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UNIT1: SELECTED APPROACHES, METHODS AND TECHNIQUESOF LANGUAGE TEACHINGIntroductionIn this unit we will try and look at the theories and approaches to teaching andlearning. I am sure you are not meeting this topic for the first time. This is arevision of what you did at pre-service training. We are briefly going to remind ourselveson the historical aspects of these approaches and methods.Learning OutcomesHaving successfully completed this unit the teacher should be able to:• Use appropriate approaches, methods and techniques of language teaching.A brief history of language TeachingRefresh your mind by reviewing what language teaching means? (Read ZATEC literacyand language module 1 page 83 to help you.)Do you realise that for centuries Latin was being studied as a foreign language all overthe world? The reason given for its study was that, it was the only language of education,commerce, religion and government in the western world. However in the sixteencentury, French, Italian, and English gained in importance because of the politicalchanges in Europe, and so Latin gradually became displaced as a language of spoken andwritten communication. Do you have any idea what the children who entered "grammarschool" in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in England were taught?Well! They were initially and rigorously introduced to Latin grammar, which was taughtthrough rote learning of grammar rules, study of conjugation and translation of writtensentences and dialogues. An attempt to promote an alternative approach to grammartranslation method completely failed because everyone believed that Latin developedintellectual abilities.Can you imagine what happened when modern languages began to enter the curriculumof European schools in the eighteenth century? The same basic procedures that were used

for teaching Latin were applied. You may ask, what were these procedures? Theirtextbooks consisted of statements of abstract grammar rules, lists of vocabulary, andsentences for translation. In fact speaking a foreign language was not the goal, which iswhy those grammar sentences bore no relationship to the language of realcommunication.2By the nineteenth century, this approach based on the study of Latin had become thestandard way of studying foreign languages in schools. A typical textbook consisted ofchapters or lessons organised around grammar points. Each grammar point was listed,rules on its use were explained, and it was illustrated by sample sentences. This approachto foreign language teaching became known as the Grammar-Translation Method. (Readpage 3 and 4 of Approaches and methods in language teaching to get the principalcharacteristics of the Grammar-Translation Method). In the mid- and late nineteenthcentury opposition to the Grammar –Translation Method developed in several Europeancountries. Communication among Europeans demanded for oral proficiency in foreignlanguages. Controversies emerged about the best way to teach foreign languages andideas were discussed and defended by different linguists. The linguists shared manybeliefs about the principles on which a new approach to teaching foreign languagesshould be based. The natural language learning principles brought about the ‘DirectMethod’. (Read pages 5 to 11 of Approaches and methods in language teaching.)Although the direct method was popular not everyone embraced it enthusiastically. Itoffered innovations at the level of teaching procedures but lacked a thoroughmethodological basis. Because of the short comings of the methods discussed above thelinguists and language specialists sought to improve the quality of language teaching inthe late nineteenth century, and did this by referring to general principles and theories

concerning how languages are learned, how knowledge of language is represented andorganised in memory, or how language itself is structured.Approaches, Methods and TechniquesActivity 1.1As a teacher you have already studied some of the approaches and methods used inlanguage teaching.• Write a list of some of these approaches and methods that are used in languageteaching.• For each of these approaches try to give a brief description and some of the featuresthat distinguish it from the others.• Which one do you often use and why?• Do your learners benefit a lot because of using that method? Is there any evidence toshow that truly your learners benefit?• If your manager or supervisor walked into your classroom unexpectedly to monitoryou, would you proceed comfortably in your work using the chosen approach ormethod?3Your answer to activity 1.1 may have included the following approaches/methods,descriptions and features.Approaches and methods Brief description FeaturesGrammar translation Translation of grammarrules from the languagefamiliar to the learners tothe target language or viceversa.• Learning languagethrough detailedanalysis of grammarrules• Reading and writingare the major focus• Vocabulary selection isbased on reading texts• Words are taughtthrough dictionarystudy, memorisationand bilingual word lists• Translation is a central

technique.Direct MethodTeaching directly in thetarget language throughthe use of demonstrationsand visual aids.• Lessons begin with abrief dialogue• No translation is used.• Exercises are given in atarget language• Grammar is taughtinductively with ruleexplanation at the end.Audio-lingual It stems from the fact thatlanguage learning is likeany other learning. Itemphasizes vocabularyacquisition throughexposure to its use insituations.• It involves habitformulation throughrepetition andmemorization in orderto avoid errors at allcosts• It gives learnersnumerous opportunitiesto speak• Provides opportunityfor quick reinforcement• Attends to structureand form more thanmeaning• Native-speaker-likepronunciation is sought4• Linguistic competenceis the desired goal• The teacher is expectedto specify the languagethat students are to use.Cognitive Code An approach to languageteaching which stressesthe learners mastery of the

rules of the targetlanguage• It refers to mentalprocesses• It emphasizes linguisticcompetence andperformance• Speaker learnslanguage throughmastery of its rules.Situational Method It is a method based onstructural syllabus inwhich language is taughtby association withcharacteristics ofsurrounding pictures,gestures etc.• It uses real lifesituations to providemeaning• Rule explanation isoften given either at thebeginning or end• It involves visual andlinguistic situation.Communication LanguageteachingIt means using procedureswhere learners work inpairs or groups employinglanguage resources inproblem solving tasks,Richards and Rodgers(1995:66).• Meaning is paramount.• Contextualisation is abasic premise• Comprehensivepronunciation is sought• Effectivecommunication issought• Teachers help learnersin any way thatmotivates them to workwith the language

• Intrinsic motivationwill spring from aninterest in what is beingcommunicated by thelanguage.Table 1.15In case you have forgotten the differences among an Approach, a Method and aTechnique, American applied linguist EdwardAnthony explains as follows:-The organisational key is that the techniques carry out a method that is consistent with anapproach.An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature oflanguage teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic (clear, does not need tobe proved). It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught…A method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of languagematerial, no part or which contradicts, and all of which is based upon, the selectedapproach. An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural.Within one approach, there can be many methods.A technique is implementational – that which actually takes place in aclassroom. It is a particular trick, stratagem, or contrivance used to accomplish animmediate objective. Techniques must be consistent with a method, and thereforein harmony with an approach as well. (Anthony 1963: 63-7)According to Anthony’s model, approach is the level at which assumptions and beliefsabout language and language learning are specified; method is the level at which theoryis put into practice and at which choices are made about the particular skills to betaught, the content to be taught, and the order in which the content will be presented,technique is the level at which classroom procedures are described.Various approaches shall have distinctive features as shown in table 1.1 above.You could be asking yourself now: “What is the best approach or methodology?”There is surely no one best method. But if we are going to be good teachers thenwe need to blend or integrate two or more methods in order to come up with a

workable procedure in the classroom. The use of two or more methods or approaches iswhat is referred to as Eclecticism. (For more information on the methods andapproaches refer to’ ‘Approaches and methods in language teaching by Jack C.Richards.)Activity 1.2The following sentences have been written randomly, each belonging to "Approaches;Methods' and 'Techniques". Arrange them correctly so that they fall under the appropriatecategory.61. These carry out a method2. A set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching andlearning3. It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught4. It is axiomatic (can easily be seen, does not need to be proved.)5. An overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material6. It is procedural7. That which is implementational8. Takes place in the classroom.9. A particular trick, stratagem, or contrivance used to accomplish an immediateobjective10. That which must be consistent with a method and in harmony with an approach.From the exercise you can see that the organisational key is that techniques carry out amethod that is consistent with an approach. Within one approach, there can be manymethods. A technique is implementational. It must be consistent with an approach.Summary• There are different approaches, methods and techniques in language teaching.• To be effective in teaching one needs to be eclectic i.e. integrate two or moremethods.• An approach describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught.• A method is an overall plan. It is procedural.• A technique is implementational- that which takes place in the classroom.• Grammar-Translation. A method of teaching grammar rules which learner use toillustrate.

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UNIT 2: LISTENING AND SPEAKINGIntroduction.What is listening? It is the activity of paying attention to and trying to getmeaning from something we hear. To listen successfully to spoken language, we need tobe able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particularways on particular occasions and not simply to understand the words themselves.Listening is a skill that many find difficult even in the mother tongue. The amount ofconcentration one can bring to a listening activity depends on one’s attention span, andthe stimulus given. Listening is not a passive skill. We cannot discuss listening inisolation from the other language skill of speaking for the two make up what is termed asoral communication. Look at Figure 2.1 illustrating the four language skills and howthey are related.Figure 2.1:(Byrne 1992: 8)What do you think receptive implies? You need to understand that receptive in this casedoes not imply passive. But that both in listening and reading, language users areactively involved in the process of interpreting and negotiating meaning. Both listenerand speaker have a function to perform. In simple terms, the speaker has to encode,while the listener has to decode (or interpret a message).Learning outcomesHaving successfully completed this unit the teacher should be able to:• Teach purposes of listening• Teach good listening habits• Teach the tips for listening and speaking• Teach the purpose of speaking8Activity 2.1Answer all of the following questions.• What is your understanding of successful listening?• Do you always take in everything when you are listening?• When a friend is speaking to you, what helps you to comprehend their message?Write your answers somewhere because you will need to refer to them later.

Effective Listening:What do you think is effective listening? Donn Byrne (Teaching Oral English) explainsthat effective listening involves a number of skills that are deployed simultaneously andthese are:• The spoken signals which have to be identified from the midst of the surroundingsounds.• The continuous stream of speech that has to be segmented into units, which have tobe recognised as known words.• The syntax of the utterances that has to be grasped and the speaker’s intendedmeaning which has to be understood.• The application of the linguistic knowledge to formulating a correct and appropriateresponse to what has been said.We know that the active nature of listening means that the listener must be motivated bya communicative purpose.ReflectReflect upon what happens when you are listening to the:• News bulletin• Songs• Poems or the doctor’s instructions.• Do you maintain the same degree of attention in the above three instances oflistening?• Give reasons for your answer.People have various reasons for listening. You too, have your own reasons. Sometimeswe listen for pleasure, sometimes we listen for total comprehension and yet, other timesfor the retention of main ideas or points. The different purposes help us maintain thedegree of attention.9Activity 2.2Complete the table below to illustrate the purpose of listening.Situation PurposesFootball commentariesSpeech by your local counsellorOral comprehension passageSermon in the church

Giving directionsFootball matchNarration of family historyWatching a videoMany people find themselves in a variety of situations where they need to listen fordifferent purposes. The following are some of the main reasons for listening:• Improving the listening attitude where you listen for pleasure e.g. listening to musicplaying on radio, stories plays etc.• Developing aspects of language where listeners include listening to improve thepronunciation of sounds, stress and rhythm and intonation in language as well asbecoming familiar with new words and structural patterns.• Reinforcing conceptual development where some spoken texts, such as stories can actas useful revision for reinforcing concepts.Providing support for literacy where listeners get encouraged to make connectionsbetween spoken and written language by picking out written words or statements whichare part of a spoken message. (Reading File: Volume 4: 1994)10Now look at what Byrne (1992:15) says on purpose and nature of listeningcomprehension programme:• To give the learners experience of listening to a wide variety of samples of spokenlanguage. The purpose therefore is exposure (as in the mother tongue) to:- different varieties of language (standard/regional, formal/informal) etc.- different text types (conversational, narrative, informative etc.). The motivation forthe learner should be pleasure, interest, and a growing confidence at being able tounderstand the spoken language without reference to the written form.• To train the learners to listen flexibly, e.g. for specific information, for the mainideas or to react to instructions (i.e. by doing something).• To provide, through listening, a stimulus for other activities e.g. discussion, readingand writing.• To give the learners opportunities to interact while listening, e.g. in a classroom thismust be done largely through discussion – type activities and games, where listening

forms a natural part of the activity.Steps to active listeningThe steps to be followed in order to enhance active listening are outlined below:• Be prepared to listen. This is done by turning out all distractions and makeyourself comfortable. As a listener, look at the speaker to pick up sable messageswhich could be conveyed by body language.• Decide the purpose of listening for each occasion. These can be attained through:(i) Information gathering(ii) Mentally stimulated or challenged(iii) Help in forming opinion(iv) Broaden your understanding(v) Develop closeness.• Plan your fulfilment for the purpose of listening. This can be attained through:(i) Listening to gather information(ii) Forming an opinion(iii) Listening to develop closeness to a friend.Authentic listening situation:So far we have been discussing listening theoretically. I suggest that we now try to lookat listening in more practical terms by looking at situations that we find our selves inregularly.1. Listening to announcements: Imagine you are at a bus station, airport or railwaystation waiting for a friend. What do you hear? A baby crying; noise of a trainpulling out; shuffling of feet as people rush to go and board? What are you listeningfor? In a situation like this you are probably listening for the voice of your friend.11Do you realise that you are almost exclusively interested in extracting the relevantinformation from that of your friend’s voice while more or less ignoring the rest ofthe utterances.2. Listening to the radio: Do you sometimes find it difficult to listen to the radio?Have you ever thought why? In this situation as a listener you have very limitedknowledge of what is going to be said or who is going to say it. Therefore thelanguage of entertainment programmes on radio does certainly require a high level of

listening skill.3. Watching live performance: Have you ever watched a play at your school orperhaps in a theatre? What was your objective of watching that play?4. Listening on the telephone: You have probably done this simply to take a messageor have a conversation. Again like listening to the radio you are unable to see thespeaker and in addition have had problems in distinguishing the spoken soundsbecause of interference and distortion.5. Listening to instruction: Do you remember your sports lessons at school where youlistened to instructions from your sports teacher? You probably found that yourimmediate response to the task was often made easier by the visual support of theteacher.6. Listening to public speaking: What makes you listen to a speech, for example?When people attend rallies they are often as interested in the views and attitudes ofthe speaker as they are in the actual topic being spoken about.Can you now suggest some more authentic listening situations in addition to the abovelist?7……………………………………………………………………………………………8…………………………………………………………………………………………….9…………………………………………………………………………………………….10…………………………………………………………………………………………...Activity 2.3You and I have discussed some of the authentic listening situations. I believe you andyour pupils at one time have found yourselves in such situations. Can you try and designtasks that you can engage your pupils in to help them practise and develop their listeningskills, especially in the classroom. Share what you have written with your friends in the12Teachers’ Group. Try out one task with your friends before you can do it with yourpupils.Authentic listening tasksHave you ever exposed your pupils to listening to a variety of authentic texts so that they

practise and develop their listening skills? As teachers it is important that we make ourpupils hear samples of un-simplified language from the earliest stages. The objective ofthis is not to discourage them but to demonstrate to them that they can interpret quite alot of the situational features even if they do not understand what is being said. Thematerial for the exposure as Byrne (1992: 16) puts it could include the following:1." Stories, anecdotes, jokes, talks, commentaries.How do we make these interesting and mind capturing? We may have these materialsrecorded or improvised by us. If we are giving a story or a talk we should try to be asspontaneous as possible. It may be better to use outline notes rather than read a script.2." Conversation, discussions, plays.In this case it is important to give pupils background e.g. about the speakers3. Songs (modern, western)Do you think this would provide a good form of listening? Well, it would because thepupils are generally very much concerned to make out the words. I am sure this could becombined with some task especially that of ‘ear-training’, where learners could be askedto distinguish between key sounds, stress and intonation patterns.4." Videos and films.Can you imagine what a great advantage it would be in using wherever possible recordedmaterial, where the pupils can see what is happening as well as listening.Note that these items should be followed by related tasks like asking pupils to writedown the words of a song for example which could begin as an individual task and thenlead on to class or group discussion or writing. However the main aim is to providepleasurable listening as an end in itself.Strategies for teaching listening skills1." Stories:Do you remember the times you listened to stories from your mother, father, and grandparents or indeed from brothers and sisters? Did you have an idea why those storieswere being told to you? Really, stories are a rich source of listening practice. In order to

develop listening skills, there are a number of different strategies that you can use in thecontext of listening to a story. For instance:13Getting the general picture:Think for a minute; remember an occasion when you were at school or at college. Drawyour mind to that lesson when your teacher/lecturer told a story. Why do you thinkhe/she made you listen to that story? Could it have been that he/she encouraged you tolisten to the story simply for pleasure? I believe your teacher’s intention was not for youto remember details but to get the general idea of what the story was about.Predicting:Your teacher/lecturer should have encouraged you to predict events in a story and then tocheck whether what you heard matched your expectations.2. Physical response:Instructions:This can either be done from instructions recorded on tape or instructions from you theteacher or perhaps more interestingly, between the learners themselves in the classroom.Some of the well-known activities involving instructions are:Putting pictures in order.This is a very good while-listening activity. Present your learners with a number ofpictures. (See Figure 2.2 below). When re-arranged, the pictures form a logical story.The learners’ task is to listen to you narrating the story as shown in the transcript below,and then re-arrange the pictures in a logical order by merely putting letters A, B, C etc.against the Arabic numerals 1,2,3 etc.14Figure 2.2Transcript.Bwalya was out for a walk one day when she came to a gate in a wooden fence. ‘Iwonder,’ she said to herself, ‘where this leads to?’ She went through it and immediatelycame face to face with a very big fierce looking dog. It made her nervous. ‘Does yourdog bite?’ She asked the boy who was standing beside the dog. ‘No. it doesn’t, he

replied. Bwalya leaned forward to pat the dog on the head. ‘Nice doggie,’ she said. Butthe dog immediately jumped at her and, she ran for safety towards a tree, it ran after her,growling, and tore a piece of cloth from her coat. ‘I thought you said your dog didn’tbite,’ she said to the boy as she hung from a branch of the tree. ‘That is right,’ hereplied. ‘It doesn’t. But this isn’t my dog.’Picture dictation:Unlike the traditional dictation in which you ask learners to remember large chunks oflanguage, picture dictation is an active process in which you ask learners to draw apicture that you the teacher (or another learner) talks about without showing them. It canbe any picture, but the description has to be entirely visual and simple, so that even thoselearners that are not gifted in drawing can draw intelligibly. For example, you may saysomething like this:‘I want you to listen to what I am going to say to you about a certain village in LuapulaProvince. While you are listening, draw your impression about this village.’ So here wego.15‘There is a village in Luapula near lake Mweru. The huts are built close together. Theroofs are made of grass. There are palm trees all round this village. Just outside thisvillage there is a cemetery.’It is obvious that there will be a variety of versions for the above description dependingon how much an individual understood from the dictation.For more activities read Tutors’ Guide module 3 and 4 of literacy and language, TeachingOral English by Donn Byrne, Young Learners by Sara Phillips, Teacher TrainingReading File Chipata and Mansa. (Icon 8)SummaryListening is a skill that we acquire first in childhood. We have also learnt that there arevarious reasons why people listen and that some of these reasons are:• Pleasure• Total comprehension

• Retention of main ideas or points and that to be good listeners people need to:• Choose what to listen to• Attend from the beginning• Maintain the degree of attention relevant to the purpose of listening• Look at the speaker in order to interpret verbal and non-verbal cues accurately.16

SpeakingIntroduction:Unlike listening, talking is something most people need little encouragement todo. But promoting free speaking in our pupils in our classrooms and especiallyin the second language can be difficult. What then should we do? As teachers we needto provide pupils with an interesting stimulus that will give them a natural purpose forspeaking. Can you remember what we said about oral communication in unit 2? We saidthat oral communication is a two way process, between the speaker and the listener. Wealso saw how communication could not take place unless the two skills were developed.Learning outcomesHaving successfully completed this unit the teacher should be able to: -• Teach purposes of speaking• Teach good speaking habitsReflect• Reflect on a situation when you were spoken to, and you failed to respond.• Reflect on a situation when you wanted to say something or give instructions and thelisteners could not respond.In both instances say why you think it was difficult to respond and suggest what shouldhave been done.Have you ever thought of why we speak? We speak in order to:• Express personal feelings From page 16-17• Convey messages• Get things done e.g.PersuadingCommanding,Instructing,Apologising andTeaching.

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Effective speakingWhat do we mean when we say, “Jane is a good speaker”? As you may be aware, a goodspeaker uses: -• Appropriate words• Appropriate gestures• Good pronunciation, stress and rhythm and pauses in order to get a feedback or checkthe effect of what they are saying. Good speakers avoid the use of unnecessaryfillers. They vary the pitch of their voices according to the situation.What is the purpose for teaching speaking?One of the main goals in teaching the productive skill of speaking is oral fluency. Wecan define this as the ability to express oneself intelligibly, reasonably accurately andwithout too much hesitation (otherwise communication may break down because thelistener loses interest or gets impatient). To attain this goal, we need to bring the learnersfrom the stage where they are mainly imitating a model of some kind, or responding tocues, to the point where they can use the language freely to express their own ideas.Byrne (1992:9)We know that oral communication is a two-way process between speaker and listener.Study the Figure 2.3 (Byrne: 1992:10) below and see what happens in a speech situationand what is involved in oral ability.Figure 2.3What do you learn from the diagram? You have noticed that one person may do all thespeaking e.g. in a lecture. In this situation the speaker initiates and simply keeps up theflow of speech. This can also happen sometimes when a person is giving instructions ordirections. However in a conversation although one person initiates, the speaker and thelistener are constantly changing roles, and consequently speaking involves responding towhat has been heard. We can, therefore, say speaking is an integral part of listening.How then do we ensure that the skills are integrated especially in our classroom? Do we

integrate through situations that permit and encourage authentic communication? (e.g.18especially through talk and discussion in small groups) or do we teach learners how tokeep the channel of communication open in such situations? (e.g. by asking for repetitionand clarification ; by interrupting; by signalling agreement or disagreement etc.). Thinkabout it! (Byrne: 1992:11)Communicative activities:Take a minute or two to think about communicative activities. You often usecommunicative activities in your class, in your Teachers’ Groups. and you did some atcollege. What then do we mean by communicative activities? We may say that languageteaching practice places considerable emphasis on introducing communicative tasks oractivities in the classroom in order to promote language use. We need to think of acommunicative activity as a piece of work that involves learners in using language inorder to get something done. We need to call upon learners to: -• Gather information in English or Zambian language• Exchange information• Work together in order to produce information in English or Zambian language.Activity 2.4Study the following points and use them to design task-based activities.• Let the activity be exciting, interesting and motivating for the learners.• Let it provide a suitable challenge for the age group. It should stretch them a littlewithout being too difficult.• Learners should focus on getting the task done rather than practising a language item.• Learners need to use both receptive and productive skills to complete the activity.• The activity should be within the conceptual ability of the learners. (Promat:Language Methodology: Unit 1: 48)SummaryWe have learnt about:• Purposes of speaking• Effective speaking• Purpose of teaching speakingWe have also learnt that: -

Oral communication is a two-way process• In real life situations we integrate the skills of listening and speaking.19

UNIT 3: TEACHING / LEARNING RESOURCES AND THE USE OFAUTHENTIC MATERIALS.3.1. TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES.IntroductionIn this unit we are going to discuss teaching and learning materials you have usedin the classroom. It is important to know the difference between teaching andlearning resources.Learning OutcomesAt the end of the unit teachers should be able to:• distinguish between teaching and learning resources and• use the learning resources appropriately.Teaching resources are materials used by the teacher in order to enhance theteaching process. The learning resources usually refer to textbooks that aresources of information for the learner. In most of the cases, it is difficult to draw adistinction between teaching and learning resources because they complement each other.Both of them create an environment for teaching and learning.A learning resource is an object that may serve as a medium of teaching on the part of ateacher, and learning on the part of a pupil. Experience has shown that the use of learningaids can greatly increase and reinforce learning.Research evidence has shown that we learn and retain:10% of what we hear15% of what we see20% of what we both see and hear40% of what we discuss with others80% of what we experience directly or practice90% of what we attempt to teach othersFigure 3.120You may, as a teacher, have experienced that teaching can become more effective ifappropriate resources; human and physical are available. Language teachers should beresourceful and not only depend on already made or written teaching/learning materials.

Being resourceful and improvising materials means that a language teacher shouldexploit the surrounding environment and make use of materials that can enable learnersto understand the lesson.What kind of learning resources do you use in your school? Do you know that it isimportant to use appropriate and suitable learning resources? Below are importantconsiderations for the use of learning resources:- How much information the T/L aid conveys.- The age level of pupils- The number of pupils- The characteristics of the learning aid itself.As a teacher you should use learning aids as a means of extending your ability tocommunicate and make instructions more effectively. You should create learningresources that will make your classroom interesting and challenging. Becausecommercially made learning resources are usually difficult to find, they should beimprovised by using locally available materials.Some of the locally available materials that a teacher can use to assist learners to learneffectively and efficiently are: textbooks, teacher’s guides, work books, models,collection of plants, insects, artefacts, magazines and newspapers.It is important to remember the points below as we make teaching and learning aids:• Learning aids are an additional source of information and not a complete methodof teaching.• Learning aids should be relevant to the subject of the lesson.• Real objects or specimens are the best learning aids• Models are better than charts, pictures and maps. Let pupils handle models• Too many learning aids can distract learner attention from the main subject of thelesson• You must encourage pupils to collect and make learning aids• Use locally available materials for aids as much as possible• Aids should not be left in the classroom for too long.Activity 3.1Make a list of the kind of materials you would use in the classroom to help your pupils

develop their listening skills. For each material write the instructions you would give andthe activities the pupils would be involved in. Refer to unit 2 of this module on Listeningand Speaking for more information.21How often do you allow your learners in your class to improvise? Improvisationis a way of encouraging general confidence and fluency in language use by allowing thelearners to explore and exploit their communicative repertoire in any ways they wish. Italso encourages them to express their own imagination and individuality through thelanguage. This in turn helps them to relate the new language to their own personality.Her is an example of how you can allow improvisation in a language lesson. The startingpoint to make an improvisation may be to come up with a simple everyday situation intowhich the learners are asked to project themselves. For example, they should be asked toimprovise (in pairs) a scene of a meeting between old friends who have not seen eachother for several years. Other examples are to role-play or dramatise a scene.Activity 3.2:Why do you use teaching/learning resources in a lesson? Explain.Compare your answer with Macharia & Wario (1989:67) reasons for using teaching andlearning resources in a lesson:• stimulate pupils’ interest• capture pupils’ attention• evoke responses from the pupils• clarify abstract concepts by giving them concrete dimensions• provide variety in learning• encourage discussion in a language lesson• improve the classroom environment by providing excellent materials for display.ReflectLook around your classroom and answer the following questions:1. What teaching/learning materials do you use for teaching reading?2. How many of these materials have you improvised?3. Do you use improvised situations in order to teach reading? Give an example.Activity 3.3:

What teaching/learning materials would you use to teach writing in Lower and MiddleBasic grades?22

Summary• Teaching / learning materials are texts and aids used by the teacher andlearners in order to help the learner grasp the content.• These are prescribed or created by the teacher.3.2. USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALSIntroductionIn the previous section, we discussed the importance of improvising T/Lmaterials. The materials you improvise are often those you use in real life situations.These materials are real or genuine. They are therefore called authentic materials.Authentic materials are any materials that are not originally produced for use in theclassroom, but that could be used as a focus for all or part of a lesson.Examples of these might include: photographs, newspapers, advertisements, crosswordpuzzles, brochures, pamphlets, games, jokes, diaries, real objects, films, video, receiptsand many more.Learning Outcomes• To encourage teachers to be creative and improvise or produce their own materials.Activity 3.4:In your school discuss the various authentic materials that could be used withGrades 1 – 7. Then complete the table below:GradeSource of AuthenticMaterialsType of ActivityHow it could be used123234567Table 3.2.Modern thinking in language teaching stresses the importance of authentic

materials, because they are samples of language in use – they arecommunicative. As a teacher you should ensure that language is used in real life toperform certain tasks in the classroom because language has functions.You may have observed that authentic texts such as newspapers are created tocommunicate something, while many typical classroom texts are teacher generated inorder to focus on particular teaching point, for example, the past simple tense. Theseteacher-generated texts will be quite unnatural in that the frequency of instances of theteaching point will be far greater than would be found in the real world of authentic texts.While teacher-generated texts can be useful, it is more useful if something like the pastsimple tense can be taught in the context in which it is found in the real world, say in thenewspaper report.Activity 3.5:Make a survey in your school and explain how different authentic materials are stored.Reflect1. Do you use authentic materials in your class?2. Have you thought of categorising them in terms of topic and theme? Giveexamples.Activity 3.6Make any teaching material that you would use for authentic teaching. Explain how youwould use it.24

Summary• Authentic materials are used in language learning because they are:appropriate, unique, true, holistic, everywhere, natural, textual, interesting andcommunicative = AUTHENTIC.• Authentic materials ensure that language is used in real life situations.25

UNIT 4: GRAMMARIntroductionYou are now going to look at one of the most interesting aspects of language study. Youwill spend time examining major parts of the grammar of English and Zambian

Languages. As you read on you will discover that this unit is dealing with the structureof words, the rules of arranging words into sentences in both English and ZambianLanguages and word classes. We can assure you that the knowledge of major aspects ofEnglish and Zambian Languages grammar, which you will gain from reading this unit,will give you enough confidence to be an effective teacher of both languages.Learning OutcomesAt the end of your reading we expect you to:• Demonstrate ability to understand the structure of both English and ZambianLanguages.• Use your knowledge of the way English and Zambian Languages work todetermine which aspects of language structure need emphasing in yourlessons.• Determine which aspects of language structure cause less learning difficultiesfor pupils.• Do a contrastive analysis of grammatical elements and Zambian Languages inorder to identify similarities and differences between the former and the latter.• Use the knowledge of contrastive analysis to both predict Zambian pupilslearning difficulties in English and find remedies before you present yourlessons.The structure of wordsWe assume that before you began reading this sentence you had read the title of this unit.Look at it again. What ideas do you form in your mind when you read this title ‘TheStructure of Words’? Pause for a moment and write a sentence explaining the meaningof this title.Did it occur to you, while you were thinking about the meaning of the title of this unit,that you were actually getting ready to study parts of words?26Activity 4.1.Look at the following words and divide them into their constituent parts.English Zambian Languagesplayful basankwa (Tonga)mucikolo (Tonga)tulamuyanda (Tonga)

unkindness adzabweranso (Nyanja)anamangidwa (Nyanja)helpless meeno (Kaonde)lilepe (Lozi)unfaithfulness kulobala (Lozi)jumping tatulaabamona (Bemba)ducks balapeelana (Bemba)If you have problems in dividing the words given above into parts, ask for assistancefrom fellow teachers or, in the case of Zambian languages, people who know thelanguages we have drawn examples from.The exercise you have done above is a test for you to judge whether or not you know thestructure of words in English or, indeed, Zambian languages. What was your division ofwords into parts like? Check if you divided the words properly.The word playful has two parts, the stem play and the suffix - ful which marks this wordas a member of a particular class of words called adjectives. Note, however, that not alladjectives end in -ful. Unkindness has three parts, un- a prefix which carries a negativemeaning, - kind is the stem, - ness is a suffix which- expresses a state or quality and/oroften marks an item as a noun (Quirk, et al, 1985:69; Crystal, 1987:90). There are twoparts in helpless, the stem help and the suffix - less which marks an item as an adjective.Unfaithfulness has even more parts, un - which carries a negative meaning, - faith - as astem, - ful - the adjective suffix and - ness which marks the item as a noun (Langacker,1967:74 - 75). In jumping, jump is the stem while the - ing suffix helps to convey asense of duration (Crystal, 1987:90). The word ducks consists of duck and the suffix - swhich expresses plural (Ibid).We hope you found the above analysis fascinating. We also hope you noticed that thestructure of each word indicated what class or part of speech it belonged to. Quirk, et al(1985:69) summarizes this phenomenon thus:Such indicators enable a speaker of English to recognizeimplicitly the word class of an item, even if he has not metthat item before, purely on the basis of its form.

