skills and techniques to develop it.

4.2.2 Five Steps to Successful Writing of an Essay

The reason why many students have difficulty in writing essays is that they do not know that writing is a process and that they need to organize themselves systematically in order to accomplish it well. The best way to ensure that your writing is accomplished successfully is to divide the writing process into five major steps: preparation, research, organization, writing the draft and revision.

(a) Stage of Preparation

In essay writing the stage of preparation is a pre-writing stage. It requires you to do the following tasks:

(i) Determination of Objectives

Even before you set out to commit yourself to writing the first line or your essay, you should ask yourself what exactly do you want your readers to know after they have finished reading your essay. These are your objectives or the ends you want to achieve. Objectives will guide you to focus only on important issues that you have set yourself out to say. What you are supposed to do at this stage is to state

(ii) Determination of Audience

As you jot down ideas you want to write about, you should decide to whom exactly you want to impart the message. This task is understandably not quite applicable to essays you will write as a student because in this case your audience is going to be your lecturer. But it is a task of quite special importance when you are writing a free essay. You need to know exactly who your readers are and to learn key factors about them, such as their educational level, interests and their needs relative to the subject of your essay. Knowledge of these factors will guide you in the choice of style, vocabulary, tone and sophiscation of information to include in your essay.

(iii) Determination of Scope

It is very essential as well before you start writing to determine the amount and type of message you want to impart. This is called scope; it simply means the extent in breadth and depth to which you cover your subject.

The three preparatory tasks we have stated here are all of crucial importance to you as a writer. You can compare them to the process of focusing a camera before taking a picture. The three pre-writing tasks will help you to bring your writing in focus before the actual writing begins.

• State a topic you wish to write about.

• Write the objectives, audience and scope of your subject.

(b) Stage of Search for Subject Matter

This stage which is also known as research refers to the process of investigating and collecting the content of your essay. It entails the discovery of ideas through investigating, gathering and verifying information which is relevant to the subject of your essay. You will be able to gather a lot of facts by consulting several

different sources of information. Listed below are some of the major sources of information.

(i) Library

You will find the library a very useful and convenient palace for you to collect information on any subject.

Libraries are arranged in some systematic ways which make it easy for the reader to retrieve information. Thus it will serve you a lot of time if you learnt how to use the library effectively.

(ii) Newspapers

Daily newspapers, weeklies and magazines are similarly useful sources of up to date information which you should consult. However some information gathered from newspapers needs thorough verification.

(iii) Special Collections

Some private groups, like missionaries, companies, project firms or non-governmental organizations quite often have a collection of documented information. You may find it useful to consult such places.

(iv) Television, radio, audio/video cassettes and films

These belong to the category of non-printed media. They are becoming increasingly available and increasingly used as sources of information for writers. You should not overlook them, be imaginative about using them.

(v) Local Experts

Don’t forget that there are many people around you who may have the knowledge and experience of what you intend to write on. Find and talk to knowledgeable

individuals in your locality who are experts in the field of study which you are investigating on.

(vi) Personal Observations

You may be able to gather quite a lot of useful information simply by observing phenomena, events or behaviours. Don’t depend only on information that others have written or documented.

When conducting an observation, however you must be objective, complete and accurate. Don’t let your feelings or sentiments seep into your recording. If possible use a tape recorder or camera for accurate recording.

The main method used to extract information from the various sources mentioned above is note taking. This is the process of selectively noting and recording information that one regards useful for future writing or any other use. Since the subject of note taking forms the topic of last lecture of this course, we are not going to dwell on it at the moment.

(vii) Internet

The internet is the richest source of information. Anything you could ever want to know is available online. For students and scholars conducting research, the internet is a fantastic resource for finding out what has been done in your area of specialization.

(c) Stage of Organisation

Organisation is a process in essay writing whereby points of ideas are arranged in a way that makes it easier for the reader to understand your essay when it is eventually written. The reader can easily understand an essay if he or she can distinguish main ideas from secondary ones.

