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COMS 101 Communication Skills

Sociology of education (Kisii University)

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COMS 101: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

i) Describe the importance of studying communication skills
ii) Set immediate, medium, and long term academic goals
iii) Manage time effectively
iv) Use different types of reading for different purposes
v) Interpret non-verbal information
vi) Described strategies of enhancing reading comprehension
vii) State the advantages of a large vocabulary
viii) Use different memory retention strategies
ix) Use different types of listening
x) Demonstrate critical thinking abilities
xi) Demonstrate effective note making abilities
xii) Use library and internet effectively
xiii) Write university essays without plagiarizing
xiv) Demonstrate effective Public Speaking Skills
xv) Actively participate in group discussions tutorials
xvi) Use effective revision and examination preparation strategies.

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ONE
TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE

INTRODUCTION
This section examines the issue of intelligence, the different types of intelligence, if it
is possible to test intelligence using IQ tests and if intelligence is fixed for life or it can
be developed. The aim is to make the students see if they are intelligent enough for
university work. If you think you are not intelligent enough for university work, there
are ways that you can use to improve your intelligence, and you can be intelligent
enough to handle university work. The rest of this chapter, and indeed, the rest of this
manual is going to prove that.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:

i. Identify different types of intelligence.

ii. Discuss if intelligence is fixed for life or it can be developed.
iii. Discuss the implication of Raven’s Progressive Matrices.
iv. Discuss Gardner’s seven multiple intelligences.
v. Discuss the issue of Plastic Brains in relation to intelligence.

According to Stella Cottrell (2003), the first thing new students need to establish is
whether they are intelligent enough for university. The author highlights nine views of
intelligence. These are:
1. Intelligence is a “general, underlying cleverness which is fixed for life”.
2. There are multiple intelligences, not one general intelligence.
3. Intelligence can be developed.
4. Intelligence depends on life opportunities.
5. Intelligence depends on what is needed and relevant within a culture.
6. Intelligence is about applying what you know to new contexts.
7. Intelligence is a question about how much you know.
8. Intelligence can be measured.
9. Intelligence depends on study habits and study skills which can be
developed.
Let us look at a brief explanation of each of the above nine views of intelligence.

1st view of intelligence

1. Intelligence is a “general, underlying cleverness which is fixed for life”.
According to this view, early psychologists such as Spearman (1927) and Terman
(1975), believed that each individual has a general level of intelligence known as the
“intelligence Quotient” or IQ. They regarded intelligence as a single, fixed, underlying
capacity. They believed that a person who did well on one test would do well on all or
on most intelligence tests and no matter what happened in life, those “born very
intelligent” would remain generally more intelligent than those “born less intelligent”.
The author, Stella Cottrell says that, even more recently, some psychologists have used
the studies of identical twins to support this idea. They argued that some traits,
including intelligence, are up to 80% dependent on genetic inheritance.

However, other psychologists such as Gardner (1993) have disagreed with the above
view. They have used similar data of identical twins to argue that parent’s genetic

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influence on their children is as little as 20% or even zero. They argue that pairs of
twins that were used in the twin studies were often brought up in similar environments
and since they look the same, they may evoke similar responses in other people so that
their experiences are unusually alike.

Continuing to disagree with this first view of Intelligence as a “general, underlying

cleverness which is fixed for life”, some psychologists say that there is a strong
evidence to suggest that environment plays a great part in intellectual performance. For
example, they use the intelligence test called Raven’s Progressive Matrices to illustrate
this as illustrated below.

RAVEN’S PROGRESSIVE MATRICES

This is an intelligence test that measures people’s reasoning ability. It is supposed not
to be influenced by a person’s language, age, or culture. The person being tested has to
choose a visual pattern from a selection of options, in order to complete a larger visual
sequence. The scores are graded according to a person’s age in order to give an IQ
score. The scores attained for each age group are supposed to be similar regardless of
the country one comes from. If the children are ten years old, their results should be the
same whether they care in Africa, Asia, United Kingdom, and U.S.A. OR ANY OTHER
COUNTRY.

However, although RAVEN’S PROGRESSIVE MATRICES IQ TEST is supposed not

to be influenced by one’s culture, language or country, this was not found to be true
when it was given to some Asian children, first when they were in Asia and later after
they had lived in Britain for FIVE years. The scores of the Asian children, whichwas
scaled according to their age, went up by between 15 to 20 points after they had lived
in Britain for five years. According to Mackintosh and Mascie-Taylor (1985), this was
a very significant change or improvement.

This improvement of the Asian children’s performance after being in Britain for five
years suggest that what is measured by intelligence tests is at best “ only a snapshot of
a person’s experiences and learning up to that moment. It is not an indication of a
person’s underlying intelligence or potential, Stella Cottrell (2003).

2nd view of intelligence

2. There are multiple intelligences, not one general intelligence
According to Thurstone (1960) as quoted by Cottrell (2003), after he did experiments
involving several college students, he concluded that there was no evidence of any
“general, fixed” form of intelligence. Similarly, Gardner (1993) argued that intelligence
consists of many separate, independent systems which interact with each other. For
Gardner, there are seven main intelligences. These are:
i. Linguistic. This consists of abilities like reading, talking, listening and
writing.
ii. Mathematical / Logical. This is one’s ability with manipulating numbers, as
well as legal and scientific thinking which calls for logical analysis of issues.
iii. Spatial. This is ability to navigate an aero plane, or a boat or to drive a car
etc.
iv. Musical. This is the ability to compose songs, to sing, to appreciate music
or to play a musical instrument.

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v. Bodily kinesthetic. This is the ability to excel in sports, drama, dance, or to

make artistic items like drawing, weaving etc.
vi. Interpersonal. This is a person’s ability in counseling, understanding others
or one’s ability in teaching.
vii. Intrapersonal. This is the ability to have self – reflection, self –
understanding and self – management.
Note:
Some people have weaknesses in some of the above skills like linguistics or singing but
they excel in others like mathematics. This supports Gardner’s view that intelligence is
“multiple” rather than “general” or rounded. Furthermore, it is true that most of the
intelligences in Gardner’s list can be developed. For example, people can attend
workshops to develop interpersonal skills that involve teaching and counseling. In the
same way, a scientific way of thinking can be developed through practice, training and
exposure to the language and conventions of scientific thinking.

3rd view of intelligence

3. Intelligence can be developed
An example of the Suzuki violin Education Program
As seen in the above comment on Gardner’s multiple intelligences, intelligence can be
developed. This has been proved in Japan through a program known as “The Suzuki
Violin Talent Education Program”. In this program, the Japanese children are trained
to play the violin to a very high level known as the “virtuoso level”. The program begins
by exposing children to music soon after they are born. They start daily practice of
playing the violin at an early age. Eventually, it is noted that all the children become
excellent violin players. Even those who are not at the top, still play the violin to a level
that would be considered to be excellent in other cultures where violin is not played,
(Gardner, 1993).

This shows the role of environment and practice in developing skills. Hence, excellence
does not need to be the preserve of the few. Just as we would not expect in general to
have excellent violin playing from people who have never played the violin, we would
not expect outstanding intellectual performance from people whose minds are not
regularly challenged by ideas and intellectual problems. University provides part of that
necessary stimulation or challenge. As you go through your courses at the university,
the language and the thinking styles of your subjects will become part of your own
thinking processes and part of your linguistic expressions.

4th view of intelligence

4. Intelligence depends on life opportunities
Academic intelligence might be enhanced by life opportunities such as the following:
i. Easy access to books.
ii. Sufficient time to study, to think and to practice, what you have learnt.
iii. Stimulating conversations that require active mental engagement and
reflection.
iv. Validation of your learning interests by people who are important to you.
v. Being part of a culture that values academic intelligence.
NOTE:
There are ways that you can improve some of these opportunities, like making
appropriate use of the library, forming academic discussion groups and so on.

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5th view of intelligence

5. Intelligence depends on what is needed and what is relevant within a culture
The emphasis here is that intelligence is not only measured by what a person has in his
head but it is regarded also as a social phenomenon. This means that what you know
should be relevant within the culture you are in and it should address the needs of the
society. For example if you know Greek and it is not used in your society, it might not
be of much use for that society. You may not get the opportunity to demonstrate that
you know it. Sternberg (1985) and quoted by Cottrell (2003) described intelligence as
being, in part, a sensitivity to the environmental context.

6th view of intelligence

6. Intelligence is about applying what you know to new contexts
The emphasis here is that what is important is not just that you are able to perform a
given task but that you are able to transfer what you know to new situations. If students
can recognize that two problems have similar underlying structures, they can apply the
principle of solving one problem in solving other problems. Students who work in a
multi – disciplinary way often find that learning in one area enhances learning in other
areas. Sternberg (1984) and quoted in Cottrell (2003), emphasized that any skill is made
up of underlying processes and sub skills. He saw intelligence as the ability to transfer
those skills easily when confronted with a new task.

7th view of intelligence

7. Intelligence is a question of how much you know
Sometimes our ability to think in abstract ways may depend on having had similar
experiences. Donald (1978) and quoted in Cotterrell (2003) argued that the way we
reason depends upon the particular context we are in and what we already know.
Butterworth (1980) quoted in Cottrrell (2003) says that when we are presented with a
familiar problem in an unfamiliar context, we may be unable to recognize that the two
are similar. This can make us look like complete beginners when we are not. We may
need somebody to point out the similarity between what we already know and the new
learning. This leads us to the idea of plastic brains as follows:

PLASTIC BRAINS
The brain has plasticity. It can stretch and it is capable of change and development.
When a person takes up a new skill, millions of fresh connections are set up between
different neurons in the brain to deal with the new information. The more you develop
an ability, the more elaborate are the neural networks and the faster your brain can
process information related to that skill. When you begin to study a new subject, the
speed at which you will be able to take new aspects in and to make sense of them will
depend on how fast your brain can use past learning experiences. If you have studied
something similar in the past, you will experience the new learning as being quite easy.
On the other hand, if the subject is very new, there is very little foundation for you to
build upon. Hence, your brain has fewer connections it can use to make sense of the
new information. If the language used is also unfamiliar to you, or the accent and the
pronunciations are not what you are used to, the brain will need to build new
connections for this also.

You may experience this as finding it harder to listen or harder to read, especially if the
vocabulary is also new. You may get tired more quickly or you may feel that your brain
is “dead”, or that nothing makes sense. The truth is that you are learning a lot but too

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much at the same time. Indeed, as you go over the same material again and again, the
new connections will get stronger and learning will become much easier.

8th view of intelligence

Intelligence can be measured, or is it possible to measure intelligence?
This view emphasizes that intelligent tests or IQ tests are only able o measure those
things that can be measured like math, English, and other subject content areas.
However, there are many areas of human experience that cannot be measured by the IQ
tests, for example, intuition, sensitivity to the needs of others, maintaining your temper
during emergencies or keeping a cool head in times of trouble, maintaining
relationships and so on. Some people may excel in academics and yet become social
misfits or social wrecks.

9th view of intelligence

9. Intelligence depends on study habits and study skills which can be learnt
This view emphasizes that what many people regard as intelligence is often a question
of good study habits, good study strategies and good study skills that can be developed.
For example, research shows that students who excel in their studies spend more time
than other students in examining what the problem is or what a question is asking for,
before solving it. The weak students copy out examples without reflecting on the
underlying purposes of the activity or the question. With most university assignments,
you will benefit from taking time to reflect. Clarifying what is being asked, the reasons
for that piece of work being set, and the best strategy to use. With time, this way of
working becomes a habit.

SUMMARY
This section has dealt with the aspects of identifying different types of intelligence,
discussing if intelligence is fixed for life or it can be developed, discussing the
implication of Raven’s Progressive Matrices, discussing Gardner’s seven multiple
intelligences, and discussing the issue of Plastic Brains in relation to intelligence. We
hope this section has helped you and has made you ready to tackle other university
course. Do not fear even if they seem difficult. Just convince yourself that you are
intelligent enough for university.

Review Questions
i. In groups of four or five students, discuss which of the nine views of
intelligence make the most sense to you and support your answer.
(10 marks)
ii. Given a chance, would you classify the nine views of intelligence the
way they have been done or are there some you would either combine
or paraphrase? Say why or why not. (10 marks)
iii. Review the idea of plastic brains as illustrated in the 7th view of
intelligence. Discuss how this can help you in your studies. (10 marks)
iv. Discuss Gardner’s seven multiple intelligences. Which of them could
represent the general view of intelligence or the basis of the generally
accepted idea of intelligence? Support your answer. (10 marks)
v. Would you agree with the first view that “Intelligence is a “general,
underlying cleverness which is fixed for life”. Show why and why not.
(10 marks)

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TWO

SETTING ACADEMIC GOALS AND TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS

INTRODUCTION
This topic deals with the aspects of setting academic goals, organizing one’s studies,
avoiding self – sabotage in learning, using proper time management skills and aspects
of surveying a book before one decides to read it.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
i. Set immediate, medium and long term academic goals.
ii. Organize personal studies.
iii. Avoid self – sabotage.
iv. Use proper Time Management Skills to enhance learning.
v. Use proper aspects of surveying a book before deciding to read it.
i. Time management
ii. Appreciate different types of intelligence.
iii. Appreciate learning and different learning styles.
iv. Preparing efficiently for exams.
We need to study these study skills so that we learn how to organize our work and to
know the efficient way to do so without wasting too much time.

SETTING GOALS
In academic life learn to set the goals that you want to achieve. Usually, there are three
main types of goals which are:
i. Immediate or mini goals.
ii. Medium goals.
iii. Long term goals.
Let us look at each of these goals briefly.

IMMEDIATE OR MINI GOALS

These are daily goals or the objectives that you want to achieve immediately or on daily
basis. Set yourself small short term goals so that you are able to have many small
successes. In time, this adds up to great achievements. Immediate goals can include
revising your lecture notes every day, understanding the points you did not understand
in class, filing your notes, doing any reading assignment or any homework you were
given for the day.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MINI GOAL

The four main characteristics of a mini goal are:
i. Integration
The mini goal must be integrated or linked to larger goals. E.g. if you are reading, you
link this to a larger goal like summarizing the information in order to use it to write an
essay. You can also summarize it so that you understand it in order to use it to answer
questions during an exam.
ii. Manageable and realistic
The mini goal must be manageable and realistic. Do not set to do too many assignments
the same day since you will not finish and you will get frustrated. However, do not plan
to do too little because you will have a lot of backlog to clear before the exams. Hence,

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if you have several term papers with the same due date, plan which ones you will do
first.
iii. Measurable
The mini goals should be measurable. This means that you write down what you have
achieved. If you have read a chapter write down the notes or the main points to help
you remember what you read.
iv. Flexible
i. Your mini goals can be flexible. You can either write by hand or type
your notes; you can start with one subject or another and so on.
However, if you can get into the habit of typing your work, this can save
you a lot of time in future. Hence, if you have no typing skills, or your
typing skills are slow, you need to improve. If you do not have a personal
computer, consider buying one. It is a worthwhile investment.

MEDIUM GOALS
After the immediate goals, you should plan to have medium goals. These are longer
than the immediate goals. They can include the plans you have to revise for your
continuous assessment tests, or the various chapters you want to write for your term
papers. You can still work with the notion of the mini goals.

LONG TERM GOALS

Long term goals are the goals you have for each trimester and for your graduation. Each
trimester, decide the Grade Point Average (GPA) that you want to achieve. The
maximum points you can get is 4.0. If you want to get 3.5 and above, you have to
determine to work hard in all your subjects, even the ones you find difficult or may be
irrelevant to your major course. If you do not perform well in any one subject, then you
will not get the GPA you have planned to have. If you are not performing well, approach
your lecturers for possible make – ups or clarifications. Do not wait until it is too late.
Long term goals also include the way you want to graduate at the end of your studies.

If you plan to graduate with first class honors, you start working hard from the first
trimester because university grades are cumulative. That means the first trimester’s
GPA is added to the second trimester’s GPA and an average is taken. This again will
be added to the third trimester’s GPA and again the average is taken when you are in
the third trimester. This is repeated until the final trimester. While considering the long
term goals, make sure you follow the requirements of all your courses. Do not wait until
the last trimester to discover that you omitted courses you should have done in the first
or the second year. Start your first semester with your last semester in mind.

CELEBRATE SUCCESS
Set study targets and deadlines which are easy to meet and increase your chances of
success. When you achieve a mini or a short term goal reward yourself in one way or
another. This could be taking a short break from your study. Give yourself bigger
rewards for completing bigger tasks, to encourage yourself to do even better.

MARK SUCCESS
Note down your achievements and academic successes in your reflective journal. It is
important to identify your accomplishments and what you do well so that you can do it
again. Give yourself credit for any improvements you make.

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AIM FOR HIGHER PEAKS

When you have met one set of goals, push yourself a bit harder. Make your next set of
goals more challenging.

FIND SUPPORT
Find someone who encourages you and makes you feel good about yourself. Talk to
this person about your academic goals and ambitions and together work harder to
achieve better goals.

ATTITUDE
Positive attitude is very important in learning. Try to think of difficulties as challenges.
If there is something you have to learn which is difficult, consider the ways in which it
can also be an opportunity to learn something new and how it will help you to achieve
your long term academic goals.

SELF SABOTAGE
Sometimes students sabotage their own studies without meaning to or without being
aware they are doing so. For some, it can be hard to believe that they can achieve
success if they did not excel in the past. Many students have certain set patterns that
they use in their daily lives to sabotage their own best plans. It is not clear exactly why
this happens. Sometimes it is because it is difficult to accept that they can do well. If
they do not succeed, they might feel that they should have tried harder in the past. They
blame the past rather than the present. Others feel that if they fail now, this can prove
that they were right all along in believing they could not pass. Others fear failure so
much that they just want it to happen quickly so that it is over.
There are several types of self – sabotage which include the following:
i. Not attending classes. This means some aspects are taught when you are
absent.
ii. Coming to class late. This means you will either float throughout the
lesson or it will take you time to understand what the lecture is about.
iii. Leaving the class before the lecture is over. You might miss some
important aspects.
iv. Leaving work until the last minute or not meeting deadlines. This means
you might be penalized for late work and in some serious cases your
work will not be marked. Hence, the final grade for that unit will be low.
v. Not turning up for CATS or the final exam for fear of failure, hoping
that you will read more and be given another exam or another CAT or a
makeup. In some cases, another CAT might be more difficult or some
lecturers may not give a make-up or if it is given, the highest you can
get even if you pass everything is a grade C. If you miss the final exam,
you wait until the next time the exam is on offer. This could be at the
end of the next trimester, but if the unit is not offered every trimester,
you might wait for two trimesters before you do the final exam.
vi. Filling time with any activity but study, for example, chatting with
friends or in the internet, doing sports, doing your hobbies and so on.
vii. Not using the library efficiently.

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NOTE
Sometimes you realize that you have been engaging in self – sabotage when your grades
start going down or when you start losing interest in your studies, or when your
academic work piles up, and so on.

GETTING DOWN TO WORK

The two main points to note here are:
i. It is your responsibility as a student to see that you get through your
work. Planning a program of study will help you to do this.
ii. It is your responsibility as a student to file your notes according to an
efficient system so that you can easily refer to them when writing an
essay or when preparing for a continuous assessment or for the final
exam.