27Were you able to recognize the word class of each linguistic item you came across inEnglish before you read this unit? Let’s now turn to the Zambian languages words youwere asked to divide into parts. Was it easier for you to divide Zambian languages wordsinto parts than the English ones? Here are the words in the five of the local officiallanguages.TongaThe word basankwa, young men or boys, in Tonga belongs to class two nouns. It hastwo parts, ba - is a prefix which expresses plural while - sankwa is the stem whichcarries the meaning youngman or boy. The singular is musankwa (class 1), young manor boy, from mu - - sankwa. Mucikolo, inside the school, has three parts, the extraprefix of the locative class (i.e. class 18) mu - carries the meaning ‘inside’; - ci - is a class7 prefix which expresses singular and - kolo, as a stem, carries the meaning school.Tulamuyanda, we want him or her, is a verb which consists of five parts: tu - carries themeaning ‘we’; - la - is part of the tense marker (ie. the present simple) - mu - is the objectpersonal pronoun ‘him’ or ‘her’; - yand - is the stem of the verb ‘want’ and - a, as asuffix, is tense marker two.NyanjaAdzabweranso, he/she will come again, is a verb with five parts: the prefix a - representsthe subject pronoun ‘He’ or ‘She’; - dza - is a tense marker which carries the meaning‘future’ or ‘will’; - bwer -, carries the meaning of the verb ‘come’; - a - is a second tensemarker and -nso expresses the meaning ‘again’. In anamangidwa, they/she/he wasarrested, there are equally five parts: the prefix a - expresses the subject pronoun ‘he’,‘she’ or ‘they’; - na - helps to convey the notion ‘in the past’; - mang - is the stem for theverb ‘arrest’; - idw- is the suffix for the passive extension ‘be arrested’ and - a is part ofthe tense marker.

Kaonde.If you had problems in dividing these words when you looked at them for the first time, itmust be much easier now for you to do so. To identify the parts in the word ‘meeno’,‘teeth’, you need to know that in this language, ‘tooth’ is called jiino from ji - whichexpresses singular and -ino, the stem which carries the meaning ‘tooth’. Therefore, in‘meeno’, ‘teeth’, there are two parts: ma -, the class 6 noun prefix which expresses pluralin most Zambian languages, and -ino which carries the meaning ‘tooth’. You may askwhat happens to the vowels ‘a’ and ‘i’ in the prefix and the stem, respectively, in orderfor us to have the ‘ee’ we see in ‘meeno’, ‘teeth’. Well, this is a result of vowelcoalescence or fusion of vowels within a word. In most Zambian languages vowel ‘a’fuses with ‘i’ to form a long vowel ‘ee’. Can you think of other examples? Please writethem down.LoziIn this language the noun lilepe means ‘axes’. It has two parts: the prefix li - whichcarries the meaning plural and the stem - lepe which conveys the meaning ‘axe’.28Kulobala, to sleep, is an infinitive verb with three parts: ku - expresses ‘to’; - lobal -carries the meaning ‘sleep’ and the suffix - a denotes the present simple tense.BembaThe word tatulaabamona, we have not yet seen them, has six parts: ta-, -tu-, - laa -,-ba-, - mon - and - a. The prefix ta - carries a negative meaning; - tu - stands for thesubject pronoun ‘we’; - laa - conveys a sense of duration or the notion ‘have ... yet’; - ba- represents the object pronoun ‘them’; - mon - carries the meaning ‘see’ and the suffix -a is part of the tense marker - laa -. In balapeelana, they give each other, there are fiveparts: the verb prefix ba - stands for ‘they’; - la - is part of the tense marker (ie. present

simple tense); - peel - is the verb stem which carries the meaning ‘give’; - a - is tensemarker two and - na carries the reciprocal extension meaning ‘each other’.ReflectReflect upon what we have said so far in this unit and answer the followingquestions.1. What have we been talking about so far in this unit?2. From the examples given in both English and Zambian languages, give similarities and/or differences between the forms ofwords.

3. Do you think the knowledge obtained from this unit will be more relevant to thepupils than the teacher? Give reasons for your answer.4. What term is used to describe the study of the structure of words?5. Give examples of words in English and a particular Zambian language you speakwhich do not have an internal grammatical structure we have identified in theexamples given so far.If you have read books that talk about the structure of words, you probably know that thisstudy deals with the minimum meaningful grammatical units of a language and how theyare combined to make words. It is called morphology. Dixon (1991:4) says morphologydeals with the structure of words. We hope you have now understood that in this unit weare learning about morphology or the internal grammatical structure of words.We are very sure that if we asked you to divide the word unfriendliness into parts, youwould know that it consists of four parts: un-friend-li-ness and that each of these partshas a meaning. The parts of a word are the elements we refer to as minimum meaningfulgrammatical units. Do you know what these parts are called? They are known asmorphemes.Do you know that morphology is one of the components of the aspect of the scientificstudy of language that is usually called Grammar? Read what Crystal (1987:90) says:Morphology: This branch of grammar studies the structure of words.29Activity 4.2Answer the following questions1. What is morphology?

2. With the help of examples from both English and Zambian languages explainwhat a morpheme is.3. In your Teacher Group discuss what you think grammar is and give examples.

4. Give examples of nouns and verbs that have between two and six parts in theZambian language you know very well and explain the meaning of each part.5. Prepare a forty minute lesson plan in which you teach pupils nouns that beginwith the prefix un - and end in the suffix - ness.Let’s go back to the term morpheme. Linguists sometimes distinguish betweenfree and bound morphemes. Look at the following words in English and identifyfree and bound morphemes.boy, quickly, unable, sadness, dogs, sad, rapidlyFree morphemes are those that can stand alone as independent words (e.g. tie, sad;bwera, ‘come’ in Nyanja and ine, ‘me’ in Bemba). All the others that cannot stand aloneas independent words are said to be bound morphemes as is the case with the pluralmorpheme s in dogs, the -ness of sadness, the -ly of rapidly (Langacker, 1967:75 - 77),and the prefix a - as well as infix or tense marker - dza - ‘will’ in adzabwera, He/shewill come, in Nyanja. In the Bemba word nkaya, I will go, the personal pronoun n - ‘I’and the tense marker - ka -, ‘will’ are bound morphemes while - ya, ‘go’ is a freemorpheme.Are you aware that morphology is linked to the concepts of derivation and inflection?What do these terms mean? Dixon (1991:4) provides the answer to this question:If a morpheme is added to a word and yields a word of adifferent kind, this is called a derivation, e.g. the formationof adjective beautiful from the noun beauty, noun decisionfrom verb decide ...If a morpheme just adds some extra element of meaning to aword, which is required by the grammar of the language,then it is called an inflection, e.g. the verb kill inflects forpast tense, becoming killed, and the noun horse inflects forplural number, becoming horses.Does the above explanation help you to understand the difference between derivation and

inflection? Can you give examples of derivation and inflection in your local language?30Activity 4.3Look at each of the following examples and state whether it is a case of inflection orderivation:• manga, arrest, - mangidwa, be arrested.• saka, want, - sakilwa, be wanted• bomba, work, - umubomfi, a worker• butuka, run, - butukisha, run hard (ie.faster).• konka, follow, - umukonshi, a follower or disciple• lata, love, - mulatiwa, one who is loved• yanda, want, - yandwa, be wanted• tuma, send, - intumi, a messenger.Activity 4.4Go over the work starting immediately below the questions in Activity 4.2 and thenanswer the following questions:1. Explain and illustrate the difference between:(a) free and bound morphemes(b) inflection and derivation.2. Prepare a lesson plan in which you teach pupils how to form nouns from verbs ina particular Zambian language that is offered to learners at your school.3. In your Teacher Group compile a list of derivatives and another one of inflectedwords in both English and at least two Zambian languages.4. After discussing with fellow teachers, write a short paper stating the similaritiesand differences between inflection in English and Zambian languages.5. Conduct an action research aimed at establishing the extent to which pupils inyour class use derivations and inflections in their written and spoken discourse inboth English and Zambian languages.Getting it rightAs a teacher of either English or a particular Zambian language that is offered to learnersat your school, you are most of the time engaged in correcting pupils’ work. The extractgiven below is an example of such work. The teacher had asked her pupils to write acomposition about what they did last weekend and the people they met.I last weekend was enjoy myself. Me and my friend Lufoma go forshopping. On way to a shops my friend ask me if I has money enough.

31I telling her that I has not many money. After walk for ten minutes wemeet a friend of ours, Chansa. My friend Lufoma ask me if I seeChansa. I tell her that I have. She asks as were we going. When wetell him she decides to follow.Activity 4.5Imagine that you have been asked to correct the above excerpt from a pupil’scomposition and then answer the following questions:1. Name the prominent tense pupils were supposed to use in this composition.2. Did the pupil who wrote the above extract know how to use this tense? Givereasons for your answer.3. Identify and list the errors in the above extract.4. Classify the nature of the problems this pupil had in writing this composition.5. Examine each of the sentences in the above extract and correct the error or errors6. Discuss the whole exercise you have been doing with a fellow teacher andconfirm the correctness of your re-written sentences.We hope that in this Activity you were able to identify that the pupil who wrote theextract did not know how to use the past simple tense. We also hope that you identified,listed and corrected the following errors.No. Errors Corrections1. I last weekend ... Last weekend I ...2. ... was enjoy myself ... enjoyed myself3. Me and my friend Lufoma go forshopping.My friend Lufoma and I wentshopping ...4. On way to a shops .... On our way to the shops ...5. ... my friend ask me ... ... my friend asked me...6. ... if I has money enough. .... if I had enough money.7. I telling her ... I told her ...8. ... that I has not many money ... that I didn’t have much money9. After walk for ten minutes .... After walking for ten minutes ....10. ... we meet a friend of ours, Chansa. ... we met our friend, Chansa.11. My friend Lufoma ask me if I seeChansaMy friend Lufoma asked me if I hadseen Chansa.12. I tell her that I have I told her that I had.13. She asks as were we going. she asked us where we were going.

14. When we tell him.... When we told her ....15. ... She decides to follow .... She decided to follow.Were you able to explain the nature of the problems this pupil had in writing thiscomposition? Compare the answers you wrote in Activity 1, question 4 with the onesbelow:321. Failure to use the past simple and past perfect tenses, e.g.(a) .... ‘was enjoy myself’ instead of ‘I enjoyed myself.’(b) ‘My friend ask me’ instead of ‘My friend asked me.’(c) ‘... we meet ...’ instead of ‘... we met ...’(d) ‘My friend Lufoma ask me if I see Chansa’ instead of ‘My friend Lufomaasked me if I had seen Chansa’.(e) ‘I tell her that I have’ instead of ‘I told her that I had’.(f) ‘She asks ...’ instead of ‘She asked ...’(g) ‘When we tell ...’ instead of ‘When we told ...’(h) ‘... she decides to follow.’ instead of ‘... she decided to follow.’2. Wrong position of the adverb of time ‘last weekend’; ‘I last weekend ...’ insteadof ‘Last weekend I ...’3. Using the object pronoun ‘me’ instead of the subject or personal pronoun ‘I’.4. Failure to use the first person with other nouns and pronouns in the correct order,e.g. ‘Me and my friend ...’ instead of ‘My friend and I ...’5. Wrong use of the preposition ‘for’ to express purpose, e.g. ‘... go for shopping’instead of ‘...go shopping’.6. Omission of the adjective ‘our’ and use of the indefinite instead of the definitearticle, e.g. ‘On way to a shops’ instead of ‘On our way to the shops.’7. Using a wrong auxiliary verb ‘has’ instead of ‘have’ after ‘I’, e.g. ‘... if I has ..’instead of ‘.... if I have ...’8. Wrong position of adjective ‘enough’, e.g. ‘... money enough,’ instead of ‘...enough money.’9. Use of the determiner or adjective of quantity ‘many’ with an uncountable noun,e.g. ‘... many money’ instead of ‘... much money.’10. Failure to use the - ing form of the verb after ‘after’ e.g. ‘After walk for tenminutes ...’ instead of ‘After walking for ten minutes ...’11. Using the possessive pronoun ‘ours’ instead of the adjective ‘our’ e.g. ‘... a friend

of ours ...’ instead of ‘... our friend...’12. Use of wrong words ‘as’ instead of the object pronoun ‘us’; and the auxiliary verb‘were’ instead of the adverb ‘where’13. Use of the masculine object pronoun ‘him’ instead of the feminine ‘her’ to refer toa female, e.g. ‘When we tell him...’ instead of ‘When we tell her ...’Did you get everything right? Can you identify what we have been doing in trying toidentify, classify and correct the errors? You probably think this is a good exercise inerror analysis, don’t you? Well, you could be right. In our analysis of the extract fromthe composition written by a pupil, we have been doing the following things:• discussing the rules for the combination or arrangement of words into sentences.• pointing out how the English language arranges its words in sentences.• talking about the rules people use when speaking or writing English.33The three bullets above we are talking about the same thing which we are going tomention later.ReflectReflect upon what you have been reading and answer the following questions.1. What name is given to the study of the way in which words are combinedtogether?2. The study of the way in which words are combined together is one of the twocomponents of this aspect of the scientific study of language.What term is used to refer to this aspect of the scientific study of language?3. As a teacher of English, how does this knowledge of the rules people use whenspeaking or writing English help you to teach your subject?4. In your Teachers’ Group examine pupils’ written work or spoken discourse,identify their common errors and discuss the nature of the problems they have inwriting or speaking English.5. Using the information obtained in question 4 above, suggest the aspects oflanguage structure which should be taught in order to address the pupils’ learningdifficulties.In the previous section, we said that morphology is a component of grammar.

We hope by now you know that when we talk about the way in which words arecombined together within (and sometimes between) sentences, we are referring to thesyntax (Dixon, 1991:4, Crystal, 1987:94). For example: In English an adjective comesbefore a noun (e.g. a big house) and not ‘big a house’.We also assume that from the Reflection exercise, question 2, you know that syntax isanother component of the aspect of the scientific study of language, which is usuallycalled grammar.Now, if grammar consists of syntax and morphology, what definition can we give it?Mcathur (1983:38) says grammar is the rules people use when speaking or writing alanguage. Compare this to Stevick’s definition of grammar (1988:187):Grammar is a way of telling, as accurately and clearly aspossible, just how a particular language arranges itssmaller forms - its word stems, prefixes, suffixes,intonations and the like - within its larger constructionssuch as words, clauses and sentences.We have said so many things about the way the English language arranges its words insentences. Are you aware that even in Zambian languages the arrangement of words isnot arbitrary? Do you know that when you speak or write Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda,Luvale, Nyanja or Tonga, you combine words together in a particular way? The exercisebelow will help you observe this phenomenon.34Activity 4.61. Translate the following sentences into a particular Zambian language you speakand answer the questions that follow:a) The tall young man is eating an orange.b) My big tooth is shaking.c) That small turtle dove is flyingd) Those white rabbits are sleeping.e) The strong axes are lost.2. Look at the translated version of each sentence and write down at least two rulesexplaining the arrangement of words and the emerging pattern.3. Compare the original sentences in English with the ones you have translated into a

Zambian language and state the difference(s) between the arrangement of wordsin the former and the latter.4. Identify and state the similarities, if any, between the English and Zambianlanguages sets of sentences.5. In your Teacher Group, discuss how the difference you have identified in questionabove would affect pupils’ learning of English and suggest remedies.6. Using the knowledge gained from your comparison in questions 3 and 5, go backto the extract of the pupil’s composition under the section marked Getting it rightand explain why she made such errors.There may be some similarities between the sentence patterns in English andZambian languages. For example, the pattern ‘Noun phrase + verb phrase’ isreflected in both cases as in My big tooth/ is shaking, and Iliino lyandi ilikulu/ lileetenta(Bemba); Liino laka lelituna/ lashekesha (Lozi); Lino lyangu lipati/ lilazungaana(Tonga).There are many differences between the arrangement of words in English and ZambianLanguages. You will notice, for example, that in Zambian Languages the noun ‘tooth’(iliino, liino or lino) precedes the possessive adjective ‘my’ (lyandi, laka, lyangu) and isrendered as a possessive pronoun ‘mine’ and that the adjective ‘big’ (ilikulu, lelituna,lipati) comes after the noun it modifies and is rendered as a relativized verb (i.e. a verbused in a relative clause) ‘which is big’. We hope you can also see that just as the noun‘tooth’ in English requires the auxiliary verb ‘is’ in its concord and ‘teeth’ will demandthat we use ‘are’, iliino, tooth, in Bemba, requires the agreement lya- (in lyandi, mine)and ili - (in ilikulu, which is big). In this language (Bemba) the plural ‘teeth’ is renderedas ‘ameeno’. The plural form of the noun automatically calls for a different pattern ofagreement in Zambian languages. For example, Ameeno yandi ayakulu yaleetenta, Mybig teeth are shaking.

Have you seen that when you speak or write a Zambian language you arrange words in acertain order in the same way you observe rules, consciously or unconsciously, when youcombine English words together to form sentences? Are you aware that if you were to35maintain the word order used in the English sentence My big tooth is shaking, you wouldcome up with a very awkward sentence Lyandi ilikulu iliino lileetenta, Mine which is bigtooth is shaking, in Zambian languages? Conversely, the permitted word order inZambian languages is unacceptable in English, Tooth mine which is big is shaking .We hope you have seen that both the English language and Zambian languages arrangetheir words in sentences in a particular way. This is what we call syntax - the way inwhich words are combined together. The various sentence patterns you can think of ineither English or a particular Zambian language you speak are also part of syntax becausethe principle of arranging words and clauses into the acceptable simple, complex as wellas compound sentences is the same.Word ClassesIntroductionAs a teacher you would probably like to know the way your friends present theirlessons. Please read the following passage!It is exactly 08.00 hours. Mrs. J.C., as the pupils affectionately referred to their teacher,enters her Grade 6 class. She greets the pupils and waits for them to settle down beforeshe presents her lesson. “Now class,” she begins, “today we are going to discuss parts ofspeech in both English and Bemba. At the end of this lesson, you will be able to identifyand classify words into their categories.”The pupils look puzzled because most of them do not know what the term ‘parts ofspeech’ means. “What does that mean?” one pupil whispers to his friend.“Well,” says the other pupil, “I think it is a machine with many parts.”The other pupils who are near these two burst into laughter. “Shut up and listen!”

Shrieks Mrs. J.C., “I’m telling you that today’s lesson is about parts of speech or sets ofwords which are in different categories. Some are called nouns; others are verbs,adjectives and so on. Now, what is a noun? What is a verb? What is an adjective?” Upto this time the pupils are just looking at the teacher. After the teacher’s sharp reprimandto those who laughed, all the pupils are too scared to say anything. Besides, it appearsthey are not following the lesson. The teacher also seems to notice that the pupils are at aloss. “Now, listen,” she says, “a noun is a name of something; a verb is a doing word; anadjective is a word that describes a noun.”At this point Bwika, one of the intelligent girls plucks up enough courage to saysomething. “Madam,” she begins, “can you give us an example of a noun?”The teacher is surprised at the pupil asking such a question. She thinks for a moment,looks at the class and says, “Well, I have told you that a noun is a name of something. Achair is a noun; a desk is a noun; a book is a noun. Your name, Bwika, is a noun; and inBemba there are nouns such as ukuulu ‘a leg’, umumana ‘a river’, and ulupili ‘a hill’.36Most of the pupils brighten up now and, during this excitement, Buupe, another clevergirl, says, “Madam, you have said a noun is a name of something, and you have given usexamples, but is ubusuma ‘beauty’ also a ‘thing’?”Mrs. J.C. is again surprised at a Grade 6 pupil asking such a challenging question. Sherubs her nose and says, “Yes, beauty is also a noun, a name of something. Now, repeatthese definitions after me: A noun is a name of something; ‘doer’ is a noun; a verb is adoing word or an action word; jump’ is a verb; an adjective is a word that describes anoun; ‘big’ is an adjective; ...”For some time the lesson goes on like this. Then the teacher says, “Don’t ask me if ‘is’ isan action word; you know it is a helping verb, so it is an action word. Now, I want you towrite down examples of nouns, verbs and adjectives in your exercise books.”

Reflect1. What was good about the way this lesson began?2. What kind of teacher was Mrs. J.C.? Give reasons for your answer.3. Did pupils in this class like their teacher? Support your answer by citing evidencefrom information given in the lesson procedure.4. In your Teacher’s Group look at the lesson procedure again and then discusswhether the teacher used a traditional or a modern approach to teach thesecategories of words. Give reasons to support your arguments.5. Why did some pupils in this class burst into laughter?6. Name the categories of words that the teacher mentioned in her lesson and theexamples she gave.7. In your opinion, why were the pupils in this class ‘at a loss?’8. Look at the lesson procedure again and discuss with your mentor whether this isan example of a teacher or learner - centred lesson. Give reasons for your answer.9. Did Mrs. J.C. answer Buupe’s question satisfactorily? Give reasons for youranswer.10. From this lesson, what do you consider to be the major weaknesses in givingdefinitions of groups of words based on meaning?3711. What, do you think, should be the alternative to giving definitions of words basedon meaning?12. Explain and illustrate the teacher’s failure to distinguish between an ‘action word’and a ‘being word’ in this lesson.13. In your Teacher Group discuss whether the above categories of words are part ofthe grammar of English or any other language one is studying. Give reasons foryour answers.14. Do you think the teacher achieved the objective of this lesson? Why?We hope you have learnt something from the lesson procedure given at the beginning ofthis unit and the subsequent questions in the reflection part. Do you remember the termused to refer to word classes in the old grammar books? Don’t look back at Mrs. J.C.’slesson. Search your memory and write down this term. Did you get it right? The term isparts of speech.

Activity 4.7We are now going to ask you questions related to what you studied in the sectionabout the structure of words. Do you remember parts of the words that indicate theclasses they belong to? Is it the prefixes or suffixes? Do you still remember words inEnglish that end in -ly, -ness, -ion, -less, etc? Give examples of these words and indicatetheir class or, in traditional grammar, what part of speech each one of them is.By now you ought to be getting familiar with the concept of word classes. Do you knowthat when we talk about word classes we are still discussing grammar? Read thefollowing quotation from crystal (1987:91):Since the early days of grammatical study, words have beengrouped into word classes, traditionally labelled the ‘parts ofspeech’.Dixon (1991:7) also echoes crystal’s words when he says that at the level of grammarwords can be arranged in word classes (traditionally called ‘parts of speech’), withcommon morphological and syntactic properties.As crystal (1987:91) and Burton (1984:22) state, in most grammars, there are eight wordclasses, illustrated here from English:Nouns e.g. boy, machine, beautyPronouns e.g. she, it, whoAdjectives e.g. happy, three, both38Verbs e.g. go, frighten, beAdverbs e.g. happily, soon, oftenPrepositions e.g. in, under, withConjunctions e.g. and, because, ifInterjections e.g. gosh, alas, cooReflectReflect upon what we have said so far about word classes and the examples wehave drawn from English, and then answer the following questions.1. Do such word classes exist in the Zambian language you speak?2. Write at least two examples for each of the eight word classes from the Zambianlanguage that is offered to learners at your school.3. In your Teacher’s group examine a two-paragraph text from any piece of written

literature in a local language and identify as well as group the words in it (i.e. thetext) into their classes.4. Discuss with your mentor the difference between the examples of words given ineach word class in English and a local language.We hope you did well in the above exercise. What answer did you give toquestion 1? Were you aware that word classes exist in every language? Readwhat Dixon (1991:7) says:For every language we can recognize word classes, sets ofwords that have the same grammatical properties, althoughthe nature of these properties will vary, depending on thegrammatical profile of the language.The above quotation should have cleared your doubts, if you had any, about the existenceof word classes in Zambian languages.In this unit we have repeatedly used the terms ‘parts of speech’ and ‘word classes’ interchangeably. Do these terms mean the same thing? Think for a while and share youranswer with your fellow teachers. Now, let us read what crystal (1987:91) says aboutthis:39Modern approaches classify words, too, but the use of thelabel ‘word class’ rather than ‘part of speech’ represents achange in emphasis. Modern linguists are reluctant to usethe notional definitions found in traditional grammar - suchas a noun being the ‘name of something’. The eagerness ofthese definitions has often been criticized...Does this quotation remind you of Mrs. J.C.’s lesson at the beginning of this unit? Doyou remember, specifically, why one of the pupils, Buupe, asked whether ubusuma‘beauty’ was also a ‘thing’? Can you now understand why pupils in Mrs. J.C. ‘s classfound it difficult to comprehend what she was teaching?Perhaps we should examine the notional definitions Mrs. J.C. used and identify theirweakness. When she said, “... a noun is a name of something,” Buupe, one of the pupils,asked if ‘beauty’ was also a ‘thing’. Indeed, would we say sweetness, justice, speed,compassion, happiness, etc. are names of ‘things’? Aren’t these non-material ‘things’ or

qualities, states and concepts that exist only in our minds (Burton, 1984: 23, 116)? Isn’tit vague to refer to intangible states of mind, qualities and feelings (ibid) as ‘names ofthings’? Isn’t the adjective red also a ‘name’ of a colour? Would we therefore, say redis also a ‘name of something’? Have you noticed the vagueness and/or inadequacies ofnotional definitions? Having pointed out the above shortcomings, crystal (1987:91)summarizes the argument as follows:In place of definitions based on meaning, there is nowa focus on the structural features that signal the way inwhich groups of words behave in a language. In English,for example, the definite or indefinite article is onecriterion that can be used to signal the presence of afollowing noun (the car) ... Above all, the modern aim is toestablish word classes that are coherent: all the wordswithin a class should behave in the same way. Forexample, jump, walk and cook form a coherent classbecause all the grammatical operations that apply to oneof these words apply to the others also: they all take athird person singular form in the present tense (hejumps/walks/cooks), they all have a past tense ending in-ed (jumped/walked/cooked), and so on.Crystal (ibid) further says many other words display the same (or closely similar)behaviour and that this would lead us to establish the important class of ‘verbs’ inEnglish.Let us look at another good argument for classifying words according to the way they‘behave’ in a language instead of definitions based on meaning. Are you aware that youcannot tell what class a word belongs to simply by looking at it? Crystal (1987:92) sayseverything depends on how the word ‘behaves’ in a sentence. According to Crystal (ibid)40round is a good illustration of this principle in action, for it can belong to any of the fiveword classes, depending on the grammatical context.AdjectiveMary bought a round table.PrepositionThe car went round the corner.

VerbThe boat will round the small island soon.AdverbWe walked round to the shop.NounIt’s your round. I’ll have a whiskey.Do you know other words in English, which can ‘behave’ like round in differentsentences? Look at these two sentences:1 (a) Aikayo will record the minutes of tomorrow’s meeting.(b) Aikayo will keep a record of his expenses.Have you seen that the word record in sentences 1(a) and 1(b) behaves in differentways? Can you identify that in these sentences it belongs to two word classes (i.e. verband noun, respectively)? We hope you’ve noticed that the same word can belong to morethan one word class (Freeborn, 1995:37). Does this phenomenon exist in ZambianLanguages? Look at these examples:BEMBA1 (a) Mpeela akapanga nteme icilu. ‘Give me a small sword soI can cut a pole.(b) Ponde akapanga umupando mailo, ‘Ponde will make a chairtomorrow.’2 (a) Ubula ubu buutali ‘This intestine is long’41(b) Ubula amapaapa yamuti ‘Strip bark from a tree’3 (a) Akanwa ubwalwa mailo ‘He/she will drink beer tomorrow(b) Akanwa kandi kaakulu ‘My mouth is big’4 (a) Kabilo wa mfumu aleebila imbila ‘The Chief’s councillor is making apublic announcement’(b) Bwembya, imbila imfumu “Bwembya sing for the chief’LOZI1 (a) Sibeso ukula lila‘Sibeso is suffering from intestine pain’(b) Lila bulilo‘Smear the floor’(c) Nikenezwi ki lila,‘Enemies entered my premises2 (a) Nibata kupata mali‘I want to hide money’(b) Mwana una ni pata yebunolo‘The child has a smooth face’(c) Mundia una ni pata‘Mundia has good luck’

(d) Poto yapata‘The pot is boiling’3 (a) Bona Zaezize Mwendabayi‘See what Mwendabayi has done’(b) Bona baziba‘Them they know’(c) Ndu ki yabona‘This house is theirs’4 (a) Taha Kwanu‘Come here’42(b) Taha ieza sialeto‘The weaver bird is making a nest’NYANJA1 (a) Yangana bala lija‘Look at that scar’(b) Bala mwana‘Bear a child’2 (a) Ng’amba nsalu iyo‘Tear that cloth’(b) Chaka cino kuli ng’amba‘This year there is a drought’3 (a) Phula poto pa moto‘Take the pot off the fire’(b) Anadya phula cifukwa cosafunsa“He ate wax because he didn’t bother to find out what it was’4 (a) Kamba ndi mnyamata uja‘Talk to that boy’(b) Anyamata paulendo ananyamula kamba wambiri‘The boys carried a lot of food for their journey’We hope you have understood the significance of identifying the way a word‘behaves’ in a sentence before you can tell the class it belongs to. We alsoassume that you know that the shift from using the notional definitions as a basis forclassifying words to a focus on the structural features that signal the way in which groupsof words ‘behave’ in language has led to the use of the label ‘word class’ instead of ‘partof speech’Now that you have covered enough groundwork on word classes, we should talk aboutthe two sorts of word classes, namely minor and major word classes. The minor wordclasses consist of structure or function words (Freeborn, 1995:36) such as articles,

prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions and interjections. The minor classes have limitedmembership and cannot readily be added to. For example there are just seven personalpronouns in English - I, we, you, he, she, it, they (Dixon, 1991:7; Burton, 1984:119). Doyou know the other term used to refer to minor word classes? They are also known asclosed word classes because no new words can be added; they are constant in number.43Major word classes comprise content or lexical words such as nouns, verbs, adverbs andadjectives. As Dixon (1991:7) and Freeborn (1995:36) observe, these classes have alarge and potentially unlimited membership. Open word classes is another term used torefer to these classes of words. They are called open because new words can be added tothese classes. Dixon (1991:8) aptly describes this phenomenon thus:It is impossible to give an exhaustive list of the manythousands of nouns, since new ones are being coined allthe time (and others will gradually be dropping out ofuse).If you read more grammar books, you will discover that some linguists use the termsclosed and open sets of words to refer to what we have discussed above.ReflectReflect upon what you have just read above and then answer the followingquestions.1. List the terms used to describe the two main categories of words.2. With the help of examples, explain the difference between the two maincategories of words you have stated in question 1 above.3. Justify the use of all the terminologies mentioned in question 1.4. In your Teacher’s Group compile examples of the two main categories of wordsin both English and a Zambian language that is offered to learners at your school.5. Write a short essay in which you explain how knowledge of word classes and thetwo sorts of word classes can help you teach English and Zambian languagesmore effectively.Bearing in mind that the parts of speech are the classes into which words are placedaccording to the work that they do in a sentence (Burton, 1984:22), we shall proceed to

look at each of the eight word classes.NOUNSAre you aware that there are basically four kinds of nouns in English? Here are the fourmain groups (Burton, 1984:116; Thomson and Martinet, 1979:6; Freeborn, 1995:39).Common nouns name members of a class of people or things who share the name incommon with all the other members of their class, for example woman, farmer, book,dog, table.44Proper nouns name particular people, places, things, for example Tom, Lubinda, France,Kasama, Africa, the United Nations.Abstract nouns name non-material things, i.e. qualities, states, concepts that exist onlyin our minds, e.g. charity, beauty, fear, courage, joy, sorrow.Collective nouns name groups or collections of people or things, regarded as a whole, forexample swarm, team, crowd, flock, group, class.Do you know that there are two other terminologies used to refer to types of nouns?Have you heard of count and mass nouns? Read the following definitions:Count nouns: nouns that refer to people and things that can be counted (i.e. those thatcan take plurals), e.g. asses, houses, lambs, knives, skies.Mass nouns: those nouns that cannot take plurals, e.g. sheep, deer, cattle, music.Note that most scholars prefer the term mass to non-count or uncountable which areambiguous: they can refer to mass or may include words that are plurals only.Remember also that whereas abstract nouns tend to be mass nouns, concrete nouns tendto be count nouns (Freeborn, 1995:39).Activity 4.81. Pick out each noun, in each of the following sentences, and say what kind it is(Burton, 1984:23 - 25).(a) Helen wrote to Jean.(b) Justice need not exclude mercy.(c) A crowd gathered to watch the fleet sail.(d) His father bought him a bicycle.(e) When Mr. Banda was in the bush he saw a pride of lions chasing a herd ofantelopes.

