WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH CULTURE, INSTITUTIONS, AND CEREMONIES 

1. Culture: Culture refers to the ideas, customs, social behaviours, and practices of a particular group of people or society. It encompasses beliefs, art, laws, morals, and traditions that define how individuals within that group interact. – Example words: Tradition, Custom, Heritage, Norm, Ritual

Meanings & Uses:

• Tradition: Beliefs or practices passed down through generations. Example: “It is a tradition in my family to celebrate the New Year with fireworks.”   
• Custom: A customary practice or usual way of doing something. Example: “In some cultures, it is a custom to greet elders by bowing.”
• Heritage: Valuable objects, qualities, or cultural practices from previous generations. Example: “The ancient buildings are part of our national heritage.”
• Norm: A standard or pattern of behaviour typical or expected in a society. Example: “Respect for elders is a norm in many African cultures.”
• Ritual: A set sequence of activities, often with religious or cultural significance. Example: “The marriage ceremony included traditional rituals that symbolise unity.”

2. Institutions: Institutions refer to established organisations, foundations, or practices in a society that influence social, legal, or economic activities. They can be governmental, educational, religious, or social.- Example words: Legislature, Judiciary, School, Hospital, Church – Meanings & Uses:

• Legislature: A governmental body responsible for making laws. Example: “The legislature is debating a new law on environmental protection.” 
• Judiciary: The system of courts that interprets and applies the law. Example: “The judiciary is crucial in ensuring justice in society.”
• School: An institution for educating children or students. Example: “The school is known for its high academic standards.”
• Hospital: A healthcare institution providing medical treatment and care for the sick or injured. Example: “She was admitted to the hospital after the accident.”
• Church: A religious institution where Christians gather for worship. Example: “The church organises community outreach programs every weekend.”

3. Ceremonies: Ceremonies are formal events that are carried out to celebrate or mark important occasions. They often involve rituals, customs, and symbolism. Example words: Wedding, Coronation, Graduation, Funeral, Baptism 

Meanings & Uses:

• Wedding: A ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Example: “The wedding ceremony was held in a beautiful garden.” 
• Coronation: The ceremony of crowning a new monarch. Example: “The coronation of the new king was a grand event.”
• Graduation: A ceremony in which students receive their academic degrees or diplomas. Example: “Her graduation ceremony will be held in the university auditorium.”
• Funeral: A ceremony marking the death of a person, usually with rituals for burial or cremation. Example: “The funeral was a solemn ceremony attended by close family members.”
• Baptism: A religious ceremony signifying spiritual cleansing and admission into the Christian faith. Example: “The baby’s baptism took place at the local church.”

 SENTENCE INTONATION PATTERNS.

Intonation and stress are very important in spoken English. The meaning of an utterance is affected, not only by stress but also by the variations in the pitch of a voice.

When one speaks the voice or pitch changes; becomes high or low depending on the meaning the speaker intends.

The sentence intonation patterns are

Falling Tune: The falling tune is usually used in declarative sentences, commands, exclamations, and wh-questions.

Statements

• Joy works hard in school.
• Emeka has given the book to her.

Commands

• Keep the books on my table
• Stand under the tree.

 Wh – question

• Why are you very late?
• Who gave you the information?

 Exclamations

• What a good result!
• How pretty she is!

  Rising Tune: The rising tune is used in

 Polar Questions (questions that demand only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer)

• Is the wine sweet?
• Will Monday be good for it?
• Did you eat last night?    

 Utterances showing indifference 

•   You can do what you want
•   I think that’s right.               

Listing items.

• One, two, three and four.
• We need some rice, beans, fish, and meat.

 In enumeration, the final item in the list is usually said in a falling tune.  Although the falling and rising intonation patterns are the two basic pitch patterns, the two

 Pitch movements can be combined in long sentences.

• Rise and fall pattern.

            While the boys were working, the girls were playing.

            When the rain comes, I‘ll plant my seed yams.

• Fall and rise pattern

            The students are happy, aren’t they? 

            You can do it, can’t you?

EVALUATION

Exercise 1, Question A, Page 99, Oral English for Schools and Colleges.

REVISION OF NOUNS & NOUN PHRASE.

A noun is defined as the name of a person, place, thing, substance, idea, and animal.

A noun phrase is defined as a word or group of words that can function as the subject, the subject, or the complement in a sentence.

