ARTICLE WRITING (POPULAR ARTICLES FOR VARIOUS READINGAUDIENCES) - WEEK SEVEN

WEEK 7

*TOPIC: (a) Literacy skills-Writing for Communication Article Writing (popular articles for various reading audiences)

                            (b) Vocabulary Development: Spelling of commonly mis-spelt words and the use of the dictionary.

*SpecificObjective: By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

(1)Identify features of a newspaper article.

(2)Identify the differences in spelling of some words and how to use the dictionary.

 

                                    TOPIC 1: ARTICLE WRITING (POPULAR ARTICLES FOR VARIOUS READINGAUDIENCES)

An article is a piece of writing about a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine.

 

FEATURES OF A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

(1)The title: The first part of a newspaper article is the title. The title bears the topic of discussion in the body of the article.

(2)The introduction: After the title of the paper, the next is the introduction which must be interesting with a view to stimulating the interest of the reader into wanting to read the entire article.

(3)The body: The body is the part the article that bears the message which the writer wishes to establish. The body is divided into many paragraphs with each paragraph possessing a main idea. The main idea of every paragraph is contained in a sentence called the topic sentence.

(4)The conclusion: The last part of the article is its conclusion. The conclusion give a general summary of the article with emphasis on the theme which has been developed in it.

NB: The language of an article is usually formal. The sentence are varied and properly punctuated for clarity of expression.

       Also note that the features of an article are very similar to the features of a written speech. The information in their parts may be different because speech is written for oral delivery. Its introduction, for instance, may contain the protocol in which important dignitaries among the audience are recognized. Such protocol is not seen in an article.

 

                                    DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AN ARTICLE AND A LETTER                                                                     

1) In letter writing, we have an address but there is no address in an article for a newspaper or magazine.

            2) The address of a letter is followed by a date. The date is not included in an article.

            3) A letter has a salutation such as “Dear sir ”but an article has no such salutation.

            4) A letter has a complimentary close such as “Yours faithfully ”,and “Yours sincerely”. An article is written without a complimentary close, but like a letter, it bears the name of the writer at the end. The place from where the article is written may also come below the writer’s name.

            5) The language of an article is always formal but the language of a letter may be either formal or informal, depending on whether it is a formal or an informal letter.

 

            TOPIC 2: SPELLING OF COMMONLY MIS-SPELT WORDS AND THE USE OF THE DICTIONARY

            Spelling is an important aspect of drama. Clear and accurate spelling of words of a language and understanding it can improve one’s vocabulary. Alphabet used in English words differs from its spelling. The English language belongs to greek. What we call modern English today belongs to greek, latin, French and dutch.

 

                                                SOMEUSEFUL RULES OFENGLISH SPELLING SYSTEM

            1) Nouns and verb: The noun is spelt with ‘c’ and the verb with  ‘s’. Examples:

NOUNVERB

                                   advice(ce)                                advise(se)

                                   prophecy(cy)                                        prophesy(sy)

                                   licence(ce)                                           license(se)

          2) Doubling the consonant in certain words. Examples:

                                   hop                                                       hopping

                                   swim                                                    swimming

                                   prefer                                                   preferred

                                   occur                                                    occurred

       3) Words ending in ‘L’ preceeded by a short vowel have doubling of consonants. Examples:

                                   signal                                                   signaling

                                   cancel                                                  cancelled

                                   travel                                                   travelling

                                   level                                                     leveling

NB: Most verbs ending in ‘p’, do not double the letter. Examples:                          

Gossiping,     Developing,     Galloping.

NB: In American English, the listed words do not double the consonant. Examples:

                                Traveling,     Kidnaped,        Programing,    Marvelous.

4) Nouns ending in ‘our’, the ‘u’ is dropped adjective form of such word. Examples:

                      Humour                                               Humorous

                      Vigour                                                  Vigorous

                      Glamour                                               Glamorous

5) Plural formation, generally add (s) to the nouns but (es) to word with (y) ending. Examples:

(a) Words ending in ‘y’ replaced by ‘ies’.

Examples: Aly-----------------------Allies

                  Baby--------------------Babies

                  Lady--------------------Ladies

(b)Words ending with ‘ey’ add ‘s’.

Examples: Trolley-----------------Trolleys

                   Donkey----------------Donkeys

                   Key---------------------Keys

(c)Nouns that end in ‘o’ as ‘s’.

Examples: Albino------------------Albinos

                   Photo------------------Photos

                   Zero--------------------Zeros

                  Buffalo-----------------Buffaloes /Buffalos                                     

                  Echo--------------------Echoes /Echos

                  Mosquito-------------Mosquitoes /Mosquitos

                  Volcano---------------Volcanoes /Volcanos

*To note commonly misspelt words,you should be able to:

1) identify words that are commonly misspelt.

2) spell the words correctly.

3) tell the meaning of words in context.

 

*SOME EXAMPLES OF WORDS COMMONLY MISSPELT ARE:

(RIGHT /CORRECT)(WRONG /INCORRECT)

1)embarrass                                                           embarass

2)harass                                                                  haras

3)conceive                                                               concieve

4)thief                                                                     theif

5)grateful                                                                greatful

6)dining                                                                  dinning

7)beginning                                                            begining

8)offered                                                                ofered

9)committee                                                          commitee

10)professional                                                     proffessional

11)correspondence                                   corespondence

12)curriculum                                                      curiculum

13)bureaucracy                                                    bureucracy

14)irrelevant                                                        irrelevant

 

THE USE OFTHE DICTIONARY

A dictionary is a very important tools in the study of second or foreign language. It is a book containing a selection of words of a language. A dictionary is a guide to accurate spelling and finding out meaning of words in a particular language.

 

HOW YOU CAN FIND YOUR WAY WHEN USING THE DICTIONARY

1) Alphabetical order: This is an order in which letter of an alphabet follows one another.

(2)Guide words: The guide words printed in heavy letters will guide you to find the word.

(3)Meaning of words: One of the very important need of a dictionary is to know the meaning of new words. The first principle of dictionary is that you have to know the exact meaning of a word. Sometimes, it is also necessary to know the synonyms of such word from the dictionary.

(4)Spelling of words: It spells words correctly.

(5)Pronunciation of words: A good dictionary has a pronunciation key which explains the symbols shown on how to pronounce the word (ie) phonetic transcription with the stress pattern. English words are not pronounced as they are spelt. Therefore, every second language learner who wishes to use English word in speech should pay attention to correct pronunciation.

(6)Grammatical features: A good dictionary shows the grammatical properties of words that it contains. Such grammatical features are grammatical class (part of speech), pluralization, idiom, figurative usage, formality/informality and affixes.

 

                                   EVALUATION AND ASSIGNMENT

(1)What are the features of a newspaper article?

(2)Write a good article on any topic of your choice that would be suitable for publication in your school magazine.

(3)From the list of words below, pick out the words that are wrongly spelt. Rewrite them in their current form.                                   

                            1)accurrate                                 6) commisserate            

                            2)addmissible                        7)camouflage           

                            3)bankruptcy                         8)reccurrence          

                            4)vendeta                              9)irreplaceable                                                                                                                   

                            5)scissors                                   10)definately

(4)Find the meaning of these words in the dictionary and make and correct sentences with them:

a) taboo          b)vulgar      c)perspire     d)colossal      d)miniature