(f) My birthday falls on a Tuesday this year.(g) He had no friends or relations and lived-in solitude.(h) As a player, his sportsmanship was outstanding.(I) We were rivals, but I felt no enmity for her.(j) My friend Smith was a member of the team that played with such courageto win the cup.2. Prepare a thirty-minute lesson plan in which you teach your Grade five (5) classcommon and proper nouns.3. Explain and illustrate the difference between the following:45(a) abstract and concrete nouns(b) count and mass nouns4. In your Teacher’s Group list collective nouns and discuss(a) the contexts in which they can be used.(b) the strategies you can use in class to teach such nouns.5. Look at the types of nouns in English again and then give two examples of eachtype in at least two Zambian languages.6. Write a short seminar paper in which you contrast and illustrate the four types ofnouns in English and Zambian languages.7. Complete the following table of types of nouns in the Zambian languagesindicated. Give two examples in each case.Language CommonNounsProper Nouns AbstractNounsCollectiveNounsBembaKaondeLoziLundaLuvaleNyanjaTongaWe hope that from the examples you have given in the exercise above you are now awarethat the four types of nouns you studied in English exist in Zambian languages as well.Let us now look at the plural forms of nouns in English. First of all read whatBurton (1984:116) says:A noun is either singular or plural, according to whetherit names one or more than one person, place, idea orthing.

From the aforesaid we can conclude that number plays a big role in determining the formof the noun. However, before we cover this in more detail, let us look at the type ofplurals that Freeborn (1995:40) refers to:Most plural nouns in English are marked with the suffix -s. This is the regular form. There is a small number ofother, mostly very familiar, irregular plurals, which havekept their form of old English...46Activity 4.91. Explain and illustrate the concepts of singular and plural as well as regular andirregular in reference to nouns.2. At this level of your education you are probably aware that in making the pluralforms of nouns we follow certain rules. Look at the following examples of thesingular and plural forms of nouns and then write down the rules followed inmaking the plurals in each case (Freeborn, 1995:40 - 41). Thomson and Martinet,1979:7 - 9).(a) boy boysplace placesmistake mistakes(b) tomato tomatoeskiss kissesbrush brusheswatch watchesbox boxesphoto photospiano pianoshippo hippos(c) baby babieslady ladiescountry countriesfly fliesbutchery butcheriesdonkey donkeysday daysvalley valleysmonkey monkeys(d) wife wiveslife livesknife knivesleaf leavesloaf loaves

thief thievesscarf scarfs or scarveshoof hoofs or hooveschief chiefscliff cliffshandkerchief handkerchiefsbelief beliefs47(e) foot feetman menwoman womenmouse micelouse licegoose geesechild childrenox oxenbrother brethren or brothers(f) fish fishfruit fruitsheep sheepdeer deercattle cattlemusic music(g) oasis oasesradius radiiappendix appendicesmedium mediaformula formulae or formulassyllabus syllabi or syllabusesstadium stadia or stadiumsagendum agendacriterion criteriamemorandum memoranda(h) armchair armchairsbookcase bookcasesgrown-up grown-upsboy-friend boy-friendsbreak-in break-inslorry driver lorry driverspasser-by passers - byhead of department heads of departmentbrother - in - law brothers - in - lawhead of state heads of statemanservant menservants(I) ..................................... clothes..................................... trousers

..................................... underpants

..................................... knickers

..................................... scissors3. From the examples given above there is a group of nouns that have what linguistscall zero plural. Identify and list these nouns and then explain what linguistsmean when they say such nouns have zero plural.484. What learning difficulties are the pupils likely to face with the plural forms ofnouns? Suggest remedies for these learning difficulties.5. In your Teacher Groups examine the singular and plural forms of nouns inZambian languages and English and then discuss similarities (if any) as well asdifferences. After this discussion, write a short report highlighting and illustratingyour findings.6. Prepare a thirty - minute lesson plan in which you teach pupils how to makeplurals of nouns in the Zambian Language offered at your school.As a teacher of English you need to acquaint yourself with all the spelling rulesyou have studied in the plural forms of nouns. We hope you are also aware thatwhereas the plural form of a noun in English is obtained by adding ‘s’ to the singularform, the prefixes in Zambian languages indicate whether the noun is in singular or pluralform. Look at the following examples:Bemba: umumana, river; imimana, riversKaonde: muzhi, village; mizhi, villagesLozi: mulikani, friend; balikani, friendsTonga: musimbi, girl; basimbi, girls.There is another important thing you need to know about the concept of zero plural wetalked about earlier on. This is that there is a very common zero plural which is usedwith nouns of measurement which follow numerals of determiners expressing quantity(Freeborn, 1995:41; Thomson and Martinet, 1979:8, 251, 253). Look at the followingexamples.1. He bought a ten-ton lorry.2. She has just come back from her two-month holiday.3. I met Mr. Mundia’s ten-year - old daughter.4. Her nine-month pregnancy does not stop her from cleaning her house.

Activity 4.101. Write five sentences to illustrate the use of zero plural as indicated in theexamples that precede this exercise.2. Most speakers of English as a second language make the errors illustrated belowwhen they use nouns in sentences.49(i) Identify and underline the error or errors in each sentence.(ii) Explain the type of error(iii) Rewrite each sentence and correct the error or errors in it.(a) A cat have four legs(b) The tomatoes are many in my garden(c) That criteria is wrong(d) Neither Lubinda nor Moonde are here.(e) Some of the girls in my class speaks good French(f) Most of the business men has cars.(g) The childrens’ shoes are clean.(h) The wife of Mr. Bwalya has come(I) The chair’s legs are broken(j) The tail of the black cat is long(k) Mr. Mumpanga’s house is five minutes walk from here.(l) We bought a two-month’s - old dog(m) I saw my father’s - in - law farm(n) This is a days’ work(o) Either Banda or Silumesii are coming(p) English is used as a media of instruction in our schools.(q) I will buy a scissors3. Give five examples of nouns of non-English origin and write their plural forms.4. As you are aware count nouns such as house, knife, boy can take plurals (i.e. theycan be counted). For example, we can say many houses, three houses, twoknives, etc(a) With the help of examples explain how you would qualify or count massnouns such as milk, sand, ink, hair, grass, dust, sugar, oil, furniture andluggage.(b) Give at least six examples of expressions used to count mass nouns in anyZambian languageWe hope you still remember us referring to noun prefixes in Zambian languagesindicating whether the noun is in singular or plural form. It is important at thispoint to state that the morphological structure of nouns in Zambian languages, just likeother Bantu languages, is basically of two types:

(i) Noun prefix + stem, e.g.Kaonde: muzhi villagemizhi villages50Lozi: mutu personbatu personsTonga: musamu treemisamu treesMasamu(ii) Augment + Noun Prefix + stem, e.g.Bemba: umushi villageimishi villagesumuntu personabantu personsYou should remember that an augment is simply defined as any morpheme that normallyprecedes a Noun prefix. However, some grammar books refer to all the morphemes thatprecede the stem in a noun as a Noun prefix, thus:Umushi village instead ofu - + - mu - + shi - umushiNote also that as is characteristic of all Bantu languages, every noun in any Zambianlanguage belongs to a class. Most nouns show what class they belong to by a prefix; thatis by the way they begin. There are between 18 and 20 noun classes in most Zambianofficial languages, as indicated in the list of noun prefixes below.ClassNumberBemba Kaonde Lozi Lunda Luvale Nyanja Tonga1 umu- mu- mu- mu- mu- mu-,m- mu-2 aba- ba- ba- a- a- a- ba-3 umu- mu- mu- mu- mu- mu-, m- mu-4 imi- mi- mi- nyi- mi- mi- mi-5 ili-, I- ji- li- di-, I- li- dzi-, li- li-, I-6 ama- ma- ma- ma- ma- ma- ma-7. ici- ki- si- chi- chi- ci- ci8. ifi- bi- li- yi- vi- zi- zi9. in- n- n- n- n- n- n-10. in- n- li- n- zhi- n- n-11. ulu- lu- lu- lu- lu- lu- lu-12. aka- ka- ka- ka- ka- ka- ka-13. utu- tu- tu- tu- tu- ti- tu-14. ubu- bu- bu- u- u- u- bu-15. uku- ku- ku- ku- ku- ku- ku-

16. pa- pa- fa- ha- ha- pa- a-17. ku- ku- kwa- ku- ku- ku- ku-18. mu- mu- mwa- mu- mu- mu- mu5119 si-20 bi-Can you identify all the noun prefixes used in each of the seven official Zambianlanguages? Try to add stems to each prefix in every language and see how many nounsyou can form. Note that while the stem of a noun may remain constant, the prefix canchange. For example, munzi, village and minzi, villages in Tonga. You should alsoremember that the prefix of every noun shows not only the noun class but also the kind ofagreements the noun requires in verbs, adjectives demonstratives and other words usedwith it, say, in a sentence. For instance in icipeele cilya icikulu naacimwene cileeliishaakaana kaaciko ‘that big turtle dove I saw it (yesterday) feeding its chick’ the nounicipeele ‘turtle dove’ has class 7 prefix ici (ici - + - peele) agreeing with it ademonstrative adjective cilya ‘that’, an adjective icikulu ‘big’, a verbal subjectivepronoun cileeliisha ‘it is feeding’, a verbal object pronoun naacimwene ‘I saw it’ and aspecial (or diminutive) possessive form kaaciko ‘its’, while the prefix of the possessiveform agrees with akaana ‘young’ (Mann, et al, 1977:19; Mann and Carter, 1975:37).Note the changes that would take place if you changed ‘turtle dove’ to ‘turtle doves’ thus:ifipeele filya ifikulu naafimwene fileeliisha utwana twafiko ‘those big turtle doves I sawthem (yesterday) feeding their chicks’. We hope you have seen that the noun class istreated as a system of concordial agreement.Read Reference1. Study the list of noun prefixes given in the seven official Zambian languages, aswell as other information on noun classes, and then answer the followingquestions:(a) With the help of examples explain the concept of noun classes.(b) Identify and list the nouns which occur in two classes and then explain thedifference between them.

(c) What is the difference between the way nouns in Bantu languages areclassified now and the way they were classified when grammars of theselanguages were written in the nineteenth century?(d) In your Teacher Group discuss and list similarities and differencesbetween the shapes of the prefixes in Zambian languages(e) What are the similarities and differences between nouns in classes 9 and10 in most Zambian languages?(f) Identify and illustrate prefixes that give nouns diminutive, augmentative,pejorative and abstract meaning.52(g) What is the difference between class 1 and class 3 nouns?(h) Illustrate cases of nouns that change their classes when they form theirplural.(i) List three noun prefixes which can give you mass or uncountable nouns inany Zambian language and give examples.(j) What is peculiar to class 15 nouns in most Zambian languages?(k) List all the locative classes in any Zambian Language and illustrate theway they are used.(l) Explain and illustrate the three different meanings of each of Lozi prefixesin classes 19 and 20.2. Explain and illustrate how your awareness of the concept of noun classes in Bantulanguages can help you to both understand the way Zambian languages work andteach pupils plurals, special use or function of nouns in classes 11, 12, 13, 14, 19and 20 and how to construct correct sentences in Zambian languages.3. Design a filling in exercise, with very clear instructions, for a Grade 3 class, inwhich you test pupils’ ability to identify and use correct noun, verb and adjectiveprefixes in at least eight noun classes.4. Translate the following nouns into any Zambian language and indicate the classeach noun belongs to:a) povertyb) an eggc) elephantsd) a hille) a girlf) treesg) boysh) oilPRONOUNSWe hope you still remember that pronouns belong to a closed word class (i.e. they are

constant in number). What are pronouns? Do you remember examples of pronouns?Think about these questions.Read Reference531. Read the following passage and then state what kind of pronouns the words inbold type are.Mr. Kwandangala was annoyed. He looked at the pupils whowere still chatting excitedly and said, “Shut up and look at me!”All the pupils sat quietly. They were afraid of telling Mr.Kwandangala what had happened. He was a very strictteacher.“Why were you making noise?” asked Mr. Kwandangala.Mary, who was the youngest girl in class, stood up. Shecoughed lightly and said, “John is to blame for the uproar inthis class. He grabbed a book from Cynthia and threw it ontothe floor. Cynthia grabbed him by the collar and slapped him.Then the rest of the pupils became excited. They clapped andcheered.”“Did you also clap and cheer, Mary?” Mr. Kwandangalaasked.“No, sir. I remained silent throughout this period,” answeredMary.“Sit down, Mary,” said Mr. Kwandangala, “I will punish all ofyou except Mary because she has been honest.”2. With the help of examples from the above passage explain why pronouns arereferred to as words that can replace nouns or noun phrases.3. Why are pronouns such as I, you, he, she, it and we called personal pronouns?4. Study the following table of personal pronouns in English and then answer thequestions below (Freeborn, 1995:76; Burton, 1984:119).Personal Pronouns in Standard EnglishPerson Subjective Objective PossessiveSingular1st person 1 me mine2nd person you you yours3rd person masculine he him his3rd person feminine she her hersimpersonal one one one’sPlural541st person we us ours2nd person you you yours

3rd person they them theirs(a) Write and explain the terms used to refer to changes of word-formthat personal pronouns make to signal person; number andfunction.(b) Write three words that describe personal pronouns in terms ofgender.(c) Form the possessive adjective from each of the following personalpronouns:I, you, he, she, it, we and they(d) Explain and illustrate the similarities and differences between possessiveadjectives and possessive pronouns.(e) State two important things about the use of you as a personal pronoun, asillustrated in the table.(f) What is the difference between subjective and objective pronouns? Giveexamples to support your explanation.(g) Write a statement about the use of it as a personal pronoun, as shown inthe table.5. Translate each of the following sentences into any Zambian language and thenidentify and underline personal pronouns used in this particular language.(a) I will go to Choma tomorrow(b) We are eating oranges(c) James gave me a banana, too.(d) They will give you an umbrella(e) You are working very well(f) He will marry her(g) She is looking at him(h) Look at that flower. It will wither if you don’t put it in water soon(I) One ought to help one’s parents.(j) The teachers have seen us(k) Boys, I will give you the books tomorrow(l) I want to give them an orange each(m) You have been making noise, so I will punish all of you.(n) Ponde will send me money(o) This book is hers(p) This is her book(q) That is my umbrella(r) That umbrella is mine556. From the examples of personal pronouns in Zambian languages given above listthe similarities and differences between personal pronouns in English andZambian languages.7. Look at sentences 5 (o), (p), (q) and (r) in English and Zambian languages and

then explain whether there is a difference between possessive adjectives andpossessive pronouns in Zambian languages.8. Why are all subjective personal pronouns in Zambian languages called dependentpronouns and some objective personal pronouns independent pronouns?9. Which of the following phrases accurately describes the parts of the words inZambian languages, which represent the English objective personal pronouns?a) verbal affixb) verbal infixc) verbal prefixd) verbal suffix10. Why is it wrong in English but correct in Zambian languages to say Me I will goto Mpika?11. Is it possible to use the impersonal pronoun, one, in the Zambian languages?Give reasons for your answer. Explain the use of this pronoun in English(Freeborn, 1995:72).12. Discuss and list in your Teacher Group, pupils’ learning difficulties that may arisefrom the differences between personal pronouns in English and Zambianlanguages. Suggest remedies.13. Having discussed at length personal and possessive pronouns in English andZambian languages, we would like you to look at the other kinds of pronouns inEnglish in the table below and match from the right column. Where no exampleshave been given provide your own.Kinds of Pronouns Examplesrelative pronouns themselvesherselfreflexive pronouns ..........................................................................impersonal pronouns ..........................................................................Interrogative pronouns .....................................56.....................................demonstrative pronouns onemyselfemphasizing pronouns ourselvesyourself

yourselveshimselfherselfitselfthemselvesthis...........................................................................……………………….who...............................................................................................................………………………Which....................................................................................................................................................14. Study the table below question 13 again and then answer the following questions:(a) Explain the difference between(i) ‘this’ and ‘these’(ii) ‘this’ and ‘that’(b) Why are ‘this’, ‘these’ and ‘those’ called demonstrative pronouns?(c) State and illustrate the similarities and differences between reflexive andemphasizing pronouns(d) What is the function of interrogative pronouns?(e) Why are words such as ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘that’ also called relativepronouns?(f) Illustrate the difference between interrogative and relative pronouns.(g) Write relative pronouns that relate to(i) persons(ii) things(iii) either persons or things5715. Give examples of each of the following types of pronouns in the Zambianlanguage offered to pupils at your school.(a) possessive pronouns.(b) independent objective personal pronouns.(c) demonstrative pronouns.(d) relative pronouns.(e) interrogative pronouns.(f) reflexive pronouns.(g) emphasizing pronouns.

16. Illustrate the influence of the noun class system on the form of the possessive,demonstrative as well as independent objective personal pronouns in any Zambianlanguage.17. Prepare a thirty -minute lesson plan in which you teach a Grade 3 class the formand function of demonstrative pronouns that are used with classes 1 and 2 nouns.ADJECTIVESDo you remember that when we were discussing possessive pronouns we also talkedabout possessive adjectives? Can you still recall that while ‘yours’ in ‘These oranges areyours’ is a possessive pronoun, ‘your’ in ‘these are your oranges’ is a possessiveadjective?You should not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronouns. Possessiveadjectives always qualify a noun or pronoun (i.e. they tell us more about a noun orpronoun). Possessive pronouns do not qualify; they stand for or in place of (Burton,1984:121, 122).We have already identified one type of adjectives - possessive adjectives: my, your, his,her, its, our, your, their. Look at the other kinds of adjectives below.Descriptive adjectives - These qualify nouns by describing some quality or attributeattached to the person or thing denoted by the noun (Burton, 1984:121). For example, Hegave me a ripe mango.Activity 4.111. Why, do you think, the descriptive adjective ripe is also called an adjective ofquality and an attributive adjective?2. What can you say about the position of the adjective ripe in the followingsentence?58The mango is ripe.3. Why is the adjective ripe in question 2 above also called a predicative adjective?4. Underline demonstrative adjectives in the following sentences.a) I should like one of the same shape.b) This novel is very interesting.c) Are those melons ripe?

d) Such stories are frighteninge) That girl speaks good English.f) I would like to buy these onions.5. Relative adjectives introduce relative classes (Burton, 1984:122). Underlinerelative adjectives.a) You can take which route you like.b) I gave him what money I could spare6. In the following sentences interrogative adjectives have been used. Identify andunderline them.a) Which suit shall I wear?b) What choice have I?c) Whose tie is this?7. Quantitative adjectives. Some grammar books call them adjectives of numberor quantity. They include all the numerals (cardinal and ordinal) as well aswords that can also be pronouns (Burton, 1984: 122, 123). Underline examples ofthese adjectives in the following sentences.a) You will not have much food to spare.b) Four other horses finished the race.c) The third horse was my choice.d) John wrote many letters yesterday.e) She did not eat any nuts.f) Give me some milk.g) I have no apples.h) Both books are interesting.8. Distributive adjectives. Examples of these adjectives are used in the sentencesbelow. Underline them.a) Each player looked happy.b) Every woman carried a bucket.c) I will take either book.59d) Neither candidate was suitable for the job.9. Are you aware that verb participles have the property of functioning likeadjectives? (Freeborn, 1995:53). Look at the following sentences and thenunderline verb participles that have been used as adjectives.a) That was an exciting matchb) She bought a very interesting novel.c) The astonished host vowed never to entertain strangers.d) You should throw away all the broken eggs.e) Our swimming pool is very deep.10. Identify and name or classify the words which are functioning like adjectives in

the sentences below.a) She has bought a Japanese Car.b) My history book is lost.c) Mr. Banda does not like English food.d) I will buy a transistor radio.e) Give her a French book.f) Your correction fluid is here.We hope you answered question 10 above well. Did you indicate that the adjectives thatcome next to the nouns in the six sentences in question 10 are nouns? Remember thatnouns can also function as adjectives.If you want to revise the form of adjectives, look at the examples given in the section of‘The structure of words’. Can you remember the common suffixes in adjectives? Lookat these and then give examples of such adjectives: -ful, -ness, -ion, -less.We have already said adjectives in English usually come before the nouns theymodify. Have you thought about the order or position of adjectives when thereare two or more before a noun? This can sometimes cause problems. Read whatThomson and Martinet say about this (1979:12):Adjectives in English usually come before their nouns: a bigtown, a blue car, an interesting bookWhen there are two or more adjectives before a noun theyare not usually separated by ‘and’ except when the last twoare adjectives of colour:a big, square boxa tall young mansix yellow rosesbut a black and white capa red, white and blue flag60Adjectives of quality, however, can be placed after the verbsbe, seem, appear, look (=seem, appear);’ and’ is then placedbetween the last two adjectives:The house looked large and inconvenient. It was cold, wetand windy.What have you learnt from the above explanation? You should remember that theposition of the adjective depends on how closely it is related in idea to the noun (Forrest,1979:110). Forrest (ibid) summarizes this explanation in table form, thus:Other adjective Adjective of size,

shape or weightAdjective ofcolourAdjectivefrom nounor gerundNOUNLook at the following examples of the order of adjectives represented in the table above.an old, square, brown, wooden boxa new, rectangular, grey, washing machineBefore we continue let us look at adjectives in Zambian languages more closely. Youshould bear in mind that compared to Indo - European languages (i.e. languages spokenover the greater part of Europe and parts of Western Asia), Zambian languages, like otherBantu languages, have very few qualificative adjectives (i.e. those which qualify ordescribe nouns). You should also note that the adjectives in Zambian languages aswell as in most other Bantu languages are nominal forms since they do not only have thesame structure (i.e. prefix + stem) but they also take the same prefixes as nouns. In otherwords the prefixes of adjectives correspond to the prefixes of nouns in various classes.For instance, in muntu mubotu ‘a good person’ the prefix of the adjective mu- in mubotu‘good’ corresponds to the prefix of class 1 noun in Tonga muntu ‘person’. You willnotice that although the stems themselves cannot be used alone, it is the stems which bothremain constant, as was the case noted in our discussion on nouns, and give us themeaning equivalent to the English adjectives. Look at the way these points are illustratedin the following examples drawn from Bemba.umuntu umusuma ‘a good person’ (Class 1)abantu abasuma ‘good people’ (Class 2)umuti uusuma ‘a good tree’ (Class 3)imiti iisuma ‘good trees’ (Class 4)isako ilisuma ‘a good feather’ (Class 5)amasako ayasuma ‘good feathers’ (Class 6)icisansaala icisuma ‘a good nest (birds)’ (Class 7)61

ifisansaala ifisuma ‘good nests’ (Class 8)Now, look at the way Indo-European adjectives are translated in Zambian Languages.(i) By an adjectiveBemba: umulumendo mutali ‘a tall young man’Tonga: basankwa babotu ‘ good boys’(ii) By a verb in the relative formBemba: ilini ilyabuuta ‘a white egg’ (Literally: “egg which is white”, from-buuta ‘be white’Lozi: muna yatata ‘strong man’ (Literally: “man who is strong”)(iii) By a noun preceded by a connective pronounBemba: umuntu uwamaka ‘a strong person’ (Literally: ‘a person ofstrength’)Lozi: mushimani wamaata ‘a strong young man’ (Literally: “a youngman of strength”)(iv) By an infinitive preceded by a connective pronounBemba: umucinshi uwakupapa ‘it is surprising respect’ (Literally: “it isrespect of to be surprised,” i.e. “it is respect to be surprisedabout”).(v) By an adverb preceded by a connective pronounBemba: ifumo lyakale ‘ancient spear’ (Literally: “spear of ancient days”)Lunda: Ambanda aleelu ‘modern women’ (Literally: “women of today”).(vi) By a nounBemba: umwana mwaume ‘male child’ (Literally: “child man”)Activity 4.121. What do the following terms mean?(a) Indo-European(b) Qualificative adjectives622. With the help of examples explain two ways in which the nouns and adjectives inBantu languages are similar.3. Explain and illustrate the function of the parts of any adjective in any Zambianlanguage.4. Write brief notes on and illustrate the significant difference between adjectives inEnglish and Zambian languages.5. Illustrate the use of genuine adjectives (in the Indo-European sense) in anyZambian language.6. Give examples of five other ways English adjectives are translated in the Zambianlanguage offered to pupils at your school.7. Conduct a survey on pupils’ use of adjectives in the Zambian language used in

your area and write a two page seminar paper highlighting the most frequentlyused adjectives and pupils’ difficulties in using them.8. Is it possible to use the base comparative and superlative forms of adjectives asdegrees of comparison, in Zambian languages? Give examples to support youranswer.9. In your Teacher Group, identify and list other ways of translating the comparativeand superlative forms of the Indo-European adjectives in Zambian languages.10. Design a thirty - minute lesson plan in which you teach Grade seven (7) pupils theform and function of four qualificative adjectives in the Zambian languageoffered to pupils at your school.VERBSYou probably also know that it is not possible to cover all that one needs to know aboutverbs in this module. Therefore, we shall only attempt to highlight the salient aspects ofverbs in order for you to both deepen your knowledge of and competently teach verbalforms in English and Zambian languages.Read Reference1. Study the following sentences and then underline the verbs in them.a) She works at the factoryb) You can go nowc) He is writingd) He is my best friend63e) The boy chased the dogf) I had a bad cold last weekg) The girls sighedh) Ripe bananas taste nicei) He did the shoppingj) I have writtenk) She may pass the examinationsl) He didn’t writem) She has been writingn) They live in Mongu2. List the verbs used in all the sentences in 1 above under the following subheadings:lexical verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, primary auxiliary verbs.3. Write the three forms of auxiliary verbs from which the primary auxiliary verbs

are derived.4. What is the difference between the way ‘is’ has been used in questions 1(c) and1(d) above?5. Match the synonyms in columns A and B in the table below.COLUMN A COLUMN BLexical or full verbs finite verbsa subject complement inflected base form of the verbverbs which indicate the mood irregular past verb formshelping verbs a word that gives more informationabout the subject of a verbtensed verbs content verbsverbs preceded by ‘to’ modal verbsmarked base form of the verb full infinitive verbsinfinitive without ‘to’ auxiliary verbsverbs that do not usually formtheir past by ending in themorpheme suffix ‘-ed’bare infinitive verbs6. Complete the following sentences using the correct answer from the alternativesgiven. The terms primary and secondary verbs are also used to refer to................................a) modal verbs only.b) full and helping verbs.c) full and bare infinitive verbs.d) helping and modal verbs.7. Compare and illustrate the difference betweena) primary and secondary verbs.b) full and bare infinitive verbs.64c) finite and non-finite verbs .d) marked and unmarked base forms of the verb.e) transitive and intransitive verbs.f) a direct object and a subject complement.8. Explain the difference between the ways verbs have been used in the followingtwo sentences:a) She smiled.b) She cut her hand.9. What rule can you make about the position of auxiliary verbs in relation to the main verbs insentences? Give an example to support your explanation.10. From the types of verbs you have studied above which type does not have and which one hasthe following forms?

a) infinitiveb) -ing or -ed participlesc) imperative11. What is the difference between the way the verb ‘sang’ has been used in the following twosentences?a) The choir sang an anthem.b) The choir sang badly.If someone asked you to define a verb, what would you say it is? Have the answers youhave given to the above questions helped you to understand what a verb is? Read Burtonand Hornby’s definition of a verb (1984:124; 1998:1323):A verb is a word or phrase that denotes an action, a stateor being. Its function in a sentence is to make a statementabout the subject of that sentence. For example, Thedirector signed the letter.Burton (ibid) further says a verb may consist of more than one word, and other wordsmay come in between the various components of the compound verb. Look at thefollowing examples that Burton uses to illustrate this point.I was watching tennis.Jones has been offered a new job.They will soon realize their mistake.The book has at last been published.65We hope that from the reading you have done, in search of answers to the questions in thereading reference above, you are able to remember the following points:• lexical verbs are also known as full, content, main, primary or intransitive verbs.• Whereas an intransitive verb can stand alone (i.e. it can be used as the only verb in asentence and carry full meaning), a transitive verb requires a direct object or a subjectcomplement in order to express a complete meaning.ExamplesA black dog appeared. (Intransitive verb)Mary’s behaviour annoyed me. (Transitive verb)The soup tastes salty. (Transitive verb)• Auxiliary verbs are also called helping or secondary verbs• The auxiliary verbs come before the main verbs.ExamplesI am writingWe have eaten

She doesn’t know• Unlike other auxiliary verbs the primary auxiliary verbs in the examples that comeimmediately before this bullet, can be used as main verbs as well as auxiliaries.ExamplesMary is my sister (main verb)She is sleeping (Auxiliary)• Modal auxiliary verbs such as can, may, shall, will, must, ought to, used to indicate themood (i.e. they are used to refer not to facts, but to the possibility or impossibility ofsomething happening. Its necessity, probability or certainty, whether an action ispermitted, and so on – (Freeborn, 1995:163).• While full infinitive verbs are verbs preceded by ‘to’, bare infinitive verbs areinfinitives without ‘to’Examples (Freeborn, 1995:45)I saw them come. I wanted them to come.We watched the team win. We urged the team to win.She let it go. She allowed it to go.(N.B. Study the verbs followed by the bare and full infinitives).66• Whereas the main or lexical verbs are inflected (i.e. have -ing and -ed participles),have the infinitive and imperative forms, the modal auxiliary verbs don’t have.• Many verbs can be used either transitively or intransitively. Examples (Burton,1984:125)He hit his opponent hard in the second round. (‘hit’ is used transitively)He hit hard in the second round. (‘hit’ is used intransitively).• Some intransitive verbs are often used with a prepositional phrase, an adverb or anadverbial particle. ExamplesHe doesn’t care about other people’s feelings.Well done, you guessed right!Sit down and tell me all about it.• Like intransitive verbs, some transitive verbs are often used with a prepositionalphrase, an adverb or an adverbial particle that is closely connected with the verb.ExamplesPeter drove me to the airport.That skirt fits you very well.

