The Sunday News
Charles Dube
LEARNERS can improve their writing skills by mastering all the aspects of grammar. We started by examining words which are commonly confused. There are many of them and cannot be exhausted in one article. Learners also show weaknesses on vocabulary. They struggle when asked to explain words as used in the context. All these problems could be alleviated through constant practice.
Before dwelling more on the stated topics I would like to share with learners one method of developing writing skills. Learners were given a task to describe qualities of a good head girl of the school under the following headings: personal character, exemplary behaviour and punctuality. As always learners struggled to get as many words because their vocabulary is restricted. To give a few examples, under the first task such words could have worked:
A good candidate should be of high integrity, that is to say she should be truthful, honest and reliable for she works closely with the administration. The administration will be happy to work with somebody who is trustworthy. Top of the list the head girl should be firm and fair. In other words the head girl should not compromise when it comes to adherence to school rules. Rules should be enforced without fear or favour. All offenders should be punished equally. Selected punishment of offenders does not augur well for somebody who is a head girl or aspires to be one.
A head girl should set exemplary behaviour to other learners. For example, she should always be smartly dressed so that others emulate her. There are small issues taken for granted by many people. For example, many learners do not greet elderly people or their own teachers they meet every day around the school. But respectful learners or those in positions of responsibility will lead the way and make sure they greet their teachers and assist those in need, including visitors who call at their school.
Responsible leaders like the head girl make it their duty to conscientise others. They are punctual at school and even in class. If they do this, it is passed on to other learners who try and match the standards set. Being part of the administration does not mean that the head girl assumes overall authority over other learners and becomes a surrogate teacher. No, she remains a learner and only helps to maintain order in the school.
She leads by example as stated before, for example, where volunteers are required she should lead from the front. In terms of homework she should pass her work early than waiting to be reminded to bring her work forward. A good head girl should take the initiative in doing various assignments. A good leader does not need to be told to perform certain tasks which are obvious. These are some of the qualities which a head girl should possess. By the end of such an exercise learners I am quite sure had raised a lot of descriptive words they will use even in other essays.
Good communication skills demand proper use of all types of grammar. Learners nowadays ignore important forms of punctuation. For example, let us look at ending sentences. They should use punctuation to finish sentences correctly — otherwise they will be throwing marks away if they do not. Full stops end sentences. Full stops are used to end statements. If you are writing essays you will finish most of your sentences with a full stop.
Question marks show the end of a question. Question marks show that you are asking a question. Why did you come late to school? Some sentences tell you about a question but do not actually ask one. Themba asks Amkela why he hates him. This is not actually asking a question, so there is no question mark. It is a statement about what Themba does — it just needs a full stop. Commas are also taken for granted by users leading to confusion or mix up of sentences.
Without commas, lists would be a jumbled-up mess, and long sentences would not make much sense. Commas separate items in a list. A list that does not contain commas is really hard to understand. For example, check this sentence: She went to the market to buy tomatoes fruits bananas and potatoes. This sentence is not easy to follow but can be improved by adding a comma after each item to make the list clear.
Use commas to separate two adjectives next to each other which could be separated by “and”. It was a light blue dress. We could put “and” between light and blue, so we do not need a comma. Before we end today’s article let us show some more words which confuse learners and the general public. These are cancel, council, and counsel. Cancel is a verb which means to cross out; or to say something that had been arranged will no longer happen.
Council is a noun. It means a group of elected people who run a local area, a city or the organisation they work for. Counsel is a verb which means to give someone advice about their problems. Police officers came to school to counsel learners against drug abuse. Decent, descend, dissent. Decent is an adjective meaning good, or good enough; also of good and acceptable behaviour. Descend is a verb which means to go down from a higher place or position. Dissent is a noun meaning a strong disagreement.
He was paid a decent salary on retirement. She caught up with him when he descended from the mountain. One player was sent off for dissent during a tense soccer match.
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