PLANNING YOUR WORK AND TIME MANAGEMENT

As a student, do not just drift into your work. Allocate a specific time for each study
task or for each unit you are taking. For example, you can do the following:
i. Set aside a time to select a specific topic if one has not been given to
you.
ii. Set a time to read for your topic and to select the appropriate books,
journals or websites.
iii. Set a time to write your first draft, your second draft and your final work.

DANGERS OF NOT PLANNING YOUR STUDY TIME

If you do not plan your study time, the following might happen.
i. You will spend too much time on the tasks you tackle first and not have
enough time for other tasks.
ii. Without time limit, you will work less efficiently and end up wasting
time.
iii. You will do easy tasks first and postpone difficult tasks, hence, making
them look even more difficult since you might do them when you are
tired and you have less time and you do them in a hurry.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING A STUDY PLAN

When making your study plan, there are two fundamental considerations to take. These
are;
i. The time available for study.
ii. The amount of work to be done.
Hence, proceed as follows. First get a clear idea of what work you have to do. Your
work can then be considered at the three levels of immediate goals, medium goals or
long term goals.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND HOURS OF STUDY

Decide in detail the times which you will study. It is not enough to say that during the
third week of the trimester you will do the term paper you were given in psychology
and hand it in the fourth week. You must work out at what times of each day you will
do the necessary work. For example, the hours that you will take the rough notes, when
you will arrange the points, when you will write the fair draft and allow enough time
for proof – reading, typing and printing the work.

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It is important that you have the same program of study for each week since getting into
the habit of doing the same tasks regularly makes it easier to do the tasks and this applies
more so to study. For example, if you know that at 8.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m every day
you settle down to study, this will make it easier to settle down to study each evening
between 8 to 11 p.m.

HOW TO DECIDE HOW MANY HOURS TO STUDY

i. Most authors agree that you should expect to spend most of your spare
time in studying. Aim to work in your academic work as many hours as
you would spend if you were in paid employment.
ii. However, spare some time each week for relaxation, sports, social
activities and hobbies.
iii. Most authors agree that you should not study for more than three hours
consecutively or at a time. If you have to study for more than three hours,
take a short break for five or ten minutes after every three hours. This
will allow you to study more efficiently and not just trying hard enough.

ASSIGNING SPECIFIC HOURS OF STUDY FOR EACH TASK

The final step in planning your work is to decide for each objective, such as writing a
term paper, at what study time in the week you will do each of the tasks necessary for
achieving that objective.
For example, suppose that you have allowed yourself one week to do an essay on topic
A, and you have also to read for subject B. The following is one way you might plan
your timetable for that week.
Tasks for the essay are:
i. 2 hours for getting ready and obtaining the necessary books, journals,
and articles.
ii. 9 hours for reading and taking notes.
iii. 1 hour for reviewing notes half way.
iv. 2 hours for final review and drafting the plan or the outline of your essay.
v. 4 hours for writing the first draft.
vi. 4 hours for writing the second draft.
vii. 4 hours for doing the final draft.
viii. 4 hours for editing and proof reading the final draft.
ix. Print and have the work ready for handing it in at least two days before
the due date.
Set some time aside for reviewing, and if necessary, for re-writing the notes for that
day’s lecture. This could take one hour or two.
If you have some free hours in between your lectures, use most of it to study rather than
chatting and wasting it.

HOW TO FILE YOUR WORK

You have to decide on some principle for organizing all your notes for each subject.
Here are three possible ways.
i. According to the TIME when you took the notes so that those you took
first will be at the back of the folder and the more recent ones near the
front.
ii. According to the SOURCE of the notes so that all your notes on one
book will follow each other chapter by chapter.

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iii. According to the TOPIC so that if chapter six of book A is on

“Agricultural credit schemes” and Mr. Mwangi’s lectures are on the
same topic, they will be filed together.

TYPES OF FOLDERS
There are three main types of “folders” that you can use. These are:
i. Notes in bound books. These are neat but not flexible. If you rewrite
them, you have to either cross out the existing ones or tear out pages.
You cannot rearrange your notes and so it is difficult to arrange them
according to topics.
ii. Notes on loose leaflets. This is a better way of keeping notes. This is
because you can rearrange your notes and file them according to
different topics and different subjects.
iii. Using the computer folders. You can open computer folders for filing
your notes. Doing your work in the computer is advisable because you
can add notes as you wish and you can rearrange them, you can use
several methods to highlight the important points e.g. you can bold,
underline, use italics, use different colors and so on.
a. Decide which principle to use for your computer folders. You will
probably organize your notes on two levels.
b. Level 1: This is the level of the folders themselves. You must decide
what folders to use and what titles to give them. For example, you
can have a folder for accounts, law, psychology, sociology, and so
on.
c. Level 2: This is for the sub – divisions within the folders. For
example, in accounting you can have accounting one, accounting
two, or in law you can have, the law of contract, the law of Torts,
business law, and so on.

DECIDING WHICH BOOKS TO READ FOR A TERM PAPER.

When you pick a book, you have to do a quick survey to decide if it is useful for your
topic or not. The following steps will help you.
i. Check the reviewer’s comments. This is often found on book jacket, but
remember that only the good reviews will be quoted.
ii. Cheek the forward, the preface, and the introduction of the text.
iii. Look at the content page for chapter headings and sub – headings.
iv. Look at the index. This is usually at the end of the book.
v. Look at the printing history of the book, that is, when the book was first
published, reprinted, new editions, and so on.
vi. In some subjects, such as, science, geography and Biology, it would be
worthwhile to flip through to have a look at the illustrations, diagrams,
charts, and so on.
vii. Read the first and the last paragraphs of each chapter.
All this will save you a lot of time in reading a book from cover to cover and then
discover it was not that useful.

Review Questions
i. Discuss the idea of setting immediate, medium, and long term goals for
your academic work. (10 marks)

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ii. Comment on the ways that students engage in self – sabotage in their
studies and how this can be avoided. (10 marks)
iii. Discuss the idea of planning for your academic work, Time
Management, and the dangers of not planning for your study time.
(10 marks)
iv. Comment on the three different ways you can file your work and the
three types of folders you can use and say which you would recommend
and why. (10 marks)
v. Comment on the various ways you can use to survey a book in order to
decide if you can use it for research. (10 marks)

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THREE
THE CONCEPT AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION
This section will cover the following aspects: Definition of communication, models of
communication, components of communication, and types of communication.
Topic objectives
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
i) Define communication.
ii) Describe different models of communication.
iii) Identify the various components of communication.
iv) Discuss different types of communication.

DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning. It is a process
because it is an activity, an exchange, or a set of behaviors. It is not unchanging or
static. It starts long before the words begin to flow and can last long after the words
stop. For example, you contemplate or think about what to say long before you say it.
Like you can think “when I go to the meeting, I will say this and this.” You can also
think about what went on in that meeting long afterwards. Understanding or grasping
the meaning of another person’s message does not occur unless the two communicators
have common meanings of words, phrases and non-verbal codes. For example, if I
speak French or German and you do not understand it, there will be no communication.
If I lecture about a difficult subject without proper explanation, there might be no
communication. If your written work is vague, or the handwriting is illegible, there
might not be any communication. Sharing; What is shared is meaning. When you ask
for a book and it is given to you, meaning or message has been shared or understood
The term communication may be used broadly to include the understanding and sharing
that occurs among animals. However, we shall limit ourselves to human
communication.

COMPONENTS OF COMUNICATION
The main components of communication are:
i. People
ii. Message.
iii. Channel/ code
iv. Feedback
v. Decoding.
vi. Encoding.
Let us look at each of this briefly.
1. PEOPLE
These are the sources and the receivers of messages. Individual characteristics of
people, including their race, gender, age, culture, values and attitude affect both their
sending and receiving of messages.
2. MESSAGES.

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This is the verbal or non-verbal form of an idea, thought or feeling that one person
wishes to communicate with another person or with a group of people.
3. CHANNEL/ CODE
This is the mode by which a message moves from the source to the receiver. It can be
through sound waves like through the radio; it can be through both light waves and
sound waves like when we watch television, it can be audio like when we listen to a
lecture or it can be written like when we read something.
4. FEEDBACK
This is the receiver’s either verbal or non-verbal response to a message.
5. ENCODING
Encoding is the act of putting an idea or a thought into a verbal or a non-verbal form.
6. DECODING
Decoding is assigning meaning to a verbal or non-verbal message.

COMMUNICATION MODELS
There are three main communication models. These are:
i. Communication as Action
ii. Communication as Interaction
iii. Communication as Transaction
Let us look briefly at each of them:

1. COMMUNICATION AS ACTION
This is the concept where one person sends a message and another one receives it. The
second person does not have to reply or to send back the message. In an analogy of
using a ball, a person holds and throws the ball to a second person who catches it but
does not throw the ball back In this way, the message may be effective or not. It may
be understood or not. In the past, this is how communication was viewed to be. Today,
this type of communication can happen in a church or a political rally where people are
supposed to listen and not to answer back.

2. COMMUNICATION AS INTERACTION
In this concept where one person sends a message and the second person receives it and
responds with another message. This kind of communication is characterized by turn
taking in a linear way. This is where the sender sends the message and the second person
has to receive the message before sending another message back. To continue with the
ball analogy, each person catches the ball and then throws it back. However, the ball
cannot be thrown back before it is caught. Using this model, the speaker and receiver
take turns being either the speaker or the listener in an orderly fashion.

3. COMMUNICATION AS TRANSACTION
This the concept of viewing communication as being simultaneous. Here,
communicators simultaneously send and receive messages rather than being identified
as senders and receivers in a linear orderly fashion. In this way, speaking and listening
are not seen as separate activities, nor do they occur one at a time. According to this
model, people are continuously sending and receiving messages and they cannot avoid
communication.

Using the ball analogy, it is like a confusing game in which a person catches and throws
back unlimited number of balls at any time, in any direction and to any other person.
The game has some rules and predictability but from time to time, balls fly through the

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air without pre-planning or preparation. Under this model, messages are everywhere,
for example when a student talks to you on the corridor, at the same time nods to another
student, and is also talking on his mobile. Such a student is in a transactional mode
when he or she is engaged in multiple messages. In this transactional mode, how you
look, what you say, how receptive you are, and what is happening around you, all
become part of the transactional mode.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
There are three main types of communication which are:
i. Intrapersonal communication.
ii. Interpersonal communication.
iii. Public communication.
Let us look at each of these.

1. INTRA-PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
This is the process of understanding and sharing meaning with oneself. It can occur
when we evaluate or examine the interaction that occurs between ourselves and other
people. Intrapersonal communication place before, during or after other forms of
communication. Intrapersonal communication is more complex than it appears. It
involves our central nervous system, our brain, and our ability to think. It involves the
gathering, storing, and retrieving of information. Intrapersonal communication involves
only the self but it must be clearly understood by the self because it is the basis of all
the other types of communication.

For example, if you are going for an interview, or you are going to give a speech, you
must understand and share meaning with yourself about your self-concept, your
readiness for the occasion, your knowledge of the speech, your perception of the
listeners, how they will take the information and so on. We are engaged in intrapersonal
communication almost every time like when we are alone and walking to class, driving
to work, watching a movie and so on. We can also be engaged in intrapersonal
communication when we are in very crowded places like during a lecture, a party or
when with friends. It has three main components which are:
i. The cognitive component. This includes meanings and use of language.
ii. The affective component. This includes attitudes and self-concept.
iii. The operational component. This includes listening and speaking.
Intrapersonal communication is not restricted to “talking to ourselves”. It also includes
activities like the following:
i. Internal problem solving.
ii. Planning for the future.
iii. Evaluation of ourselves and others.
iv. Understanding relationships between ourselves and others

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning with
at least one other person. It can occur for a variety of reasons like:
i. To solve problems.
ii. To resolve conflicts.
iii. To share information.
iv. To improve our perception of ourselves.
v. To fulfill social needs like the need to belong and to be loved.

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There are two types of interpersonal communication which are:

i. Dyadic communication. This refers to communication between two
people, like an interview with an employer or a teacher, or with a parent,
a spouse and so on.
ii. Small group communication. This involves three or more people. This
occurs in social organizations like business settings, church groups, and
so on. The main objective of small group communication is problem
solving and decision making. Sometimes, successful communication
decreases depending on the component and the size of the group. This
is because different people have different ways of expressing how they
feel.

PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
Public communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning with many
people when one person is generally identified as the speaker and the others as listeners.
Public communication or public speaking is identified by:
i. Formality.
ii. Structure.
iii. Planning
Most of the time, the purpose of public speaking is to inform or to persuade. It can be
used in a lecture, in church, in political rallies, in convocations (when degrees are being
awarded in graduation ceremonies and so on.

SUMMARY
This section has dealt with the definition of communication, models of communication,
and types of communication. We hope this has helped you.

Review Questions
1. Define communication.
2. Identify different models of communication.
3. Describe different components of communication.
4. Describe different types of communication.

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FOUR
LEARNING
INTRODUCTION
This section deals with the definition of learning, different dimensions or ways through
which learning activity can take place, the five main conditions that are necessary for
learning to occur, different learning styles, and circumstances that enhance optimal/
effective learning.
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
i. Define learning.
ii. Discuss the different dimensions or ways through which learning can
take place.
iii. Discuss the six main conditions that are necessary for learning to occur.
iv. Discuss different learning styles.
v. Identify the circumstances that enhance optimal / effective learning.
As Stella Cottrell (2003) notes, at each new stage of learning, it is important to reflect
on how to learn at that level. Many people have never “learnt how to learn” and some
universities now offer “learning to learn” courses.

DEFINITION OF LEARNING
Learning is more than just study skills. It is a “multi – faceted process, involving each
individual learner, and his or her learning history, the current learning environment, and
the interaction between these” (Cottrell, 2003). We can say that learning has taken place
when we understand something and we can explain it, teach it, or demonstrate it to
others.

THE SIX DIMENSIONS OR WAYS THROUGH WHICH LEARNING CAN

TAKE PLACE
The ways through which we can learn are varied. Stella Cottrell (2003) gives five
dimensions or ways through which learning can take place. These are:
i. Conscious or unconscious learning.
ii. Different levels of attention.
iii. Different sense sequences.
iv. By detail or by using the whole picture.
v. By fast track or by using the scenic route.
Let us look at a brief explanation of each of them.

1. Conscious or unconscious learning

a. Conscious Learning
Learning is conscious when we are aware that we are learning. You can enhance
conscious learning by being actively involved in the activity you are learning.
Some of the typical methods of learning consciously are:
i. Writing something down after you have understood it.
ii. Repeating something.
iii. Demonstrating what you know and so on.

b. Unconscious Learning
Sometimes we can learn when we are unconscious that we are learning. This can happen
when you discover you can understand a new language after you have heard people
speaking for some time. You can also discover that you know how to do something by

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default after you have seen somebody do it, for example, painting, cooking, driving,
and so on. For your studies, make sure you do not learn by default. Use conscious
active learning.

2. LEARNING THROUGH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ATTENTION

Our level of attention may vary due to several reasons some of which are:
i. Our mental or physical state of learning. Take care of these so that they
will not interfere with your learning.
ii. The way information is presented to you. Although you do not have
much control of how the lecturer presents the information, try to
understand it as much as possible and seek clarification where you do
not understand. You can also do further reading to enhance your
understanding.
iii. Whether the material is completely new or not. If the information is very
new to you, it will seem difficult. Be patient. Review it several times
and it will be easy.

3. LEARNING THROUGH DIFFERENT SENSE SEQUENCES

The sense sequences referred to here are, seeing, listening, speaking, writing and so on.
You can use these sense sequences in different ways to enhance your learning.
Experiment with your own sense sequence. For example, make a list of words that you
have difficulty spelling. Try to learn them using different sense sequences in the
following ways.
iv. Look at the word, say it, write it, and then check what you have
written.
v. Then start by writing it, looking at it, and then saying it.
vi. Others might start by tape recording the words, then listening to them,
then repeating them, then writing and then checking if what they have
written is correct.
Try to understand your preferred learning sequence and use it in your studies.

4. LEARNING THROUGH THE DIMENSION OF DETAIL OR THROUGH

THE WHOLE PICTURE
Some people learn best when they first see the overall picture of what they want to
learn. Others learn best by first learning specific details and allowing the whole picture
to emerge slowly. They are confused or overwhelmed when they get too much
information at the beginning. If you learn by seeing the whole picture first, then make
sure your first reading is fast.

5. LEARNING THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF FAST TRACK OR BY THE

SCENIC ROUTE
This means that some people find efficient short cuts and they learn exactly what they
need and only that. Others take the scenic route or the long route, and they gather
material which may not be essential but which makes the learning interesting. This
scenic route can lead to deeper processing of information and it can be a rich experience.
However, it can also generate a lot of information that is not essential to the task at
hand. If this is the case, it is better to make a note of that extra information and read it
when you have more time.

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SIX CONDITIONS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR LEARNING TO OCCUR

Stella Cottrell (2003) notes that the following six conditions are necessary for learning
to occur. They are:
i. New experience.
ii. Foundations
iii. Rehearsal
iv. Processing
v. Understanding
vi. Demonstration
Let us look at each of them briefly.

1. NEW EXPERIENCES
Stella Cottrell (2003) note that “in order to learn, we need to be exposed to new ideas,
new information, new situations, new challenges and even new emotions”. A new
experience is an opportunity to learn which is based on curiosity, a desire to know and
a wish to see how everything fits in. If something is not new, or if it is not given in a
new way, it will sound boring and monotonous. In learning, if the information is not
new, try to look for different perspectives of the same issue.

2. FOUNDATIONS
Learning is easier if it is built on earlier learning which forms the foundation of the new
learning. Usually, learning uses similar or related foundation to make sense of the new
information. For example, it is easier to read if we have a good command of the
language which we are using to read. If we need to keep looking up new words in the
dictionary, our attention to what we are reading is continually interrupted, we lose the
flow, and this affects our comprehension of what we are reading, be it law, computer
science or any other subject. This is because we have to make sense of what we are
reading while still remembering the meaning of the new words.

This leads to mental overload and is usually the reason why some people feel they
“can’t learn”. In reality, they are learning a great deal, but too much at once. Your
brain will take time to assimilate new information and it may need to see how it all fits
in together, as well as how the parts make sense individually, before it feels it knows
what it is taking in. Most people who seem to learn things quickly may have good
foundations of information and good practice in similar problems.

3. REHEARSAL
The concept of rehearsal here implies repeating an activity, including learning several
times to make sure that you understand it. Stella Cottrell (2003) says that academic
learning is similar to learning physical activities such as driving or sports. We need to
repeat the action several times to take it in and we need to come back to it later to
practice, otherwise we become rusty and we forget.

4. PROCESSING NEW INFORMATION

There are two types of processing information. These are:
i. Superficial processing.
ii. Deep processing.
Let us look at each of them briefly.

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a. SUPERFICIAL PROCESSING OF INFORMATION

Superficial processing is just the surface taking in of information. When you take notes
without understanding them, or you try to memorize information without
comprehending it, this is just superficial processing. Memory and recording are only
the initial stages of learning. If we use only this, we do not develop the sense of the
underlying structures or the significance of what we are learning. This makes it more
difficult to remember the information later or to apply the new knowledge in new
situations. If in the past you were using this type of rote learning, it is time to change.

c. DEEP PROCESSING OF INFORMATION

This means processing information at a more meaningful level. You can do this through
analyzing and synthesizing the information, looking at it through different angles,
asking yourself why things happen the way they do, see the relationship in the different
ideas and so on. The more you engage with the information, the more you process it at
a deeper level. This will make it possible to remember it later or for a long time and to
use the information in new situations.