Two t tasks are involved in the stage of organization. The first task is to make a list in a form of an outline, of all the ideas you intend to include in your essay. The importance of making such a list is that it makes it possible for you to see all the points you have developed so far.

Two ways are commonly used by writers to make on outline; these are the vertical list with headings and indented sub headings or tree diagram.

To outline points with a vertical list, first write your topic sentence or theses at the top followed by headings and sub-headings which support

An example of vertical listing of points.

Example 4.1: The proper way to clean your teeth

(i) Obtain a proper toothbrush

- Stiff enough to remove food particles from between teeth - Soft enough not to injure gums.

(ii) Squeeze out enough toothpaste

- too much will prevent contact of bristles with gums.

(iii) Rinse mouth after use

(iv) Use dental floss

- remove food particles missed by the toothbrush - use back and forth motion to insert floss

- use up and down motion to clean between teeth

(v) Way to maintain good oral hygiene

- brush teeth within an hour after meal - if not possible rinses thoroughly.

A tree diagram outline

Example 4.2: Proper way to clean your teeth

Detam proper touch brush Soft enough Stiff enough to not to enjure free food particles gums

brush teeth use up and down

rinse mouth and use dental

clean floss using back and sp and down motion

clean between teeth using

way to maintain oral health

brush teeth

within an hour if not possible

close thoroughly Squeeze out tooth past

enough to cover too much not toothbrush good

prevents contact of bristles and gums

The second task in the organization of an essay is to arrange the outline points in a specific order of development. This order should reflect the way ideas will flow in the essay itself, you should select an order you consider to be most appropriate to your audience or the desired effect of the essay. There are many different methods or essay developments available to the writer, the most common ones are the following:

(i) Sequential Method

This method which is also known as step-by-step method is the simplest and easiest to follow because it presents steps in correspondence with the logical stages of the process or instruction it describes. As the name itself implies, the method presents information according to the natural order of occurrence of activities, it is especially effective in explaining a process or an instruction.

An essay developed in sequential method.

Example 4.3: Proper way to clean your teeth

Proper tooth cleaning begins with the proper equipment. Chooses a brush stiff enough to remove particles from between your teeth, yet soft enough to message your gums without making them bleed.

Squeeze out a bead of toothpaste just long enough to cover the bristles of message your brush Too much will prevent sufficient contact between the bristles and your teeth and gums.

Brush your teeth in on up and down motion. Rinse your mouth after brushing. Then use dental floss to remove food particles between your teeth that the toothbrush may have missed. Begin by wrapping the floss securely around forefinger. Using a gentle black-and-forth motion, insert the floss between your teeth and move it up and down.

To maintain good oral hygiene, brush your teeth within one hour after each meal. If brushing is not possible after meals, rinse your mouth thoroughly instead.

(From: Handbook of Technical Writing)

(ii) Chronological Order

In this method of organization, points are arranged in such a way that they follow the order of events and time. It is in a way very similar to the sequential method. Their main difference that in the sequential method only the notion of events is given prominence whereas in the chronological order both are considered equally.

Example 4.4: Text organized in a chronological order

Attached you will find a timetable describing in detail the specific procedures to be accomplished on each date. Here I would like to give you a general overview of each phase and its implications for the respective staff. As the timetable indicates, phase one for the Marketing Department will commence on April 3. Members of the department will need to occupy temporary quarters until April 12; when both phase one and phase two will be completed. At that time, Mr. Phillip’s office can be refurbished.

On the morning of April 12, we will assemble the ten cubicles intended for Marketing Research Staff; during the afternoon of the day, we will complete the ten cubicles intended for Marketing Communications. We will plan to spend the remainder of that week eliminating problems and adding features to meet the specific needs of the occupants.

(iii) Special Order

In this method of organization, objects are explained in relation the space they occupy. You may for example start by explaining objects which are outside then those which are inside a space or starting with those which are above followed by those which are below a point.