Examples of noun phrases.

1. The big warm dress.
2. The little pretty collage.

Classes of noun phrase 

1. Noun phrase as the subject of the verb.
2. Noun phrase as the object of the verb.
3. Noun phrase as the complement of an object/subject.
4. Noun phrase as object (complement) of a preposition.
5. Noun phrase in apposition to a noun.

Examples of classes of noun phrases. 

Noun phrase as the subject of the verb

1. The dog barked at the mailman.
2. My sister and I went to the park.
3. A new restaurant opened downtown.
4. The sunsets in the west.
5. His favourite hobby is playing guitar. 

Noun phrase as the object of the verb

1. She bought a new car.
2. The boy ate an apple.
3. The hardworking young man bought a beautiful new house.

Noun phrase as the complement of an object

1. I can make him a better person
2. She knew him as an intelligent young man.
3. We can transform the school into a great citadel.

Noun phrase as the complement of a subject

1. Jane is a teacher.
2. My uncle was the chief commissioner.
3. Jay became an education consultant.

Noun phrase as the object (complement) of a preposition

1. We heard the howling of wolves.
2. The children heard the dancing of the princess.
3. The women fought the chanting of the mad fellow.

Noun phrase in apposition to a noun

1. My wife, Nkechi, enjoys musical theatre.
2. My friend, Danjuma, likes bread and butter.
3. My cousin, Diana, is a pharmacist.
4. My nephew, Danzel, is a dentist. 

 REVISE CONTINUOUS WRITING

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: at the end of the lesson, the students should be able to: 

1. list types of essays 
2. state how to approach an essay question
3. list those things that are assessed in SSCE essays 
4. state the importance of paragraphing in essay writing. 

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES: Cardboard illustrations 

LESSON PRESENTATION 

STEP1: Identification of prior idea 

MODE: individual 

TEACHER’S ACTIVITY: the teacher asks the students what type of essay tells a story. 

STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY: the students answer a narrative essay. 

STEP 2: Exploration 

MODE: individual

TEACHER’S ACTIVITY: the teacher asks the students what type of writing is used for an application letter.

STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY: the students answer a formal letter. 

STEP 3: Discussion 

MODE: entire class 

TEACHER’S ACTIVITY: using the instructional resource, the teacher guides the lesson as follows: 

Types of essays are: 

1. Narrative essay 
2. Descriptive essay 
3. Argumentative essay 
4. Expository essay 
5. Letter writing 

How to approach essay writing 

1.  Gather ideas by writing an outline. 
2. Organise the ideas/ outline 
3. Develop the ideas (must be in paragraphs) 
4. Revise the ideas (to correct errors) 
5. Ideas should not be lumped into a single paragraph. Linking words like moreover, furthermore, again, in addition, etc should be used to start a new paragraph. 

Assessing an essay 

1. Content: the ideas presented must be relevant to the central theme. 
2. Organisation: the writing must be judged as whatever it is intended to be: an article, a speech, a letter, an argument, a debate, etc. The qualities to look for are a suitable opening, adequate development, good paragraphing, balance, coherence, and a suitable conclusion. 
3. Expression: the positive qualities to be looked for under Expression include the following: 

1. Clarity and general appropriateness of style. 
2. Variation of sentence structure and type. 
3. Judicious use of figurative language. 
4. Skillful and sophisticated use of punctuation. 

4. Mechanical accuracy: the main categories of error are: 

1. Undeniable errors in grammar 
2. Punctuation errors
3. Spelling errors 

Assessment of length (450 words) 

• 13 words per line – (35 lines) 
• 12 words per line – (38 lines) 
• 11 words per line – (41 lines) 
• 10 words per line – (45 lines) 
• 9 words per line – (50 lines) 
• 8 words per line – (56 lines) 
• 7 words per line -(64 lines) 
• 6 words per line – (75 lines) 
• 5 words per line – (90 lines) 
• 4 words per line – (112 lines) 

Evaluation:

The teacher evaluates the lesson using the following questions. 

1. List types of essays 
2. State how to approach an essay question 
3. List things that are assessed in SSCE essays 
4. State the importance of paragraphing in essay writing. 

ASSIGNMENT: Write the formal letter from the last examination. 

REFERENCE: 

• Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary 17th edition by Daniel       
• Jones, SSCE marking scheme 
• New Concept English book 3 by Q.Adams et al