5. UNDERSTANDING
When you process information deeply, this leads to understanding of the information
and to retention of what you have learnt. You can then use this information for final
examination and beyond.

6. DEMONSTRATING LEARNING
Stella Cottrell (2003) says that we are not sure of our knowledge until we put it to the
test, thus demonstrating to ourselves and others that we really know it.
This can be done in several ways like:
i. Presenting the information in a way that is clear and which makes sense
to our audience.
ii. Writing it down in a way we can understand.
iii. Where practical demonstration is needed like in practical subjects, in
sciences and computer subjects, to actually do the practical to
demonstrate our learning.
If we cannot demonstrate what we feel that we have learnt, then our thinking may be
confused and our understanding incomplete. We may need to check again what we
think we have learnt. It may help to do the following:
i. Take a different angle on the issue.
ii. Use a different book.
iii. Check if we missed an earlier step

TIPS FOR LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Some students think that memorizing “facts” is all there is to learning. It is certainly
useful to have information readily available in your head. However, for most college
and university courses, what counts is not how many facts you can fit into your answers,
but how you use that information.
You will be expected to demonstrate that:
i. You can evaluate and select what is relevant and important and what can
be omitted.
ii. You know how ideas are linked and inter – connected.
iii. You have made sense of your course.

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iv. You can structure your ideas and knowledge to make a convincing
argument.

OPTIMAL LEARNING
A number of factors determine whether we learn effectively or not. Stella Cottrell
(2003) says that learning is easier when circumstances are favorable in the following
ways.
i. When you enjoy what you learn. Make learning fun by ensuring that
it has meaning for you, and that you really care about the outcome, and
that you are attracted to success as bee is attracted to honey.
ii. When you believe you can learn. This means you believe in your
intelligence, you believe you have the right to learn and you create a
positive state of mind for learning.
iii. When you are in the right physical state to learn. This means you are
not too tired, stressed, hungry and so on. We learn best when are relaxed,
interested and motivated.
iv. When you use the C.R.E.A.M strategy of learning. CREAM stands
for Creative, Reflective, Effective, Active, Motivated.
v. When information is properly organized. This means you have to
organize information properly so that your brain can structure it and
deep process it more easily. If it was not properly organized during a
lecture, make sure you organize it in the way it suits you.
vi. When the following five study skills aspect are in place.
i. Self – awareness.
ii. Awareness of what is required of you.
iii. Awareness of the appropriate methods or strategies of
learning.
iv. Having enough self – confidence.
v. Achieving familiarity, practice, and proper learning habit
in your subjects.

DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES

Stella Cottrell (2003) describes the following learning styles. Identify which describes
you, your learning strengths and the areas that you can improve.
The four main learning styles according to the above author are:
i. The Diver.
ii. The Dreamer.
iii. The Logician.
iv. The Searchlight.
Let us look at each of them briefly.

1. THE DIVER
CHARACTERISTICS
i. You tend to jump in and start any activity as soon as possible.
ii. You like to finish activities as soon as possible.
iii. You like to get on to the next thing quickly.
iv. You work well with short bursts of energy.

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LEARNING STRENGTHS OF THE DIVER

i. You do not waste time worrying.
ii. You start tasks especially for learning early.
iii. You can motivate others.
iv. You are good in problem solving and handling crisis.

AREAS TO DEVELOP FOR THE DIVER

i. Reflection and planning. For example, do not rush to start on
assignments before you reflect on what they mean, and you plan
properly for them.
ii. Creative thinking.
iii. Considering alternatives.
iv. Listening to and working with others.
v. Increasing your personal interest in your studies so that you can work
for longer periods.

2. THE DREAMER
CHARACTERISTICS
i. You think a lot about a subject.
ii. You like to reason out issues thoroughly.
iii. You keep on putting off practical aspects of your work such as the actual
writing of a paper.
iv. You have no idea where time goes as you spend most of it researching
and researching.
v. You constantly rewrite your time – planner

LEARNING STRENGTHS OF THE DREAMER

i. You reflect and evaluate well.
ii. You have a lot of ideas.
iii. You are creative.
iv. You get to the root of things.
v. You listen well and sensitively to others.

AREAS TO DEVELOP FOR THE DREAMER

i. Effective learning strategies so that you know when you have researched
enough and get down to actually write the term paper.
ii. Time keeping skills.
iii. Organizational skills.
iv. Setting priorities and taking decisions.
v. Assertiveness
vi. Risk taking.

THE LOGICIAN
CHARACTERISTICS
i. You enjoy tackling complex problems.
ii. You are a perfectionist.
iii. You like to know the reason behind things.
iv. You are organized in your approach to study.
v. You like things to make sense.

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LEARNING STRENGTH OF THE LOGICIAN

i. You are good at analytical and critical thinking.
ii. You have strong organizational skills.
iii. You have a question approach to issues.
iv. You are good at sciences, math, law and problem solving activities.

AREAS TO DEVELOP FOR THE LOGICIAN

i. Personal reflection.
ii. Working with others.
iii. Imaginative thinking.
iv. Sensitivity to the differences in others.

THE SEARCHLIGHT
CHARACTERISTICS
i. You find everything interesting.
ii. You like to see the big picture of issues.
iii. You have bits of information on lots of things.
iv. You are fascinated by details but you do not remember them.
v. You find it hard to select what is important.

LEARNING STRENTGTHS OF THE SEARCHLIGHT

i. You have high motivation and interest on things.
ii. You have broad general knowledge.
iii. You can see connections between things.
iv. You are creative and inventive.

AREAS TO DEVELOP FOR THE SEARCHLIGHT LEARNERS

i. Setting goals and priorities.
ii. Analytical and critical thinking.
iii. Categorizing and selecting.
iv. Editing skills.
v. Developing memory for details.

NOTE
As a student, you need to personalize your learning. For example, you probably find
that using the above learning categories excludes some of your learning characteristics.
If so, invent one that sums up your learning style. You may use one learning style for
the subjects that you like and another for those that are challenging. Consider whether
you prefer to work alone or with others, whether you like to work at home or at the
campus, and so on. If you prefer to work with others, organize a study group or arrange
to be working with a friend. If you like to work alone, focus on time management and
look for articles that no one else is likely to use. Find examples that others may not
think of.

SMART LEARNING STRATEGIES

As Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 68) notes, studying hard is not the same as working
efficiently. She gives the following example to illustrate this. She gives the study
strategies of one student whom we are going to call Jane. Jane feels that she should get
good marks because she works very hard. She studies 50 hours a week and gets all her
work done by the deadline.

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Read her strategy which is written below and try to see why her marks are getting
worse even though she is working harder.

JANE’S STRATEGY
i. She reads every book in the reading list. The same information
is repeated in several books. She does not select from one book
to another.
ii. She reads every book from cover to cover. Not everything in the
book is relevant.
iii. She writes very detailed notes. She has more information than
she needs. Her notes are repetitive and take a long time to read.
She does not think much about what she is writing. It takes her a
long time to find any information from her notes. She has to
rewrite her notes to read from them. She copies large sections
into her assignments which makes her lose marks.
iv. She writes her notes neatly and in full sentences. Using
abbreviations would save time. As long as she can read her own
notes and find information easily, they do not need to be neat.
Sometimes she takes notes which she does not know what they
mean.
v. She locks herself away to work alone. She misses out on other
people’s opinions, suggestions and perspectives.

START TASKS EARLY

i. You only need a piece of paper and a pencil to get started. Do
not wait until you have all your books, or you have tidied your
desk or any other excuse to get started.
ii. If you do not feel like studying, give yourself permission to study
for only ten minutes. Quickly jot down questions to focus your
ideas. Write a list of things you need to do. Attend to the excuses
afterwards if you still want to. You will probably find you are
hooked into the study and you want to keep going.
iii. Get your mind working on a problem as soon as you can. Your
mind continues to work on the problem even when you go on to
do something else. This is why it pays to start looking at new
assignments as soon as you are given.

ACTIVE VERSUS PASSIVE LEARNING

As Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 87), observes, there is a lot of difference between the
students who use passive learning strategies and those who use active learning
strategies.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PASSIVE LEARNING

i. You wait for directions to be fed to you.
ii. Information is delivered to you. You just follow what is said or
written.
iii. Different pieces of information are treated as separate units.
iv. You repeat information without understanding.
v. You do not reflect upon what you have learnt.
vi. You may become bored and tired easily.

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vii. You use surface processing in which case you are less likely to
understand or remember.
viii. You are less likely to use what you learn.
ix. What you study may seem irrelevant.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVE LEARNING

i. You look for ways of being more actively involved in what you
are learning.
ii. You are engaged in the whole learning process and you are in a
position to see why information has been selected.
iii. You look for links between different things that you discover.
iv. You make a conscious effort to make sense of, and find meaning
in, what you learn. Understanding is usually deeper.
v. You are involved in reflection and self-evaluation.
vi. Your attention span is longer because your mind is more fully
involved.
vii. Long-term memory is assisted. If you understand what you learn,
and keep relating it to what you know, you are likely to
remember what you learn.
viii. Linking information helps you to see how you can apply it to
new situations.
ix. Learning is personalized and is interesting.

NOTE-MAKING SKILLS
REASONS FOR TAKING NOTES
Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 128), and other writers give the following reasons why students
take notes.
i. Useful records.
a. Of important points for future use.
b. Of where information comes from.
ii. Helps writing.
a. Helps ideas flow.
b. Helps planning. You can see what information you have.
c. Assists organization. You can rearrange and renumber points.
d. Helps you get started on doing assignments.
iii. Helps understanding.
a. If you focus on selecting the information you need.
b. If you think of how everything fits in.
iv. Helps memory.
a. Summing up things briefly helps long-term memory.
b. Pattern notes or highlighted notes can be more memorable.
v. Helps exam revision.
a. Material is well organized.
b. More information is already in memory.

STRATEGIES FOR MAKING NOTES

i. Good note-making: General aspects
a. Think before you write.
b. Keep notes brief.
c. Keep notes organized.

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d. Use your own words.

e. Leave a wide margin and spaces to add notes later.

ii. Useful strategies.

a. Note key words and main ideas.
b. Write phrases, not sentences.
c. Use abbreviations
d. Use headings.
e. Number points.
f. Make the page memorable by using color, illustrations and so on.
g. Link up points using arrows. Dotted lines, colors, numbers and so
on.
h. Note sources of information.
i. Write quotations in a different color.

iii. Unhelpful strategies

a. Copying chunks and phrases.
b. Writing more notes than you can use again.
c. Writing notes several times to make them neater.

iv. Tidying messy notes

a. Draw a square around sections of notes in different colors to make
them stand out.
b. Use a ruler to divide the page up between sections.
c. Draw a ring round floating bits of information.
d. Link stray points by color coding it.

SHORTCUTS IN NOTE-MAKING
i. Leave space to add new information later instead of rewriting
notes to include more information.
ii. Make just one set of notes. Make the notes as visual as possible.
iii. Use labels and number your pages and points. Cross-refer to
information already noted elsewhere.
iv. USE ABBREVIATIONS
a. Abbreviations save time. Use them in your notes, but NOT
in assignments.
b. Work out a system that you will remember.
c. Stick to your system.
d. Introduce a few abbreviations at a time so that your notes
make sense.
e. Keep a key to your abbreviations near you until you know
them.
v. Usually leave out vowels when you take notes. Eg. gd = good,
NRB = Nairobi etc

USEFUL COMMON ABBREVIATIONS

The following are useful common abbreviations:
e.g. for example
i.e. that is, that means
etc and so on

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NB: important, note this

p. page (pp. pages)
para. Paragraph
ch. Chapter (chs. Chapters)
ed. edition
info. Information
cd. could
wd. would
Govt. Government
Educ. Education
Impt. Important
Devt. Development
C19 19th century
Afr. Africa
UK. United Kingdom

NOTE: DO NOT USE THE SAME ABBREVIATION FOR TWO DIFFERENT

WORDS. E.g. wait= wt and waist= wt, you can use wst and for wet, leave it the way
it is because if you use wt again you will confuse it with wait.

USEFUL COMMON SYMBOLS

& and
+ plus
> greater/more
< less than/smaller
= is the same as/ equal to
w/ with

NOTE: You can coin as many abbreviations and as many symbols as you want as long
as you do not use them for class assignments.

SUMMARY
This section has dealt with several aspects like defining learning, the different
dimensions or ways in which learning takes place, the six conditions necessary for
learning to occur, different learning styles, smart learning strategies, the difference
between active and passive learning, and the difference between helpful and unhelpful
note-making skills. We hope you will find them useful in your academic pursuit.

Review Questions
i. Define the term learning as given by Stella Cottrell (2003). How else
would you define learning and why? (4 marks)
ii. Critic the six different dimensions through which learning can take
place. (10 marks)
iii. Discuss the five main conditions that are necessary for learning to occur.
(10 marks)
iv. Discuss the different learning styles and say the one you can recommend
to students and why. (10 marks)
v. Describe how you can be a smart learner. (10 marks)
vi. Illustrate how you can get actively involved in your learning. (10 marks)

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vii. Describe the reasons of making notes, useful and un-useful strategies of
making notes and the shortcuts that you can use to make notes. (10
marks)
viii. Describe several ways that you can use to enhance your memory.

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FIVE
GROUP PARTICIPATION AND PREPARATION FOR TUTORIALS AND
SEMINARS
INTRODUCTION
This section is concerned with learning through discussion and group work. As
Montgomery (1990, p.117) notes, “To take an active part in a tutorial or a seminar is a
valuable way of improving one’s intellect and adding to one’s knowledge and
understanding.” It is hoped that as you work through this unit, you will gain confidence
in speaking and see the value of group discussion. It will help you if you can avoid
regarding the tutor in a seminar or in a lecture as the source of all wisdom and
knowledge. Instead, think of a seminar or a lecture as a forum in which all can learn
from each other. Even the tutor or the lecturer may learn something. Think of him or
her as your guide. Stella Cottrell (2003, p. 97) adds that “academic work at university
generally focuses on the achievement of individuals. In part, this is to ensure that each
person is awarded a degree for his or her own work.” She notes that, however, “in recent
years, more attention has been paid to the importance of training students in the skills
of working with others. These skills are referred to as “people skills” or “inter-personal
skills.”

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
vi. Become aware of some of the advantages of working with
others.
vii. Develop confidence in participating in discussion groups,
tutorials and seminars.
viii. Illustrate what can make a group work.
ix. Avoid group sabotage.
x. Show how to get your words in.
xi. Disagree politely
xii. Discuss how prejudice in a group can disrupt learning.

SOME REASONS FOR USING GROUP WORK

Stella Cottrell (2003, p. 97) notes that “academic work at university generally focuses
on the achievement of individuals. In part, this is to ensure that each person is awarded
a degree for his or her own work.” She adds that, however, “in recent years, more
attention has been paid to the importance of training students in the skills of working
with others. These skills are referred to as “people skills” or “inter-personal skills.”
Some of the reasons for this change as given by Stella are:
i. Recognition that people learn in different ways.
ii. Recognition that, if students are to succeed, they often need more
support than they received in the past. Mutual support group is one way
of achieving this.
iii. There is more attention being given to the skills needed by graduates
once they are employed. For example, effective inter-personal skills are
now an essential part of most jobs that graduates aim to have.
For these, and many others, more of the curriculum at the university, as well as more
employers training, is being dedicated to improving people skills or inter-personal
skills.

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CONTEXTS FOR GROUP WORK

Some of the contexts in which you may be required to work with others in groups
include the following:
i. Group projects.
ii. Group assignments.
iii. Group term papers
iv. Mentoring groups.
v. Discussion groups.
vi. Work placements
vii. Support groups and several others

ASPECTS OF GROUP WORK

ADVANTAGES: When working in a group, one is able to:
i. Share ideas so that each of you has more ideas.
ii. Gain extra perspectives and points of views which you might not
have considered.
iii. Tap into a wide pool of experience, backgrounds, knowledge and
styles of work.
iv. Stimulate each other’s thinking.
v. Clarify each other’s thinking through talking and answering group
questions.
vi. Learn to deal with challenge and criticism.
vii. Realize that there are more dimensions and answers to a question
than you can discover on your own.

WAYS OF WORKING WITH OTHERS

A. SUPPORTIVELY: For example, talk about your difficulties and concerns.
Others may feel the same way. Help each other to find solutions.
B. ENCOURAGINGLY. For example, let others know what they do well. If you
appreciated a particular contribution they made, tell them.
C. COLLABORATIVELY. Divide different aspects of your study between the
group members. Give each other suggestions about the best things to read for
an assignment. Share strategies about coping with work, money, projects, or
even children if you have them.
D. CO-OPERATIVELY. Go through your lecture notes together and see if you
picked different points. Read each other’s essays once they have been marked
and see what you can learn from each other’s work.
E. Offering constructive criticism. If you disagree with another person’s ideas, you
can do the following:
i. Point out what is good as well as what can be improved.
ii. Comment on what was said and not on the person.
iii. Be realistic. Suggest only the changes that can be achieved.
iv. Be precise by giving a clear example.
v. Be sympathetic by using a voice and a manner that can help others
to accept your criticism.
F. RECEIVING CRITICISM
When you listen to criticism you can do the following:
i. Listen attentively.
ii. Take time to think about what has been said and to look for the truth
in it.

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iii. Ask questions to clarify anything you do not understand.

iv. Thank others for their constructive criticism.

SHORTCOMINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN WORKING WITH

OTHERS
A. BE WARE OF COPYING:
i. All completed work must be in your own words, unless it was given
out as group work. Hence, be careful that you do not appear as if you
copied from the others or that they copied from you. After
discussions, write the points in your own words.
ii. If a text is sent to you by other group members, never copy and paste
it into your own work as this could be cheating. The persons who
sent it to might also use the text in their own work and this will be
noticed.
iii. Don’t let anybody see your work before the lecturer has marked and
returned it. If someone copies your work and hands it in as his or her
own, you may also be held responsible.
iv. Lecturers are quick in finding identical or near identical sections in
students’ work. Software is also available which help them to find
work copied from the internet or from other students. If the lecturers
find the same wording in more than one assignment, they will
suspect that cheating has occurred and the students will be penalized.
B. Share work fairly and consider what to do if people fail to do their part.
C. Encourage others if they feel de-motivated but avoid to be drawn into other
people’s depression, negativity or de-motivation.
D. Planning to prevent difficulties: If you are going to work with someone over a
period of time, think about what aim to gain from working together and what
problems may arise. You could each write this under three headings:
“advantages”, “potential difficulties”, and “ways we could deal with these
difficulties.” Go through all the advantages together to encourage each other to
proceed. Consider each potential difficulty and brainstorm on ways of dealing
with each. Be creative in looking for strategies but if you are stuck, speak to
another friend or a lecturer or the school counselor.
E. TALKING AND LISTENING SKILLS WITHIN A GROUP: Good
communication is a two way process. It requires both good listening skills and
participation in the discussion. Consider the following question. Do you talk to
people, or at people, or with people?
i. People who talk at you are listening to themselves. They leave no
space for a response.
ii. People who talk with you are keen for you to join in.
iii. People who talk to you consider you and your responses carefully.
iv. Consider how you listen to others. E.g. Do you take in what other
people say? Do you give people room to speak? Do you let other
people finish before you speak? Do you use encouraging non-verbal
signals?
v. Better listening: Try to tune in to the speaker. Some of the following
techniques may help you:
I. Consider the speaker’s feelings.
II. Find ways of encouraging the speaker.

