GUIDELINES FOR PASSING ENGLISH IN WAEC & NECO EXAMINATIONS (Part 1) Special Edition for WAEC & NECO Candidates


GUIDELINES FOR PASSING ENGLISH IN WAEC & NECO EXAMINATIONS (Part 1)

Special Edition for WAEC & NECO Candidates

                With the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) May/June, 2019 Series fast approaching, and that of National Examinations Council (NECO) (in Nigeria) to follow thereafter, some of our readers have asked me to provide guidelines to the candidates on how to prepare for, and excel in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE paper. 
IMPORTANCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATION
As most of us know, ENGLISH LANGUAGE is compulsory for, and must be passed at credit level by all WASSCE/NECO candidates who wish to seek admission into tertiary institutions, irrespective of the programme they desire to pursue; so, it is very important to prepare well for it. 

SCHEME OR STRUCTURE OF THE EXAMINATION
There will be three papers – Papers 1, 2 and 3, all of which must be taken. Papers 1 and 2 will be combined in a composite paper to be taken at one sitting.
PAPER 1:
Paper 1 will consist of eighty (80) multiple-choice questions, all of which should be answered within one (1) hour for 40 marks.
PAPER 2:
          Paper 2 will consist of five essay topics and one passage to test the candidates’ comprehension skills and another passage to test the candidates’ summary skills. Candidates will be expected to write an essay on one of the topics and answer all the questions on the Comprehension and Summary passages. The paper will last for 2 hours and carries 100 marks.
PAPER 3:
Paper 3 will consist of sixty (60) multiple-choice questions on Test of Oral English for candidates in Nigeria and Liberia, and that of Listening Comprehension for candidates in Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone. All the questions will be answered in 45 minutes for 30 marks.
          We are going to discuss how to prepare well for each of the papers mentioned above in this article, and in few others that will follow.  But for now, lets us discuss the techniques of writing good essays (as that area seems to be the most difficult one for candidates).
ESSAY WRITING:
INSTRUCTIONS ON THE QUESTION PAPER
          It is very, very important to follow the instructions given on each section of the question paper.  In most cases, the instruction given for the Essay part is:  YOUR ANSWER SHOULD NOT BE LESS THAN 450 WORDS.
          There are four important components that are considered by examiners for awarding of marks on essay writing.  The components are:  CONTENT, ORGANISATION (ORGANIZATION), EXPRESSION and MECHANICAL ACCURACY.  Let us now discuss them one after the other.
CONTENT
(i) For each essay, “content” carries a maximum of 10 marks.
(ii) “Content” refers to relevance of ideas to the topic and its specific audience and purpose. It also refers to the appropriateness of the language and relevance to the central theme and its development. The adequacy of treatment of the subject matter is important and there must be some originality in your approach.
What You Should Note and Do:     
(a) Do not disobey instructions or distort ideas.  For example, if you are instructed to write a letter to a newspaper editor, let it be a letter with all the necessary features of writer’s address, date, addressee’s address, salutation, heading, body and complimentary close; and not an article. 
(b) Do not hastily choose a topic which you do not know much about, and misfire; instead, carefully choose a topic you are familiar with to enable you marshal out enough points.  
(c)  Endeavour to make your work as original as possible, and avoid reproducing knowledge from another subject. The examiner will discern that and award you fewer marks.
(d) You should ensure the relevance of the topic which you have chosen to write on.  For example, if you are writing an account on accident, it should be on a true case of accident, and not a case of incident.

 ORGANISATION (ORGANIZATION)
For each essay, “organisation” (organization) has a maximum of 10 marks.
But what does “organisation” in this context mean?  “Organisation” in essay-writing refers to proper arrangement of ideas, appropriate use of emphasis, coherence of points, good paragraphing and chronological presentation of events and facts.
What You Should Note and Do:
(a) Note down your points on your question paper for guidance, before you start to write.
(b) Ensure you have a suitable opening or introduction for your write-up.  A poor opening or introduction could make an examiner to classify your work as being uninteresting and result into the earning of fewer marks.
(c)  Explain each of your points in separate paragraphs instead of muddling several points into one paragraph.
(d) Make your paragraphs to link each other coherently with the appropriate use of conjunctions like:  because, therefore, consequently, furthermore, but, also, moreover, finally, etc.
(e)  If you are writing on a historical account or on a historical development, you should arrange your points in a chronological order.  For example, if you are asked to write on military rule in Nigeria, it would be inappropriate to write about the regime of General Ibrahim B. Babaginda (1985 – 1993) before writing about the earlier regime of Major-General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (1966).


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