He gathered up his papers and left.• Some transitive verbs can be used with two objects, as in the following examplesI sold Jim a car.I bought Mary a book.(N.B. Indicate the direct and indirect objects in the above examples).• You can often express the same idea in the bullet above by using the verb as anordinary transitive verb and adding a prepositional phrase starting with to or for (ibid):I sold a car to Jim.I bought a book for Mary.• A verb agrees with its subject in person and in number (Burton, 1984:124 - 125).ExamplesI drive to the station.She drives to the station.They drive to the station.I was driving to the station.67We were driving to the station.• There are regular and irregular forms of verbs(N.B. Study the various forms of regular and irregular verbs, in relation to the concepts oftense and aspect, in Freeborn, 1995:46 and other grammar books).So far we have been discussing verbs in English. Have you thought about verbs inZambian languages? Do you know the different types of verbs in any local language andhow they are formed? If you have not thought about these questions before, your startingpoint is that the distinguishing characteristic of verbals in Zambian languages, like inother Bantu languages, is that they are built up by affixation round a core or verbal rootor radical (Carter and Mann, 1975: 36). In other words affixes such as prefixes, infixesand suffixes are built up around a verbal core or root or radical to form verbs.As Carter and Mann indicate (1975:52) the simplest kind of verbal structure consists ofthe radical followed by a suffixed vowel as tense marker. For example:Bemba: capa (from cap-+-a) ‘wash’Kaonde: leeta (from leet-+-a) ‘bring’Lozi: tusa (from tus-+-a) ‘help’Lunda: tala (from tal-+-a) ‘look’

Luvale: kasa (from kas-+-a) ‘tie’Nyanja: funsa (from funs-+-a) ‘ask’Tonga: boola (from bool-+-a) ‘come’The above structure occurs as the imperative (i.e. command) to a single person in most ofBantu languages. You should bear in mind, however, that this is the absolute minimumnumber of morphemes for a verbal form. It is not unusual to find six or even moremorphemes in a Bantu verb. Look at the following examples.i) Bemba: baisa (from ba- + -is - +-a) ‘they have come’Nyanja: abwera (from a-+-bwer-+-a) ‘He/she/They have come’ii) Bemba: tulabomba (from tu-+-la-+-bomb-+-a) ‘We work’Tonga: ulayanda (from u-+-la-+-yand-+-a) ‘She/he likes/wants’iii) Bemba: tatubomba (from ta-+-tu-+-bomb-+-a) ‘We don’t work’Tonga: tatuyandi (from ta-+-tu-+-yand-+-i) ‘We don’t like/want’iv) Bemba: nshibomba (from n-+-shi-+-bomb-+-a) ‘I don’t work’Lozi: hanizamayi (from ha-+-ni-+zamay-+-i) ‘I am not walking’68v) Nyanja: ndidzakumenyani (from ndi-+-dza-+-ku-+-meny-+-a-+-ni)‘I shall hit you (plural)’vi) Bemba: tatuleebabombela (from ta-+-tu-+-lee-+-ba-+-bomb-+-il-+-a)‘We are not working for them’vii) Lunda: nukumuinkadu (from nu-+-ku-+-mu-+-ink-+-a-+-du) ‘I shall give him/her’viii) Tonga: ndakalikulima (from nd-+-aka-+-li-+-ku-+-lim-+-a) ‘I used tocultivate, was cultivating’We hope you have seen, from the examples given above, that all the verbal morphemessuch as verb stems or roots as well as their pre-prefixes, prefixes, post-prefixes, tense andnegative markers, post - markers, infixes and suffixes are considered as constituting oneword and are, therefore, written conjunctively. Remember that the verbal structure is oneof the main features of the Bantu languages which characterizes them as agglutinativelanguages (i.e. languages in which the constituent morphemes of each word are strungtogether).Activity 4.131. From the examples of Zambian languages verbs given above, identify and labelthe following verbal elements or morphemes in at least two Zambian languages.a) radical

b) pre-prefixc) prefixd) post-prefixe) tense markersf) negative markersg) infixh) suffix2. Name and indicate verbal morphemes in any Zambian language which correspondto the English:a) subject pronouns ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’.b) object pronouns ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, ‘them’ and ‘us’.3. Why are the verbal morphemes mentioned in question 2 above called dependentor bound morphemes? (Refer to the section on ‘The structure of words’ and thesection on pronouns of this module).4. Which morpheme in the following verbal form is a post-marker?baacilaabomba ‘They were working’69(a/ -aci- (b) ba- (c) -a (d) -laa-5. Explain and illustrate why imperatives in Zambian languages are said to havesimplex radicals6. Which morpheme in the verbal form below is a post-ending (i.e. post-suffix)element?tidzabweranso ‘We shall come again’(a) -nso (b) - a - (c) ti- (d) -dza-7. Why is the verbal element -a (i.e the suffix) in adzabwera ‘They/he/she willcome’ called a discontinuous tense marker?8. Explain and illustrate why Zambian languages, like other Bantu languages, arecalled agglutinative languages.9. There are three positions for tense signs in most Zambian languages: before thesubject prefix (sp), immediately after the sp., and following the radical. Giveexamples in the Zambian language to illustrate the three positions for tense signs.10. Illustrate how reciprocal and intensive verbal extension can add to the number ofmorphemes in a verb.11. Why is the radical referred to as the nucleus of the verb in Zambian languages?12. Translate the following sentences into any Zambian language and then identify

and indicate the Zambian language lexical and auxiliary verbs used.a) They are still workingb) She has been writing13. Intransitive and transitive verbs exist in Zambian languages. For example, inBemba the verb pela in the sentence Iinshila yaapela pano ‘This road ends here’is intransitive. Similarly, in this language the word pipa in the sentence Bwalyaaleepipa umwana ‘Bwalya is cleaning or wiping the child after stool’ is transitive.In your Teacher Group compile a list of intransitive and transitive verbs in theZambian language offered to pupils at your school.14. Indicate the position of auxiliary verbs in relation to the main verbs in anyZambian language.15. Establish the case in which some verbs can be used either transitively orintransitively in any Zambian language. For example:70Bemba: Abakashaana baleepela amale ‘The girls are grinding millet’ pelais used transitively)Abakashaana baleepela pano ‘The girls will end here’ (pela isused intransitively)16. Illustrate the use of transitive verbs with two objects (i.e. direct and indirect) inany Zambian Languages and label the verbs as well as the objects.17. Show how a verb agrees with its subject in person in number in any Zambianlanguage.18. Write a short seminar paper on tenses in a particular Zambian language youspeak.19. a) List the major differences between verbal forms in English and Zambianlanguages.b) Indicate pupils’ learning difficulties, in their English lessons, arising fromthese differences and suggest remedies.You need to read more about verbal forms in Zambian languages. Remember, however,that not everything that we have said about English verbs apply to verbs in Zambianlanguages. For example, the conceptions of the European grammatical use of verbs andtenses are quite different from the notions used in Bantu languages where the timereference

of verbs is classified into such familiar terms as present, future and past tenses,etc. Moreover, what may be auxiliary verbs in a Zambian language may mean somethingelse in English. For instance, the verb -suka ‘finish/end by’ in Bemba can be used as anauxiliary, as in Abaice baali baleumana baasuka baalwa. The young ones (i.e. children)were wrangling and ended by fighting, while the corresponding word in English is theconjunction ‘until’ or adverbs such as ‘finally’, ‘at last’.ADVERBSDo you still remember the concept of minor and major word classes? Can you recall thatthe adverb belongs to major word classes that comprise content or lexical words? Well,we would like to remind you that the fourth category of lexical words we are going todiscuss in this unit is the adverb. Can you remember the other three categories of lexicalwords, which we have already discussed? Well, these are: nouns, adjectives and verbs.What is the main function of adverbs? Freeborn (1995:56) says that like adjectives,adverbs are ‘modifying’ words. We know that adjectives modify nouns, but what doadverbs modify? Both Burton (1984:137) and Freeborn (1995:56, 58) say that an adverbmodifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a sentence or a clause.Activity 4.14711. Identify and underline the adverbs in each of the sentences below and then statewhat they are modifying.a) Mr. Banda arrived early.b) These flowers are almost dead.c) John talks so fast that I cannot understand him.d) Indeed, he was so bright he made us uncomfortable.e) They often come here.f) Besides, it was too early to start work.g) I began to feel vaguely uneasy.h) Unfortunately, they didn’t find anybody at home.i) The place had decayed even further.j) We certainly didn’t understand why she left school.k) She cannot stand in front of the class for forty minutes.

2. There are eight kinds of adverbs (Thomson and Martinent, 1979:38; Burton,1984:137 - 138):a) of mannerb) of placec) of timed) of frequencye) of degreef) of durationg) interrogativeh) relative3. Now, identify the adverbs in the following sentences, and then classify them.a) The plane landed late.b) It touched down there.c) It came in slowly.d) The weather was extremely bad.e) The pilot twice tried to land.f) When are you going to Nyimba.g) I have been to Mutintwa village where Chishimba lived.h) Where shall we go?i) November is the month when showers are most likely.j) Mary still dislikes her step daughter.k) He waited for an hour and then went away.We hope the exercise you have been doing has helped you to understand the adverbsbetter. We shall give you more information about this category of lexical words.72

The form of AdverbsWe want to draw your attention to the following points:• Most adverbs of manner and some adverbs of degree are formed by adding -ly to thecorresponding adjectives (Thomson and Martinent, 1979:38; Freeborn, 1995:60):grave, gravelyslow, slowlyimmediate, immediatelycertain, certainlyhappy, happilysure, surely, etcNote that with the exception of leisurely and kindly, adjectives ending in -ly e.g.friendly, lovely, lonely, likely, lowly, have no adverb form• Some adverbs are created from -en/-ed and -ing participles:supposed, supposedly

admitted, admittedlysurprising, surprisinglyannoying, annoyingly• Another less common adverb - forming suffix (i.e. besides -ly) is -wards. Forexample:backwards from back (adverb)downwards from down (adverb)seawards from sea (noun)heavenwards from heaven (noun)• Many adverbs have no marker in their structure by which they can be identified,including some of the most common e.g.almost, always, down, fast, perhaps, rather, then, too, very, yet, etc.• Like adjectives, most adverbs are gradable and form comparative and superlativeforms with -er and -est, or more and most (Freeborn, 1995:59; Burton, 1984:138).With adverbs of two or more syllables the comparative is formed by putting morebefore the adverbs, and the superlative by putting most before the adverb (Thomsonand Martinent, 1979:39) e.g. quick, more quickly, most quicklysingle - syllable adverbs, however, and the adverb early, add -er, -est (ibid) e.g.73hard, harder, hardesthigh, higher, highest• The chief irregular forms of comparisons are:Bad(ly) worse worstFar farther farthest (of distanceonly)further furthest (used ofdistance, time and inan abstract sense)Late later lastLittle less leastmuch more mostwell better bestThe position of adverbsNow, we would like you to pay special attention to the positions that various categoriesof adverbs may take.• Adverbs of place, time and durationThese usually come at the end of a sentence or clause (Forrest, 1979:104):He met with an accident at the crossroads.She joined our class last week

We listened to the radio for half an hourAdverbs of time and duration may be placed at the beginning of a sentence or clause,or immediately after a link word:Last week he joined our class.My sister, who last year got married, now lives in LagosFor half an hour we listened to the radio.Adverbs of place occasionally come at the beginning of a sentence or clause. This isespecially the case with here and there (Forrest, 1979:104):Here is the book you are looking for.I opened the door and there was my brother.• Adverbs of Frequency74Like the adverbs of time, the frequency adverbs are normally placed at the verybeginning or at the very end of a clause or sentence, the end position being the moreusual (Thomson and Martinent, 1979:41):I have been there three times.Rarely do pupils eat good meals.For further information on the position of frequency adverbs read Forrest, 1979:105 -106; Thomson and Martinent, 1979:41 - 42.• Adverbs of MannerThese answer the question ‘How?’ They are usually placed after the direct object if thereis one, otherwise after the verb (Thomson and Martinent, 1979:66)He spoke English well.They walk quickly.Adverbs of manner must never be placed between a verb and its direct object (ibid).In a sentence with the verb in the active form an adverb of manner comes at the end(Forrest, 1979:107):He painted the house very badlyShe made the curtains very wellWe have packed the goods carefullyIf the verb is in the passive form, it is more usual to put the adverb of manner before theparticiple (ibid):The house was very badly paintedThe curtains were very well madeThe goods have been carefully packed• Adverbs of Degree

An adverb of degree modifies an adjective or another adverb. It is placed before theadjective or adverb (Thomson and Martinet, 1979:70).It was too hot to work.I know him quite well.The film was fairly good.They played extremely badly.The following adverbs of degree can also modify verbs: almost, nearly, quite, hardly,scarcely, barely, and just. They are then placed before the main verb (ibid):I quite understand.75He can nearly swim.I am just goingenough follows its adjective or adverb (ibid):He didn’t work quickly enough.The box isn’t big enoughOnly is supposed to be placed next to the word to which it applies, preceding verbs,adjectives, and adverbs and preceding or following nouns and pronouns (ibid):He had only six apples (i.e. not more than six).He only lent the car (i.e. he didn’t give it).He lent the car to me only (i.e. not to anyone else).It is important for you to remember that certain adverbs and adverb phrases, mostly witha restrictive or negative sense, can for emphasis be placed first in a sentence and are thenfollowed by the inverted (i.e. interrogative or question order - auxiliary + subject + verb)form of the verb (Thomson and Martinet, 1979:43; Forrest, 1979:106):Never have I met such a foolish person= I have never met such a foolish personOn no account must this switch be touched. = This switch must not be touchedon any account.Only by shouting at the top of his voice was he able to make himself heard. = Hewas only able to make himself heard by shouting at the top of his voice.Scarcely had she entered the room when the phone rang. = She had scarcelyentered the room when the phone rang.Note also that the other adverbs and adverb phrases that can be placed first in a sentenceare as follows:seldom, ever, hardly/scarcely ... when, no sooner ... than,

nowhere, in no circumstances, only by, only then, only when,only in this way, not only, so, neither, nor.Perhaps you have been wondering whether adverbs do exist in Zambian languages. Well,they do. Note, however, that although the English adverbs cannot be translated intoZambian languages in the same ways, there are few adverbs in these languages that canbe classified like the English ones. As the following examples of Bemba adverbs show,it is also possible in Zambian languages to come up with the eight categories of Englishadverbs we have discussed.• Adverbs of manner76Tuleenda panoono. ‘We are walking slowly’.Pyanga bwangu. ‘Sweep quickly’Ikala bwino ‘Sit well/properly’Ikala tondolo ‘Sit quietly’Aiminiine shilili ‘He/she stood still/silently (i.e. never a word)’Baamuuma icibi ‘They have beaten him/her badly, (i.e. He/she isbadly beaten).’Aawile cimfutya-numa ‘He/she fell backwards’.• Adverbs of timeElyo twasanga umumana ‘Then we found (i.e. came to) a river.’Umunoobe aleekwita nomba ‘Your friend is calling you now.’Bakabomba mailo ‘They will work tomorrow.’Baabombele mailo ‘They worked yesterday.’(N.B. If the verbal form is in the past, mailo can mean yesterday, andtomorrow if the verbal form refers to a future action).Kale abantu baaleefwala impapa shanama ‘Long ago people used to wearhides (i.e. skins of animals).’Bakeesa icungulo - bushiku ‘They will come at nightfall/dusk’.Imfula ileeloka ileelo ‘It will rain today’• Adverbs of placeBiika umushipi palya ‘put the belt there’.Ndi pano/kuno ‘I am here’.Ameenshi yali konse ‘Water is everywhere’Tuli mupeepi na pamushi ‘We are near the village.’Biika icitabo panshi ya cipuna ‘Put the book under the seat/stool’.Isembe lili mwisamba lyamuti ‘The axe is underneath/under the tree’• Adverbs of frequencyMutale eesa kuno lyonse ‘Mutale comes here often’.Cinshi wishila kuno libili-libili? ‘Why do you come here frequently/often?’Tubomba cila-bushiku ‘We work everyday’Abomba limo-limo ‘He/she works sometimes/occasionally’

Naamucimfishe libili ‘I defeated him twice’.• Adverbs of degree77Imilimo naikosa nganshi ‘The work is very difficult.’Aamutemwa icibi ‘He loves her very much/she loves him very much’Baamuuma apakalamba, ‘They have beaten him/her very much’.• Adverbs of durationTwabombele, umweshi umo ‘We worked for one month’Naendele insa shibili ‘I walked for two hours’Note that you need a noun and a numerical adjective to form a phrase that will expressduration as is the case in umweshi ‘month’, umo ‘one’ and insa ‘hour’ shibili ‘two’, inthe examples given above.• Interrogative adverbsNi liilali baishile? ‘When did they come?’Baishile liilali? ‘When did they come? (or literally: They came when?’)Ni kwi baawiso beele? or Baawiso beele kwi? ‘Where has your father gone?’Cinshi or muulandushi ushiiliile ku sukulu? ‘Why haven’t you gone toschool?’• Relative adverbsKu Lusaka uko baile baalicuulile nganshi ‘Lusaka, where they went/had gone,they suffered a lot’.Pa mushi apo baaleikala baalifumapo ‘The village, where they used to live,they have left (i.e. They have left the village where they used to live).Cinshi - kubili eemweshi ilyo imfula iloboka (i.e. itampa) ‘November is themonth when the rain starts again.’Ilyo/lintu twaciya ku mushiika twacisanga Mubanga aleeshitisha amacungwa‘When we went to the market we found Mubanga selling oranges’Nga aisa tuleeya ku Mumbwa ‘When he comes we shall go to Mumbwa’.Ico eeshiile kuno tacishibiikwe ‘The reason why he has come here isunknown’ or Umulandu eeshiile kuno tawishibiikwe.Having looked at the above examples of adverbs in a Zambian language, you should beable to think of examples in other local languages. You should bear in mind, however,78that English adverbs are translated into Zambian languages in other ways, as thefollowing examples drawn from Bemba again indicate:• by the verb extensions:Kaba ‘be hot’ kabisha ‘be very hot’ as in ileelo kwakaba ‘Today it is hot’ andileelo kwakabisha ‘Today it is very hot’.Kalumba aleebutukisha ‘Kalumba is running very fast’ (from aleebutuka‘he/she is running).• by the use of verb phrases

Naalya fyafula ‘I have eaten enough,’Tacaaseeka ‘That doesn’t often happen’.• by the use of nounsAandoleeshe luse-luse ‘He looked at me sympathetically’ (from uluse‘mercy’, ‘pity’, compassion ‘kindness’or ‘sympathy’ ).Twaimine ubushiku ‘We set out at night’ (from ubushiku ‘night’)Aisa ulubilo ‘He/she came quickly (from ulubilo ‘speed’ or ‘rapidity’).• by the use of a verb and an encliticAandoleeshefye ‘He/she only/just looked at me’ (from Aandoleeshe ‘he/shelooked at me’).Ameenshi naayakabako ‘The water is slightly/a little warm’ (from naayakaba‘it is warm’)Aleesekafye ‘He/she is just/only laughing (from aleeseka ‘he/she is laughing’).• by the use of a verb, an enclitic and an adverbUmukashi wakwe alifye bwino. His wife is just fine’ (from ali bwino ‘She isfine’).Abalumendo balifye mupeepi ‘The boys are very near/just near (from balimupeepi ‘they are near’).• by the use of a verb, an enclitic and infinitiveAishibafye ukwangala ‘She/he just/only knows to play (i.e. ‘She/he knowsnothing else but play’) from ‘aishiba uku - angala ‘she/he knows to play’)• by the use of a verb, an enclitic and an adjective79Tulifye abeengi ‘We are very numerous/many (i.e. there are many of us’)(from tuli aba - ingi’, literally: ‘We are many’).• by the use of a verb and an adverbAmeenshi naayakaba panoono ‘The water is slightly/a little warm’ (fromKaba panoono ‘be slightly/a little warm’).• by the use of a noun, an enclitic and a numerical adjectiveUbushikufye bumo ‘Literally: day only/just one; i.e. one day only or only/justone day’ (from ubushi bumo ‘day one’ or ‘one day’).We are certain that the form or structure of the expressions used to render the Englishadverbs into Zambian languages is quite apparent from the examples under Englishadverbs are translated into Zambian languages in other ways. When you comparethe English adverbs we discussed earlier with their Zambian languages equivalents youwill notice that almost all the latter (i.e. Zambian languages adverbs) have no marker intheir structure by which they can be identified. For example, while it is easy to tell that itis the addition of the suffix -ly to the adjective slow which changes it (i.e. slow) to an

adverb slowly, there is no marker in the structure of panoono or paniini by which theycan be identified as adverbs of manner.You also need to know that the comparative and superlative forms of the English adverbsare rendered by either verbal extension and verbal or other forms of word reduplication inZambian languages. For example:Run faster(From Butuka ‘run’ ‘Butukisha’ and ‘-sha ‘very much’ or ‘fast’)Mary is the fastest runner‘Maliya eubutukishaWalk more slowly‘Enda panoono - panoono’ (from enda ‘walk’ and panoono - panoono more slowly’Literally: slowly slowly’)Musonda comes here more frequently ‘Musonda eesa kuno libili - libili’ (from eesa‘he/she comes and libili - libili ‘more frequently’ or literally: twice - twice’).80Note that the suffix -isha, which usually indicates the intensive verbal extension, marksboth the comparative and superlative forms of the adverb quickly.Mary runs more quickly than her sister‘Maliya alabutukisha ukucila nkashi naankwe’.Of all the girls in the village, Mary runs the most quickly ‘Pabakashaana bonse mumushiMaliya eubutukisha’We hope you can make three other observations from the above examples:(i) that in the comparative form, the verb that we are extending to express theEnglish adverb more quickly many maintain its positive or base form e.g. Maliyaeubutuka (instead of alabutukisha) ukucila nkashi-naankwe’ = Mary runs morequickly than her sister.ii) that the same construction can express both the comparative and superlative formsof the English adverb e.g.Maliya eubutuka ukucila nkashi - naankwe = Mary is the one who runs more(quickly) than her sister.’Maliya eubutuka ukucila abakashaana bonse mu mushi = Literally: Mary is theone who runs the most (quickly) than the girls all in the village (i.e. of all thegirls in the village, Mary runs the most quickly).

iii) Sometimes the comparative and the superlative forms of adverbs in Zambianlanguages can be the sameiv) that the comparative expression or term ukucila ‘to surpass/to go beyond/tooutstrip’ is equivalent to than.Have you thought about the position of adverbs in Zambian languages? This cannotcause any problem because the rules are the same as those for English adverbs. Forexample:We read for one hour.= Twacibelenga insa imo(The adverb of duration comes at the end of a sentence or clause)Then we came to a river.= Elyo twasanga umumana(The adverb of time is at the beginning of a sentence or clause)They worked well.= Baabombele bwino(The adverb of manner comes after the verb)81She put the belt there= Aacibiika umushipi palya.(The adverb of place is placed after the direct object).When he comes we shall dance or we shall dance when he comes.= Nga aisa tuleecinda or Tuleecinda nga aisa.(The adverbial clause, which is infact the relative adverb, may be placed at the beginningor at the end of a sentence or clause).Activity 4.151. Which of the following statements are true?a) All the English adverbs end in suffix -ly.b) A lot of adverbs of manner and some adverbs of degree in English are formed byadding -ly to the corresponding adjectives.c) ‘admittedly’ ‘clearly’, ‘luckily’, ‘indeed’, ‘personally’, ‘surprisingly’ and‘unfortunately’ are examples of words which are commonly used to modifysentences or clauses (i.e. used as sentence or clause adverbs).d) The word friendly in the sentence She is a friendly person is an adverbe) Whereas the word leisurely has been used as an adverb in the sentenceJohn walked to the shop leisurely, it has been used as an adjective in Johnenjoyed a leisurely drink.f) Adverbs in Zambian languages and many English adverbs such as very,down, too, rather, almost, and so on have no marker in their structure bywhich they can be identified as adverbsg) All the adverbs are gradable and form comparative and superlative forms

with -er and -est.h) Adverbs in Zambian languages don’t take the same positions as Englishadverbs2. a) Which of the following sentences has the adverb neatly in a more usualposition?i) His hair was trimmed neatly.ii) His hair was neatly trimmed.b) Give reasons for your answer in question 2(a) above3. Translate the following sentences into the Zambian language offered to pupils atyour school and then:i) identify and underline the adverbs82ii) classify the adverbsiii) state and comment on the position of adverbs in each sentencea) My shoes are under the chair.b) I saw her last month.c) He played football for thirty minutes.d) For one hour we were looking at the picture.e) John, your brother is waiting for you now.f) Last week they came here twice.g) They always visit us.h) We ate rice very quickly.i) My husband is very intelligent.j) The books were carefully packed.k) She brought only five oranges.l) When did you go to Mongu?m) I have been to Musangu village where President Chiluba lived.n) I don’t know why he left home early.4. Establish whether these words of expressing adverbs (page 74-79) exist in anyother local language you are familiar with.5. Give examples of other ways of translating the English adverbs into Kaonde,Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja or Tonga apart from the ones used in the sentencesin question 3 above.6. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given.a) The pupils stopped making noise as soon as the teacher entered theclassroomBegin: No sooner .................................................................................................b) The effect of government policy is more apparent in agriculture thananywhere else.Rewrite this sentence to end ............................................... than in agriculture.

7. Explain the difference between the following sentences:a) Mr. Banda only bought an orange.b) Only Mr. Banda bought an orange.8.a) Prepare a table in which you summarize similarities and differencesbetween English adverbs and Zambian languages adverbs.83b) Predict and list the difficulties which Zambian pupils learning Englishadverbs are likely to face.9.a) Prepare a monthly forecast or scheme of work for a Grade 3 class in whichyou write the items from the adverbs in the Zambian language offered topupils at your school.b) Choose an item from the forecast you have prepared and then design athirty-minute lesson plan for your class.PREPOSITIONSWe hope you still remember that while nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs are contentor lexical words, prepositions, like pronouns, conjunctions and interjections, are structureor function words. Now, what do you think a preposition is? Look at Burton’s definitionof a preposition (1984:139):A preposition is a ‘relating’ word. It relates either a nounor a pronoun or a noun equivalent to another word. Thatother word may be: (i) a noun; (ii) a verb; (iii) an adjective.Burton (ibid) gives the following examples:We had a room at the old hotel. (Preposition at relates noun room to nounhotel)We stayed there for a week. (Preposition for relates verb stayed to noun week)The place was full of visitors. (Preposition of relates adjective full to nounvisitors)Everyone was very kind to us. (Preposition to relates adjective kind topronoun us)You will notice, as Burton indicates (ibid), that the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent‘governed by’ a preposition is the object of that preposition.Are you aware that prepositions can be simple or complex? What is the differencebetween simple and complex prepositions? Well, simple prepositions are single wordssuch as at, in, on, under, over, to, off, by, from, for, since, onto and into. Complexprepositions consist of more than one word (Freeborn, 1995:66). For example, out of,

84away from, because of, instead of, in common with, by means of, on behalf of, withregard to and in spite of.You should pay particular attention to the way a preposition or prepositional phrase hasbeen used in a sentence in order for you to know whether it implies place, time ormovement.Activity 4.161. Identify and underline the prepositions in each of the sentences below and thenstate whether they refer to place, time or movement.a) I didn’t see the teacher enter into the classroom.b) The students are in the library.c) She folded the letter and put it into an envelope.d) Some money dropped out of your pocket when you stood up.e) The teacher found pupils standing outside the classroom.f) At the end of the first period the teacher walked out of the roomg) The coat has a detachable lining insideh) His watch is inside the brown boxI) ‘Take your bag off the table,’ the teacher told the pupil. ‘You are not supposed toput your bag onto the teacher’s table,’ continued the teacher.j) The book you are looking for is on my deskk) There was pandemonium in the Grade 1 classroom. Some pupils were climbingover the desks while others were crawling under their desks.l) Our dog is under the dining table.m) Let’s walk towards the river.n) A large insect is flying across the living room.o) When I disagreed with Mary she walked away from me towards the bookshop.p) He will fly to Nairobi tomorrow.q) We spent the night at a small village near the river.r) I have been living in Lusaka for ten years.s) She woke up at 06.00 hours.t) He has been a wealthy man since the day he inherited his father’s money.u) We arrived in the evening and went straight to the Bandas.v) We shall go to Livingstone on Wednesday.w) I will see you at Easter.x) We refused to travel on Christmas Day.y) You should bring the book to the office by 10.00 hours.We hope you were able to identify and put the prepositions into the three categories: place orposition, time and date, travel and movement. We shall come to this later.