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III. Focus on the content and think of the way it can be of value to
you.
IV. Think of a question you could ask after the speaker has
finished.
V. Link what the speaker is saying to something you know.
VI. Find one positive comment you could contribute.
vi. Making your point in a group: If you are anxious at the idea of
speaking out in a group, the following points can help you:

I. BEFORE THE GROUP

a. Make a decision to speak at least once during the group.
b. Get to know other group members so that you feel at
ease.
c. Get as much information as possible to prepare for the
discussion.

II. DURING THE GROUP

a. Sit next to someone you feel is reassuring.
b. Write down what you want to say.
c. Think of an example to support your point.
d. Be brief when speaking and do not rush and speak up so
that everyone can hear.
e. Act like you are confident even if you are not.

III. AFTER THE GROUP

a. Congratulate yourself for any progress that you made.
b. Keep any mistake in proportion. It is not the end of the
world and you can improve another time.
vii. Getting your word in: As Montgomery (1999,p. 117) point out,
“some skill is involved in knowing when, in a conversation or a
discussion, you should attempt to speak and how to succeed in doing
so.” It is possible that in different cultures, there are different ways
of “entering” into a conversation. Montgomery notes that “in
Britain, for example, there are a number of signals or signs that a
person gives, probably without realizing that he is doing so, which
indicates that he wants to have a turn at speaking. Some of these
signs are: an intake of breath, a worried or an earnest look on one’
face, concentrated look at the speaker, starting to say “er” or “um”,
joining in with “yes” “no” etc”. At this point, he will be allowed to
join in unless the current speaker indicates that he wants to continue
speaking. There are several ways he can do this, like, he can avoid
looking at the person who wants to speak or he can quickly continue
to his next sentence without any pause for anyone to get in.
viii. Formulating questions: Think carefully about the question you want
to ask by doing the following:

a. Distinguish between not hearing and not understanding.

If you did not hear, repetition is all you need, but if you
did not understand something, you will need more than
just repetition.

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b. If your problem is understanding, try and say precisely

what it is you do not understand. E.g. I do not understand
the difference between climate and weather. Another
way is by saying what you understand. E.g. you
mentioned three advantages and I understood the first
and the last but not the second one.
c. Distinguish between not understanding and wanting
additional or more information. E.g. you said that the
government wants to bring more amenities to rural areas.
Please could you tell us what amenities and to which
specific rural areas?
NOTE
When you know precisely what question you want to ask, you should interrupt in a
polite way by saying phrases like, “excuse me, what is the name of the machine?” or “
could you please tell me the meaning of this part?” or “ I am sorry I missed that
explanation.”
ix. Disagreeing politely: Montgomery (1999, p. 121 notes that “it is
important that you learn how to disagree politely with a speaker and
how to state your opinion.” In many discussions, it is not appropriate
to tell a speaker that he is wrong. You may feel that he is wrong but
in an university situation, it is normal to consider that other people
are entitled to their opinion just as you are entitle to yours. So you
tone down or soften your disagreement by ways such as the
following:
a. By expressing your disagreement as your opinion not as
the general truth.
b. By asking a question that casts doubt on the speaker’s
views.
c. By using special expressions that tone down a statement.
d. By agreeing with part of what a speaker has said and then
going on to disagree with other aspects.
NOTE
Before listing expressions for each of the above, here are some useful formulas for
interrupting in order to disagree.
e. First there is the usual use of eyes and expression
f. Then monosyllables such as yes, but, no.
g. Next an initial sentence like,
If I can just come in here?, or could I just say something on that?, or Can I come in at
this point? Or If I could just point out a difficulty here? etc
x. Being judged by your voice: Many people feel self-conscious about
the way they speak or about their accent. If you feel anxious about
your voice remember the following:
a. Your voice is an important part of you and very many
people have different accents.
b. Your voice or accent is not as important as your ideas and
your contributions.
c. Other people in the group may be just as self-conscious.
d. Concentrate on getting your message across and making
sense rather than your accent.

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e. There are very many successful people who have all

types of accents.
xi. Group sabotage: It is quite easy to sabotage a group. Sometimes this
happens unintentionally because people are nervous and they worry
about being judged by others. Ways that may sabotage a group are,
being late, not preparing your part, whispering to others during
group discussions or chatting, not contributing your ideas, etc
xii. Making the group work: Although there are many benefits of
working in groups, being part of a group is not necessarily easy.
Dealing with the challenge of being in a group requires a range of
skills. The following guidelines could be helpful:
a. Create a supportive group atmosphere.
b. Remember that people have feelings. They are anxious
that they will be criticized. Be constructive in your
criticism and be kind.
c. Address anxieties directly in the first session. Brainstorm
about how everyone feels about being in the group. It
helps to know you are not the only one with a problem.
Discuss how the group could turn worries or problems
into positive aspects.
d. Make ground rules. These could address the following:
The times you will be meeting, what to do if someone
does not turn up, or does not do his or her part, what kind
of behavior or comments are acceptable, etc.
SUMMARY
This section has dealt with the idea of using group work to enhance students’ learning.
It has looked at how to benefit form group work through working supportively,
encouragingly, co-operatively, offering constructive criticism and to avoid the
shortcomings of working in groups. It also looked at the polite ways of getting your
chance to say something in a group or a seminar or a tutorial, how to formulate
questions and how to disagree politely. We hope all this aspects will help you, not only
when you are a student but also later after you graduate and join the job market.

Review Questions
1. Discus the advantages of working in groups.
2. Discuss four main ways which you can use in order to gain the best out of
group work.
3. Describe and illustrate the idea of giving and receiving constructive
criticism in a group discussion.
4. Discuss some shortcomings of working together in groups when you are
supposed to hand in individual assignments and how you can overcome the
challenges.
5. Describe what you are supposed to do before, during and after a group
discussion.
6. What is the difference between talking at, talking with and talking with
people? Which would you prefer to use with people and to be used to you
and why?
7. How can you improve your listening skills in a group discussion?

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8. In a seminar or in a tutorial or in a business discussion, explain how you can

politely interrupt in order to say something, how you can formulate polite
questions, and how you can disagree politely.

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SIX
DIFFERENT TYPES OF LISTENING
INTRODUCTION
Listening skills are very vital especially at university level. This chapter will look at the
differences between listening and hearing, different components of listening, different
types of listening like appreciative listening, active listening, critical listening, empathic
listening and various distractions to effective listening and active listening strategies.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this topic the learners should be able to:
i) Distinguish listening from hearing
ii) Describe the various levels of listening
iii) Outline active listening strategies
iv) Explain the meaning of critical listening
v) Explain the meaning of empathic listening
vi) Identify barriers to good listening

DEFINITION OF LISTENING
Listening may be defined as the mental process of receiving, attending to, evaluating
and assigning meaning to aural stimuli or to sound. It requires concentrating on sound,
deriving meaning from it and reacting to it.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING AND HEARING

It is important here to distinguish listening from hearing. By definition, hearing is a
sense that allows you to perceive sound. Hearing is merely a physical act, which
requires only the reception of sound waves. It is a passive process that involves a
physical mechanism when the vibrations of sound waves hit the eardrums of an
individual and the brain, thereby triggering the electrochemical pulses that make the
person feel the sensation of hearing the sound. Hence, hearing is absolutely mechanical
in nature (Pushp & Kumar 2007 p.39). Except for the hearing impaired, all of us can
hear without extra effort. You often hear even when you don’t want to. Hearing implies
no intention from the receiver of the communication. In fact most people can hear even
when sleeping.

Listening on the other hand, is different. Listening might begin with hearing, but it
goes far beyond merely using one of the senses. Listening is an active process and an
intentional act. Far from being involuntary, listening requires concentration and effort.
As seen above, listening is a process in which we receive sounds that reach our
eardrums and we try to interpret, evaluate, react and respond to them. (Diane & Payne
1989 p.55).

Listening requires receiver to pay close attention and make sense of what they hear.
Listening demands the perfect coordination between the ears and the brain, which
results in decoding the speaker’s message. It requires regular practice and effort if one
wishes to improve listening skills. The following table captures the main differences
between listening and hearing.

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Listening Hearing
 An active process. A mechanical process.
 Requires conscious effort. Involuntary action.
 Mental and physical activity Requires physical effort.
only.
 Helpful in decision making. Is not .
Consequently hearing and listening are not the same things. If you can detect sound,
hearing just happens. Listening involves hearing, but it is an active process, the practice
of paying close attention to the speaker with an intention to comprehend the entire
speech effectively.

LISTENING AS PART OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

To appreciate listening, think about its role in the communication process. Feedback,
which we get through listening, is an essential part of the communication process. It
lets us know whether we are understood. Feedback enables us to modify a message and
improve our understanding. Listening is thus an essential part of communication. It is
vital to anyone who wishes to communicate effectively.

The Components of the Listening Process

Listening is a significant problem in groups and in listening to lectures because many
people may fake listening. Listening is composed of four main sub-processes. Let us
look at each of these components.
The four components are:
i. Sensing.
ii. Attending.
iii. Understanding and interpreting.
iv. Evaluating and responding.
An examination of each of these will help you understand the part they play in the
process.

i) Sensing
This refers to simply hearing the words or the sounds. It is not necessarily a conscious
act. For instance, any sound wave that has sufficient intensity to reach the ear may be
heard. You may ask, then, why you are unable to hear the ticking of the clock when
you are studying until it is called to your attention. The answer is that in fact you can
hear it. The sound has sufficient intensity to reach your ears, but it is blocked by the
second major element of the listening process which is attending.

ii) Attending
Listening involves selecting and paying attention to a particular stimulus. In the above
example you may not be selecting the particular stimulus which is the ticking of the
clock to be part of your consciousness. Theoretically, you might sense and attend to
hundreds of stimuli at a time, but practically you cannot. Therefore you select those that
are important to you and ignore others. You may fail to notice the footsteps of someone
entering the room because you are paying attention to the book or the notes you are
reading. You filter out the irrelevant. Filtering of this kind also happens when you are
listening to someone talk or to a lecturer. You may filter out important pieces of
information. Paying attention is thus a vital listening skill that you need to consciously
develop.

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iii) Understanding and interpreting

The third component of listening is understanding and interpreting. Understanding
means making sense of what you have heard and interpreting is assigning meaning to
what you have heard. It is possible for two people to listen to a sentence and give it two
different interpretations.

iv) Responding and Remembering

Responding entails turning listening into a two way process. It allows feedback, advice,
action and reaction. Remembering is the act of consciously retaining the information
so that you can retrieve it later. Like attending, responding or remembering is selective.
You select not only what to attend to but also what to respond to and what to remember.
Sometimes it is possible for a message to be understood and remembered as a
considerably different message (Gerald L.W. 2002:57).

TYPES OF LISTENING
Depending on the purpose or motive, listening may be classified in the following four
main ways as follows:
i. Appreciative Listening.
ii. Active listening.
iii. Empathic or Therapeutic Listening.
iv. Critical listening.
Let us look at each one of these.

1. APPRECIATEIVE LISTENING
Appreciative listening is also known as aesthetic listening. It is listening mainly for
enjoyment. It includes listening to music or your favorite programs which are aired in
the radio or TV. This is the easiest of the five types of listening. It is a step above
hearing, which is a physical process. Listening for enjoyment requires very little active
involvement in the process. Sometimes it requires only momentary concentration but
not long-term memory. For example, when we listen to music, TV, or Radio for our
own entertainment or we listen to a light conversation, the stakes aren’t high. If we
miss a song or a joke, we only lose a bit of our own amusement.

2. ACTIVE LISTENING
Active listening is also known as comprehensive listening. It is a decision to be fully
attentive and to understand the intent of the speaker. It is an activity that requires
physical and mental attention, energy, concentration and discipline. The purpose of the
listener is to understand the informative message delivered by the speaker. The listener
is out to comprehend the entire message.

You need active listening skills for your lectures. Not only is this kind of listening
fundamental to taking good lecture notes, but it is also directly related to how well one
does in colleges, universities or in their career. In addition, Professionals attending
meetings, following directions, working with customers, giving and receiving feedback
all need active listening.

3. CRITICAL LISTENING
This is also called evaluative listening. Critical listening involves more than just
listening for information. It requires analyzing and evaluating the information as well
as questioning and testing it against other information. It entails carefully thinking

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about what one hears. Every point expressed by the speaker has to be subjected to
thoughtful analysis and judgment. This kind of listening basically aims at evaluating
the message objectively. It requires a high level of involvement and concentration.
Critical listening is thus appropriate when your goal is to think deeply and react
analytically. It is essentially useful when you are required to give your opinion about
the message passed on to you.

THE SIER MODEL OF CRITICAL LISTENING

Raymond Ross, in his book, Speech Communication: Fundamentals and Practice’
Discusses a four step model of critical listening. The steps include:
1. Sense.
2. Interpret.
3. Evaluate.
4. React.

The SIER Model of Critical Listening is represented in the following diagram.

REACT Assigning meaning

EVALUATE Assess strengths & weaknesses of messages

INTERPRET Understanding the message

SENSE Hearing the message

Fig 3.2 The SIER/Four Step Model of Critical Listening

5) Empathic or therapeutic listening

Empathic listening requires empathy; that is, the ability to put yourself into other
people’s place and understand their feelings. It is the type that is used in counseling
sessions. Listening with empathy requires the skills of a precision listener and the
ability to understand how the speaker feels. An empathic listener, while not necessarily
agreeing with the message, makes an effort to understand why someone feels a certain
way. This level of listening which is also called therapeutic listening is the most difficult
to master. It requires qualities that don’t come easily to all human beings.

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QUALITIES OF AN EMPATHIC LISTENER

i. An empathic listener often will not offer personal opinion.
ii. They serve as a sounding board, even when someone is venting emotions that
are difficult to talk about.
iii. One suspends judgment, offering opinions when asked.
iv. One understands that a person has chosen to talk and respects the role of a
listener.
v. Respects the feeling of others, without necessarily agreeing with those feelings.
As an empathic listener, it is often important to understand why the speakers express
certain ideas. Such understanding will help you evaluate what they say. Empathy will
also help you respect a speaker, even if you disagree with what they say. To achieve
this level of listening, you must listen carefully, you must evaluate what they say
ethically, and you must listen to emotions as well as to words. Empathic listening
requires not only great concentration but good feedback skills.

APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK IN EMPATHIC LISTENING

Carol Rogers says empathic feedback can be classified into the following five
categories.
i. Evaluative. This includes responses which are usually silent that make
a judgment about the worth or appropriateness of the speaker’s message.
ii. Interpretive. This is also usually silent and it shows how the speaker’s
message has been taken. For example, you interpret it as the cause of the
speaker’s distress, worry, anxiety, and so on.
iii. Supportive. Here you try to assist the speaker to go on by making
encouraging comments like, “go on”, “I am listening” and so on, if the
speaker hesitates.
iv. Probing. Here you try to get additional information if you think there is
extra information missing that will help you to evaluate or to interpret
the information fairly.
v. Understanding. Here, you try to understand the totality of what the
speaker is saying as well as its implication. For example, you may
conclude that they need more attention, medical intervention and so on.
NOTE
Despite the above aspects, it is wise to remember that your main role in empathic
listening is to be a sounding board and to offer therapeutic or healing listening without
necessarily saying anything.

3.2.6 BARRIERS OR DISTRACTIONS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING

There are various barriers that tend to impede effective listening. They can be put in the
following categories.
i. External distractions: These are outside the message itself. It could be
noise from the students, from the surrounding, from signal transmissions
or from the speaker’s microphone.
ii. Mental distractions: These could be due to psychological problems,
illness, stress, and so on.
iii. Semantic distractions: This could be due to difficult words or difficult
phrases that the lecturer has used. Focusing too much on difficult words
or phrases will distract you as a listener. Sometimes you can ask for
clarification. Other times, other words or phrases make the difficult
words clear. Concentrate more on the overall message.

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iv. Self – focus and ego – centrism. This applies to those students who like
seeking unnecessary attention sometimes by asking obvious questions.
Others are so conscious of their weaknesses or short comings and this
interferes with their listening.
v. Experiential superiority. This is thinking that we know all that we are
going to be told due to previous experience.
vi. Stereotyping others. This is looking down on others due to various
aspects like tribe, culture, gender, age, disability and so on.
vii. Complex interpersonal relations. Past or present relations with the
speaker may influence your interpretation of the message and listening.
For example, if you were in a previous class that was taught by the same
lecturer and you did not perform well, you might think you will still
perform poorly and so not pay attention.
viii. Defensiveness. Where a listener holds a very different view on the topic
to that of the speaker, he may intentionally block his mind from
listening, switch off and become defensive. This may jeopardize the
entire communication process.
ix. Focusing too much on the non-verbal cues and voice aspects. A
verbal message becomes much more complete and clear when read
along with non- verbal cues. But misreading or over reading body
language can interfere with the true essence of the message. Looks,
clothes, regional accents, or unusual mannerisms can easily distract the
listener.
x. State of mind. A listener fails to listen when preoccupied with certain
thoughts or when feeling tense, exhausted, or anxious. Other distractions
like hunger or drowsiness may also stop one from being attentive while
listening.
xi. Different levels of perception. Usually people have different levels of
understanding or perception. Usually, a speaker presumes that all their
listeners have the same level of understanding, and omits certain
information that seems either too obvious or too simple. Hence, the
listeners with lower levels of understanding face a problem in
understanding.
xii. Premature evaluation. This is when the listener jumps into conclusion
even before the speaker completes his speech.

xiii. Listening too hard. This is when listeners struggle to absorb or capture every
word the speaker utters. They end up missing the main message by concentrating too
hard on irrelevant details. In such cases, listeners pay undue heed to the individual
words and expressions rather than concentrating on the actual essence of the message.
ix. Skewed or selective listening. Biased listening. This is only listening to what
you would like to hear or what suits you and this is another barrier to effective
listening
x. Lack of proper training. Listening is essentially a learned skill. One has
to learn and acquire the skill of listening. However, there is widespread lack
of sufficient listening training to students and professionals who are often
trained to become good writers and speakers but not good listeners.
xi. Other factors that interfere with effective listening are; Boring topic,
inaudible speaker, when the speaker is not eloquent, indecent dressing, or
any unbecoming dressing style of the speaker.

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Poor Listening Habits

Ralph Nichols and L.A. Stevens (1957) cite three poor listening habits which are:
1. Faking attention or Pseudo – listening. Some people often fake attention. They
sit as if they are listening but are in fact thinking about something else.
2. Evading difficult listening. A second poor attending habit is to avoid difficult
listening. People who do not expose themselves to difficult listening situations
do not gain practice in attending to difficult material.
3. Listening only to facts. This kind of attending may cause the listener to miss
important cues about the message. The tone of voice and variations in the rate
of speaking are two auditory factors that often reveal a great deal about the
message. People who have trained themselves to only listen for and jot down
facts may miss these non-verbal cues and thereby misunderstand the message.