(iv) Cause and Effect Order

In this method, one point is explained either as a reason or as a result of another. The method is commonly used in academic essays as it makes it possible to establish logical connections between ideas. It is especially relevant when you want to present an argument about why something happened or whey you think it is likely to happen. The method is especially useful in writing about social, economic or political events or problems.

(v) Decreasing-Order-of-Importance

In this method of organization,

Points are arranged in a decreasing order of importance, beginning with the important point going to the next most important until you end with the least important. One advantage of using this method is that you make a strong initial impression to your reader

(vi) Increasing-order-of importance method

Similar to the above albeit in the opposite order. The sequencing of points in this method begins with a point of least importance and ends with one that is most important. The advantage of this method is that it ensures that the most important of your several ideas is freshest in your reader’s mind at the end of his or her reading.

(d) Stage of writing the draft

This stage involves the process of converting ideas into sentences to develop a text. When you have established the objective of your essay, the audience and scope and if you have done adequate search of subject matter, created a good outline and decided on a method of organization; you are in the position to begin writing the draft of your essay. The primary goal in draft writhing is to shape information by presenting it in connected sentence and paragraphs.

When you are writing the draft, you should concentrate on converting the points in your outline into topic sentences and supporting sentences. Make it a free flowing exercise. Present your ideas as if you are speaking to someone across the table. Be concerned only with facts. Keep writing quickly to maintain unit of thought and proportion. Don’t be worried about grammatical correctness. Worrying on grammar is of no use at this stage. It will only slow down your thinking process and censor your ideas.

One possible difficulty you will encounter in the writing of the draft is finding a good opening. This is called blank page experience. It should not worry you much. Many experienced writers very often have found themselves in a similar experience of starting a blank page. The important thing is that you should not be concerned with finding the right introduction. Start writing the part you feel most eager to write, the one you understand best and feel most strongly about. To keep the draft flowing skip items that may tend to hold you. If for example you can’t find the right word, write it in Kiswahili or your mother tongue or just leave it blank, whichever is more helpful to you.

When the writing of your draft is over, you will have before you a text that is not perfect in many ways; some facts will be underdeveloped, certain ideas will require elaboration or clarification. There will be numerous wrong or incorrect

phrases, words and sentences, inappropriate punctuation, the tone or style may not be the intended one and many more. All these will require to be corrected and put in the right way. This suggests the need and importance of the last stage of essay writing.

(e) Stage of Revision

This is an essential final process of essay development. The word revision literally means “re-seeing” – it is the process of looking a new at ideas, details, and language items of your essay with the aim of evaluating their relationships, arrangement and effectiveness. Many students hold a misconception that revision is synonymous with editing. Strictly speaking the two are different though related. Editing simply means refining the manner of expression to improve clarity or style or to correct errors, it is only part of the revision process. In editing you deal with the superficial surface structure. To the contrary in revision you examine the underlying meaning and structure of the essay. Revision entails rethinking over all the aspects of the essay, retesting your assumptions, modifying your arguments if necessary, ensuring that you have proved your assertions and making certain that your essay has achieved the proper emphasis and proportion.

(f) Check The Draft Against Your Outline

This is important for two reasons: First, it tells you whether you have presented your facts according to the Plan. Second, it informs you whether you have exhausted all points. Then examine your facts to see if they are accurate and the presentation bears the tone you intended.

Relating to the manner of development of your essay, examine your introduction to see it presents the objective clearly enough. This is particularly important because if your objective is not made clear, it will not enable the reader to see the

transition; see if the sentences, paragraphs and any other linguistic items are logically linked together. Finally check your conclusion to see if it presents the chasing emphasis to the theme you have developed throughout the Essay.

4.3 WRITING OF THE REPORT

4.3.1 What is a report?

A report is a type of a discourse that is widely used in most professional settings. It is used in education, business, and government, in hospitals and the like; however it is a term which cannot be simply or easily defined. Some people tend to define report as any presentation of information. This meaning includes both the extremely formal and the highly informal presentations. Others tend to be more specific and look at the report as ‘a formalized presentation of information’. These variations in the meaning are understandably a result of the wide range of situations and purposes for which the report is used. In this course, however, we will adopt a moderately less general meaning that will help to set off a number of other reports like forms of presentations.