85As a teacher of English as a second language (ESL) you are probably aware of thedifficulties associated with learning prepositions. Some of these problems are asfollows:• Some prepositions can be used in two or three categories. For example, at, in, on canindicate both time and place while over and across can denote either place ormovement, thus:The museum will be closed in August. (Preposition in refers to period of time).The plates are in the cupboard. (Preposition in suggests ‘within the shape ofsomething’, ‘enclosed by’; can also denote ‘at a point within the area or space ofsomething).The bell rang at 14.00 hours. (Preposition at refers to an exact point in time).We shall meet at the station. (Preposition at denotes a point in space).They are arriving on Sunday. (Preposition on indicates ‘a time when somethinghappens’, ‘used with days and with dates which include the day’)Leave the glasses on the table. (Preposition on suggests in or into a position covering,touching or forming part of a surface’).My house is just across the street (i.e. ‘on the other side of the street’, thus indicating apoint in space).He walked across the street (i.e. ‘from one side to the other side of the street’.Preposition across ‘used with words of motion to indicate the process of moving’)She held a large umbrella over her sick child. (Preposition over denotes position orplace’)The boy jumped over the table. (The preposition over ‘suggest movement’).• We can have two or more prepositions denoting time or place but giving differentmeanings. For example:Mary is at the swimming - pool. (Preposition at indicates place and it suggests thatMary is sitting or standing ‘beside’ the swimming - pool).Mary is in the swimming - pool. (Preposition in also indicates place but suggests thatMary is ‘actually in the water’).• Some words can be used as either prepositions or adverbs. For example:

He climbed up the rope (Preposition)He went up in the lift (adverb)Don’t leave the toothpaste with the top off. (adverb)86You should keep off the grass. (Preposition).Can you come up with guidelines or clues from the examples above, to help youdetermine whether a word has been used as an adverb or a preposition? Look at theexamples again. You should remember that a preposition is followed by a noun phrase(NP) to form a prepositional phrase (Prep) (Freeborn, 1995:66). In other words, apreposition can be followed immediately by a noun, pronoun or gerund while adverbs caneven be used alone (Thomson and Martinent, 1979:52). In the prepositional phrase theNP is the complement of the preposition - it completes the phrase (Freeborn, 1995:66).• A preposition can sometimes come at the end of a phrase, clause or sentence (Burton,1984:139).You probably know that preposition means ‘placed before’. This is so because apreposition often precedes the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent that is its object.However, when a preposition has as its object an ‘understood’ relative pronoun, thepreposition can come at the end of a phrase, clause or sentence, hereby breaking the‘general rule’. For example:That is the room we stayed in. (That is the room in which we stayed). Therefore, we sayThis is the desk which he invariably wrote at or this is the desk at which he invariablywrote. Each of these sentences is correctly constructed. The only difference is that thefirst version is less formal than the second (Burton, 1984:139).• When a verb is placed immediately after a preposition the gerund form is used:I am tired of waitingNote, however, that but and except are followed by the infinitive without to:They did nothing but complain. I would do anything for her except eat what she cooks.Activity 4.17

1. Classify the prepositions used in the following sentences under the sub-headingsplace or position, time and date, travel and movement.a) The boy swam across the river.b) The shops put prices up at Christmasc) We arrived at the village early.d) The conductor told me to get out of the bus.e) I will see you on 3rd Julyf) Schools will open in Septemberg) Why are those pupils standing outside the headteacher’s office?h) We shall be in Kabwe by 16.00 hours87i) They work from 08.00 till 17.00 hours.j) I haven’t seen Mary since January.2. Use appropriate prepositions to fill in the blanks in the following passage:Nanyangwe walked ..................................... the bridge and sat down.............................. a large stone. Simfukwe was swimming ..................................the river. When he saw Nanyangwe he got .................................... the water andran ........................her. Nanyangwe got ..................................... the stone andwalked ................................. Simfukwe because she was angry with him.Simfukwe stopped and watched Nanyangwe walking ...................................... thefield, then he smiled, jumped ............................. a fallen tree and dived back................................. the river.(Adapted from: English Through situations book 1 by Rod Ellis and BrianTomlinson, 1974).3. What is the difference between the use of the word off in the following twosentencesa) Michael got on his bike and rode offb) He got off his bike and padlocked it4. The bus usually leaves at 08.30 hours. We reached the bus stop before 08.30hours. Therefore, we were.................................... for the bus.a) at time b) on time c) for time d) in time.5. The expression got off in the sentence He got off his bike and padlocked it means:a) rode away b) dismounted from c) mounted d) entered6. Did you say you have difficulties starting your new car? Well, you will get usedto it in time.The expression ‘in time’ meansa) forever b) eventually c) before long d) in thebeginning

7. The main post office is ................................. Cairo Road.a) along b) in c) at d) on8. This is the book for which I paid K50,000. Rewrite this sentence so that thepreposition comes at the end.889. Identify the words in bold type as either adverbs or prepositions.a) She ran along the passageb) Come along; we’re late alreadyc) The radio is offd) The ship sank off Mpulungu harboure) Money for famine relief keeps coming in.f) My father fell off a ladderg) His village is across the riverh) She helped the blind man across.We would now like you to think about prepositions in Zambian languages. Asyou reflect upon this, you should note that most of the English prepositions maybe translated by the nouns in the locative classes 16, 17 and 18, which we discussedunder Nouns. They appear in class 16 as pa - in Bemba, Kaonde and Nyanja; fa- in Lozi;ha- in Lunda and Luvale and a- in Tonga and generally mean at or on. In class 17 theselocative prefixes appear as Ku- in all but one language, Lozi, where the variant Kwa- isused. Both Ku-and kwa- convey the meaning at, to, from or towards. The mwa- of class18 in Lozi and mu- in the other six languages carry the meaning in, within, inside andinto. You should remember that although most scholars regard the above forms aslocative prefixes, some prefer to call them prepositions because they perform the work ofEnglish prepositions.In some languages these locative prefixes have variants. For example paa-, pali-, kwa-,kuli-, mwa-, in Bemba; kuli-, ali- in Tonga; and hadi, kudi, mudi in Lunda.In most of these languages these locative prefixes which function as prepositions, arejoined to common nouns but separated from proper nouns, thus:Tonga: mucikolo ‘inside the school’kumunzi ‘at home’amunzi ‘at the village’amulyango ‘at the door’Ku Monze ‘to/at Monze’Mu Kalomo ‘in Kalomo’

kuli Chimuka ‘to Chimuka’kwa Haakamata ‘at Haakamata’s home’kuli Leza ‘to God’Lunda: hakesi ‘on fire’kumenzhi ‘at the water’mwitempa ‘in the garden’ku ishindi ‘to Ishindi’kudi mukwamu ‘to another’hadi kawumbu ‘upon an anthill’mudi nzambi ‘in God’89(Source: Zambian languages orthography, Ministry of Education, 1977).Note that the English prepositions of place, time, movement and other categories can betranslated by using the locative prefixes mentioned above as well as other constructions:Tonga: Mu musumbuluko ‘On Monday’ (time)muli Bwabili ‘on Tuesday’ (time)mu Kalomo ‘in Kalomo’ (place)ku Monze ‘to Monze’ (movement)walimo ‘he has been in’ (place)Note that in the last example the enclitic or locative suffix - mo is a preposition particleindicating place. This is common in other Zambian languages as well.Bemba: Ku Chinsali ‘to Chinsali’ (Movement)mwa Mulenga ‘in Mulenga’s hut’ (place)Mulenga aafuma kwa Nsama. ‘Mulenga is from Nsama (place or direction).Baaya kunse ya muputule. ‘They have gone out of the room’ (Kunse ya’ a combinationof an adverbial particle kunse and a connective pronoun of in Bemba give us the Englishpreposition of movement out of)Nomba bali panse. ‘Now they are outside’ (Preposition of place).There are many ways of translating the English prepositions in each Zambian language.You should read the grammar books of a particular local language you teach in order tobe familiar with the prepositions used.Activity 4.181.a) List the locative prefixes used as prepositions in any Zambian languageand indicate their variants, if any.b) Construct ten sentences using the locative prefixes mentioned above andthen state the kind of prepositions used in each sentence.2. Translate the following prepositions into the Zambian languages you speak and

then classify them.a) from (i) aboveb) towards (j) underc) on the log (k) outsided) into (l) out ofe) in (m) in front of90f) inside (n) betweeng) within (p) in the evening3. Use four examples of words in any Zambian language that can be used as eitheradverbs or prepositions. Make sentences to support your answers.4. Illustrate how enclitics or locative suffixes can be used to denote prepositions inany Zambian language.5. Explain and illustrate the rules for the use of prepositions beforea) names of placesb) names of personsc) the days of the weekd) independent personal, demonstrative and interrogative pronouns in anyZambian language.6. Establish the case of simple and complex prepositions in Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda,Luvale, Nyanja or Tonga. For example:Bemba: Simple prepositionsna as in Aile na Bwalya‘He went with Bwalya’mpaka as in uleelinda mpaka mailo‘(You) wait here till tomorrow.’ukwabula as in Aangumine ukwabula umulandu‘He/she beat me without a reason’Complex prepositionsPamuulu wa as in Biika icitabo pamuulu wa mupando‘Put the book on top of the chair’Kuntanshi ya as in Bali kuntanshi ya mulongo‘They are in front of the queue’Pakati ka as in Imbwa ili pakati ka musebo‘The dog is at/in the centre of the road’.CONJUNCTIONSHave you thought about the meaning of conjunctions? We know you use conjunctionsquite often in your written and spoken English or Zambian languages. Before we discussthis sub-topic we would like you to begin with an exercise.91Activity 4.19

The two passages below do not read the same. Read them carefully and then:1. Identify the passage in which ideas flow more smoothly2. Explain why they do not read the same3. Identify and list features that make one passage different from the other.A. I woke up at mid-night. I realized that it was raining heavily. I stretched my arm.I tried to lift the curtain of my bedroom window. It was not within my reach. Ijumped out of bed. I lifted the curtain. I wanted to see what it looked like outside.It was very dark. I didn’t see anything. I stood near the window. I wonderedwhat had happened to the security lights I had switched on. I heard a loud bangon the living-room door. I was terrified. I didn’t panic. I didn’t shout for help. Icrept quietly into my bed. I covered myself from toes to my head. I lay there. Iwas thinking about what that noise could be. I fell asleep.B. When I woke up at mid-night I realized that it was raining heavily. I stretched myarm and tried to lift the curtain of my bedroom window but it was not within myreach. I jumped out of bed and lifted the curtain so that I could see what it lookedlike outside. Because it was very dark I didn’t see anything. As I stood near thewindow wondering what had happened to the security lights I had switched onbefore I went to bed, I heard a loud bang on the living-room door. Although Iwas terrified, I neither panicked nor shouted for help. However, I crept quietlyinto my bed and covered myself from toes to my head. While I lay there thinkingabout what that noise could be, I fell asleep.We hope you have noticed that the difference between these two passages doesnot only lie in the style or variety of sentences but also in the absence orpresence of certain words in either passage. You must have seen that there are types offunction words in passage B that are not in the other passage. You must also have seenthat it is these words (i.e. these which are not found in passage A) which link and relatewords within phrases, phrases within clauses, clauses within sentences and sentenceswith other sentences in passage B (Freeborn, 1995:85). These words are called

conjunctions because they join words, phrases or sentences. Did you identify examplesof these words in passage B? Check your answers and see if you had identified when,and, but, so, because, as, before, although, neither, nor, however and while. Can yougive other examples of conjunctions?Now look at Burton’s explanation and illustration of these ‘joining’ words (1984:140):• They link single words together: A parent and child can travel on one ticket.• They link phrases together: A bad journey by rail or road.92• They link two main clauses together to form a double sentence: I have written but Ihave not had a reply.• They link more than two main clauses together to form a multiple sentence: As I waswalking along Cairo road, I met a blind man who was asking for alms but I neithergave him anything nor paid attention to him because I had very little money.• A co-ordinating conjunction links co-ordinate clauses: that is, clauses of equal rank. itmay link two or more main clauses, as in the example just given. It may link two ormore subordinate clauses of equal rank and identical function: for example, two coordinateadjective - clauses.• A subordinating conjunction links a subordinate clause to a main clause: When theorchestra stopped, the audience was silent.The crowd grew restless as the speaker droned on.You need to read more on conjunctions. Check the following list of examples and ensurethat you study them carefully in order to understand the way they are used:or, though/although, nevertheless, however, like, as, for,because, both, either, neither, so, nor, when, while, etc.You should remember that these conjunctions have different functions. In other words,they do not always convey the same meaning. For example (Thomson and Martinent,1979:53 - 56):• Whereas though, although, nevertheless, however, but and the phrase in spite ofcan be used to combine two opposing or contrasting statements, as can be used when

the second action occurs before the first is finished:He was angry, but he listened to me patiently.Although he was angry, he listened to me.As I left the house I remembered the key.• Although as can also be used with a noun alone, in the same way as like, there is somedifference in meaning:I worked as a slave (i.e. I was a slave)I worked like a slave (i.e. I worked very hard (but I was a free man))Note, however, that sometimes some conjunctions can convey the same meaning:We had to walk all the way as/because/since we had no money for fares.Now think of examples of conjunctions used in the Zambian language you speak.93Do you know that even Zambian languages conjunctions function like the English oneswe have looked at? Look at the following examples:Bemba:• Abalumendo na bakashaana baleebomba ‘The boys and girls are working’• Akatutumina ulupiya nangu ifyakufwala ‘He/she will send us money or clothes’• Akeesa kuno nangu akaya ku Chingola ‘He/she will either come here or go toChingola’• Naalibatumina ulupiya nomba tabaisa ‘I have sent them money but they haven’tcome.’• Nga wafika pamasansa uye upaasukile ku kabanga ‘When you arrive at thecrossroads you should turn to the east’.• Ilyo Chishimba na Kasongo baaleeya baamwene inkalamo iilume na iikota shacilukaumusebo leelo tabaatiinine iyo pantu baali abalumendo abaashipa nganshi ‘As/whileChishimba and Kasongo were going they saw a male lion and a female lion cross theroad but hey were not frightened at all because they were very brave young men’.The other examples of conjunctions in Bemba are:Lintu, when; kanshi, but/therefore; na, both; neelyo, or;apo, since/as/because; awe, and so; aatemwa,perhaps/or/either; eico/ecalenga, therefore.Can you think of examples of conjunctions in other Zambian languages? Look at thefollowing:Kaonde: ne, and, even

nangwa, either ... orponkapo, thereon, thereuponkabiji, and so, as well asLunda: na/ni/nawa, and, withhela, orLuvale: na, with, andshikaho, becauseoleze, butmwomu, because.Lozi: ni, and, withkabakala, because ofnihakulicwalo, neverthelesskabakaleo, wherefore, therefore.94We hope the examples of conjunctions given above will help you to think of moreconjunctions used in the local language you speak.Activity 4.201. What is a conjunction?2. With the help of examples from both English and Zambian languages, explainhow conjunctions link:a) single words togetherb) phrases togetherc) two main clauses together or form a double sentenced) and relate words both within a sentence and one sentence with anothere) the two main clauses together to form a multiple sentence.3. Illustratea) the use of two different conjunctions to convey the same meaning in both Englishand Zambian languages.b) the use of one conjunction to convey different meanings in both English andZambian languages.4. Prepare two lesson plans, one in English and the other one in the Zambian languageoffered to pupils at your school, in which you teach conjunctions.5. Write a two-page seminar paper in which you discuss the significance of conjunctions inmaintaining coherence and smooth flow of ideas in written workINTERJECTIONSAs we come to the end of our discussion on word classes, we would like to look atinterjections. We hope you still remember that interjections belong to minor wordclasses. But what are interjections?

Read ReferenceRead the passage below and answer the questions that follow.As Mrs. Elizabeth Chishala was busy knitting in the livingroom,she heard a loud sound of a dropping tray and otherkitchen utensils. She sprang to her feet and rushed to the95kitchen. Lo and behold, a tray, spoons, forks, cups andplates - some of them broken - were on the floor.Kalangila, Mrs. Chishala’s daughter, stood astride thescattered utensils motionless, but terrified.“Oh dear! You have broken more plates and cups again?”gasped Mrs. Chishala. “My! Look at her! Why are you socareless?” continued Mrs. Chishala.“Hm! Well ...,” Kalangila tried to speak.“Damn it! Have you suddenly become dumb?” Hermother screamed. “Poor thing! What happened?” Shesnarled at her daughter.“But mum, it was just an accident. I was just trying to ...”“Stop it, I say! Start tidying up the kitchen,” shrieked Mrs.Chishala.Upon hearing his wife scolding the dumbfounded girl, Mr.Kapeepa Chishala came to see what had happened.“What a sight!” He exclaimed. “Now ... Gosh! You havebroken my favourite teacups!” He roared.“Dad, I ... you know ...,” Kalangila mumbled.“Shut up!” her father shouted, “You are such a carelessgirl!”1. What was Mrs. Chishala doing in the living - room?2. What was Kalangila doing while her mother was in the living room?3. How many people are mentioned in this story?4. Explain each person’s reaction to what had happened in this story.5. Identify and write down the words or phrases that depict the kind of emotion eachperson expressed.6. State the function of each word or phrase used to express each emotion in theabove passageWhat kind of ideas were passing through your mind when you were reading the passageabout Mrs. Chishala and her daughter? Did you realize that you were actually looking at96the way some interjections are used? Did you identify the interjections used? Did youidentify the interjections in the passage when you read it for the first time or after

answering questions 5 and 6 above? We hope you identified the following interjections:lo, oh dear, hm, well, my, look at her, damn it, poor thing, I say,what a sight, gosh, you know.You must have seen from the passage that interjections express feelings orattitudes. They do not play any part in the grammar of a sentence (Burton,1984:140). They may take the form of sounds (‘Hm!’); of single words (‘well!’); ofphrases (‘Oh dear!’); of sentences (‘I say!’; ‘you know’) (ibid).Perhaps you can now answer the question: What is an interjection? Explain this to yourfellow teacher. The dictionary defines it as a word or phrase used to express suddensurprise, pleasure, annoyance, etc. What do you think is expressed in: oh! Hurry! Damn!Ah! Aha! Hello! Hey! Phew! Okay, Oh! Oh well,. We hope you have seen thatinterjections can be used to show surprise, pleasure, annoyance, frustration, etc.However, you should bear in mind that sometimes an interjection can be used to expressmore than one meaning. For example:Oh yes I will (used for emphasis or when reacting to something that has been said).Oh well, never mind (as above)Oh look! (expressing surprise or fear)Oh, how horrible! (expressing surprise or disgust)Oh John, can you come over here for a minute? (Used to attract somebody’s attention)(Source: Hornby, 1995:804 - 805 Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).Are you aware that there are similar interjections in Zambian languages? Look at thefollowing examples:Nyanja: Ha! Apita? Ah! Is he gone? Oo! Wagwa! Alas! He has fallen?Tonga: Akaka! (exclamation of surprise)Yawee! (exclamation of surprise, etc.)Aa! Ncili? (exclamation expressing disapproval)Bemba: Yaba! ndeefwaya ukulya! ‘Gosh! I want to eat!’ (expressingimpatience)Ata see! Ee nkonde wampeela ii? ‘Rubbish! Is this the banana you havegiven me?’ (expressing disgust or disapproval).Yangu! Naabafwa? ‘Oh dear! Are they dead?’ (expressing greatsurprise, grief, or wonder)Kalulu baabiikeene icibusa na cisongo. Awe bushiku bumo ... ‘Mr. Harewas on friendly terms with Mr. Bushbuck. Well, one day ...’ (used to gaintime for thought).97

Since you have had time to look at examples of interjections in both English and someZambian languages, you should be able to think of your own examples. It is importantfor you to identify both the words and phrases used as interjections in any language andthe various functions each interjection performs.A c t i v i t y 4 . 211. With the help of examples from both English and any Zambian language, explainwhat an interjection is.2. Give two examples of interjections which may take the form of: a) sounds b)single words c) phrases3. Explain and illustrate the meaning of the following statement: Interjections donot play any part in the grammar of a sentence.4. From the possible answers given below each of the following sentences choosethe one that expresses the meaning of the interjection used.a) Ah, what a lovely baby!i) sympathy ii) anger iii) admiration iv) envyb) Aha, so that’s where you hide your money!i) satisfaction ii) disappointment iii) disagreement iv) admirationc) Ah, but that may not be true.i) surprise ii) disagreement iii) understanding iv) delightd) Well, what a thing to say!i) anger ii) sympathy iii) surprise iv) timiditye) Well, here we are at last!i) agreement ii) defeat iii) impatience iv) relieff) I think they came, well, towards the end of last year.i) gaining time for thoughtii) showing ignoranceiii) exhibiting confidenceiv) showing uncertainty5. Give examples of interjections used to express pleasure, annoyance,disapproval, impatience, admiration, satisfaction and disagreement in bothEnglish and a Zambian language.6. Using examples, one from English and the other from the Zambian language youspeak, show how an interjection can be used to express more than one meaning.986. Prepare two lesson plans, one in English and the other one in the Zambian language

offered to pupils at your school, in which you teach a Grade 4 class a simpler function ofinterjections that they can easily understand.Summary• Word classes exist in every language.• Word classes are part of the grammar of both English and Zambian languages.• The change of terminology from parts of speech to word classes indicates that therehas been a shift in emphasis from notional definitions to the structural features thatsignal the way in which groups of words behave in a language or, put simply, in asentence.• Words belong to two categories: the major word classes which consist of content orlexical words such as nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs; and the minor word classeswhich comprise structural or functional words such as articles, pronouns, prepositions,conjunctions and interjections.• Whereas the major word classes (Which are also referred to as open word classes)have an unlimited number of words (i.e. new words can be added to them), minor orclosed word classes have a limited number of words (i.e. no new words can be added;they are constant in number).• Although words can be put in categories called word classes, some words can qualifyto be in two or more classes depending on the way they have been used in sentences.• There are similarities and differences between various categories of words in Englishand Zambian languages.• There aren’t as many similarities between English and any Zambian language as thereare between Zambian languages, as the structure of words and their arrangement intobigger units such as phrases and sentences indicate.• The morphological and syntactical features that may be accepted in English may notbe accepted in Zambian languages, and vice versa.In each language there could be different ways of expressing what has been stated in99

UNIT 5: PHONOLOGYLanguage BackgroundIntroductionHave you never wondered what you are doing when you are speaking? Do you ever thinkof the fact that your words are organised sounds? Have you never marvelled at the factthat those to whom you direct these organised sounds actually respond to yourutterances? These utterances and organised sounds that you produce make up a language.Let us now look closely at what language is.The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines language as:‘a system of sounds and words used by humans to express their thoughts and feelings’.We can deduce from the definition that humans use a structured system of sounds andwords to convey messages. What then is this structure? Read this unit to find out more.Learning outcomesThe teacher should be able to:• Demonstrate knowledge of phonological features.• Teach pupils how to produce sounds first in their mother tongue and then English.Read ReferenceIn the conversation below, we meet two ladies - Chintu and Munzya. They both work atthe Ministry of Education offices situated in Longacres. Working with them are twoChinese experts who like Chintu and Munzya share an office directly opposite them.Chintu: Chinese! Oh, what a language! No one can make out what they say(taps on her desk to attract Munzya’s attention while pointing to theirneighbour’s door). I wonder, can anyone in the world understand theirlanguage?Munzya: It’s all noise, that’s what I can say. Their language sounds sodisorganised that it is difficult to believe that they understand eachother. As for learning, yes, why shouldn’t anybody learn Chinese?Chintu: Of course Munzya, you are right, anybody can learn it100Munzya: But the language is disorganised, right? It is a mass of confusion.Chintu: I don’t quite agree with that. Chinese is as good a language as any other.If it is a mass of confusion, how then do Chinese men propose love to theirwomen?

C and M: (laughter)Chintu: ... and how did they make such technological advancements? I hear HongKong is splendid! (Briefly roles and shuts her eyes as if day dreaming).How else did they reach such levels of development if they did not havean organised and common language?Munzya: Chintu, there are other factors that are important in development, but I seeyour point. The construction of the ‘Tower of Babel’ in the Bible is a goodexample. They say that people were able to build because of unity inspeech and language. What does it say - that God confused them so thatthey could no longer understand each other?Chintu: What a tragedy, but language is such a powerful tool. The ‘Tower ofBabel’ case is really very interesting. Tell me, does our lack ofunderstanding Chinese point to that confusion? All that we hear aredisorganised and meaningless sounds. I bet they think the same of ourCitonga too! Linguists talk about phonemic differences - whatever theymean by that. You know, the other day I bought a music system andbelieve it or not, all the operating instructions were in Chinese!C and M (laughter with chorus response) ... spoken and written Chinese!Munzya: ... and how did you manage to read that? Chintu, I must get this reportready before sunset (flipping the papers and beginning to write).Activity 5.11. The conversation above brings out important aspects of communication. What arethey?2. Speech and writing are two different systems of communication. State the differencesbetween them.Speech Writing1. ................................................ 1. ...................................................................2. ................................................ 2. ..................................................................1013. ................................................ 3. ..................................................................4. ................................................ 4. ..................................................................3. Read the story about the ‘Tower of Babel’ in Genesis 11:1-12 from the Bible andanalyse the experiences of the people and the result of the confusion. State whether alinguistic analysis of language is important in determining its importance incommunication.

In the conversation above, Chintu refers to ‘phonemic differences’. In order tounderstand what this is, it is important to be certain about how languageoperates.Gleason, 1955 writes: “Language operates with two kinds of material. One of these issound. Almost any sort of noise that the human vocal apparatus can produce is used insome way in some language. The other is ideas, social situations, meanings, the facts orfantasies about man’s existence, the things man reacts to and tries to convey to hisfellows.”Chintu and Munzya always heard a ‘jumble of sounds’ from their colleagues. They neverreally understood the language. They only heard sounds, which are the material thatlanguage uses to carry its message.We can hence say that speech is an orderly sequence of specific kinds of sounds and ofsequences of sounds. In English, sounds are grouped into consonants and vowels (whichwe shall discuss in detail later). Within these sounds, there are certain features that arecommon to all speakers of a given speech and are produced in repetition. These featuresare called phonemes. Phonemes are individual sounds of a language that may berepresented by a single written letter or by a combination of letters. (Sesnan, 1997:39)Different languages have different phonemes and this is the reason why Chintu andMunzya heard only a ‘jumble’ they could not repeat. The sounds of the unfamiliarlanguage could not fit into their phonemic system.Let us now look at how humans produce sound.In this part of the unit, we want you to think in great detail about how sounds areproduced. It is important that you practice making sounds and it also may be helpful tofind the differences between them. Use a mirror when practising if you are alone or lookat your neighbour if you are in a Teachers’ Group Meeting.Humans produce meaningful sound to communicate with each other. This is done

through various organs of the body called articulatory organs or organs of speech. Theirmain purpose as the name suggests is to produce speech or sound. Where are these organsof speech located? Let us carefully examine figure 5.1.102NC: Nasal CavityTR: Teeth Ridge (alveolum)HP: Hard PalateOC: Oral Cavity (mouth)SP: Soft Palate (velum)L: LipsT: TeethF: Front of tongueC: Centre of tongueB: Back of tongueU: UvulaEG: EpiglottisLJ: Lower jawP: Pharynx (throat)VC: Vocal CordsG: GlottisLX: LarynxFP: Food passageW: Windpipe (trachea)Figure 5.1A careful study of the diagram above gives us indications about the location of theseorgans of speech. The chart below gives us a list of the organs of speech and theirspecific functions. There are other parts of the mouth that are important in speechproduction such as the teeth and the palate. They do not move but they form the place orthe point of articulation. In the production of sound, the active articulators move towardsthe articulators that are inactive.The organs of speechOrgan FunctionLungs -Control volume, pitch-We use more air from the lungs when we shoutVoice box -Controls pitch, voice-Otherwise known as larynx or Adam’s apple-It contains the vocal cords – two cords of skin which vibrate andadd voice to sounds. A man’s voice box is bigger than that of a boyor woman. This is why his voice is deeper

-A whisper is speech that is not affected at all by the voice box,or affected only by a kind of friction-In some languages and in some dialects of English, there is a brief103closure of the voice box known al glottal stop. E.g. Thepronunciation of ‘wa’er’ for ‘water’Nose -Affects nasality-The consonants /n/, /m/, and /_/are made through the noseMouth composed of different parts including thelips and tongue whose functions areshown in Figure 5.2.Tongue Used to create differences betweenvowels: producesmany stop consonantsLips: Used to shape certain ‘round’vowels such as /o/ and /u/labial consonants: /b/, /m/, /p/, /f/, /v/Figure 5.2The key word inherent in attaining correct and clear pronunciations of words in bothEnglish and Zambian languages is practice.Activity 5.2• Try practising the activity below. Use a mirror or ask a colleague to help you withthe sounds.• Use the chart below to record where the sounds of the letters of the Englishalphabet are produced.• Tick the appropriate box where the point of articulation originates.• Compare the sounds of the English alphabet with the Zambian sounds. Whatdifferences do you notice? (The Revised alphabet for the seven Zambianlanguages at the end of the Topic will be very helpful at this stage)point ofarticulation

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y ztwo lipsteeth ridgehard palatesoft palatenasal cavityGlottisNow let us look at these words:104basket, bag, bend,bbalika, bbendeka, blind.

The /b/ sound in all these words is a bilabial stop. What can you say about the /b/ soundin the following Zambian languages words?beleka, baboola, bababonakubeja, ubulanda, bataha.Is ‘b’ in the words above also a stop? Now, do the same with other sounds like /p/, /k/, /t/and compare them with the ZL. What does this exercise reveal? The example below fromGleason 1969: 23 defines some of the articulators used in English.Lower articulator Upper articulatorBilabial (lower) lipupper lipLabiodental (lower) lip (upper) teethDental tip of tongue (upper) teethAlveolar tip of tongue upper gumsAlveopalatal front of tongue far front of palateVelar back of tongue velum (soft palate)Glottal the two vocal cordsFigure 5.3: English articulations105

Vowels and ConsonantsLet us begin with phonological acquisition and sound patterns, which have to beassociated with the letters of the Roman alphabet. These letters represent the symbols bywhich spoken language is translated into written language. They are first acquired in aone-to-one relationship - one phoneme, one grapheme (one sound, one letter). This isgradually built up to encompass all the possible combinations of letters required toproduce phonemes from the 26 available letters. (Hornsby, 1980: 4)Activity 5.3Below is a list of the alphabet. Identify the vowels and consonants in both theZambian languages and English?Circle the vowels and underline the consonants.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y zHow many consonants? ...................How many vowels? ...................Now look at these words:

Mufulira, kitchen, mwana, companion, dog, Silozi, alphabet,

teacher, education, great, cheap, munkoyo, cikanda, deleleFill in the missing words:The words above are written in ........................... and ..................................They are all made up of ..................................... and ....................................From this exercise you should have noted that both the Zambian and English languageuse:• vowels• consonantsThere are no recognisable words without these in either language.106Even though both languages share such common aspects, the phonetics of each possesssome major and important differences. These differences must be addressed in order tohelp children communicate effectively both in their own language and English.Speech Sounds of the Letters with ‘Key’ word or ‘Key’ wordsSpeech sounds are realised by the use of consonants and vowels. Every language uses aselection of speech sounds. Activity 5.4 and the table below it will help you to understandthis point.Activity 5.4Use the key words below to help you determine the correct sounds of the lettersof the alphabet in the English language. Compare these to their corresponding sounds inyour local language? (Use the revised alphabet for the seven approved languages)Discuss your findings in your ‘Teacher’s Group’ and prepare a lesson for your class.(Note that the name of a letter is emphasised by the use of inverted commas ‘ ‘ and thatthe sound of a letter is emphasised by parallel lines / / ).Name Key word Sound Name Key word Sound‘a’ Apple /a/ ‘n’ Net /n/‘b’ Ball /b/ ‘o’ Octopus /o/‘c’ Cat /k/ ‘p’ Pipe /p/‘d’ Dog /d/ ‘q’ Queen /kw/‘e’ Egg /e/ ‘r’ Rock /r/‘f’ Fish /f/ ‘s’ Saw /s/, /z/‘g’ Gun /g/ ‘t’ Tree /t/‘h’ House /h/ ‘u’ Umbrella /u/

‘i’ Inn /i/ ‘v’ Violet /v/‘j’ Jug /dz/ ‘w’ Watch /w/‘k’ Kite /k/ ‘x’ Locks /ks/, /gz/‘l’ Log /l/ ‘y’ Boy /y/‘m’ Mouse /m/ ‘z’ Zip /z/Table 5.1: Sounds of the letters with ‘key’ words (Hornsby 1980: 16)Vowelsa e i o uWithout vowels no word can be made,But if the word ends in an ‘ i’Then you must change that ‘i’ to ‘y’ (Hornsby, 1980: 18)In activity 3, you noted that all words used in the Zambian and English language are acombination of vowels and consonants. Look at these words again. Can you read them?What is missing?107

M-f-l-r-, k-tch-n, mw-n-, c-mp-n--n, d-g, S-l-z-, -lph-b-tt--ch-r, -d-c-t--n, gr--t, ch--p, m-nk-y-, ch-k-nd-, d-l-l-.You are right! ... the vowels.Their names are:-

a e i o uand their sounds are:-Vowels are very important letters because we cannot have a word or syllablewithout them.We have now discovered the importance of vowels. Let us take a look at them in greaterdepth.1. In the English Language, a vowel followed by a consonant in a short word usually hasthe short sound, thus:a = /a/ as in hate = /e/ as in redi = /i/ as in sito = /o/ as in notu = /u/ as in run2. In short words with two vowels, one of which is the final `e’ in the pattern Consonant,Vowel, Consonant, Vowel (CVCV), the first Vowel has the sound as in the examplegiven below:cake / keik /name / neim /like / laik /nine / nain /

3. In two letter words where `e’ is the last letter, e.g. `me’, `he’, or in short words wherethere are two `e’s together, `ee’, the letters are read with the long sound, i.e. the name ofthe letter /i: /, e.g. `green, `see’, me’.Below is a list of the 12 English ‘Pure vowels’ and 8 ‘Diphthongs’ (sounds that consist ofa movement or glide from one vowel to another).108Table 5.2: Pure vowels and Diphthongs (Sesnan 1997: 38)In most Zambian languages too there are short and long vowels. Look at the examplesbelow:short vowel long vowelkoka (be thin) kooka (bend)cela (graze) ceela (it is fitting)kwela (pull) kweela (caught up with)tata (exclamation) taata (father)lula (bitter) luula (narrate)yuma (dry) yuuma (shake)bina (dance) biina (big menpepa (pray) peepa (smoke)kula (pull) kuula (build)The examples given above are all in Citonga, Silozi and Cibemba. Try listing short andlong vowels in the other approved languages and compare them with English. What areyour observations?ConsonantsEarlier, we said that sounds of speech are divided into vowels and consonants.There are 24 Consonant sounds in English. There are also many more consonantclusters, that is, two or more consonants together, each of which is pronouncedseparately. What then is a consonant?109A consonant is a sound made when the airflow is interrupted or slowed down. Someconsonants stop the air completely while others allow a certain amount of air to pass. Aconsonant can also be described by saying where in the mouth the air is stopped orslowed down and how this takes place. The chart below shows how consonants can bedescribed by the features outlined above.