How to Improve Your Skills of Paying Attention

i) Having prior information and preparation about the topic before listening to
it.
ii) Maintaining eye contact with the speaker.
iii) A adopt the right sitting posture and ask questions.
iv) Take short notes i.e. noting speaker’s key points

Characteristics of a Person who is Not Paying Attention

A person who is not paying attention may exhibit some of the following characteristics
i. Dozing off in the middle of a talk.
ii. Keeping fiddling and fumbling with things around them.
iii. May start talking to the persons next to them.
iv. Go into trance and start day – dreaming.
v. Looking outside the widow or ceiling.
vi. Have inappropriate sitting posture.

Active Listening Strategies or guidelines to effective listening

The following points can help you to listen effectively.
1. Desire to listen.
2. Focus on the reason for which you are listening; for example, to get new
information, to get instructions and so on.
3. Be open minded and willing to learn new ideas. Be open to divergent points of
view, different styles of lecturing, different ways of speaking and so on.
4. Postpone judgment. Avoid judging the instructor or the speaker or their message
based on their dressing, reputation, voice or style of speaking.. Instead focus
on the message or course content.
5. Be alert. Be physically and mentally alert.
6. Be observant. Be keen and observant so as to capture both the obvious verbal
and the non - verbal cues about the information. Note the transition or the
change of topic when the lecturer uses words such as “on the other hand,
nevertheless, however”, and so on or emphasis like when one says “one
important factor”, or “the main reason is”. Observe the speaker’s use of
repetition, or when the speaker becomes more animated or writes information
on the board because it is probably important.
7. Predict and ask questions.
Keep yourself alert by predicting and asking yourself questions like “what are the main
points”?

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8. Look like you are listening. Sit upright, uncross your legs, maintain eye contact,
respond with nods, smiles and facial expressions appropriately. Participate in
discussions or when asked questions.
9. Reduce distractions. Don’t sir next to friends or individuals who like to talk or
are distracting. Sit near the front if possible
10. Be quiet. The fundamental rule of listening is to be quiet while the speaker is
talking. Avoid interrupting or talking to others. As a listener, your role is to
understand and comprehend and as a speaker, your role is to make the message
clear and comprehensible. Don’t confuse the two roles. When you are listening,
really listen until the speaker is through.

SUMMARY
This section has dealt with the following aspects, differences between listening and
hearing, different components of listening, different types of listening like appreciative
listening, active listening, critical listening, empathic listening and various distractions
to effective listening and active listening strategies.

Review Questions
1. With relevant examples, explain the differences between hearing
and listening
2. Describe the four main components of the listening process.
3. Describe the following types of listening and say when one can use
them:
I. Appreciative.
II. Active.
III. Critical
IV. Empathic
4. Describe the SIER model of critical listening
5. What is Active Listening? Discuss the strategies that one may follow
to listen actively.
5. Discuss ten possible barriers to effective listening and say how one can
overcome them.
6. John has a problem following lectures. Suggest to him the guidelines for
effective listening that he may employ.

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SEVEN
READING SKILLS
1.1 INTRODUCTION
This section defines reading, its process and goals, describes the qualities of an efficient
reader, various reading skills like scanning, skimming, study reading and SQ3R reading
method and some of the reading difficulties that students face.

Objectives
By the end of the topic, the student should be able to:
i) Define reading
ii) Describe the process of reading
iii) Describe the main reading skills/types
iv) Discuss reading strategies
v) Identify effective reading
vi) Interpret Non-Linear Texts
vii) Demonstrate effective reading skills

1.2 THE CONCEPT OF READING

In the simplest sense, reading means recognizing letters and groups of letters as symbols
that stand for particular sounds. The sounds, in turn, form words that express ideas in
written or printed form. A broader definition of reading links it more closely with other
uses of language and with thinking. According to this definition, reading first depends
on a reader’s memory and experience to understand what is read. It then involves how
well the reader remembers, uses, and reacts to the material. This definition tries to
emphasize the fact that effective reading is not just the ability to interpret symbols on a
page written in a familiar language, but more, the ability to maximize one’s benefits
from this activity by reflecting on the message as one interprets the written symbols.

In reading, one needs to reflect on what they read, have dialogue with the writer through
the printed medium, that is, be able to capture the writer’s thought. Reading is thus
something we are actively involved in. It is in fact an activity in which the whole person
is involved – eyes, ears, imagination and memory. Reading provides the key to several
kinds of information. It enables us to learn how to build or fix things, enjoy stories,
discover what other people believe, and to develop ideas and beliefs of our own and to
excel at university.

Writers organize ideas and relate them to one another. If the reader can interpret and
analyze the relationship of ideas, they would understand more of what they read.
Writers often cushion their message in the stated main idea. The main idea of a text/
passage is the most important point the writer is making. Sometimes the main idea is
stated explicitly i.e. the author may clearly state the main idea in one or two sentences.
Also to look for is the implied main idea. Sometimes the main idea is not stated but
merely implied. It is implicit. It is thus upon the reader to figure out the central idea that
ties all the other ideas together.

THE READING PROCESS

The reading process entails 3 main activities
i) Evaluation
ii) Assimilation
iii) Synthesizing

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Let us look at each of these three aspects:

i. EVALUATION
Evaluation means that the reader needs to evaluate the strength, weight or credibility of
the material being read. The reader should be able to tell which material/source is
reliable and which one is not.

ii ASSIMILATION
Assimilation is the taking in or grasping of the information read. It is the process of
making new ideas or pieces of information part of your knowledge so that you can use
them more effectively. For example, internalizing the meaning of a word so that you
can use it in different situations.

SYNTHESIS
Synthesis means combining different ideas to have a new concept. Or it can mean
combining different ideas into one. Sometimes you do this when you summarize a
passage, a chapter, or a whole book. You can combine different words to make a new
one.

1.3 PURPOSES FOR READING

Just like authors write for different purposes, readers read for different purposes. The
different purposes for reading include:

i) Entertainment or pleasure
Reading is a good pass time activity. Sometime people read for pleasure or to entertain
themselves. Such readings may thus be rapid.

ii) Acquiring knowledge or information

Sometimes people read to acquire knowledge i.e. to be informed or gain understanding.
Reading has become the most important factor in the acquisition of knowledge. A
widely read person knows more than anyone can learn through direct experience in a
lifetime. People thus read to acquire knowledge and information and to update
themselves about the current trends.

iii) Success in life

Some people read because they want to succeed in life. How a person reads – In
quantity and quality – has some bearing on their level of achievement in the modern
world. Reading enhances people’s upward mobility in society. Thus people read so as
to advance in life. That is why they join universities to attain degrees.

iv. To improve quality of life

The knowledge acquired from reading influences one’s life in one way or another. It
enables one to cope better with life challenges and lead a better life. Hence, people read
so as to obtain a good quality life.

QUALITIES OF AN EFFICIENT READER

Qualities of an efficient reader include the following:
i. He gets what he wants from his reading without wasting time and effort.
ii. His speed and method vary according to his purpose.

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iii. He is flexible. He can read slowly or fast according to the task in question
or depending on his goal.
iv. He can grasp the main ideas accurately and skip details when he chooses.
v. He is intent on achieving a particular goal which means that his mind is alert
and questioning.
vi. He relates what he is reading to what he already knows or what he has just
read.
vii. The reader who forms the habit of thinking ahead and looking for
relationships of the ideas he is reading can often anticipate what the author will
say next.
viii. He reads for meanings not the individual words.
ix. He is always looking for key words and key ideas and he is always trying to
pick out the essentials from what is less important.
ix. He is much too busy asking questions and reacting to his reading to say
every word to himself as the poor reader may do.

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EFFICIENT READING

i. The efficient reader can read a passage faster than the inefficient one
and still understand and remember most of it.
ii. He can concentrate and read for longer periods without getting tired
and frustrated.
iii. He enjoys reading because he knows how to get what he wants easily
and accurately.
iv. Since he finds reading rewarding, he reads a lot.
v. The efficient reader has the time and the interest to move beyond the
required textbooks to relevant books of his own choice.
vi. His vocabulary, his use of English, his general knowledge and his
critical judgment all improve in the best and the most natural way.
This is when he reads for his own interest and enjoyment.

1.5 PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION FOR SERIOUS READING

Effective serious reading requires that one gets psychologically prepared for the
exercise. It is important, before you begin your reading assignment, to prepare yourself
psychologically through positive affirmations. Develop a positive attitude e.g. avoid
telling yourself that the book is too hard or boring but instead concentrate on the
usefulness of the information. Reading when you have no interest leads to reading only
because it is required and it interferes with your ability to retain what you have read. A
positive attitude enhances retention. Be alert and keenly conscious of what you read.
This helps concentration.

Keep your reading goals in mind and concentrate on understanding the main points. If
your mind does wander, take a quick break. Be conscious of your posture, your thoughts
and your surroundings and then gently bring your thoughts back to the task at hand. It
is also important to get enough sleep since active reading requires energy and alertness.
Read when you are most rested and alert. Read in an organized area supplied with the
necessary study materials.

Clarify your purpose for reading

Establish your reading goals and determine whether you are reading for pleasure,
previewing information, enhancing lectures, getting background information for a

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lecture, understanding ideas, finding facts, memorizing data and formulas, getting
research questions or analyzing and comprehending a difficult or complex subject. Plan
the amount of material you intend to read, and set a goal for the time it will take. You
will be more motivated with a set immediate goal and time for completion.

Previewing is a major step in making most of your reading–it warms up your brain for
incoming information. Therefore the goal in previewing is to read quickly for overall
understanding of main concepts and ideas. It aims at getting the wider picture and not
memorizing facts or details. Identify the main idea of each section to get a feel for the
text. Look at how it is organized, its level of difficulty; and the illustrations, diagrams
pictures, summaries and graphs. It is important to look for familiar concepts and
connections.

STRUCTURE OF THE READING MATERIAL

When accessing the structure of the reading material, one looks at two main aspects
which are the content and the form of the text.

i) Content of the Text

When looking at the content of the material, the reader focuses more on what the text
is about, what it deals with, the subject matter and the theme. If it is a novel or a play,
you also look at the characters, what they do and what happens to them and the place
or historical time and social context of the text.

ii) The Form of the Text

Here, one looks at the structure and the style of the text, and how it is shaped and
expressed. Structure refers to how the text is constructed or put together. There are two
kinds or levels of structure which are:
a) External structure or organization, which is the technical divisions of the
text into recognizable, convenient and significant segments i.e. into
paragraphs, chapters, sections, acts, scenes stanzas and so on.
b) Internal structure or development concerns the significant connections
among the various elements of the text. It refers to the flow, uniformity
and the coherence of the material.

1.5 TYPES OF READING

The main types of reading we are going to look at are:
i. Scanning
ii. Skimming.
iii. Study Reading
iv. Critical Reading
v. SQ3R Reading method
vi. The five part reading system
vii. Technical Reading : Non Linear Texts
Let us look at each of them.

i. SCANNING
This involves going through a text quickly to spot or locate specific information e.g. a
date, word or name. Focus is laid on the information being looked for and not the whole
piece of writing. We usually do this when looking for a specific word in a dictionary.

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When you need specific information you should not always read the entire material.
Scanning is thus a very useful skill in answering comprehension or passage questions.
After reading the questions, run through the passage to locate where the relevant
information is located. This strategy entails glancing down the pages, looking or
searching for key words. It is thus recommended to scan when you need specific
information such as the answer to a question.

WHAT TO DO WHEN SCANNING

When scanning it is useful to do the following:
i. Decide exactly the type of information you are looking for.
ii. Decide the form it may take e.g. it could be a date, the name of a person,
the causes of something, the effects, or information to help you write
either your introduction or your conclusion. If you want any of this
information, scan for it instead of reading the whole article or the whole
book.
iii. Decide where you can find the information you need. Just as you know
which pages in the newspaper you can check various items like
entertainment, Radio and TV guide, you need to familiarize yourself
with common reference sources for your subject e.g. encyclopedias,
journals, critical reviews and so on.

ii. SKIMMING
This is the reading method that involves rapid reading in order to get the general idea.
It involves moving eyes quickly over a text and paying attention to titles, headings,
subheadings, first and last paragraphs, or introductions and conclusions, or the topic
sentences, or clincher sentences, key words, key phrases and figures, captions, and
illustrations that stand out. Then, if you need more information, look for the main ideas
of individual paragraphs. This differs from scanning in that you are not looking just for
specific points but you are interested in gaining an overall idea, or the gist of the
passage. This should help you to decide whether the passage or material is worth
studying in more detail.

In many ways skimming is more difficult than scanning because the reader has to follow
the writer’s train of thought. It is thus required that you skim when you want an
overview or a general idea or the important points in a piece of writing.

Steps for skimming

To effectively skim a piece of work;
i) Move your eyes quickly over the text
ii) Looking at any headings or titles. Read the title and any headings and
captions
iii) Carefully read the 1st paragraph
iv) Pay particular attention to the first sentence in every paragraph. Look for
key words in the text. This is likely to give you a clue as to the paragraph’s
content.
v) Carefully read the first and the last paragraphs of the text as writers tend to
introduce their topic in the first paragraph and summarize the points in the
last.

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iii. STUDY READING

For some people, study reading is what you do when you try to fully understand and to
remember as much as possible of what you have read. It is the method you use to study
your textbooks like for History, Science, Biology, Psychology, and so on. In short, you
read, understand and try to remember without criticizing the material.

iv. CRITICAL READING

Critical reading is used when, apart from reading and understanding the information in
a text, you critique it, evaluate it, and compare it with your own experience and that of
others and so on. You have therefore to read between the lines and infer some
information that may not be explicitly stated in the passage but it is only implied.
Critical reading entails text analysis. It is the most involving type of reading since one
has to do all that is done in other readings, like scanning, skimming and study reading,
and more. Critical reading involves going beyond what the writer says in order to get
the deeper meaning as suggested by choice of words and the description and the
arrangement of ideas. It goes beyond the literal meaning and visual presentations.

It is the analytical and reflective reading of a text. Critical reading involves making
comments on stylistic devices, language and general organization of the text, making
judgments on literary techniques, the strengths and weaknesses of the information. It
abhors accepting everything that is read as plain truth or at face value. It implies being
able to distinguish facts from opinions in your reading. Being a critical reader will help
you generate meaning and enhance greater understanding. Critical reading also helps
you to reorganize the text, decide what information is important and to take notes on
the reading to assist you in your memory of what you have read.

Guidelines for Critical Reading

i) Use headings, subheadings, summaries and questions to create order and
organizations.
ii) Recognize Key vocabulary and key definitions
iii) Analyze reading goals
iv) Use different reading strategies for different reading tasks.
v) Preview chapters
vi) Look for connections between concepts, ideas, sentences and paragraphs
vii) Evaluate the attitude that you bring to reading
NB: Critical reading requires analytical reading skills accompanied with a positive
attitude.
v. THE FIVE PART READING SYSTEM
The five part reading system, just as the name suggests, consists of five main steps.
These include:
a. Prepare
Try to prepare yourself mentally and psychologically for reading by creating a positive
and interested attitude. Focus your attention on what you are about to read. Clarify your
purpose and how you will use the information you gain from your reading. It is also
important to prepare yourself physically by being rested and reading during high-energy
times. Eliminate distractions by choosing a study area that encourages concentration.
b. Preview
A quick survey of the material you are about to read will give you a general overview.
This is a major step in making the most of your reading. It warms up your brain for
incoming information. Thus the goal in previewing is to read quickly for overall

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understanding of main concepts and ideas. It aims at getting the big picture and not
memorizing facts or details. Identify the main idea of each section to get a feel for the
text. Pay attention to tittles, introductions, chapter objectives, main ideas, and
connections between concepts, terms and formulas. This information will set the stage
for your reading. Look at how it is organized; its level of difficulty; and the illustrations,
diagrams, pictures, summaries and graphs and look at the visuals and any illustrations,
as well as key and bolded words. These elements will help clarify the main ideas of the
subject. By gaining a general understanding of the assignment you will be better
prepared to read the material actively.

c. Predict questions
Next, change every section heading into a question; for instance, if the section heading
is “The Sensory Organs” ask yourself the question “what are the sensory organs?” As
you read predict test questions and search for answers. Ask yourself who, what, where,
when, why and how? The more questions you ask, the better prepared you will be to
find answers to test the questions.

d. Pick out Key Words

Outline, underline and highlight key words, main ideas, and facts. Look for the main
concepts, supporting points, and answers to the questions you have raised. Develop an
outline to help you organize the information.

e. Paraphrase and Review

At this stage paraphrase, summarize and review the main ideas. Write a short summary
and then try to remember it. This summary is done right after the lecture or the
workshop as part of your immediate goals. Try this again after 24 hours of previewing
the chapter. Review your summary several times until you understand the material and
can explain it to someone else. The next review can be after three or four weeks, and
then before the final exams.

Finally, during your study group meetings, take turns reviewing and listening to one
another’s summaries. It may be helpful to review questions, answers and summaries.
In a nutshell, the five part reading system entails preparation, previewing, predicting
questions, picking out key words and paraphrasing and reviewing.

THE SQ3R READING METHOD

The SQ3R reading method has helped many students improve their reading
comprehension since it was first developed by Prof. Francis Robinson in 1941. This
method aims at understanding every aspect of the text. It refers to what you do when
you try to fully understand and remember as much as possible of what you have read.
This technique requires the reader to pay close attention to the text and look for
significant ideas and details.
The SQ3R is one of the most recommended strategies for study reading. It is also made
up of five steps.. The steps include:

a. Survey.
Survey the material before reading it. This is like skimming. It entails quickly perusing
the content, main headings, looking at illustrations and captions and becoming familiar
with the special features in each chapter. Surveying or looking over the material helps
to give the reader some general idea of the issues dealt with in the book.

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b. Question
Find the main points and ask questions. The reader here makes a list of questions that
they should be able to answer after the reading. One may use questions presented at the
end of the chapter, those provided by the lecturer or can generate their own by turning
chapter titles and headings into questions. Any illustrations, maps tables of graphs can
also be used as a basis for questions. This step enables the reader to have adequate
motivation and the right focus for careful reading.

c. Read
Read the material thoughtfully, picking out what is important for your purposes.
Underline key words, key concepts and key sentences. Read the different sections to
find answers to your questions. Look for the main ideas and supporting details. The
reader should pay particular attention to definitions, topic sentences and chapter
headings.

d. Recite or Recall
After reading, recall the answers to your questions. Recite the main ideas and key points
in your own words. Make notes on other important points from the material.

e. Review
To review means to reread the parts that you have not understood or the ones that you
cannot recall clearly. Try to answer each of your original questions without consulting
your notes. If necessary review the sections to find the answers. Then look over your
notes to impress the material on your mind. This will help you to remember it later on
as it fosters retention. The SQ3R study method is one of the most recommended
strategies for study reading. It is thus advisable that you apply it for your reading
assignments in the university and combine it with critical reading. Alternatively, you
can use the five part reading system.

1.5.4 Silent Reading

Silent reading is much faster than reading aloud. It also leads to better comprehension.
Efficient silent reading enables one to read faster and with higher comprehension.
Poor silent reading habits like verbalizing, moving lips and using the finger or a pen to
point at the words you are reading not only slows you down considerably but also
affects your comprehension of the material you are reading. Practice your silent reading
skills to ensure that you read fast enough and with sufficient comprehension.