TAKE NOTE

A report is an orderly and objective communication of factual information which serves an institutional purpose.

In order to understand this definition, lets us note its key words.

4.3.1 Orderly Communication

A report is distinguished from other means of information presentation from the way it is prepared. The preparation of a report is done with some care compared to the casual routine exchanges of information. What this means is that in the preparation of a report some ordered steps have to be followed and shown in the presentation.

(a) Objective

A major feature of a report is that it is not biased in its presentation of facts. The report seeks to present truth regardless of its outcomes.

(b) Communication

Means that a report is a means of transmitting message from one source to another.

(c) Factual Information

A report does not present opinions, sentiments or subjective assumptions. When these are included they are presented as part of data and should either be clearly labeled as such or be supported by facts.

As stated earlier on, this definition is not specific enough but is broad enough to apply in the numerous variations to be found in reports.

4.4 TYPES OF REPORTS

Reports are of various types depending on the criterion one uses to classify them. Following below are some of the criteria which are commonly used to label reports.

4.4.1 Subject Matter

Depending on the subject of the report, it can be an

Education report, economic report, health report, military report, business report etc.

4.4.2 Time Interval

Basing on the time interval when the report is written, it can be a daily report, weekly report, monthly report, mid year report, biannual report, special report etc.

4.4.3 Status of Authorship

In this regard a report can be labeled as public report, private report or independent report.

4.4.4 Degree of Formality

A report can be said to be formal or informal.

4.4.5 Other

Some other not quite specific criteria give us: progress reports, Improvements report etc.

4.4.6 Functional Classification

A criterion that is suitable for the purpose of our course is a functional classification. In your study you may be required to prepare as a requirement in your course, reports of this nature. Functional classification gives three types of reports.

(a) Informational

As the term implies, this is a type of report that presents only facts on the subject without giving an analysis of them and no conclusions.

(b) The analytical (or problem solving report)

This presents not only facts but also analyses and recommends. It is the most complete of all the types of reports. It begins with an orientation and description of the problem and presents the information gathered analysis and examines the information. From the analysis and examinations the report derives a solution in a form of a recommendation.

Part of the reason why this classification has been given to you is to show you how wide the subject of reports is. This suggests that various ways are required to study it properly.

4.5 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WRITING REPORTS?

You have certainly seen reports before. Have you asked yourself why at all they are written? Again depending on the nature of the reports, they are written to achieve one or more of the following objectives.

4.5.1 To Record Information

This is done as routine for the purpose of keeping records of the institution or the discipline.

4.5.2 To Solve a Problem

Owing to its mature of factual objectivity, the report more than any other discourse type is mot suitable in providing information that is unbiased and reliable.

4.5.3 To Enable the Institution Function Properly

The success of any institution depends on the amount and type of information that its decision makers are able to obtain. Reports ensure that such information is obtained regularly.

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4.6 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A REPORT

Most of the reports you’re likely going to write are short and informal reports. Such reports will tend to be brief and personal and will deal with issues which are of limited size. Typically the goal of a report is to handle a problem and develop a

reports the conclusion or recommendation is the most significant part that it often overshadows other elements of the report.

4.6.1 Presentation of the Problem

It is a good idea to clearly show this at the beginning of the report. There are a number of ways of doing this. The problem may be presented simply as a subject line or heading on top of the report. The subject line is an announcement of what the report is about.

Example 4.5: Reasons for mass student failures in the English Examination

Another way of presenting the problem is by writing a problem statement. The statement may be written either as an infinitive phrase, a question or a declarative clause.

As an infinitive phrase

Example 4.6

To account for mass student failures in the English Examination.

As a question.

Example 4.7

What are the reasons for mass student failures in the English Examination? Or as a declarative statement

Example 4.8

The ministry of education wants to know the reasons for mass student failures in English.