Points ofarticulationPhonetictermVoiced Voiceless Nasal OtherTwo lips Bilabial b P m wTop teeth/bottomlipLabio-dental v FTip of the tongue/Between the teethDental dh(_) th (_) NTongue/Behind the teethAlveolar d T s, z, lTongue/Tooth ridgePalateAlveopalatal sh ( _ ) zh (3)Tongue/ Top of themouthPalatal rTongue/Back of themouthVelar g K ng (_)Glottal hTable 5.3: Features describing consonants (Sesnan 1997)The sounds above are the sounds of English. Refer to the Zambian languages revisedalphabet. Are there sounds in your language that are not on this chart?Digraphs, represent some of these sounds that is, where one sound is represented by twoletters in ordinary script as in Table 5.4 below:Name Key word Sound‘sh’ Shirt /sh/‘ch’ Church /ch/‘th’ (voiced) The /dh/ (_)‘th’ (voiceless) Thumb /th/ (_)‘wh’ Wheel /w/ /hw/‘ph’ Telephone /f/‘gh’ Cough /f/Table 5.4: Digraphs110

Consonant BlendsConsonant blends are two or more letters that are blended or run together, when the word

is pronounced. In the following example, the / t / sound in `ten’ and the / r / sound in`ran’ are run together to sound / tr / in words like `train’, ‘tread’, ‘treat’.There are many groups of letter blends to consider as can be seen from the key picturesbelow. It is important to master these blend sounds but, regardless of the methods youwill use in teaching them, the objective is to help children:• hear the sound and distinguish it from other blend sounds• see the letter combinations involved• realise that in every case the letters combine into a blend sound.• to discriminate between the blend sound and the sound of the individual letters, i.e.`pay’, `lay’, `play’.Sounds of the Consonant Blend with ‘Key’ wordsActivity 5.5 will help you to learn more about consonant sounds.Activity 5.5.Use the key words below to help you determine the correct sounds of theconsonant blends in the English language. Compare these to their corresponding soundsin your local language and record your observations in your teaching file.Discuss your findings in your ‘Teacher’s Group’.Prepare your own ‘Key’ picture with consonant blends in a local language and use it toteach consonant blends to your class.(Note that the name of the blend is emphasised by the use of inverted commas ‘ ‘ andthat the sound of the blend is emphasised by parallel lines / / ).Name Word Sound Name Word Sound‘sp’ Spoon /sp/ ‘bl’ Blow /bl/‘st’ Star /st/ ‘cl’ Clock /kl/‘sc’ Scarf /sc/ ‘gl’ Globe /gl/‘sm’ Smoke /sm/ ‘fl’ Fly /fl/‘sn’ Snake /sn/ ‘pr’ Prince /pr/‘sl’ Slide /sl/ ‘br’ Broom /br/‘sw’ Swan /sw/ ‘tr’ Tree /tr/‘tw. Twenty /tw/ ‘dr’ Drum /dr/‘dw’ Dwarf /dw/ ‘pl’ Plane /pl/‘cr’ Crab /kr/ ‘spl’ Splash /spl/111‘gr’ Grapes /gr/ ‘shr’ Shrimp /shr/‘fr’ Frog /fr/ ‘squ’ Squirel /skw/‘thr’ Three /thr/ ‘str’ String /str/‘spr’ Spring /spr/ ‘scr’ Screw /scr/Table 5.5: Consonant Blends

Consonant clusters may appear at the beginning of a word (initial position), in the middle(mid position), or at the end of a word (end or final position); for example, `limp’ /mp/;`linger’ /ng/ and `strike’ /str/.Some English consonant clusters are also found in Zambian Languages. Forexample in Cibemba /mf/ - `mfula’ - rain; /nt/ - /nd/ - `ntanda’ - star; /mp/ - `mpuku’- rodent. In Citonga too, numerous examples abound e.g. /nt/ - `ntaamo’ - step; /mp/ -`mpongo’ - goat; /nz/ - `nzala’ - hunger; etc.Activity 5.6Below is a list of some of the English consonant clusters. Study the list very carefully andfor each of them, do the following:1) Find out which consonant clusters are found in Zambian languages, using alanguage that you know very well: provide at least one example for each cluster inEnglish as well as in your own language.2) Provide at least one example in English for the clusters3) Find out which consonant clusters are likely to pose problems; suggest solutions.Some English Consonant ClustersType 1: (e.g. sp_, as in `spot’) Type 2: (e.g. spr_: sprite)pl_, bl_, pr_, br_ spl_, spr_,tr_, dr_, tw_ str_kl_, gl_, kw_ skr_, skw_fl_, fr_sp_, st_, sk_sm_, sn_, sl_, swType 3: (e.g. _pt: opt)_tst, _dzd _ft, _vd, _fp, _fs, vz_mp, _md, _-mz _pt, _pd, _ps, _pz_nt, _nd _sp, _st, _sk, _zd_np, _ns, _nz _zt, zdType 4 (e.g. _pts: opts)_pts, _pst, _phs _lpt, _lkt, _lts, _lks112_tps, _dps, _tst, _dst _lbs, _ldz, _ltst, _ldzd_kts, _ks , _ kst _lmd, _lmz_mpt, _mps, _mft, _mfs _lfs, -lfp, _lvd, _lvz_nts, _ndz _lbs, _lst_nps, _nst _fts, _fps_gkt, _gks _sps, _sts, _spt, _skt, _sksRevised alphabet for the seven Zambian languages

Bemba Kaonde Lozi Lunda Luvale Nyanja Tongaa(aa) a(aa) a(aa) a(aa) a a(aa) a(aa)(fricative) b b b b (v) w b(stop) - - - - - b bb(affricate) c (or ch) ch c (or ch) ch ch c cc (or ch)(aspirated) - - - - - ch -d d d d d d de (ee) e (ee) e (ee) e (ee) e e (ee) e (ee)f f f f f f (or pf) f(voiced velarfricative- - - - - - kg g g g g g g(voiceless) - h h h h h h(voiced) - - - - - - hhi(ii) i(ii) i(ii) i(ii) i i(ii) i(ii)(?) - - - - - - cj j j j (n)j j j(stop) k k k k k k kk(aspirated) - - - - kh kh -l l l l l l (or r) lm m m m m m mn n n n n n n(velar) _- ng' _o (oo) o (oo) o (oo) o (oo) o o (oo) o (oo)p p p p p p p(aspirated) - - - - ph ph -(alveolar) s s s s s s (or ts) s(palatal) sh sh sh sh sh - sht t t t t t t(aspirated) - - - - th th -u (uu) u (uu) u (uu) u (uu) u u (uu) u (uu)- v v v v (or bv) v -w w w w w w wy y y y y y y(alveolar) - z z z z z (or dz) z- zh - zh j(ZATEC Module 2)113The International Phonetic AlphabetSymbol Sample words containing the phonemeConsonantsp pick, cap, upperb box, cob, tablet tick, cat, matterd day, end, harderk cat, sack, secret, trekked, picnicf for, off, coffinv view, have, givings sit, hiss, missing, ceilingz zoo, buzz, dogs, causing

_ thin, bath, myths_ (barred) then, bathe, mother_ or sh sheet, sugar, fish, wishing3 or zh measure, Asia, azuret _ or tsh chap, patch, catchingd3 just, budge, nudgingl lead, bell, callingr red, caringw win, whenj yellowm man, hymn, climb, hummingn new, men, manner_ sing, bringingSummary• Humans use a system of sounds and words to express their thoughts and feelings• A phoneme is a feature of sound common to all speakers of a given speech formand is reproduced in repetition.• Phonological acquisition and sound patterns that have to be associated with theletters of the Roman alphabet are first acquired in a one-to-one relationship – onesound, one letter.• There are no recognisable words without vowels and consonants in both Englishand Zambian languages.• Long and short vowels are found in both English and most Zambian languages.• There are 24 consonant sounds in English.114

UNIT 6. TEACHING INITIAL LITERACY AND READINGIntroductionThere are many definitions for the term ‘literacy’. What does the term mean toyou? What about numeracy, do you think that it is also literacy? If so, how? Read thisunit and learn more about them.Learning OutcomesBy the end of this unit, you should be:• able to define the term literacy and other related terms.• able to give an overview of the methodology and approaches used and be familiarwith the materials used in teaching New Breakthrough to Literacy.• aware of the development of literacy skills that occur from Stage 1 to 3.

• able to demonstrate understanding through answering questions.• able to familiarize yourself with passages those pupils will read from other subjectareas.• able to interpret information from different materials and subject areas.• Aware of all types of questions that you need to ask your pupils.We are sure you too will agree that there are benefits in being able to read and write.Most people’s lives are enhanced if they can write a letter to a friend, understand thesigns in a shop, read a newspaper to learn about current events, and read a book. Perhaps,too, you will even agree that you are lucky because you can study this unit.But do you think it is correct to say that one who can read and write is not only lucky, butcan also think more logically? This is a claim that some commentators make, andperhaps, in our hearts – or even explicitly – most of us would agree with them.(J. Chapman, An Introduction to the Teaching of Reading, 1995).115Activity 6.11. Complete the following grid by indicating what it means to be literate and what itmeans to be illiterate:Literate PersonIlliterate Persone.g. can read newspaper, so knows whatis happening in the country.2.3.4.5.Cannot read newspaper, relies on word ofmouth and rumours.2.3.4.5.2. Research and write short notes on the meaning of the following two terms or comeup with your own definitions:(a) Initial Literacy(b) Functional LiteracyReflectionReflect on the following questions:

1.What definition did you have for the word “literacy”?2.What are the other definitions that other teachers gave?Methods of Teaching Initial LiteracyThere are different approaches to teaching initial literacy, the common ones used inteaching reading are the ‘Phonics’, ‘Look- and –Say’, ‘Whole Language’, ‘LanguageExperience Approach’ and ‘Syllabic Approach’. It is important that you know the five ofthem.116Activity 6.2Choose a Grade 1 class in your school and observe a language lesson either in English orlocal language. Note down the methods of teaching that the teacher uses, and examine thebooks that the children are reading. Keep notes on your observation. You will need themlater. After observing the lesson, read the passage below:1." PhonicsHave you ever used the Phonic Approach in your class? How did you find it?This approach stresses letter-sound relationships. For example, to learn to read the word‘bat’ the learners would be introduced to the sounds first: /b/ /a/ /t/ before reading ‘bat’.Many teachers use it with pupils who are learning to read in English. Some teachers useit from the start while others, though not using it initially, believe that pupils must meet itat some point. They argue that this will help children to tackle unfamiliar words and thusbecome independent readers. Phonics is also one of the main methods used by“remedial” teachers with pupils who are experiencing problems with learning to read.2." Look-and-Say:You may also have come across ‘ Look-and-Say’ (also known as the whole-wordapproach). In this approach teachers present one word on a flash card, expecting thechildren to “say” the word in an instant or in a flash. This enables learners to recognisewords by their overall shape. The brain imposes patterns on what we see. The Gestaltpsychologists argued that mental processes and behaviour cannot be analysed into

elementary units, and that human beings make sense of the world by recognising patternsand whole things. For example, if you glance out of the window you can see ‘houses’ and‘trees’ as whole things rather than just their component parts. A Gestalt psychologistmight describe reading in terms of recognising words as whole things. As more and morewords are added to the children’s ‘sight word’ vocabularies, the children become betterreaders. Has this been your experience?3. Whole Language:In the “Whole Language Approach” you give children meaningful forms of print rightfrom the start of their careers as readers. The ‘Whole-Language Approach’ puts emphasison ‘real’ books. For example, you present children with picture storybooks so that theyhave both pictures and words to look at, which helps them to see how meanings areconstructed through written language. A teacher or other fluent “expert” reader may beable to help a child by acting like a skilled craft-worker teaching an apprentice. Theteacher reads with a beginner and guides her or him through a text, perhaps for tenminutes.117The texts you use can also make good use of whatever experience children have ofmeaningful print out of school – for example, road signs and advertisements. As thewell-known New Zealand reading researcher Clay (1991) suggests, an important earlystage of reading is learning to “talk like a book”. That is, with guidance from the teacher,children learn that:_ Print can be turned into speech_ There is a message for them in the print_ Any pictures that go with the print can provide clues about that message_ Some “language units” – combinations of words, are more likely to occur than others.4" Language Experience Approach:As a teacher, you might have heard about this approach. It recognises that when children

come to school they are not “simply empty vessels”. They have rich experiences,thousands of ideas, and a well developed oral language to communicate about their lives.Included in their experiences are stories that have been told or read to them. For children,stories form a particularly rich and important part of their lives.This approach uses oral language as the starting block. Children are shown how totranslate the words they say into written words. Use of their own words makes this earlyliteracy more meaningful to children and increases their motivation. In this case,breakthrough to advanced reading and writing becomes possible. The child travels fromthe known to the unknown. The child recalls an experience from home, he/she tells aboutit in spoken language. The child then turns what was said into written language usingcards on which words and parts of words are printed. He/she and other children can readwhat was said and written.5. Syllabic approachThis approach enables children to learn a language by breaking words into syllables. It issimilar to the phonic approach in that learners need to know the sounds of consonants andthe sounds of the 5 vowels, and be able to put them together, for example b and a makeba, b and e make be, and so on.So far, you have spent a considerable time “away from the classroom”. The activitiesbelow allow you to consolidate your study by applying some of them to the classroom.Activity 6.31. Refer to the notes you made when you had observed the language lesson in a grade 1class. How many of these approaches you have read about did you see being used by theteacher? Decide how these methods correspond to the four approaches (“phonics”, “lookand-say”, whole-language and language experience approach)1182. In Zambia one of the approaches used is called the “syllabic approach”. Find out more

about this approach and write about it with examples from your own language.3. Using the library, your experiences and other teachers’ experiences and according towhat you have read, draw up a table and write the advantages and disadvantages of eachapproach.ApproachAdvantagesDisadvantages1. Phonicse.g. – children able torecognise single letters andsay their soundsetc.- letters may beconfused by childrene.g. “p” and “q”.etc.2. Look-and-say3. Whole-language(Real books)4 Language experienceReflectionAccording to your own experiences in class, answer the following questions:1. Which of the discussed approaches have you used in teaching reading?2. Can these approaches be used in both English and Zambian languages? Why?3. Do you use these approaches exclusively or not?Overview of the new Breakthrough to Literacy course.What is the New Breakthrough to Literacy Course?New Breakthrough to Literacy (NBTL) is a course through which children spend an houreach day to learn to read fluently and write easily and accurately in their local language inGrade1. There is also an Oral English course called Pathway To English that teachesEnglish language twice a week to ensure that learners develop enough English language119to learn literacy in English in Grade 2. If you are not a Grade 1 teacher you should visitthe Grade 1 class in your school and talk to the Grade 1 teacher about this course.In the New Breakthrough to Literacy course, you will see that right from the start,

children see in printed form, words that they use in everyday talk in their local language.They realise that what they read is something that they already know a lot about but in adifferent form. New Breakthrough uses the Language Experience Approach. This meansthat it starts with what children know, that is, their spoken language. It uses this to helpthem learn something new - how to read and write. There is no more effective way oflearning something new than by adding it piece by piece to what is already known.You have already studied the Language Experience Approach in the previous section. Revisethis section again.The following are the features of NBTL:1. It uses the Language Experience Approach. Children use their familiarlanguage to help them build literacy skills that are unfamiliar.2. The method allows children to compose sentences before they are able towrite the words for themselves. The use of printed word cards, on which thismethod is based, allows for this.3. It is learner centred . This means that the New Breakthrough methodologyfacilitates the teaching of children as individuals. It recognises their ownparticular experiences and learning needs.4. It allows for co-operative learning. Children have much to learn from eachother, which New Breakthrough recognises, allowing children to work ingroups and encouraging them to work co-operatively.5. It allows individuals to develop at their own pace, in carefully graded pacegroups.The Class Set-upThe New Breakthrough class is set very carefully. When you enter the classroom, youwill see the learners’ desks and benches divided into four separate groups. Behind eachof the group benches, there are two nails on the wall to hold the Group Sentence Makersfor each respective group.A distinct corner, known as Teaching Corner (TC) is established in the class for carryingout focused work with individual groups. If possible, this area should be large enough toaccommodate all the learners at the beginning and end of lessons when work isintroduced to and shared with the whole class. A mat is spread in front for the children to

sit on. There is also a teacher’s chair and where possible a table to hold the variousresources. There should be nails on the wall under the chalkboard to hold the Teacher’sSentence Maker, and the Group Sentence Makers.120A Reading Corner is established to display the readers. A collection of reading materialsin local language is placed on the shelf or table. Gradually, this can also include learner’sown stories.In a New Breakthrough to Literacy class, walls are kept as lively as possible (talkingwalls) with children’s work, pictures and captions displayed under subject areas forlearners to look at and read. This is done in order to create a rich reading environment inthe class for the learners. Most importantly the core words and sentences learnt shouldalso be displayed on the wall for revision.Activity 6.4In your school, visit a New Breakthrough to Literacy class and see how it is arranged.Write what you see. Ask the class teacher if it was difficult to set up the class in this wayand if so why.The New Breakthrough KitNow check the New Breakthrough to Literacy kit you have in the school. You will noticethat the New Breakthrough Kit consists of a variety of resources that together support thelearners in their task of learning to read and write, and the teacher’s task of teachingthem. Below is an outline of the resources and a brief explanation of how they are used.Try to identify the materials from the kit as described below:1." The Sentence Maker and word cards:In a New Breakthrough to Literacy classroom you will see something made of a plasticfabric. This is the sentence maker. It has pockets arranged in 3 panels that hold all theword cards the needed to teach the 6 sets of core vocabulary. Each pocket should holdenough copies of the word card for every child in the group. There are 4 sentence makers

in each class. The teacher and learners use this to take the cards and make words andsentences. Each group needs easy access to their sentence maker. They should thereforebe displayed on the wall nearest to where each respective group sits. As each group iscalled to the teaching corner they will bring their sentence maker with them.There are two types of word cards used with the sentence maker. The Teachers wordcards are larger and are only used in Stage 1 with Set 1 core vocabulary. The learners’word cards are smaller and are used by learners in Stage 2 for all the core vocabulary.1212." Teacher’s Sentence Holder:This is a long plastic word stand, which is kept in the teaching corner. It is used to holdthe word cards that the teacher has chosen from the sentence maker to make the sentenceof the day. It can also be used for drawing lines on the chalkboard or as a pointer.3." Learner’s Sentence Holder:The Learner’s Sentence Holder is exactly the same as the teachers but smaller. There arethirty of these in a set kept in the teaching corner to be used by groups.When learners go to the Teaching Corner, they will need one sentence holder each tohold the sentence they will make that day.4." Phonic Flip Charts:In the kit you will find a Phonic Flip Chart. It contains 12 pre-reading posters and about50 phonic posters. It is spiral bound at the top, and is fitted into a self-standing cardframe which protects it when closed. When in use, the phonic flipchart should be stoodon a table or chair where all the class can see it.The 12 pre-reading posters are used in Stage 1 Early, which you will learn about later.You will introduce them to one group at a time in the Teaching Corner. The 50 phonicposters are introduced to the whole class in Stages 2 and 3 at the beginning of the lesson.They are used to teach the different phonemes found in the language (see topic 3 ofLanguage and Literacy Module).5." Conversation Posters

New Breakthrough to Literacy Conversation Posters are similar to language posters.They are used to facilitate conversation around these four familiar themes; the home, thefarm, the town and the school. From these discussions the teacher is able to elicit the keysentence of the day. You may have seen and used similar posters before.6." The Learners’ Activity Book (LAB):You may have used other learner’s books before. This book accompanies the teacher’sactivity book but is for learners to work from (they do not write in it). It contains gradedlearning activities for those children who are not working with the teacher in theTeaching Corner. The teacher selects these activities very carefully for each groupaccording to their level of ability.122There are 20 Learners’ Activity Books in a kit. They fit in the teacher’s carry pack andshould be stored safely when not in use.7." The Rainbow Readers:What do you use when you conduct a class library session during your language lesson?This course has a set of storybooks; this consists of 26 books with 5 copies of each title.They form the basis of the class library. These books are graded according to ability. Redis the most basic level, followed by yellow and then green. When in use, the booksshould be displayed where children can see and access them. When not in use, theyshould be stored somewhere safe, such as the head teachers’ office.Both teacher and learners use readers throughout the year. Even before they can read,children gain a lot of enjoyment and have much to learn from looking at the readers andfollowing the pictures. Readers can also be used as a source of learning activities.8." The Slate:You will find one small chalkboard in the NBTL kit. This is the group slate. It can beused to set group activities such as handwriting practice.Activity 6.5List down the items you have been using in your lessons and list down the items used in

New Breakthrough to Literacy. Comment on the differences and their effectiveness.The New Breakthrough to Literacy Daily Routine:The daily routine changes slightly from stage to stage. However, the start and end ofeach lesson remain much the same.Starting Together:Every lesson should begin with the entire class in the teaching corner. The aim of thissession is to settle the learners and help them to focus on the day’s activities. The teacherbegins by reading a story to the class. This motivates and prepares the learners for thelesson. In stages 2 and 3 this be followed by the introduction of the phoneme of the dayusing the phonic flip chart. Starting Together always ends with the teacher settingappropriate learning activities to each group. In Stage 1 Starting Together takes 10minutes, in Stages 2 and 3 it takes 15 minutes.123Group Work:For the next 40 minutes, the teacher works with individual groups in the teaching cornerwhile other groups complete the learning activities the teacher has set, at their tables.The details of what is taught vary from stage to stage. In Stage 1 (Early and Late) the 40minutes are divided into four ten-minute sessions. This enables the teacher to see all fourgroups within a single lesson. In Stages 2 and 3, the time is divided into two twentyminutesessions. This means the teacher sees two groups in each lesson.Sharing Together:The final ten minutes is spent in the Teaching Corner with the whole class. In thissession, the teacher reviews the work that has been completed in the last hour. Theteacher focuses on the completed learning activities. This gives the teacher a chance tocheck how much work the different groups have done while working on their own.Samples of exercises are selected to show the class, mainly good work that can bepraised. This session is important as it shows the class that learning activities are valued.

The children will then work harder on these activities.ReflectionBy looking at the daily routine of your reading lessons answer the following questions:1. Is this NBTL routine different from what you have been practising before? How?2. Looking at the daily routine, what problems are you likely to encounter? Suggestremedies to these problems.3. Explain how you would conduct ‘Sharing Together’ in your class. How does itbenefit your learners?Teaching stages in New Breakthrough to Literacy1. Reading Readiness:Imagine that tomorrow you are going to begin your first day as a teacher of a Grade 1class. The learners are completely new. What sort of information and knowledge do youthink they will need to enable them to follow school rules? What sort of information doesa new Grade 1 child need in order to function effectively in school?You may as well have experienced that it is important for new learners in a school tolearn how to operate. The teacher should know and understand the new learners. In New124Breakthrough the start-up level of stage 1 is very important because learners practice vitalpre-reading skills that prepare them for the more formal literacy work of later stages.This takes the first two weeks of stage 1.What happens is that the teacher gets used to the daily routine and strategies involved inthe New Breakthrough programme. The learners learn how to operate within the NewBreakthrough programme and as pointed out earlier, about important pre-reading skills.ReferenceRefer to the New Breakthrough to Literacy Teacher’s Guide and answer thefollowing questions:1. Why is it important to have a start-up stage?2. Describe briefly what pre-reading means?3. What are the main reading readiness pre-requisites?Have a close look at the Phonic flip chart. The first 12 pictures are pre-reading posters.

They are used with one group at a time in the teaching corner. These posters take childrenthrough some very important pre-reading skills such as left to right eye movement,matching, spotting similarities and differences, and improving general visual literacy.The children look at and talk about the posters at their own pace, without the teacherdominating this activity. There are 10 lessons in Stage 1Early that should take 2 weeks tocomplete. There is no formal assessment at the end of this stage. Learners progressautomatically to Stage 1 Late.Activity 6.61. Some skills are taught as building blocks to formal reading readiness. Listdown 4 examples of these skills. The first two have been done for you.e.g. 1. Sorting2. Matching3.4.2.Take the phonic flip chart from the New Breakthrough to Literacy kit. Choose one prereadingposter from the set and comment on the following:(a) The pre-reading skill being practiced.(b) What actual reading skill it is related to?(c) How you would teach using the same poster?125ReflectionThink about your first day at school. Do you think the pre-reading stage youhave read about is important? In your answer, start by giving your experiences. Howimportant is it?1. Stage 1 LateIn the previous section, it was mentioned that Stage1 is divided into 2 parts: the first twoweeks known as ‘Stage 1 Early, which is the reading readiness stage. The second part,Stage 1 Late takes three weeks and this is where learners are introduced to formal literacywork for the first time. Stage 2 takes twenty weeks or so. Stage 3 takes the rest of theyear, by now learners have broken through and are able to do much more interesting anddemanding work.Do you remember the NBTL daily routine already discussed? Please go back to it and

revise.Stage 1 has two parts, Early and Late. You have heard about the Early stage. In Stage 1Late learners are introduced to the following:_ The realisation that spoken language can be written down._ The recognition that what is written can be read_ The recognition that sentences are made up of words, words of syllables and syllablesof phonic sounds.The lesson starts with all the children in the teaching corner where the teacher reads ashort story to focus the children’s attention. The teacher then explains the three activitiesselected for the day. One of these will be from the LAB, one will be a handwritingexercise using the group slate and one may be an activity related to the story read at thestart of the lesson. The NBTL Teachers Guide gives suggestions in the lesson plans itprovides. The teacher will then set 3 groups off on their activities and keep one group inthe teaching corner.The group leader from the group remaining in the Teaching Corner will bring theirgroups sentence maker and hang it in the space provided beneath the chalk board. Theteacher puts up the “home” conversation poster and asks the learners to say what theysee. The teacher encourages them to talk freely about this poster and their own homes.Appropriate questions are used to elicit the key sentence of the day, in this case “the babyis crying”. The teacher writes the sentence on the board and says it as he/she points at it.Then the children say it one by one, pointing at the words as they do so.126The teacher turns to the sentence maker and finds the word cards that make up thesentence. These are placed on the teacher’s sentence holder. This is shown to the classand learners asked to read the sentence one by one. When every child has had a chanceto read the sentence, volunteers are asked to put the word cards away in the appropriatepockets of the sentence maker. The children are then asked to go to their tables to draw a

picture of a baby crying in their story exercise books. At the end of the lesson the teacherwrites the sentence “the baby is crying” for each child in his/her book under his/herpicture.Activity 6.7Looking at the home conversation poster, write down the type of questions youwould ask in order to elicit the key sentence ‘mother is washing’Now it is time to change the groups round and call the second group to the teachingcorner. The above activities are repeated in the teaching corner with each group in turn.The teacher remembers to give only ten minutes to each group.As each new group is coming to the Teaching Corner, the teacher quickly goes to theother 3 groups, ensuring that they are changing round the 3 activities set during inStarting Together and that all children know what they have to do.After working with the fourth group, each group leader tidies away their group activities.Then all the children are called to the teaching corner where a few pieces of work areshown to the class. The lesson ends with a song.There is a set of core vocabulary that comprises at least 16 words and 4 affixes. Thesemake up 9 sentences that are supposed to be read by learners by the end of Stage1. Theystart with one sentence and build on this by adding one or two words each day until theyhave covered all 9 sentences.At the end of stage 1, the teacher sees each child individually from all social groups inorder to assess them. The teacher calls the children one by one to the teaching corner.There is a record sheet already prepared with a child’s name recorded in the left handcolumn and all 20 or so words, including affixes of the core vocabulary, written along thetop. The teacher holds up each word in turn and asks the child to read it. A tick is markedin the appropriate box for that word if the child is able to read it correctly without127prompting. The class is then divided into four groups, based on how many words they

read correctly. These are the ability groups.Activity 6.81. Compile a list of resources used in Stage 1 Late.2. Look at any conversation poster in your school. Write a key sentence that could beelicited from that poster. Prepare a lesson plan for Stage 1 on how you would goabout teaching reading the sentence in a Grade 1 NBTL class in the Teaching Corner.ReflectionThink about the following:1. What kind of reading activities have you been giving to your class?2. Is it easy for you to come up with reading activities for your class? Why or whynot?3. Stages 2 and 3Go back and read the Daily Routine for Stage 1. Stage 2 is a continuation of Stage 1 andfollows almost the same routine; but there are some differences. Learners will continue touse the core words and sentences they learnt in Stage 1 but will add new words until theyhave a broad enough base to ‘breakthrough’ to Stage 3.As you read, you will notice that in Stage 2, the teacher continues to use the resourcesused in Stage 1. In addition some New Breakthrough materials will be used for the firsttime. These are:_ Learners word cards (one set per learner, placed in the appropriate pockets of thegroup sentence maker)_ Learner’s sentence holders (one per learner)_ Phonic flipchart (the phonic posters)There is also a progress chart that should be kept by the teacher. This should show all thelearners’ names (group by group) and the core words. The teacher indicates the wordseach learner in each group knows.128Now let me take you a step further. During the first 2 weeks the teacher will be revisingthe core vocabulary for Stage 1 with the learners. The procedure will be as follows:Starting TogetherThe teacher reads a short story to the class, then the phonic poster for the day is

introduced to the whole class in the teaching corner. A different poster is used each day.First the teacher shows the picture and uses a piece of paper to hide the word andsyllable. The picture is discussed briefly until a child says the appropriate word. Theteacher then shows the class the word and says it while pointing to it. Then the letter andthe syllables under it are shown. The teacher says each syllable once with the children.The class then suggests at least one word for each syllable. These are written on theboard and the teacher reads them back to the class. The teacher then explains the learningactivities to the 4 groups.The Teaching CornerWhen teachers finish the 9 sentences of Stage 1 based on the first set of the corevocabulary; they should start Stage 2 by following this procedure for the first 2 weeks:The teacher teaches children according to 4 ability groups. They have been tested ontheir ability to read the first set of core words taught in stage 1 and results are recorded inthe Teacher’s Record Book. The teacher revises the 9 sentences from stage 1; onesentence per day and meets 2 groups each day, one at a time and spends 20 minutes witheach group. The other 2 groups will be met the following morning.Once in the teaching corner the teacher:_ engages the group in a discussion of the appropriate poster until a learner says the keysentence of the day (a Stage 1 sentence for revision)_ writes this sentence on the board and learners read it._ will ask learners to get the word cards needed for the sentence from the SentenceMaker and will give a copy each to the teacher and each learner in the group. Theteacher will make the sentence in a Sentence Holder and the children individuallyread the sentence pointing at the words as they read._ will then give each one of them a Learners’ Sentence Holder_ asks individual children to make the sentence from the cards they have been given._ Ensures that children have made the sentence correctly, and then asks them to go and

draw the picture and copy the sentence from their sentence holder and write it underthe picture drawn._ then calls the next group to the Teaching Corner (TC)129This is repeated the following day with other 2 groups.Note that after revising the 9 sentences of stage 1, when the teacher is sure that childrenare reading and writing the words; in about week 3; he/she starts teaching new sentencesconstructed from the second set of the core vocabulary by building on sentences fromstage 1 and only introducing one to three new words each day.The procedure should be as follows:_ The teacher brings all the children to the teaching corner_ He/she starts by reading a story_ He/she introduces the phoneme from the phonic poster. The sound he/she isintroducing should be contained in one of the new words being taught. e.g. if the newword is ‘water’ in the sentence ‘Mother is washing clothes with water’ choose thephonic poster with ‘w’ sound. There is no special order for using phonic posters.The order depends on how the teacher plans the new words. The poster is introducedin the same way as outlined above._ After the phonic poster, the teacher introduces the learning activities to all thechildren as usual, and then leaves one group in the TC and the rest (three groups)should go and do learning activities. The teacher checks the three independentlearning activity groups and gets them started before returning to the group that iswaiting in the Teaching Corner. The group leader from this group should havebrought their sentence maker and hung it in the Teaching Corner._ The teacher discusses the conversation poster and gets the key sentence of the dayand writes it on the board. He/she teaches the new word or words by underlining itthen slashing it into syllables then letters. The children are made to read the word orsyllables.