Tips for Effective Silent Reading

To achieve speed and better comprehension in silent reading the following guidelines
may be useful:
i) Read words as groups and not as single words, for instance,
“The President snubbed the critical Mau forest tree planting exercise.” And NOT
“The / President / snubbed / the / critical / Mau / forest / tree / planting / exercise.”
ii) Do not move your head or book as you read.
iii) Do not point at words with your fingers or pen as you read.
iv) Do not vocalize or sub – vocalize your words
v) Do not regress. This is looking back at words or ideas that have been read and
were not understood.
To overcome these bad reading habits it wise to read a lot and develop in oneself a
culture of reading. Practice reading faster and more intelligently in all your subjects.

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VII. TECHNICAL READING FOR NON – LINEAR TEXTS

Technical reading deals with non-linear texts, that is, it involves noting relationships
and making interpretation of non-verbal information or data presentation in form of
graphs, charts, diagrams or tables for specific and technical information. It also
involves reading technical material such as the directions in subjects like Chemistry, or
the statistical analysis of a financial statement.
Such material can be complicated and difficult. Hence, many readers tend to skip over
them or become discouraged when they attempt to read them. However, there are some
reading strategies that can be implemented when one encounters technical material.
In academic writing data is frequently presented by means of diagrams, charts and
tables. Remember that in writing your essays or term papers, the use of graphs and
charts can make your work more attractive, interesting and informative.

Strategies for Technical Reading:

1. The following guidelines adapted from Ferrett (2000,5) may help you in handling
non-verbal or non-linear texts.
2. Do not skip over any graphics: charts, diagrams or tables
3. Read the title, any accompanying captions, and column titles, any labels or
symbols and make interpretations of any data such as percentages, totals, and
figures.
4. Identify the type of graphic you are looking at. Are you looking at a table, chart
or graph?
5. Decide the purpose of the graph, chart, or any diagram. Is it demonstrating to
the reader information of likeness or differences, increases or decreases;
comparisons or changes?
6. See the connection or relationship between the topic of the graph and the
chapter, the section or the topic.
7. Explain in your own words the information depicted in the graph.
8. Finally, using the graphic information, share your interpretation of it with your
study group members or colleagues. Did they feel that your interpretation was
clear?
NB: Graphics can enhance and help explain the written material that appears in a text.

Tabular presentation
1. The following is an example of one of the most straightforward ways of presenting
information, although not necessarily the easiest to interpret. The information is
presented in form of tables which are to be used for comparison. Use the data given to
answer the questions that follow.
Students’ Assessment of qualities of a good lecturer in universities A, B and C

QUALITIES UNIVERSITY/ PROPORTION OF STUDENTS (%)

A B C
Delivery 60 55 40
Notes 20 15 15
Clarity 40 50 45
Enthusiasm 56 40 44
Originality 39 48 56
Guidance 18 35 36
Comprehensibility 24 30 40
Content mastery 24 24 12
Illustration 12 15 25

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Open to questioning 2 20 32
No. of students 295 332 345
1. What were the 3 most important qualities of a good lecturer according to the students in the
three universities?

1.6 READING FOR THE MAIN IDEA

People often write long texts just to argue one point. One may read just to get the
author’s main idea.

Approaches to Identify the Main Idea in Long Publications

To capture the main idea in texts, the following may be helpful.
1. The title may show what a book is all about. They sometimes summarize the
theme of a publication. However, titles are often vague and may not be relied
on for the main idea of what a publication is about.
2. Introductions to publications often give good summaries of the author’s main
point. This is useful information because one may then decide to start with that
chapter and only come to others if they consider this necessary.
3. Conclusion. This is usually a summary of a work. It is important to look at the
summary pages when looking for the main ideas in a publication or a text.
4. Chapters and sections. One may also check through chapter headings and
various sub-headings for the main ideas. The chapter and section titles may give
ideas about what key points the writer is dealing with.
5. Skimming and scanning (reading for particular points) are useful in trying to
identify the main idea of a text.

1.8 Barriers to Effective Reading and Causes of Reading Difficulties

A number of factors hinder effective reading or cause reading difficulties. They include:
1. Alliteracy or attitude.
Alliteracy means the lack of desire to read. The greatest barrier to effective reading is
attitude. Many people are not willing to invest their time in becoming better readers.
Alliterate people can read but they tend to avoid the activity. People who do not read
much do not develop their reading skills. People usually dislike doing things they do
poorly and so alliterate people tend to read less and less. A solution to alliteracy lies in
capturing the person’s interest with attractive, meaningful reading materials. A person
who learns beneficial things through reading may become a frequent reader.

2. Difficult or boring reading material

If the literature is difficult, boring or requires a lot of concentration, readers may not
continue reading or they may not complete the reading assignment. Hence, break a huge
reading assignment into manageable sections, and make it interesting by focusing on
the long term goals.

3. Poor concentration
Failure to concentrate is another impediment to effective reading. To get meaning from
reading one must focus their mind on the text. Almost all readers occasionally fail to
understand the text. Some particular neophyte (young) readers dealing with assignment
materials often try to read as though the process were so automatic as to require no
thought. However, for comprehension to take place, a reader must bring their
knowledge and experience to the act of gaining meaning from the words they read.

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6.Insufficient experience
All readers bring their experiences to the comprehension process. Individuals from
homes where conversations, ideas and printed materials are valued, have prior ideas
and a broad base of experience and thus an advantage in developing as readers. Those
whose experiences have been limited may have more difficulty with reading. The act
of reading itself enriches one’s background. Hence, experience and reading reinforce
each other.

7. Busy schedules
Reading takes time, effort, concentration and practice which many people seem not to
have. Some students and career professionals say they have too much required reading
and too little time for pleasure reading. However, it is important to read for pleasure.
The more you read, the more your reading skills will increase and the more you will
enjoy reading.

8. Physical disabilities
Inadequate brain development, vision or hearing defects can cause reading difficulties
and hinder effective reading. However, they account for only a small percentage of all
reading problems. A vision or hearing problem does not by itself cause poor reading.
However, correction of such a problem aids reading development. Vision or hearing
impairments may not become obvious until one takes screening tests but parents and
teachers may notice them earlier. Signs of possible vision problems include frequent
rubbing or squinting of the eyes; holding pictures and print close to the face or too far
away and complaining of headaches. In most cases, vision and hearing problems can
be corrected with eye glasses or hearing aid.

SUMMARY
This section has focused on reading skills, the reading process, different types of
reading, the qualities of an efficient reader, and causes of poor reading. We hope these
aspects are helpful to you.

Review Questions
1.Define the concept of reading
2.Describe the reading process
5. Describe the following reading skills:
i. Scanning
ii. Skimming.
iii. Study Reading
iv. Critical Reading
v. SQ3R Reading method
vi. The five part reading system
vii. Technical Reading for Non Linear Texts
viii. Outline the tips for effective silent reading.
ix. Explain the guidelines for critical reading approaches that you adopt would
in reading to identify the main idea in a long text?
x. Outline bad reading habits
xi. Explain the causes of reading difficulties

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EIGHT

SPEAKING SKILLS: TYPES OF SPEECHES AND SPEECH DELIVERY

MODES

5.1 INTRODUCTION
This section will cover the following topics:, distinguish between public speaking and
conversation, show how to effectively manage stage fright, describe effective public
speaking strategies, explain the significance of public speaking to an individual,
describe the various approaches to a speech, explain the various modes of delivering a
speech, explain the uses of non-verbal communication cues in public speaking, describe
informative and persuasive speeches.

Topic objectives
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
i) Distinguish public speaking from conversation
ii) Effectively manage stage fright
iii). Describe effective public speaking strategies
iv). Explain the significance of public speaking to an individual
v). Describe the various approaches to a speech
vi). Describe different types of speech delivery
vii) Explain the uses of non-verbal communication cues in public speaking
viii). Discuss presentations in informative and persuasive speeches.

5.2 IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

Speaking is an integral part of the communication process. Through speech we express
our thoughts and this is the major motivation in speaking. Besides, we speak to socialize
with others, to gratify the listener and at times to gain some rewards (Pushp & Kumar
2007: 11). When we excel in speech, we may win the favor of the management and get
promoted. Speaking skills enables us to present information in a clear, accurate and
interesting way. Our speaking style determines how a message is received and it is an
important factor in successful communication. A person acquires a distinctive, unique
speaking style through experience, but speaking styles can be improved by conscious
effort and practice.

5.2.1 THE DIFFERENCE BTWEEN PUBLIC SPEAKING AND

CONVERSATION
Though public speaking requires almost the same skills as used in ordinary
conversation, there is a difference in how you put forth your thought in both situations.
The two have both similarities and differences.

Similarities
In both speaking and some conversations, you are required to do the following:
1. Organize your thoughts and ideas and present them in a persuasive manner e.g.
if you want to teach a child about ethical or moral values, you need to organize
you ideas and decide how to teach the child the importance of these values.
Similarly a speaker should organize his/her thoughts before delivering a speech.
2. Tailor your message according to the audience present. In both cases, one needs
to be aware of the audience. The audience will not only determine the content

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but also the style of delivering it. Communication needs to be audience specific
to be effective.
3. In both, to emphasize your thoughts, you may use a few points in the form of
stories or anecdotes.
4. Both forms adapt to the feedback of the listener. For instance, you can see that
a learner has accepted or understood your point when he or she nodes. If you
find that the learner is not convinced, you try other ways to prove your point.
5. As you learn to speak more effectively in public, you also learn to communicate
more effectively in other situations too like in conversations.

Differences
1. Public speaking has more responsibility than ordinary conversation.
This is because it involves addressing a large audience with different backgrounds and
different knowledge of the subject.
2. Public speaking is highly structured. There is a structured way of starting and ending
the speech, whereas, in our everyday conversation, we don’t concentrate much on
starting our talk with a striking introduction.
3.In public speaking, the speaker accomplishes the purpose of the speech in the limited
time given to him. Unlike in ordinary conversations, the speaker doesn’t allow
interruptions.
4. Public speaking demands more detailed preparation, organization and planning
unlike conversation, which is, in most cases, a spontaneous talk. In public
speaking, the speaker should be prepared for the questions that the audience
might ask after the speech.
5. Public speaking requires more formal language than is required for a conversation.
The use of slang, Jargons, and bad grammar is not encouraged in public speaking.
6. Public speaking demands the proper use of both verbal and non-verbal cues. In a
conversation, people speak more casually paying less attention to intonation, voice
and body language, but special care has to be taken for these in the case of public
speaking.

COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION OR PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY

(PSA)
Communication apprehension is the feeling of anxiety or dread that can overcome
someone who is facing a speech or interpersonal interaction. It is also called ‘stage
fright’ or public speaking anxiety (SPA). As noted by Mjomba (2008, p. 10), “speech
anxiety is not a preserve of certain groups of people but cuts across all races and
cultures”. Even experienced speakers feel butterflies before they give a speech.
According to O’Hair et al (2007) “feeling nervous before making a speech is not only
normal but also desirable”. Mjomba (2008) continues to note that “Most individuals
feel that communicating before an audience is highly risky, thus become fearful about
the possibility of failure that they begin to experience negative thoughts even before
entering a communication”. Hopson, Hanaki, and Lee, (2004), Mjomba (2008, p. 10)
and Lucas (2007), point out that speakers who experience PSA often display the
following behaviors:
i. A quavering or monotone voice that speaks too fast or too slow.
ii. Interruptions in speech fluency by halting and hunting for words.
iii. Dry mouth and throat and repeated swallowing. The dryness of the
mouth is sometimes known as “cotton mouth.”
iv. Rigid and tense arms and hands

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v. Awkward body movements like swaying, pacing and shuffling of

feet.
vi. Sweating
vii. Avoiding eye contact with the audience.
viii. Uttering vocalized pauses like, “eh, well, you know” etc
ix. Standing as far away as possible from the audience.
x. Place as many obstacles as possible between them and the audience.
The degree to which people experience apprehension ranges from mild nervousness
before beginning to speak to a total inability to say anything. Very few individuals
suffer from the more serious form. With practice, you can learn to control or overcome
your stage fright and use it to sharpen your performance.

5.2.2.1 Strategies for Controlling Stage Fright

1. Select a topic that the audience will find interesting
2. Research your speech thoroughly.
3. Prepare adequately. The best solution for overcoming fear of speaking is preparation.
Select an interesting topic, research thoroughly; prepare the material in an organized
and interesting fashion and practice well. With this done, you will feel more confident.
Confidence is a key to controlling stage fright. If you feel you are in control of the
situation, you have less reason to be fearful.
4. Set realistic goals. It is also important to set realistic expectations for yourself. Your
first few speeches might not be perfect. After each speech, study the evaluation you
receive, determine areas you need to work on, and set clearly defined goals for
improvement. Take public speaking one step at a time just as you work for any other
skill.
6. Walk to the podium calmly and confidently because acting confident can make you
feel confident.
7. Do not start talking until you feel confident up in front.
8. Look at the people in the audience before you start talking.
9. Focus on the friendly people in the audience like those who nod positively, smile,
and look attentive.
10. Focus on the message and not on yourself.
11. Be composed, get organized at the podium, and take a deep breath before beginning.
When the time comes to deliver your speech, don’t rush to begin speaking as soon as
you get to the front of the room. Once you get the first few words out, you will think
less about yourself and more about your subject.
12. Try to burn up some of your nervous energy before you start speaking. Take deep
breaths to relax. Clench your fists and relax them several times while you are waiting
to speak. Try to incorporate physical activity into the speech itself. Don’t be a afraid to
use gestures or to move about if it is natural to do so. Use visual aids or write on the
board the most important points.
1. View the audience as your friends. Remember that the audience is not your
enemy. They share your fears. Seldom, if ever, does an audience laugh at a
speaker, especially an inexperienced one. Your classmates all feel the same
way as you do, and they probably admire you for getting through the speech.
2. Think positive thoughts: Remind yourself of all the reasons that public
speaking is helpful personally, socially and professionally.
3. Visualize success
4. Enjoy the occasion.

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5. Systematic desensitization: This is repeated exposure to small doses of

whatever makes you apprehensive. E.g. you can speak to a group of people
more often but for short periods of time.
15. Professional help. If the stage fright is acute, you can seek professional help from
trained psychologists or counselors.

IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

There are a number of benefits or skills that can be learnt or developed from public
speaking and they include.
1. Organizational skills. Organizational skills are an important part of composing a
speech. In fact, the ability to organize ideas is a skill you will employ before you ever
write a speech. The same is true for writing. The organizational skills so necessary in
composing speeches carry over to other areas that require outlining and planning, such
as organizing notes or reporting on science experiments.
2. Writing skills. Many of the principles you use to compose good speeches are the
same as those you need to write well. The practice you gain preparing speeches will
improve your ability to express your ideas on paper. You will learn how to get your
audience’s attention, how to organize clearly, and how to support your ideas or
opinions. Theses aspects will benefit you when you write essay assignments in college
and write reports in your job.
3. Critical thinking skills. The current educational practices in this country have been
accused of having failed to develop critical and analytical thinking abilities in learners.
Public speaking skills and related listening skills provide valuable tools for the critical
analysis of ideas. By studying the use of supportive materials and persuasive strategies,
you will learn to ask questions about the claims speakers make. By learning to think
critically, you will be better able to solve both academic and job related problems and
to fulfill your duties as a citizen.
4. Research skills. Public speaking will introduce you to a variety of research materials
thus help you develop research skills. These will be useful to you in a wide range of
university and job related activities.
5. Listening skills. Speaking and listening go hand in hand. Whenever someone gives
a speech, there is an audience to listen to it. By learning good speaking techniques, you
will prepare speeches that are easier for an audience to listen to and understand. You
will also learn how to listen to other speakers in order to hear all the key points. By
sharpening your listening skills as you analyze your classmates’ speeches, you will
improve your listening skills in every other listening situation.
6. Self-confidence. Learning the art of Public Speaking and how to give a speech in
front of a group develops your self-confidence.
As you become more confident as a public speaker, you will gain confidence in your
ability to communicate in general. It will be easier to speak out in small groups and
interviews will become easier because you will have learnt techniques to prepare and
present information about yourself. To a large extent, success in life depends on your
ability to feel good about yourself. Succeeding as a public speaker can give your self –
confidence a tremendous boost.

GENERAL ASPECTS OF SPEECH PLANNING

Speakers must consider the following four points when planning their speech.
i) Their subject
ii) Their audience
iii) Themselves as speakers

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iv) Their occasion

Subject _The speaker’s direct and indirect experiences are the two general sources of
speech subjects. Direct experience is knowledge obtained from radio, TV, reading, and
listening to other people. Speakers can make a more effective presentation with subjects
from their direct experiences. Subjects may be divided into three types:
i) Those which inform e.g. basic principles of organization
ii) Those which persuade: e.g. Abortion should be punished
iii) Those which entertain e.g. do teachers have private lives?
Audiences. Speakers must consider the knowledge, and the needs of their audiences.
They should find out what the members of their audience already know about the
subject. They should also know whether the audience wants to hear about a subject.
People usually listen only when they think the speaker’s ideas will be of some benefit
to them.
Occasions. Speakers should think carefully about the time and place of their speeches.
Is the occasion appropriate for the subject they have chosen?

SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF PLANNING A SPEECH

When speakers have given careful thought to their subject, audience, own personally
and the occasion, they are ready to plan the speech itself. The main aspects to take into
consideration when planning the speech itself are the following:
1. Purpose – The speaker should first select their general purpose. Do they wish to
present factual information to inform, to persuade or to entertain? With their general
purpose in mind, they should prepare a brief statement of their specific purpose.
2. The main ideas. The next step should be to select the main ideas or main divisions,
of the subject as stated in the specific purpose. In informative speeches, the main ideas
should define the specific purpose by answering the questions who, What, Where,
When, Why, and how? In persuasive speeches, the main ideas ought to be the principal
reasons for the desired belief or action. In entertaining speeches, the main ideas should
be the divisions of the subject that can be amusing to the audience.
3. Supporting material. After selecting the main ideas, speakers should choose
supporting material. This includes such things as description, narration, comparisons,
examples, testimony, statistics, demonstrations etc. The selection of main ideas and
supporting material completes the body (main part) of the speech.
4. Introduction. Speakers should next plan the introduction. This usually has two parts;
the opening and the statement of the specific purpose. In the opening, speakers catch
the attention of their audience and arouse interest in their subject. As Mjomba (2008)
notes, “The introduction is supposed to grab the attention and interest of the audience.
Some of the attention grabbing devices include: posing a question, telling a brief story,
making a startling statement, or opening with a question. Lucas, (2007) adds that, “the
purpose of all these methods is to create a dramatic, colorful opening that will grab the
attention of the audience and make them want to hear more. He also points out that “in
addition to gaining attention and interest, the introduction should orient your listeners
toward the subject matter of your speech.”
In the statement of specific purpose, they tell the audience precisely what they intend
to do in their speech and what value this topic has for the audience.
5. Body of the speech. The speech you will be giving could be organized either
chronologically or topically. According to Lucas (2007) “the basic structure of a speech
that is chronologically organized follows this pattern: First this happened, then this,
then this. On the other hand, the topical method of organization subdivides the speech
into its natural, logical and conventional parts.” For example, as Mjomba (2008, p. 18)

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notes, you may want to discuss your mother’s life under three topics such as, her
hobbies, career goals and family”.
6. Conclusion. Next comes the preparation of a conclusion. As Mjomba (2008, p. 19)
notes, you need to accomplish two tasks in the conclusion. First, you should let the
audience know that you are winding up your speech. The conclusion of your speech
should have a sense of finality. The second, the conclusion should reinforce the major
idea of your speech. To make a strong impact on your audience, your conclusion needs
to be cleverly thought out. In informative speeches, the conclusion should be a summary
of the main ideas and of the specific purpose. In persuasive speeches, the conclusion
should combine a summary with a final appeal to the audience to accept the arguments
advanced. Entertaining speeches usually end on a point of great amusement.
6. Outline. After all those steps, the speaker should prepare an outline using the main
points of the speech.

DELIVERING THE SPEECH

Speakers may deliver their speeches directly from the outline, or they may use the
outline as the basis for a written speech. Skilled speakers usually prefer to speak from
the outline without writing the whole speech down.
The basic modes of delivering a speech include:
5.1.Manuscript mode.
5.2.Extemporaneous mode.
5.3.Impromptu mode
5.4.Memorized mode.
Let us look at each of these briefly.

Manuscript mode
This is when the entire speech has been written down and it is read word for word.
This is normally used in formal situations such as presenting a paper or speaking on
radio or TV. Reading from the text and looking intermittently at the listeners is probably
the most common way of delivering a political speech or making a presidential address.
This method is chosen for those occasions where accuracy is extremely crucial and the
speaker cannot risk even the slightest mistake or alteration in the meaning of the
intended message read from a meticulously prepared text. It is also used by people who
are likely to be quoted like the politicians.

ADVANTAGES:
i. One can’t be misquoted
ii. One can’t forget what to say.
iii. One can do thorough research.
iv. You can retain a copy of the speech
DISADVANTAGES
i. The speaker can pay more attention to the written speech than to the
audience. Hence the audience will feel left out.
ii. It discourages eye contact with the audience.
iii. It discourages response to the audience feedback. It is not
interactive.
Extemporaneous mode
This is called extempore delivery where a speaker delivers a speech from a prepared
logical outline. Here the speaker prepares everything except the exact words. This is
the most effective mode of delivering a speech. In this method, the speaker doesn’t

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write the whole text on paper, but simply writes the main points in bold, big letters. He
refers to them and builds up the explanation and discussion as the speech progresses.
Advantages
1. It renders the speech the much needed spontaneity as the speaker can maintain his
natural speaking style.
2. Enables the speaker to maintain sustained eye-contact with the audience. This is
possible as he doesn’t have to read the whole text. He simply looks at the notes for a
point and by glancing at it and knowing what to say, is able to elaborate the point. This
allows the speaker to be in touch with his audience all the time as he speaks.
3. The speaker is able to adapt to the topics or situations for which he has not planned.
4. When speaking extempore, the speaker has all the opportunity to respond to the cues
from the audience and to decide whether to proceed with further explanations on a given
point or not.
Because of these advantages, this mode of delivering a speech is the most frequently
chosen style. Despite the need for such thoroughness, this is the most commonly used
model for delivering a speech and remains the most flexible, versatile and expressive
mode to deliver a speech.

DISADVANTAGES
i. One might forget some of the supporting details.
ii. Digression. Depending on the audience response one might
digress from the main points.
iii. One can easily be misquoted.
iv. One can go beyond the allocated time.

Impromptu mode
‘Impromptu’ means on the sport, i.e. without prior preparation. Unlike carefully
prepared presentations, impromptu speaking tends to be relatively disorganized,
imprecise and repetitive. They are therefore justified only by necessity. E.g.
This method calls for a lot of spontaneity, quick assembling of ideas and thoughts, lots
of confidence and adequate knowledge. The speaker can adapt to the occasion. It is
used when one attends a meeting and is unexpectedly called upon to speak. For
example, when one notices there is a member of parliament, a preacher or any other
important guest and calls them to say something to the audience.
and audience reactions.

DISADVANTAGES
i. You can be nervous since you were not prepared.
ii. You can then stammer and make mistakes.
iii. You might not have supporting details
iv. You can be misquoted. And so on.
ADVANTAGES
i. You can be interactive
ii. You can respond to the audience
iii. You can maintain eye contact.

Tips for Organizing Your Thought Quickly for Impromptu Speaking

1. Try to remain calm and composed.
2. Quickly jot down a brief outline if possible.
3. First state the point or question or issue you are speaking about.

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4. State the point or stand you want to take.

5. During delivery, maintain a strong and meaningful eye contact.
6. Speak clearly and maintain a moderate pace.
7. Use sign posts like “ my first point”, my second point” and other connectives
to help the audience to follow your speech.
8. Provide any supporting examples, statistics or testimony you have.
9. Finally sum up your points.

Memorized mode
This entails a speaker writing the whole text of their speech and memorizing it. It can
be used in drama when people are acting. It is also used by politicians, athletes, or
business people who speak to the same type of people every time. Sometimes they
memorize without meaning to. Speaking from a memorized text, however, has pitfalls,
usually difficult to overcome, such as the following.

Pitfalls of Memorized Delivery

1. Memorized speeches take away from the speaker the freedom and freshness of
speech delivery.
2. Often lacks emphasis and proper force of impact as the speaker just gives back
the text to the audience Verbatim.
3. It is rigid and does not allow the speaker flexibility to adapt to unexpected
situations and requirements or to change the content according to the reaction
of the audience while delivering his speech.
4. In case a speaker misses a word, the entire speech can be thrown into disarray and
probably come to a stop.
5. It transmits a sense of monotony and stifles creativity. (Push 2007: 86)
ADVANTAGES
i. It allows the speaker enough eye contact with the audience.
ii. You can have enough body movement and gestures.

INFORMATIVE SPEECHES
This entails speaking with an internet to inform or shed light on a subject by sharing
facts that you have learned through experience, observation, writing and or, reading.
Here, the main focus of the speaker is to provide required information on an issue.
Providing information, is a task we perform hundreds of times each day and is one of
the most common and important forms of communication. Yet the techniques for
providing information efficiently, gracefully, and in a way that will interest the listener
are not well known. A public lecture, status report and briefing are common informative
speeches.

Types of Informative Presentations

There are four main categories of informative presentations which are:
i) Reports – These describe the state of an operation. They are usually (but not always)
given by subordinates to their superiors to keep them informed and help them make
decisions. Some reports are frequent and informal. Others are formal.
ii) Briefings. This are short talks that inform an audience about specific area in which
new knowledge has been discovered. The executive chief of a restaurant might brief
workers about the details of a new menu. Nurses and police officers attend briefings
before each shift to update them on the current situation.
iii) Explanations. These increase the listener’s understanding of a subject. An
orientation ceremony for university freshers falls into this category. When

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implementing change in a firm, good managers gather their employees and explain how
the change will affect each one of them. Sometimes explanations are aimed at audiences
outside the company.
iii) Training. This teaches listeners how to do something. It can be informal or
highly structured, like ranging from the simple advice to transfer a telephone
call to a weeklong seminar on accounting principles for managers of a firm.
Successful businesses recognize the value of training.

Goals of an Informative Speech

According to Mckerrow et al (2003), your goal as an informative speaker is to make it
easy for your listeners to acquire and retain new information. In addition to using
motivational appeals, three other tactics will ensure that your listeners understand and
remember what you say. These are:
i. Clarity: The clearer your message, the better they will follow your
ideas.
ii. Association: Associating new ideas with familiar ones will also assist
in their understanding.
iii. Visualization: Visualizing ideas through words in a manner that is
relevant to their experience will help them to remember. Ultimately,
your goal is to communicate in a manner that is directly relevant to the
lives of your listeners.

Organizing Informative Messages

The way you structure your message will affect how well the audience understands it.
Make your ideas easy to follow by starting with an overall picture, background
information then emphasize important points.

Developing Informative Speech

When you prepare a speech to inform, be aware of the situation, purpose, and audience
before you select a method of development.

Strategies for Effective Informative Speaking

1. Consider how relevant and useful the information will be for the audience. You
must motivate an audience to listen. In a sense, this is the persuasive element in an
informative speech. Before members of an audience are willing to listen, they must
first be convinced they need to know the information you are sharing.
2. Be sure the information is new to the audience. If you have conducted a thorough
audience analysis, this shouldn’t be a problem. If the audience already knows all or
most of what you are saying; you haven’t achieved the purpose of an informative
speech. You haven’t increased the audience’s knowledge of a topic or
understanding of it.
3. Be sure that your introduction gets the audience’s attention, creates, interests, and
makes the topic clear. It should also forecast the main ideas.
4. Your conclusion should summarize the major points.
5. Avoid information overload. Remember that you can’t cover everything about a
topic. Narrow the topic and select the information that is most relevant to the
audience. If you give the audience too much information, especially in a new topic,
you will probably lose their attention (Diana 1989:340).
6. Cover only necessary information – As an informative speaker, you will usually be
far more knowledgeable about the topic than the audience to whom you speak. This

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knowledge is both a blessing and a potential curse. If you cover your topic in too much
detail, you are likely to bore or even antagonize your listeners.
7. Avoid jargon. If you overwhelm your audience with too much specialized
terminology, they will become so confused and bored. Tell people what they need to
know and in language they will understand.
8. Link the topic to the audience. Make your topic audience specific and relevant.
9. Link the familiar to the unfamiliar. Research has shown that people have best chance
of new concept when it bears some relationship to information they already know.
Without a familiar reference point, listeners may have trouble understanding even a
clear definition.
10. Involve the Audience. Listeners who are actively involved in a presentation
will understand and remember the material far better than will passive listeners.

PERSUASIVE SPEECHES
Persuasion refers to communication intended to change attitudes or behaviors. It means
getting the audience to agree with you or share your view.. To persuade the audience,
a public speaker must interest and inform them.

THE GOAL OF A PERSUASIVE SPEECH

The goal of the speech is to persuade, or to change, create or reinforce attitudes or
behavior. A good persuasive strategy, a plan used to convince people of a speaker’s
opinion, begins with knowing your audience. Consider what is appropriate, appealing
and understandable to that audience and then build your argument.
1. Types of Persuasive Presentations
Most persuasive presentations in business fall into one of the following four categories:
i) Sales presentation
ii) Proposals
iii) Motivational speeches
iv) Good willing speeches
v) Political campaigns
vi) Negotiation and conflict management and several others.
Sales Presentations. Sales people make presentations about such diverse goods and
services as real estate, insurance, merchandize, advertising space etc.
Proposals. In an organization, the goal of most proposals is to persuade high
management to take action. Many involve plans for a new program such as a new
product line. Others involve requests for resources like additional staff, larger budgets
or new equipment.
Motivational Speeches. These can combine the most oppressive elements of a bad
sermon and a high school pep rally, at their worst. On the other hand, when delivered
effectively and at the proper time, such presentations can produce good results.
Goodwill Speeches. Representatives of organizations frequently speak to audience to
promote interest or support for their organizations. A corporate recruiter addressing
graduating seniors and a bank economist explaining economic forecasts are making
speeches of goodwill. So is the utility company representative addressing the press after
an accident.
Occasions when you can use a persuasive speech
ii. In job interviews where you will be trying to persuade the employer
that you are the best person for the job.
iii. Work groups where you will need to convince your co-workers or
boss the best way to solve a problem.

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iv. As a member of your community you will have to speak

persuasively as a member of PTA, church group or charity
organizations on many issues.
v. Leadership requires that you have persuasive skills.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
As Mjomba (2008, p. 80) notes, “when attempting to persuade an audience, ethical
considerations should play a role in your speech planning process”. “Ethics, often
defined as a set of shared believes about what behaviors are correct or incorrect, are a
vital component of any public speech” (Turman & Fraleigh, 2003). There is more to
public speaking than just presenting your speech in a way that will create the highest
degree of agreement from your audience. Turman and Fraleigh (2003) argue that
“speakers should ethically treat their audience the same way they would wish to be
treated as an audience member”. Bearing this in mind, you are expected among other
things to cite your sources properly, not to alter data or quotations to appear more
persuasive. You should have your audience’s bet interest at heart.

Organizing Persuasive Message

The way you structure your message plays a major role in determining how successful
you will be at persuading an audience. The various organizational plans with the
consideration for choosing each are.
1. Problem–solution. This plan first persuades the audience that something is wrong
with the present situation and then suggests how to remedy the situation. This plan
works especially well when your audience does not feel a strong need to change from
the status quo and needs convincing that a problem exists.
2. Comparative advantages. A comparative advantage organization plan, puts several
alternatives side by side to show why yours is the best. This strategy is especially useful
when the audience is considering an idea that competes with the one you are advocating.
3. Criteria satisfaction. This plan sets up criteria that the audience will accept and then
shows how your idea or product meets the criteria.. It does not usually consider
alternative ideas. Thus it is a good approach when your audience isn’t likely to think of
alternative plans.
4. Motivated sequence. The motivated – sequence organizational plan has a five step-
scheme designed to boost the involvement and interest of the audience. These are:
i) Attention– Capture the attention of the audience by introducing the problem
in an interesting manner.
ii) Need– Explain the problem clearly and completely
iii) Satisfaction– present you solution to the problem. Provide enough support
to prove that the solution is workable and that it will indeed solve the
problem.
iv) Visualization– describe clearly what will happen if your proposal is adopted
so that the audience has a clear mental picture of how the proposal will solve
the problem.
v) Action Call for a response from your audience. Explain what listeners can
do to solve the problem.

Strategies of Effective Persuasion

A presentation’s effectiveness in persuading the audience will be fostered it it takes
advantage of the following principles:
1. Appeal to the needs of your audience.

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2. Have a realistic goal – Even the best presentation can’t accomplish miracles –
Asking audience members to accept an idea that they strongly oppose can
backfire. Social scientists have refined this commonsense principle into social
judgment theory. This theory helps a speaker decide how to craft their
arguments by identifying the range of possible opinions listeners might have
about a speaker’s argument. The theory teaches a very practical lesson about
how much to ask from your audience. Rather than asking for their acceptance
of your proposal, you can ask them to simply recognize the fact.
3. Focus appeals on the critical audience segment – sometimes one or two listeners
have the power to approve or reject your appeal. In such cases, it is important
to identify the interests, needs, attitudes and prejudices of the key decision
makers and then focus your appeal towards them.
4. Defer the Thesis with a Hostile Audience. For example, if you believe the thesis
will not be received well or if an audience hears the news too early they will be
too upset to accept or even listen to it. However, a presentation with a deferred
thesis still needs an introduction to capture the attention of the audience, and to
demonstrate the importance of the topic and orient the listeners to what will
follow.
5. Present enough evidence to support claims. Give a precedent, or a factual
example from the past that supports your view of the current situation. In
general, positive precedents are more effective and appealing. You may use
examples or stories, statistics, comparisons, or citations. When your goals are
to persuade an audience, the generous use of support is especially important.
6. Respond to objections i.e. consider citing opposing ideas. Anticipate opposing
views and answer these objections in your presentation. Research indicates that
it is generally better to mention and then refute ideas that oppose yours than to
ignore them. There are three situation when it is especially important to
foreworn listeners about opposing ideas. These are:
i. When the Audience disagrees with your position – with hostile listeners,
it’s wise to compare their position and yours, showing the desirability
for your thesis.
ii. When the audience knows both sides of the issue.
iii. When the audience will soon hear your viewpoint criticized or another
one promoted.
7. Call for fairness. Ask listeners to see beyond their disagreements and consider
what is fair and just.
8. Adapt to the cultural style of your Audience. The cultural background of your
listeners may affect the way they respond to various types of persuasive appeals
e.g. intensity or emotional appeals. For example, the traditional European –
American ideal situation is to communicate without becoming too excited,
while other cultures, like those of most Africans may be more expressive.
9. Predict Results. This helps the audience to see the possible results that could
occur from deciding or not deciding in your favor.

NB: To convince listeners of your opinion, use and personalize strategies that are most
appropriate to your audience and situation.

Speaker’s Credibility
Credibility is the persuasive force that comes from the audience’s belief in and respect
for the speaker. When your audience has little time or inclination to examine your

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evidence and reasoning in detail, it will rely almost exclusively on your credibility to
decide whether to accept your claims. A speaker whom the audience considers credible
will be readily acceptable. In order to succeed as a public speaker, therefore, you need
to build a rapport with your audience.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that the audience likes you. This means you have done what
is necessary to make you a good speaker. You have to make sure that the audience trusts
in what you have to say and they feel that you care for them. A speaker’s credibility is,
in fact, the epitome of what they already know about the speaker, the impression the
speaker makes during the speech and how the speaker is introduced or introduces
him/herself. In public speaking situations, it contributes immediately to the
effectiveness of the speech. A speaker whom the audience considers credible will be
readily acceptable.

Factors that affect a speaker’s credibility are:

Sociability, Dynamism, Physical attractiveness, Expertise, Consistency, Honesty,
Concern for the message, and Concern for listeners.

Tips for Building Speaker’s Credibility

As everything you say in a speech will affect your credibility, you should say and do
things in such a way that it will make you appear capable and trustworthy. The
following tips will help:
1. Demonstrate your competence by demonstrating your knowledge of the subject,
making your credentials known and by demonstrating your abilities.
2. Good organization will improve credibility.
3. Use appropriate, clear and vivid language.
4. Ensure fluent and dynamic delivery with a strong evidence and reasoning.
5. Earn the trust of your audience by honesty and impartiality on your part.
6. Emphasize your similarity to the audience. Audiences are most willing to accept the
ideas of a speaker whose attitudes and behaviors are similar to their own. Establish
common ground between you and listeners early in your presentation.
7. Increase your Appeal to the Audience – Listeners are more persuaded by speakers
they find appealing in some way e.g. appearance.
8. Demonstrate your sincerity. Speakers perceived as believing strongly in their
subjects are more persuasive than unenthusiastic ones. Sincerity is only impressive if
the audience detects it; however, unfortunately, some speakers don’t show their
enthusiasm and so reduce their effectiveness.

Features of the Voice that can be used for Effective Public Speaking
As Mjomba (2008, p.58) notes, “your voice is a powerful instrument of expression.
Used properly, it should express who you are and convey your message in a way that
engages the listeners. Whatever your voice, you can be sure it is unique”. According to
Lucas, (2007), The eight aspects of speech you should work on to control are: volume,
pitch, rate, pauses, variety, pronunciation, articulation, and dialect.

i) . Volume: This is the loudness or softness of the speaker’s voice. If you speak too
loudly, your speakers may think you are not courteous. If you speak too softly, they
will not understand, and they might think you are not confident or you are not well
prepared. Balance your volume to suit your audience and the occasion.

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ii). Pitch : These are the vocal notes we hit while we speak. It is the highness or lowness
of the speaker’s voice. Chanes in pitch are known as reflections, They voice luster,
warmth, and vitality. It is the inflection in your voice that reveals whether you are
asking a question or making a statement, and whether you are being sincere or sarcastic.
People who do not use inflection to convey meaning and emotion are said to speak in
monotones, a constant pitch, or constant tone of voice.

iii). Rate: This is the speed at which a person speaks. Two obvious faults to avoid are
speaking so slowly that your listeners become bored or so quickly that they lose track
of your ideas.

iv). Pauses: This is the intended silence during a speech. Learning how and when to
pause is a major challenge to most beginning speakers. As you gain more experience in
public speaking, you will discover how useful a pause can be. It can signal the end of a
thought unit, give an idea time to sink in, and lend dramatic impact to a statement.

v). Vocal variety: This is the changes in a speakers’ rate, pitch, and volume that give
the voice variety and expressiveness. As Mjomba (2008, p. 58) puts it, “A boring,
unchanging voice is just as bad to speech making as a boring unchanging routine is to
daily life”.

vi. Pronunciation: Pronouncing words in English can be very difficult for students
who are not native speakers of the language. Practicing your speech in front of as many
trusted friends as you can helps you to collect your pronunciations. If you have any
doubts about the pronunciation of a word, check it in the dictionary.

vii). Articulation: This is the physical production of particular speech sounds like
saying “R” instead of “L”. Work on identifying and eliminating your most common
errors. Persistent practice can eliminate this.

viii). Dialect: This is a variety of language distinguished by variations of accent,

grammar, or vocabulary. There is no such thing as a right or wrong dialect (Mjomba,
2008, p.59). Our regional or ethnic background usually shapes our dialect. Every dialect
is “right” for the people who use it. When is a given dialect appropriate in public
speaking? The answer depends above all on the composition of your audience.