_ The learners then make this sentence according to the same procedures outlinedabove. While learners are making their own sentences the teacher can go and checkon the work of the other three groups._ When the teacher returns to the teaching corner, he/she must check that each child hasmade the sentence correctly and can read it. The teacher tells the child to go anddraw and write the sentence under the picture by copying from his or her pupil’ssentence holder._ The Procedure is repeated with another group. The other two groups will come to theteaching corner, one at a time the following day.What do you think happens next when there are no more words from a conversationposter? After exhausting the vocabulary about the “home” poster, the teacher moves ontothe “school”, the “farm” and then “town”. In this way he/she gradually covers theremaining 5 sets of the core vocabulary from which sentences for teaching areconstructed. The teacher assesses the progress of the children at the end of each set of thecore vocabulary and like in stage 1, keeps a progress chart. Learners do not move on to130the next set of core vocabulary until they can read at least half of the words from theprevious set.Is the procedure explained above clear to you? If it is not, please read it again and discuss itwith the Grade 1 teacher at your school or one nearest your school if you are the only Grade 1teacher in the school.In stage 2, the time is divided as follows:_ Starting together – 15 minutes_ Group work – 40 mins (teacher meets 2 groups per day for 20 minutes each)_ Sharing Together– 5 minutesActivity 6. 91. Write down the differences between stage 1 and stage 2.2. List down items from NBTL kit that were not used in stage 1.3. What are the steps for introducing a phonic poster?

4. Why is assessment conducted at the end of teaching reading of each set of thecore vocabulary?5. How is this assessment conducted?6. Prepare a lesson plan and demonstrate to other teachers on how to introduce aphonic poster in the teaching corner.Stage 3This is a stage in which learners ‘breakthrough’ to literacy. Learners are confident andable to interact freely with written work of different types. They should also be able togenerate their own written work creatively. Obviously not all pace groups will reachstage 3 at the same time.By the end of stage 3 learners should be able to:_ Read all the designated readers_ Combine sentences using a variety of connectors (but, because, if)_ Read short texts with understanding and enjoyment_ Write legibly, neatly, and with appropriate punctuation_ Confidently engage in discussions both with the teacher and with fellow learners_ Write whole sentences from dictation131Refer to procedure for Stage 2.The teacher divides the day up in the same way; The onlydifference at Stage 3 is that the learning activities set for children should be morechallenging and that they can be given more interesting tasks in the teaching corner. Theywill no longer require the Sentence Maker as they do not need to restrict themselves tothe core vocabulary any more.Throughout every stage of NBTL assessment of reading, writing, speaking and listening should continue.You should take careful note of which learners are catching up or falling behind and should be placed in adifferent pace group. You should take steps to prevent absenteeism, and be sure to assess any learner whohas been absent for any length of time to be sure he/she can work effectively in the same pace group.Activity 6.101. Write down at least five reasons why children might not progress well from stage1 to 3. What can you do in order to assist such learners?2. Design your own pre-reading activity that will either assess an aspect of reading

readiness or practice a pre-reading skill.3. Make suggestions on what you should do as a teacher in order to achieve the aimsof stage 3 as stated in this unit.4. Look at the LAB and select an activity for a group at Stage 2 Middle that willteach punctuation. Explain how you would introduce this activity to the class.ReflectionWhat are children capable of doing at stages 1, 2, and 3? Copy and complete the table below:Stage 1Stage 2Stage 31. Can talk about aconversation poster2.3.4.5.1. Know core vocabulary2.3.4.5.1. Can read all the NBTLreaders2.3.4.5.132

Summary• This unit stresses a combination of approaches which the NBTL course uses andthese are: Phonics; Look–and-say; Whole language; Language ExperienceApproach and the Syllabic method.• Literacy is the ability to read and understand and interpret what we read.• Teaching in NBTL is divided into 3 stages namely, Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3and that learning takes place in four pace groups.• How the NBTL daily routine works and how learners are trained to behave in it.• Stage 2 is the longest stage in which learners learn to read and write most of thevocabulary guided by the teacher and on their own.In Stage 3 the children have broken through to literacy and have become independentreaders.133

UNIT 7: STEP IN TO ENGLISH COURSE (SITE)IntroductionAs we have already seen in the previous chapters, while the New Breakthrough toLiteracy Course (NBTL) is aimed at developing initial literacy in a local language inGrade 1, there is also a literacy course in Grade 2 called ‘Step In To English’. In Grade 1,English is only taught as oral through the Pathway to English course for Grade 1.Learning Outcomes• This unit will help you understand the aims and objectives of the Step In ToEnglish course.• It is intended to familiarise you with the materials and methodology of the Step InTo English course.• You will also become aware of the similarities that are there between SITE andNBTL.What is ‘Step In To English’ Course (SITE)?Step In To English, just like the New Breakthrough to Literacy Course, is a literacycourse and not a language course. The course will enable your learners to read fluentlyand write clearly and accurately in English in Grade 2. You will help your learners tobuild on to the literacy skills they will have acquired in reading in local languages inGrade 1.In the past, reading was not given time on the Curriculum, but was taught as part of thelanguage lessons. Now this course will teach reading in English. The Pathway To English2 accompanies it. This is the Grade 2 oral English language course.Step In To English comes at an important stage for learners because:• It bridges the gap between the New Breakthrough to Literacy in Grade 1 andthe Zambia Basic English Course (ZBEC) in Grade 3 and the Read On coursefor Grades 3 to 7.134• It takes your learners who have mastered the basics of reading in their locallanguages and who have some oral English vocabulary and introduces them toreading in English with comprehension.

• The course explicitly teaches word attack skills that are essential for readingin English and which do not feature in the local languages.ReflectionWhat are the courses that will be linked to Step In To English and how will these belinked?What materials are used in Step In To English Course?In order to teach SITE, you will use the following materials:• Teacher’s Guide: This contains the methodology of the course and specificlessons for Stages 1 to 3 (50 lessons in all). It guides you on how to teach eachlesson at the Teaching Station and on how to prepare independent learningactivities for the other groups.• Activity Book: This book is for learners to work from. It contains gradedlearning activities and phonics activities that learners will complete during theliteracy lesson, and stories that are used during the Pathway to English 2, oralEnglish language course.• Conversation Posters: There are four posters used to facilitate learning in theTeaching Corner. These cover the themes: my school, my home, the marketand the bus station.• Rainbow Readers: These are the same set of storybooks that accompany theNBTL course except they are in English. They cover the same range of abilitywith red level being the easiest, then yellow then green the most difficult.• Teacher-Created Materials: As supplement, you as a teacher will makeother materials by using local resources.135Activity 7.1List down materials that are used in New Breakthrough to Literacy and those that areused in Step Into English Course. Note the similarities and differences between the twocourses.What is the methodology used?The course uses the Language Experience Approach (LEA) based on the four posters,readers and stories. Learning takes place through familiar themes of the posters; family,school, market and bus station.The learners are taught in small groups at the Teaching Station. This enables the teacher

to pay attention to individual learners and take note of their own progress. Each learnerprogresses at his or her own pace. While one group is at the Teaching Station, the otherthree groups are engaged in appropriate independent learning activities.The Step In To English Course is divided into 3 stages just like NBTL. Stage 1 consistsof 10 lessons and is followed by an assessment exercise that divides the class into 4 pacegroups based on ability. Stage 2 consists of 30 lessons that are divided into 3 blocks of 10lessons (called Stage 2 Early, Middle and Late). Again each block of 10 lessons isfollowed by an assessment exercise. Stage 3 also has 10 lessons. There is no assessmentfor the end of stage 3 as only the very brightest learners will get this far through thecourse, and by then it will be time for your end of year assessment. Learners will onlyprogress to the next Stage if they pass the assessment exercise at the end of the previousStage.The lesson procedure is similar to NBTL as follows:Starting Time: 15 minutesTeaching Station 1: 20 minutesTeaching Station 2: 20 minutesSharing Time: 5 minutesIn addition the Pathway to English course is taught every day for 30 minutes. This willusually be done before the literacy lesson to ensure that learners have sufficient orallanguage to facilitate the learning of literacy in English. The oral course has its ownPathway 2 Teacher’s Guide that you will need to refer to separately for guidance on howto teach each oral lesson.136The lesson Procedure:The lesson procedure for Step In To English is as follows:Starting time: (15 minutes)The teacher reads a story to the class, or the class sings a song or says a rhyme together,or they discuss their news. This is followed by the introduction of an element of phonics(similar to the phonic flip chart activity in NBTL, but this time the teacher uses a

structured phonics programme found in the learners Activity Book.) The teacher thenintroduces the learning activities for each group for the lesson.Teaching Station 1 and 2 (20 minutes)Here the teacher teaches the lesson appropriate to the group at the Teaching Stationdepending what Stage and lesson they are up to. Each lesson follows a similar format asfollows:• Revising: the teacher briefly revises the new structures and vocabulary introducedin the previous lesson (about 2 minutes)• Discussing: the teacher and learners discuss the poster or book being used thatday to elicit the new vocabulary (about 3 minutes)• Reading: the teacher conducts a reading activity using the board, based on thevocabulary and structures elicited (about 7 minutes)• Writing: the learners undertake a written assignment set by the teacher, theteacher uses this time to check on the work of the other groups (about 8 minutes)Sharing time: (5 minutes)As with NBTL the lesson ends with the learners looking at each other’s work andpraising good work done. The lesson will end as usual with a song or rhyme.AssessmentAssessment is built into the Step In course. After every 10 lessons learners are assessed.First they are given a dictation exercise based on the vocabulary covered in the lessons ofthat stage. This can be done with the whole group at the same time. The teacher then seeslearners individually and asks them to read 10 sentences that contain vocabulary coveredin that stage. Learners are marked according to how well they are able to read and writethis vocabulary. If they get more than half the words correct they can move on to the nextstage, if not they must repeat work in the stage they are at before being assessed again.Full guidance for this is given in the Step In Teacher’s Guide.137What are the similarities of the course with New Breakthrough to Literacy (NBTL)?

You will note that the Step Into English Course will basically have the same features asNew Breakthrough to Literacy. The following are the similarities between NewBreakthrough to Literacy and Step Into English Course:• Teaching the class into four pace groups• Use of the Language Experience Approach• Use of the Teaching Corner• Class library• Talking walls• Use of the Teacher’s Guide and Learner’sActivity Book• Use of readers and storiesActivity 21. Think and write down two more similarities between New Breakthrough toLiteracy and Step into English apart from those stated above.2. Observe a Step In To English lesson. Compare and contrast Step Into Englishwith New Breakthrough to Literacy. What do you think the challenges would befor you as a teacher in teaching this course?Summary• SITE like NBTL is a literacy course and not a language course.• Teaching in SITE is divided into three stages just like in NBTL and that learningtakes place in four roughly equal pace groups.• How the SITE daily routine works and how learners are trained to behave in it.138

UMIT 8: READ ON COURSEIntroductionThe Read On course is a literacy course for Grades 3-7 to support reading andwriting in both English and the local Zambian Language. It consists of a singleteacher’s guide that will help teachers to identify the reading ability levels of theirlearners and provide appropriate learning activities that will help them to improve theirliteracy skills. With the help of this course teachers will be able to meet the needs of thehigh achievers as well as providing remedial support for those who need it. This courseneeds to be supported by a class library containing graded reading books from very basicto very advanced levels.

We have apart from the actual Read On Course included some material that will help youto adequately handle grades 1to 7 and even 8and 9.The ultimate learning outcomes of this course are to:1. Produce learners who are able to cope with the reading and writing requirementsof Grade 8 and who are functionally literate in a modern society.2. Contribute towards the strengthening of a reading and writing culture in Zambia.Learning Outcomes• For teachers to understand the aims and objectives of the Read On course.• For teachers to understand the central role of assessment in the teaching ofliteracy in this course.• For teachers to understand how this course builds on the achievements of NewBreakthrough To Literacy in Grade 1 and Step In To English in Grade 2.• For teachers to demonstrate understanding though answering questions anddoing follow-up activities.• For teachers to familiarize themselves with passages those pupils will readfrom other subject areas and express opinions and value judgments.• For teachers to interpret information from different reading materials/subjectareas.• For teachers to understand the use of reference materials.• For teachers to answer multiple, surface and inference questions on any topicof the cross-cutting issues like HIV/AIDS, Gender, substance abuse, childabuse, water and sanitation, etc.139• For teachers to demonstrate skills like skimming and scanning, use of table ofcontents and indices, dictionaries and directories.ReflectionNow refer to the Read On Teachers’ Guide and read the objectives of thiscourse. Reflect on these aims and objectives. Do you think they are desirable? Do youthink they are achievable?Activity 8.1Many teachers ask how it is possible to have a single teachers guide that covers 5different grade levels. Try to answer this question for yourself. Check your answer byreferring to the Read On Teachers Guide Chapter 1.Assessment in Read On

Assessment is at the heart of the Read On course. You will have covered this topic inModule 1, Unit 2. However, you cannot understand how Read On works properly untilyou understand the type of assessment proposed by this course.Formal assessment in the Read On course is based on reading with individual learners ona regular basis (once a month) and assessing their progress against an instrument calledthe ‘Rainbow Reading Ladder’.Turn to the back cover of the Read On TG and look at the rainbow reading ladder. Noticethat it has 5 colour levels, red, yellow, green, orange and blue. Each colour represents anability level. Red is the lowest representing children that cannot yet read while blue is thehighest representing children that can read as well as you or I.The information on the right of the ladder tells us what type of activities learners need tobe given in order to progress to the next level. Chapters 8 and 9 of the Read On Guideboth list examples of all these types of activities by colour level for you to select from.The information on the left hand side of the ladder tells us what types of books areappropriate for assessing the level of learners accurately. It is important that you use thecorrect level book when assessing learners as a green level learner reading from a bluelevel book will not be able to read much, there is then the danger that a teacher will markthem as being at red level, when in fact a child at green level can read reasonably wellgiven appropriate books to read.140Once learners are assessed according to this Rainbow Reading Ladder, they are placedinto 4 roughly equal sized pace groups. These groups cannot be based entirely on colourlevels, as there are 5 colour levels and only 4 groups of learners. For example: If you onlyhave a few red level learners you may need to put red and yellow level learners in thesame group, or if most of the class are green you may need two green level groups.Activity 8.2

If you are not already teaching Read On, select 10 learners in your class and read withthem one by one. Assess their reading level according to the Rainbow Reading Ladder(you may need to read through the instructions for conducing assessment in the Read OnTG, Chapter 6 before you start). If you are already a Read On teacher then just assessyour class as usual. While you are assessing the learners, reflect on the Rainbow ReadingLadder. Think about what it is that makes this a useful assessment instrument and answerthe following questions:• What have you learned about your pupils as a result of conducting thisassessment?• Why is the Rainbow Reading Ladder such a useful assessment tool?• Could the Rainbow Reading Ladder be used for assessing learners in othersubjects, for example Mathematics. If so, how?Learning activitiesAs a result of conducting your assessment you should have a much clearer picture of thetypes of activities your learners need in order to improve their reading and writing skills.The Read On Guide can now help you to identify specific learning activities that willhelp your learners progress. Chapter 8 of the guide contains over 100 graded activities forred to blue level learners that you can teach to small groups at the Teaching Station.These are activities that need to be taught. Chapter 9 also contains over 100 gradedactivities for red to blue level learners but these are independent learning activities thatcan be set to learners to complete on their own or in pairs while you are busy workingwith another group at the teaching station.Activity 8.3Think of the red or yellow level learners you have identified in your class. These are thelearners that need the most support. Turn to Chapter 8 in the Read On Guide. Read theactivities proposed to support learners at red and or yellow levels. Select one that youthink will be of most benefit to the red or yellow learners you have identified. Prepare a

20-minute lesson for this group of children based on the activity you have selected, teachit and evaluate your teaching. Note the following:141• What were the objectives of this activity, what did I want the learners to learn?• Did I achieve this objective fully, in part or not at all?• What follow up should I plan to ensure that learners have really grasped what Iwanted them to learn, or if they have, what they need next?Now you understand the role of assessment in not only gauging where learners are at, butalso in ensuring they get the teaching and learning programme they need in order toprogress. We will now look at how you organise this teaching and learning programmeinto the daily and weekly routine.Daily routineBy now you are familiar with the daily routine of NBTL and Step In To English, theRead On routine should now be very familiar.Starting Time 15 minutesTeaching Station 1 20 minutesTeaching Station 2 20 minutesSharing Time 5 minutesStarting time:As usual you will use starting time to read a story to the class. You will then explain thelearning activities to each group. Two of your groups will be visiting the TeachingStation that lesson; these two groups should read books from the class library whilewaiting to go to the Teaching Station, or after returning from it. The other two groups thatwill not visit the Teaching Station should be set learning activities according to theirability level from chapter 9.Teaching Station 1 and 2This is the time where you see one group at a time to give them the focused teaching theyneed based on their ability level. This will be an activity you select from chapter 8according to the ability level of each group.Sharing TimeAs usual the lesson will end with you showing examples of work that learners have

completed well. These can be shown to the class and the learners congratulated.142Remember that the purpose of this time is to show learners how important theirindependent learning activities are. It is also time for you to assess informally how welllearners are coping with the activities you are setting. When you mark their work lateryou can decide whether an activity needs to be repeated, whether learners need to doanother similar activity or whether they can move on to something different.Weekly routineThe weekly routine for Grades 3-4 will again be very familiar to you. It differs slightlyfor Grades 5-7 as in these grades the Literacy Hour is only taught 2 times a week, with ahalf hour session for revision and remedial work each week. So in effect it takes 2 weeksto complete the routine that is taught every week in Grades 3 and 4.Grades 3-4: Look at the weekly routines in the Read On Guide Chapter 2. Notice thatyou will see every group twice in the teaching corner from days 1-4. The first time yousee each group you will develop literacy skills in the local Zambian language, the secondtime you will develop literacy skills in English. The activities in chapters 8 and 9 indicateclearly whether they are appropriate for Zambian Language, English or both. You willalso try to achieve a balance between Reading and writing activities over the week.As usual Day 5 is used for Revision and remedial work. You will take the weakest twogroups to the Teaching Station, or if there is one group that is particularly weak youcould divide this group in two and see each half separately. Meanwhile the rest of theclass can be completing literacy work that was unfinished during the week, or doingrevision exercises that you have set based on the weeks work.Grades 5-7: Again look at the weekly routines in the Guide. Notice that you will seeevery group once a week. Over a two-week cycle you should cover Zambian Language

work one week, and English the next. Otherwise your routine is just the same.Instead of day 5 you will have an additional half hour a week for revision and remedialwork. If you have only one weak group you will take this group to the teaching cornerevery week while other learners complete work or do revision activities you have set, orread. If you have two weak groups you can see one the first week and the other in thesecond week of the cycle.ReflectionAs a way of reflecting on the courses so far discussed, answer the following questions:1. How is the Read On Course different from both Step In To English and NewBreakthrough to Literacy and in what ways is it similar? Try to list at least 5significant differences and 5 similarities and explain them.1432. How does each course (NBTL, Step In and Read On) build on the skillsdeveloped in the previous course?Summary• Read On is a literacy course for Grade 3 to 7 that is aimed at supporting readingand writing in both English and the Zambian languages.• Read On will help you identify reading ability levels of your learners, which inturn will help you provide appropriate learning activities so that learners improvetheir literacy skills.• Assessment is at the heart of the Read On course. The Rainbow Reading Ladderis used to place learners at the appropriate ability level.• Read On daily routine is similar to NBTL and SITE. However, the weekly routineat Grade 3 – 4 differs slightly for Grades 5 - 7.Reading at Middle and Upper BasicIntroductionWe have already discussed the many definitions of ‘literacy’ in earlier chapters. Ourdiscussion was basically on initial literacy. Let us now see how literacy at grades 5 to 7can supplement the Read On Course programme. Consideration will be given inconnection with the learning outcomes from the syllabus of literacy in grades 5 to7.(Refer to the Learning outcomes at the beginning of this chapter).

QUESTIONSIn any activity that one does, there are questions asked. Have you ever thought that thereare different types of tests? You may want to know some different types of questions andsome questioning techniques.Objective QuestionsThese have only one correct answer. The instruction, also called the rubric, is normallyimportant in understanding the exact way in which the answer should be provided. Theyusually take time to write but very easy to mark.Here are two examples of objective questions:1. Put the correct form of the verb in the sentence below144Last Saturday I (go) home at 23.00 hours.2. Draw a ring around the correct answer.It’s/ its/ it’s/It’s a long way to Dare-es-alaam.Multiple Choice questionsIn this type, the correct answer is placed before the candidate, but placed among otherwrong answers. These wrong answers are known as distracters and are carefully chosenfrom the errors the candidates are likely to make.One example is:The triplets are here, ______________ of them have done well in the examination.a) both b) all c) Both d) AllReflectionWhat would you think to be the better of the two questioning techniques for grades 5to 7?Subjective QuestionsThese require the marker to use his or her own judgment. Here, more time is spent onmarking. We have essays, summaries, and explanations as examples.Examples:1. Describe your best friend. (20 Marks)2. Summarize the last chapter of ‘Things Fall Apart’ in four paragraphs.(20 Marks)Cloze Test QuestionsIn this type, candidates are asked to fill in certain words, which were deleted from anexisting passage. The deleted words are usually according to a fixed frequency of words.145Activity 8.4

a) Formulate your own subjective and cloze tests for Grades 1 to 7.b) What are the advantages and disadvantages of cloze tests?Types of ReadingCan we remind ourselves again what we mean by reading? How many types of readingare you able to recall? Let us look at some of them:Efficient ReadingFor reading to be efficient, pupils need to increase reading speed and they need practicein different approaches applied in reading for different purposes. This therefore, meansthat learners are able to read fluently.Activity 5What techniques are required in order to do the following:• Reading a Novel• Finding a book in the library• Reading examination questions• Looking up a word in the dictionary• Researching for an assignment• Reading a newspaper• Following a recipe• Looking for a telephone number• Reading a notice.You may use the following techniques.• Reference techniques• Study techniques• Skimming techniques• Scanning techniques• Extensive Reading techniquesReference SkillsThese refer to the type of skills that are needed in order to efficiently locate informationfrom a wide variety of sources, which, for our pupils, would include three main sourcesthus:1. Directories, catalogues, dictionaries and encyclopedias in which information ispresented alphabetically.1462. Libraries- locating specific books within specific subject areas. E.g. DeweyDecimal System.3. Books- pupils need to skim to get a general idea of the kind of information in apotentially useful book and scan the text in order to quickly locate the specificinformation they require.

Intensive ReadingThis is mainly for detailed understanding. It is associated with comprehension lessonswhich should take the general format thus• Introduction• Vocabulary• Introducing the text• Detailed focus on the text• Discussion on the text• Questions (oral and later written)• Correction• Evaluation.Extensive ReadingExtensive Reading demands for the type of reading for enjoyment. In grades 1 to 7 thesetake the form of class readers and class library. It also provides practice in RapidReading.Reflection1. Suggest another format for teaching comprehension.2. Reflect on extensive reading and write a story that your pupils can read forenjoyment from Grades 1to4 and 5 to 7.Choice of Passage for ReadingReading covers a variety of activities in school. It stems from the recognisingalphabetical letters, to reading words and sentences and to all that can be put across forthe purpose. As earlier alluded to, the word for being able to read is literacy.If termed functional literacy, then this becomes wider than just words and sentences.One may read for study or for pleasure.Reflection147What are the different types of passages? Which ones would you recommend for Grades1-4 and Grades 5-7?PassagesPassages from different subject areas will usually be in form of narratives, descriptive,autobiographies, scientific, geographical, historical, geological etc.Activity 61. Suggest other types of passages in certain subject areas not mentioned here. Areyou able to interpret passages from other subject areas?2. Prepare an activity with a passage from a subject other than English.Summary

• In reading, there are many types of questioning techniques that you can use foryour classes• In choosing a passage for reading, you need to consider aspects such as grade anddifferent subject areas that pupils study.• There are different types of reading and reading skill that you as a teacher needs to be aware of.148

UNIT 9: TEACHING WRITING SKILLSIntroductionThis unit will discuss various aspects of teaching writing skills for grades 1 (one)up to grade seven (7). It will focus on questions like what is writing. What makeswriting difficult to most of our people in society. It is as well important in this unit tolook at the practical problems in writing and their solutions. As a student teacher, try togive your personal definition of the term writing.Learning OutcomesHaving successfully completed this unit you should be able to:• Define writing• Differentiate between speaking and writing.• Importance of writing• Common problems in writing and their solutions• Types of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, persuasive, argumentative.• Write formal and informal letters, and fill in forms and applications• Write from dictation• Write summaries• Write and punctuate a given sentence, paragraph or passage correctly• Write reports, and simple essays• Compose a story based on pictures• Demonstrate an understanding of paragraphing• Keep a diary, - (logging)• Translate sentences, paragraphs and passages from Zambian language into Englishand vice versa.Definition of WritingYou might have read or heard people say that the levels of literacy have sank to theirlowest standard in Zambia. You probably have also been engaged in professionaldiscussions with fellow teachers over the same issue.

ReflectionGoing by the paragraph that you have just read, how would you define writing?149Write it down in your exercise book for reference.Well done! Now that you have defined writing I would like us to look at how yourdefinition of writing can be used to help children write successfully. But before we dothat compare your definition with the one below. I hope that your answer is similar to theone provided below“Writing can be referred to as the act of forming graphic symbols which relate to thesounds that we make when we speak.” Writing is a process of presenting speech in amore permanent visual form. It is a means of communication.Writing involves the encoding of thought into recognisable symbols that can be translatedand read. Often times when we write we have a purpose and an audience in mind. Thestyle that we use to write largely depends on the kind of audience it is intended for.Do you think the above statement is enough in defining what writing is? If not write whatyou feel writing is and give reasons in the spaces provided below:There is more to writing than simply forming graphic symbols that relate to the soundswe make when we speak. Writing is a complex process that includes encoding a messageof some sort or what the author wants to say. Our thoughts are translated into language.Refer to Unit 2, Listening and Speaking. Read it carefully. The work that we are going todo below depends on your reading this section carefully.In the lower basic school most of the writing activities that your pupils will experiencewill need to be pegged at your children’s level. As they progress further the level ofdifficulty is expected to be slightly higher. However, do not forget to stay focused onGrade 1- 7 because this is our target audience.Difference between Speaking and Writing‘ Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man.’Francis Bacon, British writer ( 1561 –1626).

What is the implication of the above statement? Are there any issues that are raised by theabove statement that make you stop and think about how you are going to plan yourwriting sessions?150Writing is much more than merely the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than theproduction of sounds. Writing involves the encoding of a message of some kind; i.e. we translate ourthoughts into writing. Now, lets look at the table below, which shows the differences between speaking andwriting.THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPEAKING AND WRITINGSpeaking Writing1. Everyone acquires a native language Not everyone learns to write in the first fewyears of life2. Spoken language has dialect variations Written language generally has standardforms of grammar, syntax and vocabulary3. Speakers use their voices (pitch, stress,rhythm, body gestures and facialexpressions) to help convey their ideas.Writers rely on the words on the page toexpress their meaning4. Speakers use pauses and intonation Writers use punctuation5. Speakers pronounce Writers spell6. Speaking is usually spontaneous andunplannedWriting is planned and what is written canbe changed7. A speaker speaks to a listener who isright there, nodding or frowning,interrupting or questioningFor the writer, the reader’s response iseither delayed or non-existent. The writerhas only that one chance to conveyinformation and be interesting and accurateenough to hold the reader’s attention8. Speech is usually informal and repetitive:We say things like, “ What I mean is” or“Let me start again.”Writing is more formal and compact. Itprogresses logically with fewer digressionsand explanations9. Speakers use simple sentences connected

by a lot of ‘ands’ and ‘buts’Writers use more complex sentences, withconnecting words like: however; who; inaddition10. Something most of us seem to donaturally/automatically.No one learns to write automatically.Needs a conscious effort of mind and hand(consciously learn).11. First imitate words we hear andhow people around us put themtogether.- You must be shown how to formwords, how to put them togetherinto sentences and how to punctuatesentences.Now that we have established the difference between speaking and writing, the comparisonshould be able to help you understand the difficulties that learner’s face when the pupilslearn to write.151Activity 9.1Now that we have gone through the differences between speaking and writing, explainwhy you think writing is a difficult skill. Give specific examples. Also state the grade atwhich you aim these examples. Once you have written these difficulties, share these withfellow students in your Teachers’ Group.Importance of writingWhy should individuals learn how to write? Can you give your own reasons why weshould learn how to write?Now compare your answers to the reasons given below: Writing is of importance in ourlives because:- it reinforces what has been learnt orally- it provides different learning styles and needs. The disabled and the able bodiedcan learn under one umbrella.- It acts as a retention aid i.e. to keep information learnt.- Serves to provide learners with tangible evidence that there is progress in thelanguage- exposes the learner to foreign language through more than one medium

- it increases the amount of language contact through varieties of activities in theclassroom.- needed for formal and informal testing- it’s a form of communication.Common problems in writing and their solutionsHandwritingIn most of our Zambian schools, children enter school with no experience of handling apencil. It is our primary concern that we help the child to not only handle the pencilcorrectly, adopt a good writing posture but also help them to express their ideas in thewriting code beginning with the shaping of letters up to the stage when they can usewords (by linking them) so as to arrive at meaning.Before the children can do this, they have to be taken through a series of steps that arecalled pre-writing activities.152Activity 9.2Refer to your Teachers’ Guide Part, Grades 1 and 2 of ZBEC under Handwriting thenanswer the following questions:1. A good writing posture is associated with sitting like ‘Leo’ and not like ‘Jumbo’(a) What is sitting like Leo? Mention at least three things that are associated with thisposture(b) How does a pupil sit like Jumbo? Mention any four things2. (a) Outline any 10 pre-writing activities that may fall under the following headings:I. TactileII. Psycho-motorIII. Motor-sensory(b) In what way do these exercises help in the actual shaping of the letters?(c) How many would you do before any writing exercise?3. Why is the drawing of patterns very important before the pupils are exposed to theactual writing?Activity 9.3Prepare a lesson plan in which you will teach pattern drawing. Illustrate all the steps thatyou would take. Invite a friend to observe you teach this lesson and let him makecomments on your teaching

Shapes and heights of lettersLearners will only appreciate the value of writing if meaning is attached to the activity.As earlier stated, writing is not merely the graphic representation of symbols for wordsbut a way of expressing one’s innermost thoughts, feelings, anxieties and fears. At alower level, learners need to be taught the correct posture before commencement of anyhandwriting activity. They will need to do hand/finger exercises coupled with thedrawing of patterns, and then the shaping of letters.Each of the letters of the alphabet has got its own configuration i.e. its shape and heightthat distinguishes it from the other. The ‘ascenders’ are letters with ascending strokessuch as the letter ‘b’. ‘Descenders’ have descending strokes, like the letter ‘g’. There arealso other letters such as ‘x’ and ‘a’153

DictationIn the lower basic classes, dictation plays as much an important role as in the middlebasic. However, it is handled in a slightly different manner. You will realise that theactivities that are planned for dictation include the following:• Read, remember and write• Taking short dictation from pictures• Picture identification• Putting the pictures in order• Following a processFor further information refer to Unit 2Controlled and personal writingThese exercise and activities are meant to guide and give learners an opportunity to writecreatively. In ZBEC, you have been conducting a series of controlled practice activitiesfor writing. One of the commonest ideas is that of a cloze test.Activity 9.4Prepare a lesson in which you will teach controlled writing. Show the steps that you willfollow.Personal writingIn this type of activity, learners are required to write True-for-me statements. For

example, teacher writes a sentence such as:Mother is cookingThe learners then write a similar or parallel sentence, which is true-for-them about amember of their family e.g. Grandfather is digging the garden.154Common problems• Spellings: This is the ability to select letters and put them in the correct order tomake up words. Once you can form letters properly, the emphasis shifts to spellingwords correctly.How do you teach spelling? Are your methods effective, how could you improve them?Compare the answers you have given with the following:- group similar words together for learners to learn: examples: thought, ought andbought- Give learners a few words to learn daily, rather than saving up long lists ofspelling to be tested once a week or once a month- Teach learners to learn how to spell using read, cover, write and check method.Here the learners copy the word, look at it, cover it and try to write it again, thenuncover it and compare the original with the word they have just written. This isvery effective.• Punctuations: These are sign posts in a text that show how it must be read or phrased.This may help you to make sense of a text and to read in meaningful chunk.Activity 2: How do you teach punctuation?You should take into consideration the following:- capital letters- full stops- question marks- use of comma- apostrophe- speech marks/quotation marks- exclamation marks- semi colonThese are taught in ZNBTL and Step in.• Language structure: This is how a language is organised and the rules that govern itsorganisation. Most pupils find it hard to organise and follow the rules..You should take into consideration here:- word order

- how tenses are formed and used- which words have to agree155How do you teach language structure?Compare your findings with the following:- learners should learn the correct grammar of English language lesson and thenapply the rules they have learnt to writing in the literacy lesson- learners should recognise their errors and to correct them- structure can be practised by providing;• writing frames• story structure• using information provided in maps• substitution tables• blank filling (cloze procedure)• picture stories• completing paragraphsWhen learners are just beginning to write, they will experience a number of problems inthe writing process as discussed above.Activity 9.5Identify some common problems that are associated with writing from grade 1 to 7 inschools. Briefly discuss how these problems can be solved.Style of writingWhen we talk about style in writing, we refer to the different ways in which we write.There are formal and informal styles of writing, which may use technical, journalistic andfictional styles. The way a writer chooses words, arranges them in sentences and longerunits of discourse and exploits their significance determines his/her style.You will teach simple and straightforward styles which are familiar to your pupils fromgrade 1 to 7. Here are some different kinds that you may find useful at this level fromgrade 1 to 7.• letters (formal and informal)• Stories• Notices and announcements• Filling in forms and applications• Keep a diary• Write reports• Summaries• Play writing156

• Writing poems• Giving instructionsLet us now look at one of them in detail.Notices and announcementsOne of the simplest kinds of writing that learners can be exposed to is writingnotices and announcements. These can range from single words or short expressions like‘ Amuna’ or ‘Akazi’. As the learners gain more experience they maybe required to writelonger notices e.g.orActivity 9.6Design suitable activities that you can use with your learners to bring out the differenttypes of styles of writing.Types of WritingThe ability to write is too often assumed as easy as acquiring proficiency in the mothertongue. Oral and spoken skills are usually taught through carefully and well thought –outtechniques and appropriate practice given. The written and spoken forms of the languageare not. The teaching of writing has to be done in a different way. Teaching writing skillscalls for special teaching too. In is important that learners are exposed to different typesof writing at an early stage.In this section, we are going to look at some of the types of writing that you can use inyour class. Below are some examples of some types of writing that you might find useful:Narrative writingThis is writing that tells about events that happen. Usually it could a chronicle of eventsthat took place at a certain time (writing a story). These are fictions and non fictionssince they come from the writer’s imagination. e.g.Write an incident about how you got lost in the bush alone.

NoticeBeware of DogsNo smoking157Expository writing

This is writing that explains and answers implied questions such as: who or what is theperson or thing under discussion. Why is the person or the thing doing that? How doesthe thing work? What is its origin and how does it develop?Study the following expository writing:Exposition is writing that informs or explains. There are different kinds of expositorywriting;a) explains a process e.g. how to cook porridgeb) another explains causes and effects e.g. what causes earthquakes? What effectdoes Kalusha have on the national team?c) And the third explains through comparison and contrasts e.g. explain thesimilarities and differences between xylophone and a drum.Descriptive writingThis kind of writing attempts to recreate the impression evoked by a person, place orthing. It appeals to readers’ emotions and senses. It concentrates on how things look,taste, feel or sound.Study the three forms of descriptive writing. Choose one that is suitable for grades 1 – 7and give reasons for that selection.1. Informative descriptive: This enables the reader to identify an object e.g. Give adescription of the President of Zambia, or describe how Kalusha Bwalya lookslike.2. Analytic or technical description: This enables the reader to understand thestructure of an object, e.g. describe the following objects:(i) a tree(ii) a bicycle(iii) tyre jack(iv) a human hand or foot3. Evocative Description: This re-creates the impression made by an object, e.g.write an evocative description of your aunt you grew up within the village.Persuasive writingThis is writing that tries to influence other peoples’ views. It may fall under personal/freewriting e.g. writing to try to change peoples’ attitudes, life styles, etc.5. Argumentative writing: This enables the learner to write against and for e.g. givereasons why you think hunting is important.158

In teaching the learners to write, take into consideration the following points:• teach the learners how to write• provide adequate and relevant experience of the written language• show the learners how the written language functions as a system of communication• teach the learners how to write texts• teach the learners how to write different kinds of texts• make writing tasks realistic and relevant• integrate writing with other skills• use a variety of techniques and practice formats• provide support• Be sympathetic!Teaching writing in the classroomHow would you teach writing in a classroom? Compare your suggestions with thefollowing approaches:Teaching of writing involves many approaches. Below are some of the approaches theteachers can use:• The Controlled – to – Free- ApproachThis kind of writing is sequential in that it moves from simple copying of sentences tocomposing paragraphs or manipulating grammar, e.g. changing questions tostatements or present to past, etc. Normally such writing is meant to reinforce speech.Learners can only be allowed freedom of written expression when they have reachedan advanced level of fluency. This approach, as Raimes (1983) puts it, emphasisesaccuracy rather than fluency or originality. This is the practice in the Zambia BasicEducation Course English Component (ZBEC):e.g. 1. Combining sentences2. Filling in blanks3. using writing frames – a teacher provides heading or paragraph structuresorquestions to be answered.4. putting jumbled sentence in the correct order.159• The Free- Writing ApproachIn this approach, learners are told not to worry about the language form, but concernthemselves with content and fluency first. Learners are encouraged to write freely andnot to worry about their grammar.Activity 9.7

(i) Is the Free-Writing approach appropriate for pupils in your class? Givereasons for your answer(ii) If the teacher does not correct pupils’ mistakes, how then will they know whatis wrong with their writing?• The Paragraph –Pattern ApproachThe main feature of this kind of writing is the ability by the learners to arrangejumbled sentences into a paragraph order. This approach has often been exploited inthe Grade VII examinations. The question that we need to ask ourselves is whetherthis approach is appropriate for the real writing that we want our learners to do.The following are jumbled sentences on how to prepare nshima; now rearrange themin the correct order:- boil water in a pot- clean pots and plates- serve it with relish- make nshima- make a fire.• The Grammar-Syntax-Organisational ApproachIn this approach learners are made to work on both grammar/syntax and organisation.The approach tries to link the purpose of a piece of writing to the forms that areneeded to convey the message; e.g.1. the boy is playing football (simple present)2. the boy was playing football (simple past)160Activity 9.8Is the approach appropriate for our primary school pupils? Does it help them to learn howto use correct language forms and also know how to organise ideas?• The Communicative ApproachIn this approach, the emphasis is on the purpose of a piece of writing and the need tofocus on a specific audience. The difference between this approach and the traditionalones is that, in the traditional approaches, the teacher has always been the audiencefor every piece of written work. But there is no reason why we, as teachers, cannotextend this audience beyond the classroom door. So the communicative approach is

said to be the only approach that can really help to extend the audience beyond theclassroom environment (Raimes, 1983)Summary• Writing is an act of forming symbols that relate to the sounds that we make when wespeak.• Writing is a complex process that includes encoding a message of some sort that aretranslated into language.• The differences between writing and speaking.(see table on page3)• How to teach children to form different shapes and heights of letters• How to help children write using an appropriate script as recommended for eachgrade.• How to show children the correct posture using charts of 'Leo' and 'Jumbo'.• Dictation is a major component of the writing programme• Controlled and personal writing give learners an opportunity to write creatively• When we talk about writing, we refer to different kinds of writing• There are several types of writing activities that we can use within our classes• There are different types of writing• Each of these types has a purpose and an audienceThe best type of writing approach of teaching writing is that which extends beyond theclassroom door and gives an opportunity to the learner to practice writing using differentformats.161

UNIT 10. TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE PRIMARY CLASSROOMIntroductionThis section is about literature and how it can be used in the classroom withyoung children. In this section we will discuss among other things the exploitation ofchildren’s language and experiences to increase their literary knowledge as well asenhance their appreciation of different forms of literature.In this unit the following will be discussed:• What literature is• Genres of literature• Oral and written literature• Purposes of teaching literature• Planning a literature lesson

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this unit you should be able to:• Define Literature• Expose learners to various forms of literature• Demonstrate ability to analyze and understand elementary aspects of literature in both Englishand Zambian Languages.• Identify genres of literature.• Use different types of genres to teach literature.I am sure that you have had a lot of experience with various forms of literature both as achild and as a teacher.ReflectionThink back of your days as a child and as a student. What images of literatureimmediately come to your mind?What, in your understanding, is the meaning of literature?Write your answer down because we will be referring to it later.Now look at your answer and compare it with what other authors think literature is.Hucks, et al, in their book, “Children’s literature in the Elementary School” say that162• Literature varies from time to time, culture to culture, from critic to critic andfrom reader to reader. They go on to say that literature is the imaginativeshaping of life and thought into forms and structures of language.• Literature illuminates life by shaping our insights. W H Auden (1990:24)differentiates between first-rate literature and second-rate literature, writingthat the reader responds to second-rate literature by “That’s just the way Ialways felt.” But first-rate literature makes one say “Until now, I never knewhow I felt. Thanks to this experience, I shall never feel the same again.”In helping children appreciate literature and its various forms we should relateit to their every day experiencesActivity 10.1You have now looked at different definitions of literature. Answer the questions below:1. How did you experience literature as a child, student and as a teacher? Draw up alist of your experiences2. Are there any specific works of literature that you have enjoyed? What are yourreasons for having said this?3. Have you ever found literature enjoyable, easy or difficult? Give reasons4. Is there any benefit in studying literature? Why/not?I think we can leave the issue of the definition of literature for later. As weprogress in the study we might find further insights into literature.

May be the question that we need to ask ourselves is why teach literature?You may already be asking yourself the same question. It is obvious that verylittle attention is given to literature teaching in most of our Primary Schools.The reasons are very easy to find. Most of the teachers do not have thenecessary expertise nor do they have the knowledge and competence to dealwith this issue effectively. You and I fall in the same category. It is indeedtrue that literature at Primary level is not given the importance it deserves.Before we think of teaching literature, we should consider the age of thechildren, the language, the books and illustrations that will accompany thetext. These ideas will make the work quite interesting and motivating to thechildren.Let’s now go back to the reasons that you gave for teaching literature. Tryand compare your answers with these below:163Purposes for teaching literature• Literature provides vivid and deeper insights into one’s experiences of othercultures, philosophies and attitudes and so helps one to perceive and appreciatethe world around one. It also helps widen one’s Cosmo-vision.• It helps to improve your passive knowledge of both English and ZambianLanguages• It helps you choose and discriminate what to read• It offers you an opportunity to compare your society with that of others• It makes you aware of the possibilities of language and of implications of variousstyles and ways of using words• It provides insights into the nature and potential of human beings. It also offersone a chance to introspect and then compare themselves with the characters beingread out.• It stimulates critical thinking about issues and ideas• It develops the skill of creative writingLiterature should be valued in our homes and schools for the enrichment it gives to ourpersonal lives and that of children.Activity 10.2Read the reasons for teaching literature and rate them according to how you value themusing a four-point scale. Make a tick in each box.Rating scaleReasons for teaching literature 1 2 3 41. Literature provides vivid and deeper insights and

experiences of culture, philosophies and attitudesand so helps you to perceive and appreciate theworld around you. It also helps to widen yourcosmo-vision2. It helps to improve your passive knowledge ofboth English and Zambian Languages3. It helps you choose and, discriminate what toread.4. It offers you an opportunity to compare yoursociety with that of others5. It makes you aware of the responsibilities oflanguage and implications of various styles anddifferent ways of using words.6. It provides insights into the nature and potential164of human beings. It also offers one a chance tointrospect and then compare themselves with thecharacters being read.7. It stimulates critical thinking about issues andideas8. It develops the skill of creative writingHelping children with literatureWe have already established the fact that literature serves many purposes and it isimportant that children are guided to appreciate works of literatureYou should give them an opportunity to use a variety of cues and demonstrate how theycan get the best from the printed word. It has been said that what makes children ‘readersfor life’ is the way they engage the text and interact with the authors.I am sure from your reasons of teaching literature, you have by now realised thatliterature plays many roles apart from the personal, educational, entertainment andenjoyment, reinforcement of the narrative, development of the imagination. It also helpsin appreciating one’s culture. You and I should emphasize on sharing literature withchildren. Some of the techniques that we can use at the lowest level are:• Picture books• Shared reading• Group reading• Asking children to tell each other about what they have read and why theyenjoyed it.• Choosing exciting /interesting or ‘short appetite-whetting’ extracts• Reading to children by the teacher

• Story tellingActivity 10.3Look again at the techniques that you can use to share literature withchildren. Choose three of them and write briefly on how you would use them in yourclassroom situation.It has been proved that children, who have shared books with their parents and peers for along time, learn quite a lot. The children do not only learn about books themselves, butthey also enjoy them. Children must be made to realise that books are part of their lives.165Activity10.41. In your class invite a number of children to talk about the favourite books they haveread as a way of encouraging others to read. Let them state why they enjoyed the books2. If you were to be given an opportunity of choosing books for literature to be usedespecially for Grades 1 – 7, what criteria would you use in choosing them? Write briefnotesAs the children share their experiences, note:• Ways in which they describe the books that they have read. In particulartake note of the words used. Go further by asking them to tell the classwhat points they consider in good books.Activity 10.5Now conduct a survey among your fellow teachers in your school. Find out how toorganise reading sessions and the activities that they use. Find out how much time theyspend on each activity.Go through the information you have gathered and then prepare a reading lesson planusing the guidelines and ideas borrowed from your observations. How useful have theseideas been and how best can they be improved so that children cannot only benefit fromreading sessions, but also help to make them 'readers for life?Selection of Books.The choice of books you and your children will read depends on a number of factors.Remember to select a wide range of books that are pegged at the children’s reading

level. Try to balance your selection to include an anthology of short stories, a collectionof poems, praises, songs, lays as well as some works that can be acted out by yourchildrenNow look at what others think are good indicators of literature• Literature should be illuminating (enlightening)• The language is artistic – it is symbolic• Literature is used as response to deeply felt personal and social needs• Literature should be timeless and universal - It goes beyond enjoyment,and the reader gets deeply engrossed in the text166• It is the multi-dimensional study of human kind. We are studied in all ourguise; cultural, political, social, psychological and philosophical being(Module 3 Literacy and Language p 34, ZATEC)Let’s now discuss some of the ideas that we briefly mentioned in sharing literature withchildren.a) Shared ReadingIn the earlier grades when the children’s reading proficiency has not been fully attained,you can interest children in books by reading to them frequently. At this stage children’sstorybooks, picture books and big books are very handy. You can also solicit the help ofparents or indeed older children to read to them. Remember, however, that children’sattention span is very short. Therefore, books chosen for this purpose should have goodstory lines and be well illustrated, preferably in colour. As the children grow older theshared reading can be done among themselves, i.e. in groups or in pairs.b) Group ReadingFor group reading you will be required to arrange your class in smaller groups. Thechildren will then share what they have read with the rest of the class.c) Asking Children to tell what they have readFrom Grades 1– 7 children will have acquired the basic skills in reading in a ZambianLanguage. Exploit this opportunity to hear as many of your children as possible read.Another way in which this approach can be used is by asking members of your class to ‘hot - sit’ and let the other children ask questions about what the ‘hot sitter’ read.d) Choosing interesting/exciting ‘appetite-whetting’ extracts

In this type of approach, children will be required to isolate an interesting or exciting partof the story and then explain their choice and why they found it interesting. To helpchildren complete this task successfully; they could be asked to:• Predict what is coming next• Fill in the words that ‘fit’, because they are repeated often• Look at their predictions and say whether they are right or wronge) Reading storiesIntroduce a variety of books, which tend to broaden their appreciation. To do thiseffectively you will need to put yourself in the shoes of the children. Be aware of their167interests, their background and experiences. “There is no such thing as a book for 4 yearolds or 10 year olds”. Very popular books are enjoyed by both children and adults andcan be read over and over.Activity 10.6Since there is a large amount of reading aloud in Grade 1 and 2 and progressively less inGrades 3 and 7, prepare a lesson plan then invite a friend to observe how you areconducting your reading aloud sessions. Share your friend’s observations with your studypartner. Did you follow any set pattern?We hope that your guidelines will agree with some of the points below.• Select a story appropriate to the development age of the children and theirprevious exposure to literature• Determine whether you will share the book with the whole class, a smallgroup, or an individual child.• Select books that will stretch the children’s’ imagination, extends theirinterests, and exposes them to fine art and writing.• At Primary level favourite stories should be read over and over.• Select a story that you like so you can communicate your enthusiasm• Choose a paragraph or chapter that can be read in one session• Communicate the mood and meaning of the story and characteristics withyour voice.• Consider the pupils’ background, sex, age and interests• Introduce books in various ways- through classroom displays- By a brief discussion about the author or illustration- By asking children to predict what the story will be about through lookingat the cover and interpreting the title- By linking the theme, author, illustrator to other books the children know

• Encourage children to discuss the progress of the story and predict theoutcome of the paragraph or chapter• Help children to link the story with their own experiences of literature• Keep a list of books read and pass it on to the next teacher( Huck, et al, 1993:723)168Activity 10.7Using the above guidelines, choose a book suitable for the children’s level. Read ittogether with the children. How far do you think it helped them to reflect on what theyread? Finally try some of these ideas with fellow teachers and comment on theirreactions.You will have realised by now that most of the ideas that we are discussingconcern children in the lower and upper basic schools, that is Grades 1 – 7 but thisneed not stop you from adapting or increasing the level of difficulty and then usethem with older children. Here are some of the ideas that you can use with Grades1 –7Talk about• The vocabulary• The level of difficulty• When and where the story is taking place• The characters involved• The incidents• The development of the story• The writer’s main messageGenres of literatureIn this section we will discuss genres of literature and how they can be applied in aclassroom situation.A genre is a particular kind of written, visual or oral text, which can becharacterized by features of language, structure, purpose and audience.Here is an extract from The African Child for you to try out. Read it carefully.169A strict teacherOnce in school, we went straight to our seats, boys and girls sitting side by side,our quarrels over; and, as soon as we sat down, we became all ears, and satabsolutely still, so that the teacher used to give his lessons in an impressivesilence. I should just like to have seen what would have happened if we had somuch as stirred in our seats. Our teacher moved like quicksilver; he never

remained long in the same place; he was here, there and everywhere. His flow oftalk would have bewildered less attentive pupils. But we were remarkablyattentive, and we found it no strain to be so. Young though we were, we allregarded our schoolwork as something deadly serious. Everything we learnedwas strange and unexpected; it was as if we were learning about life on anotherplanet; and we never grew tired of listening. Even if it had been otherwise, thesilence could not have been more absolute under the strict discipline of a masterwho seemed to be everywhere at once and who would never have given us anopportunity to let our attention wander or to interrupt. But as I have said, aninterruption was out of the question: it simply did not occur to us. And so we triedto attract the teacher's attention as little as possible: for we lived in constantdread of being sent out to the blackboard.This blackboard was our nightmare. Its dark, blank mirror was the exactreflection of the amount of our knowledge. We knew very little, and the little weknew was very shaky: the slightest thing could upset it. Now if we did not want tobe the recipients of several strokes of the cane, we had to go to the blackboardand take the chalk in our hands and pay our debt in kind. Here the tiniest detailwas of the utmost importance: the wretched blackboard magnified every mistake.If we made one of the downward strokes not exactly of the same height as theothers, we were required either to do an extra lesson on Sunday, or we had to goto the teacher during break, and receive, in the class that was always known asthe infants', an unforgettable beating, on our bare backsides. Irregular downwardstrokes used to horrify our teacher; he would examine our exercise books under amagnifying glass, and for each irregularity he discovered we got a stroke. Iremember him well, a man like quicksilver; and he wielded his stick with joyousabandon!…(Camara Laye, p.65)Reflection' …for we lived in constant dread of being sent out to the blackboard.'

Did you ever feel like this during your school days? If you didwrite a description of a very strict teacher you have known.170Activity 10.8Explain the relationship that exists between literature and language teaching in theclassroom. Use the following headings to help explain the relationship:a) teaching language through literatureb) teaching the language of literaturec) What are the implications of the two statements above?The various forms of literature are what we call genres.• The novel, the fable, the short story, the play and the poema) A novel is a collection of fictitious or imaginary forms that may not reflecttrue or real life situations in society.b) The fable includes aetiological tales, parables, dilemma tales, myths andlegendary or fairy talesc) The short storyd) The play – that which can be read or actede) The poem - a composition in verse – can be dramatized and is metricalTypes of poetry• Panegyric (praise)• Elegiac (funeral dirges)• Work songs (e.g. pounding song)• Topical songs (songs based on certain topics e.g. love)• Lullabies (used to lull baby to sleep)Now, let’s look at what young children can do with words. Ask them toimagine what it will be like when they are old, and what they will do.Once they have done this, ask them to write a series of sentences beginning“When I am old I shall…’Let the children work in groups of three or five. Let them share their ideas,pick out the best ones and arrange them as a poem. Here is an example:When I am Old171I’ll read a lot less and learn a lot more.I’ll picket against corruption and sleep on the floorIn crowds of the dead I’ll learn to be aloneI’ll let it ring – never answer the phone.I’ll remember faces, never misplace my glasses,…This activity can be done in English or Zambian LanguagesAspects of literatureLiterature in the class, especially for the Lower and Upper Basic School need not becomplex. Build up from the children’s own experience. Start with stories that childrenare familiar with. You can also begin by asking children to sing familiar songs, recite

rhymes, poems or narrate stories that they hear their parents tell.You may also wish to use some of the genres below in your classroom:(i) Fairy tales(ii) The fable(iii) Folktale(iv) The parable(v) Trickster stories(vi) The historical tale(vii) The legend(viii) Allegory(ix) The dilemma(x) Tale(xi) MythLet us look at one example of genres that you may wish to use in your class.This is the folktale. Folktales maybe defined as “all forms of narratives,written or oral, which have come to be handed down through the years.” Thisdefinition includes epic tales, ballads, legends, folk songs, myths and fables.There are several types of folktales. Some of the common ones that you maybe familiar with are:• Cumulative folktales• “Why folktales”• “Beast tales”• Wonder tales172• Realistic talesChildren, no matter from which culture and background they come, arealways fascinated by folktales because of their repetitive nature. I am sure youhad the same experience as well.To help remind you of the cumulative folktales, here is an example from WestAfrica called “ Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.” ‘In this story themosquito tells the iguana a story that sets off a chain reaction which ends indisaster for a baby owl. No one rests until the person responsible for owlet’sdeath is found. Due to this Mother Owl refused to wake up the sun. The storywent like this:So it was the mosquitowho annoyed the iguana,who frightened the python,who scared the rabbit,who startled the cow,who alarmed the monkey,who killed the owlet –and now Mother Owl won’t wake the sunso that day can come.

You may wish to collect samples of cumulative folktales that you can use in your class.Activity 10. 9Work with your study partner in collecting different types of literature. Use theanthology to cater for the learning needs of all the children. With pupils establish thesetting, character and theme of the chosen story.173Use the picture on the next page to find out their feelings about the activity they havejust been doing ( begin with a Zambian Language and then English)( Gawith, 1970) ‘Reading is Feeling’Alternatively, let the children draw their feelings by using graphic representations e.g.I felt like rain I felt like windrushing through the leavesI felt like a train chugging along I felt happyI felt sad I felt like cryingThere are a number of ways that you can employ in order to help children engage andinteract with the text. One of these ways is asking children to look at their own writingand make them understand that books are written by people. Help them understand the174fact that writers of books reflect their values and attitudes that may not necessarily agreewith theirs.Another approach is to ask the children to review their own work. In doing so they shouldbe able to explain to their friends how they achieved the effect. Similary , the sametechnique can be used to discuss the work of other children in the class.From the anthology that you had prepared choose one book. This could either be inEnglish or a Zambian Language. Make sure that the book you have chosen matches theability of the children in terms of language and experience.ReflectDo a character study aimed at bringing out the following:(i) The events(ii) People(iii) Setting of the story(iv) How the story developed?(v) Who plays a prominent part in the story

(vi) Where does much of the story unfold or where do important events occur?( Hindmarsh 1972:32)You may use the following guidelines to make sure that the character study is successful:Who is the main character or central person/thing in the story? This would be the story’shero; the character who stands out prominently at the end of the first reading. This is thecharacter who has the most effect on us.What is the aim of the character? Invariably, this character (protagonist) has a missionor something s/he wishes to achieve ( it could be status, wealth, marriage , etc)Similarities and Differences in Oral and Written LiteratureSimilaritiesBoth involve the learner in the study of languageWhether Oral or written one can derive satisfaction by either reading or listeningBoth are a form of communicationBoth Oral and Written literature are a manifestation of language as an expressive artBoth are a medium or vehicle of expressing culture175DifferencesManner of presentationIn oral literature there is repetition to aid memory and in written it is avoidedReading literature provides a permanent record where as oral literature is improptuOral literature is usually associated with live performances e.g court poetry recitingpraises to the chiefIn written litearture some one must study the script before it can be performedOral literature is prone to distortions because of the manner in which it is presented i.e.literary versions of the same story, told by the same people.Importance of LiteratureOral and Written literature reflect and shape the lives of people. It offers people insightsinto the values of different communities. In the Zambian context oral literature is used asa medium for the transmission of culture. It would be very difficult to uphold theZambian national philosophy without it.Activity 10.10

The diversity of oral literature varies in its genres and use of language. Conduct aresearch in your local community on the various genres of literature that are suitable foruse in Grades 1– 7Functions of LiteratureOral literature reflects the philosophy of the society that produces it.Oral narrativesThink of the days when you were young. You will realise that what I am trying to say isnot divorced from reality. You must have at one time or the other sat round a firelistening to stories told by mother, father, grandmother or grandfather.The most common narratives that should have come to your mind are the myth, legend,aetiological (or why story), stories about communal life, trickster stories and many othersthat we will look at later.176MythsMyths are the mysteries that surround the community. Often times these mayreflect a community’s existence, historical origin e.g. the myth about ‘ MumbiMukasa’, ‘ Nyambe’ among the Bemba and the Lozi people respectively orindeed mysteries that affect the environment. In Zambia strange phenomena suchas death is explained by myth.LegendsWhat in your opinion, would be the functions of legends in the community inwhich you are serving? Got the answer? Read the following extract from (Ikpewo,1990) and it reads:Although legends share the fact of imaginative creativity with myths, mostlegends have some grain of historicity around them. Legends have socialfunctions to serve the community where they are told and are sometimes used towarn people against arrogance.Aetiological (or Why stories)Activity 10.11Briefly state what you understand by aetiological stories. Write a story that would explainthis and share it with fellow teachers in your study group.You might by now have started realising that peoples’ culture and language cannot be

separated because it works towards the maintenance of a healthy social order in thecommunity. This is done to avoid the disruption of social cohesion.Trickster storiesThis is the most popular of narratives in the various Zambian communities. Theyare based on the basis of deception and are used to warn people against gullibility.Trickster stories are usually centred on one character/personality to fool otherse.g. the stories of ‘Kalulu’. These stories often culminate in the culprit beingcaught and at the end suffering great punishment.177Ogre storiesThis type of story symbolises evil and power of destruction, which lurks in theworld. These stories are used to warn people against the existence of evil anddanger. Almost all end with the victim being saved no matter how serious thetorture.SongsThese are used to educate the youth and adults in the norms of the society.ProverbsProverbs are very important in a community’s life since they assist people copewith the demands of life and also help them to be aware that struggle is inevitable.Activity 10.12Now, look at the following examples. For each example, write a proverb that you woulduse to teach the underlying principle;• Initiative• Courage• Determination and perseverance• Proverbs warning people against pride• Greed and selfishness• Being rational• Being human• Kinship bond• Communal life• Unity and cooperationRiddlesOne genre that children love to hear is the riddle. Riddles help children to beanalytical and critical thinkers.Activity 10.13

Prepare a lesson on riddles. Divide the class into two and make it a competition.178In your Teachers’ Group, discuss the social and educational value of riddlesSummary• Literature varies from time to time, culture to culture, from critic to critic andfrom reader to reader.• Literature illuminates life by shaping our insights.• Literature helps you choose and discriminate what to read• It stimulates critical thinking about issues and ideas• Children will only appreciate literature if it relates to their day to day lives• Careful consideration of which books to use is important• Shared, group reading and asking children about what they have read helps themto get started in literature work• The activities, if well used will help the teacher in his/her classroom practice• If literature is taught well, it can help learners become broad-minded, perceptive,creative, analytical and capable of interpreting literary works and constructingcriticism.• Oral literature is very important to the Zambian community because the past isembodied in the present and the present is embodied in the past• The appreciation of literature can only be fully understood in its cultural contextand performance.• Proverbs help the community to cope with the demands of daily life and be awarethat struggle is inevitable.• That songs can be used to educate both the youth and adults in the norms of thesociety• Ogre stories are use to warn people against the existence of evil• Trickster stories are based on deception• Legends have some historicity around them and are used to sometimes warnpeople against arrogance.179

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