The body aspects of speech delivery

The following four aspects, Posture, facial expression, gestures, and eye contact, all
affect the way listeners respond to you as a speaker. The study of these and other
motions used to communicate is called kinesics. Lucas (2007) points out the major
aspects of physical actions that will affect the outcome of your speech. These are as
follows:
i. Personal Appearance: A number of studies have confirmed that
appearance plays an important role in speech making. Listeners
always see you before they hear you. Regardless of the speaking
situation, you should try to evoke a favorable first impression.
An impression that is likely to make the listeners be more
receptive to what you say.
ii. Create a sense of movement: Inexperienced public speakers
are not sure about what to do with their body while giving a

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speech. Unless your movement is restricted by the microphone,

or the podium, do not stay in one fixed place. Have an
appropriate and meaningful movement. Speakers should strive
to face the audience even as they move. Speakers who write on
the board as they speak have to try not to show their back to the
audience. This can be achieved either by writing the information
on the board before speaking or by using a poster, power point
etc.
iii. Gestures: These are the motion of a speaker’s hands or arms
during a speech. Competent gestures can add to the impact of the
speech. However, whatever gestures you make, they should not
draw attention to you and distract the listeners from your
message. They should appear natural and spontaneous, and help
to clarify or reinforce your ideas, and they should be suited to
the audience and the occasion.
iv. Eye- contact: This is the sustained and meaningful contact with
your eyes. It can show approval or disapproval. As Mjomba
(2008, p. 60) points out, “messages from the manipulation of the
eyeballs are so revealing that we think of the eyes as the windows
of the soul. The audience look at them to help them measure the
truthfulness, intelligence, attitudes and feelings of a speaker”.
Other Speech Enhancing Cues
These are communication cues that may be employed to make a speech more effective.
They include:
i) Facial expressions to emphasize points.
ii) Analogies –to help create familiar or identifiable situations in an interesting
way that amuses the audience and hooks their attention.
iii) Imagery, symbolism to help communicate the message in a veiled or hidden
way that creates interest and makes the audience think deeply and creatively.
Functions of Non- verbal Behavior
According to Miles Peterson, (2001) non -verbal behavior serves five functions
i). providing information or elaborating a verbal statement
ii) Regulating interactions such as pointing to someone
iii) Expressing liking e.g. smiling or touching someone on the shoulder
iv) Exercising social control, reinforcing social rules.
v) Facilitating goals as when demonstrating a skill that requires motor activity or
gesturing.
Relationship between Verbal and Non -verbal Communication
The relationship is four sold:
i) Substitution – The two may be used in place of each other
ii) Complementary relationship – Verbal and non- verbal communication
complement each other.
iii) Conflicting relationship – At times they conflict as non- verbal cues tend
to be more reliable.
iv) Accenting relationship – they also stress or add emphasis.
The above functions are not mutually exclusive. There is some overlap and non- verbal
cues may serve more than one function depending on how they are used.
Non- verbal communication cues are thus very useful. If we are to be effective in our
communication, and public speaking in particular, non -verbal cues may be used to
reinforce verbal communication. .

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Visual aids
This is anything that is used to enhance speech delivery. It can include the way you
dress, e.g. wearing a police uniform when walking about the police, bring a guitar to
talk about music etc.
Types of visual aid.
I. Chalk or white board to write the topic and the main ideas
of your speech.
II. Posters: The information in the poser should be the one
that is difficult to convey or understand through listening.
III. Pie chart, bar graphs and line graphs to compare and
contrast different types of information e.g. different
academic performance for different years.
IV. Overhead projectors, movies, slides, power points etc.

Helpful hints for using visual aids

I. Visual aids like the facts in your speech need
documentation. You can include the documentation on the
visual aid to show the listeners where you got it from.
II. Do not talk to your visual aid. Keep eyes on your audience.
III. Display visual aids only when using them, otherwise they
will distract the audience.
IV. Make sure that everyone in the room can see the visual aid.
Leave the visual aid long enough for the complete
assimilation of the information by the audience. It is bad to
have a half-read visual aid taken away.
V. Use a pointer to point at your visual aid. This prevents you
from blocking the audience.
Topic Summary
This section has focused on the place of Public Speaking as a component of
Communication Skills. More precisely, it treated a number of issues in public speaking
e.g. stage fright, speech preparation and organization, non-verbal cues, informative and
persuasive speeches. Essential strategies and suggestions have been given for the
development and use of these elements in fostering good public speaking skills. We
hope you found them useful.

Review Questions
v. Define public speaking
vi. Compare and contrast public speaking and conversation
vii. Describe the strategies that you would use to overcome
communication apprehension/stage fright.
viii. Discuss the four basic modes of delivering a speech.
ix. State four advantages of extempore speaking.
x. What are the main undoing of a memorized speech delivery?
xi. Identify five features of voice that can be used to make a speech
lively.
xii. Discuss the various goals of information speaking.
xiii. Discuss the strategies for effective public speaking.
xiv. Identify four types of persuasive presentations

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xv. What strategies would you use to build your credibility as a

speaker?

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NINE
WRITING SKILLS
Introduction:
This chapter will deal with the reasons for writing an essay, main parts of writing an
essay, writing a researched term paper, and referencing using American Psychological
Association (APA). By the end of the second or third week at the university, you will
have been set your first major written assignment, your first academic term paper.
Writing this term paper is important to you. It will represent the fruits of your reading,
of your listening in class and at lectures, of your discussion with lecturers and your
fellow students and above all, the fruits of your thoughts.
TOPIC OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this unit, the student should be able to:
i. Demonstrate why they write university essays.
ii. Write effective class essays
iii. Write well researched term papers
iv. Demonstrate basic skills of using APA system.
v. Avoid plagiarism
WHY STUDENTS WRITE ACADEMIC ESSAYS
To start with, consider why students are required to write essays. Then go through the
list given here by some students and tick those that you think are true and note down
other reasons that occur to you.
i. Because I am required to.
ii. Just to show the amount of reading that I have done and the knowledge that
I have gained.
iii. To get a good grade.
iv. To develop my intellectual capacity, my powers of reasoning, analyzing
etc.
v. To satisfy my lecture.
As Montgomery, (1990, p.2) notes, “it is important at the outset to remove the idea that
the purpose of being a student is just to accumulate a pile of facts and the idea that the
purpose of essays is to show that you know those facts.” Knowledge is important and
you must acquire a lot of it and do so in a thorough manner. However, even if your
subject is a highly technical one, like engineering,, it is not enough to have the attitude
that you are just collecting facts.
Montgomery gives the following example to prove the above point.
A construction engineer studies the properties of building materials. He has to know
such facts as, the strength of steel, concrete, and timber. He must know about their
comprehensive strength, their relative density, relative cost, thermal conductivity,, fire
resistance,, and many other factors. He has to know these facts in order to assist him in
making decisions on the choice of materials for particular buildings.
Now, consider a specific building situation in which you want to build a lot of two-
storey houses close together for middle income families. The building site is 1000
meters above the sea level in an area well supplied with timber but far from a source of
cement. The people are fussy about the kind of houses they like to live in and are known
to be careless about fire. What materials do you choose? Can you read the answer form
your lecture notes? What has to happen is this: You have to look at the facts you have
been given, and then assess the suitability of each according to the situation. You have
to reason with the facts. Making a good choice of building materials depends on having
developed intellectual skills such as those of assessing,, comparing, and applying of
facts and principles to a particular situation.

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Hence, the essay is an opportunity for you to develop your powers of reasoning, and
not merely to satisfy your lecturer, or to merely display your knowledge of facts or to
get the right answer ( as if there were just one answer, which is seldom the case in any
situation).
If you imagine that you are at the university just to accept facts uncritically from others,
this is what might happen:
v. If two books disagree on an issue, you will not know which one to
accept as correct.
vi. You will remain an intellectual infant.
vii. You will not actually acquire knowledge since this is done by
understanding the relationship between different facts and this
requires thought.
viii. You will not get very far in your career. In all probability,, you might
make a very serious error by unthinkingly accepting the word of
some book or some advisers.
So you must apply your mind to the ideas, facts, theories and the statements that you
come across. This does not mean that you carelessly dismiss the work of others. A judge
in court does not reach his conclusions according to his fancy or his feelings. His
judgments must be wise. So must yours. Thinking is a hard and tiring work.
PLANNING AN ESSAY
We have said that the purpose of an essay is to develop your powers of reasoning. So,
for a first essay, we shall choose a topic which will require you to think of your own
experience. This is the topic:
Give an account, based on your own experience, of the differences and similarities
between study at school and study at the university.
Before you start writing, you must plan your essay. Many essays have three parts as
follows:
xi. part one: Introduction
xii. Part two: The main body
xiii. Part three: The conclusion
THE INTRODUCTION
The introduction prepares the reader for the main body of the essay in the following
ways:
i. By making clear the scope of the essay. This will include the defining
of the important terms. For example, for the topic above, you would have
to define the term “study”. State what activities you will call study for
the purposes of your essay.
ii. By outlining your method. This will include the main parts of your
description, or the steps by which you will argue your case.
iii. By identifying your issue. With some topics, it is helpful to identify the
main issue or point of discussion. In the essay you have been set, for
example, you may consider that most of the study differences are due to
the degree of initiatives expected of the students.
iv. By stating the main school of thought. This does not apply to the topic
set above, but with some essays it may be helpful to indicate the main
opinions which the academic world holds on the issue. E.g. on Second
Language Acquisition and The Critical Learning Period.
v. By indicating problems and difficulties posed by the topic. For example,
there might be a shortage of information on an important aspect of a
topic.

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NOTE:
Not all the above points would need to be made in one essay but every essay should
include a few of them.
THE MAIN BODY
The main body of the essay can take many different forms. For the topic you have been
set above one of the many possible types of structure is:
Differences: A. Additional study subjects at university
i. …………
ii. …………
B. Additional study activities.
1. ………….
2. …………
C. Differences in the character or type of studies common in schools and universities.
1. …………
2. ………..
Similarities: A. …………………
B. …………………
C. ………………..
THE CONCLUSION PART
The purpose of the conclusion is to state very clearly your position, your judgment, the
results of your thinking of the points stated earlier in the essay. This may involve the
following:
i. Summary of some of the earlier points.
ii. Your comments on them.
iii. Careful qualifications of your points.
iv. Any relevant general observations.
NOTE:
It is not usual to introduce new information in the conclusion.
Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 154) adds the following about introductions and conclusions:
In your introduction, usually in your first paragraph, “refer directly to the title in order
to focus your reader. Say how you interpreted the title. You can do this by rephrasing
the title in your own words. If you misunderstood the question, at least the reader will
be aware of what happened.”
In conclusions, the author Stella says that, “refer back to the title to demonstrate to your
reader that you are still answering the set question. Link your final sentence to the
question contained in the title.”

WRITING RESEARCHED TERM PAPERS

PLAGIARISM
When you write researched term papers, you have to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is
using the work of others without acknowledging your source of information or
inspiration. AS Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 133), notes, this includes the following:
i. Using words more or less exactly as they have been used in articles,
books, lectures, TV programs, or from anywhere else.
ii. Using other people’s ideas or theories without saying whose they
are.
iii. Paraphrasing what you read or hear without stating where it comes
from.
NOTE:

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Even if you change words or sentences you have borrowed or you put them in a different
order, the result is still plagiarism.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
v. Write all your notes in your own words.
vi. Note exactly where you read the information you put in your
notes.
vii. In your written work, show where ideas and information come
from. You can use the APA (American Psychological
Association) where you use the author’s name, the year and the
page number. This is illustrated in more detail later in this
chapter.
viii. Make clear when you are using a direct quotation.
ix. Write a full reference list at the end of the researched term paper
for the references you used inside the term paper.
Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 152), gives a seven point procedure for writing researched
assignments which are as follows:
iv. Clarify the task.
a. Before you start research, make sure you know what you are
looking for.
b. Examine the title. What exactly is required? Ask your lecturer
early enough if you are not sure.
c. Write one line to sum up your basic opinion or argument.
d. Brainstorm to record what you know.
e. What do you need to read or to find out?
v. Collect and record information
a. Get the information you need but be focused.
b. Be selective. You can’t use everything.
c. Write a set of questions to guide your research and look for
answers.
d. Check the word limit to see how much information you can
use for each point.
e. Keep a note book nearby to jot down ideas.
f. Types of material: You can use any relevant material like
factual information, ideas, theories, and experience.
g. Record information as you go along. E.g. where you found
information and ideas. This will help you with your in-text
references and your final reference list. So, note the author, the
title, place of publication, the publisher, the year of
publication, and the book catalogue number or the website
address.
vi. Organize and plan
a. Make a big chart to link ideas and details.
b. Make a rough outline. You can refine it later.
vii. Reflect and evaluate
a. What have you found?
b. Has your viewpoint changed?
c. Have you enough evidence and examples?
d. What evidence or arguments oppose your point of view? Are
they valid?
viii. Write an outline plan

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a. Refine your plan.

b. State points clearly and simply in short sentences.
ix. Write your first draft
a. Make sure that your argument is clear to your readers.
b. Check that you have included evidence and examples to
support your points.
x. Write final draft
a. Edit and check your final draft.
b. Keep redrafting you are happy with your work.
c. Write your reference list.

GIVING REFERENCES USING THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL

ASSOCIATION (APA)
As Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 136), notes, there are various ways of acknowledging your
source materials. Check if you are expected to use a particular system for your course.
If not, use the author/date system known as the American Psychological Association
(APA).
In APA System, when you have used, quoted, or paraphrased a source, acknowledge it.
Either at the beginning of the sentence, within the sentence or at the end of the sentence,
write in brackets the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page numbers. Full
details of the source should be written in the reference list section at the end of the term
paper.
Stella gives the following ways of using sources.
xiii. Short direct quotation within the text.
Example:
Nonetheless, the Hollywood film was deliberately inaccurate about the life of Jomo
Kenyatta. As Martin Mwangi, (2001,p. 82) pointed out, “Jomo Kenyatta campaigned
for the rights and the freedom of his people. He never victimized the colonizers.”
xiv. Paraphrasing.
Example:
The film was deliberately inaccurate about the life and times of Jomo Kenyatta, who
contrary to the image depicted in American films spent much of his life fighting for the
rights and the independence of his people and he did not mistreat the colonizers (Martin
Mwangi, 2001, pp. 81-2).
xv. Block quotation
A few words, carefully chosen, make the most powerful quotations and demonstrate
that you can select appropriately. If the exact wording of a long quotation of more than
three sentences is essential, indent it, and leave a space above and below as shown
below. Incorporate the quotation into your writing with linking sentences and by
discussing its relevance.
Example:
Angry at Hollywood versions of Kenyan history, Martin Mwangi wrote:
After the pictures depicted in the Hollywood movies, we can only hope that
these Hollywood distorters, without the list bit of respect for the history and culture of
our nation won’t lay their eyes upon the important themes like the struggle against
colonization, fight for inhuman treatment, fight for stolen lands, fight for self-rule and
total independence from the chain of the colonizers. (2001,p. 84).
Here, we can see that Martin Mwangi is very critical of the versions of Kenyan history
produced in Hollywood films.

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xvi. Reference List

Example:
In the reference list at the end of the term paper, the reference to Martin Mwangi would
appear in the following form and in alphabetical order starting with the author’s
surname.
Mwangi, M. (2001). The Kenyan struggle for independence. 2nd ed.
Nairobi: Longman Publishers.
NOTE: For books, you do not give page numbers in the reference list. For a journal
article, you give the page numbers for the whole article.
xvii. Useful phrases to introduce references.
You can use the following phrases:
a. As x points out, …
b. According to x, …
c. To quote from x, …
d. X states/ suggests that, …
e. In an article entitled,, name the text, x makes the point that,
…
f. Referring to, …, x states that, …
g. In, name of text, x explained that, …
h. Writing in the year 1995, x argued that, …
There are several other introductory phrases that you can use.
xviii. Conventions in writing references
a. Start the reference list on a new page.
b. Begin each source on a new page.
c. List alphabetically by author’s surname.
d. If you use more than one work by the same author, and
published in the same year, label these a, b, c … e.g.
(2002a, 2002b, 2002c) in the text and in the reference list.
e. Put the information in the following order: author, year,
title, location of publisher, and publisher.
f. Use italics for the titles of books or journals. Some books
show that you can underline the titles, but in most cases,
underlining of titles is used for MLA (Modern Language
Association).
g. You can use quotation marks for the article in a journal and
normal typing but use italics for the journal. In most cases,
the quotation marks for articles is used only in MLA. In
APA, typing for the article in the journal, and use of italics
for the title of the journal are enough.
h. Include all the sources you actually referred to. Including
videos, TV, tape, and the like but not dictionaries.
i. Don’t include in Reference List, the materials that you did
not use in your assignment.
j. Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 137), notes that you can list
additional sources, which you read, but you did not use in
a bibliography.

xix. Sample references.

A BOOK:
Muhia, P. (2006). Leisure and class in Kenyan society.

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Nairobi: Longman Publishers.

A CHAPTER IN A BOOK:
Njoroge, M. (2004). “Second Language Acquisition in an
Urban city.” In Maina, H. (ed). Bilingualism in
Kenya.(ed). Nairobi: McMillan
A JOURNAL ARTICLE:
Wangai,C. (2002). “The welfare of the Mau Mau Fighters.”
Kenyan history. (no. 214), p. 193-213.
MATERIAL CITED WITHIN ANOTHER TEXT, WHERE YOU HAVE NOT
QOUTATED THE ORIGINAL SOURCE.
Kariuki, J. and Chepkorir, M. (2001). Principles of learning.
Mombasa: Coast Publishers. Cited in Muchiri, S.M.
(2003). The Study Skills Handbook. Nairobi:
Longman publishers.
AN ELECTRNIC REFERENCE (INCLUDE THE DATE ON WHICH YOU
USED IT)
http://www.foe.co.uk. 16 May 2010

BIBLIOGRAPHIES.
According to Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 137), a bibliography which accompanies a
reference list is a list of everything that you read for the essay or term paper or any
research, whether or not you referred to it in your writing. Your lecture may prefer this
to a reference list or may even require both. For APA, use the same style as for
references.
NOTE: For more information on APA go to: http://www.stylewizard.com

SUMMARY.
This section has dealt with writing a short class essay, writing a researched term paper,
and integrating references using the APA system. We hope you found it useful.

Review Questions
1. Discuss the main reasons of writing university essays and give
an illustration. 10 marks.
2. Choose a topic and write an effective university essay of six
hundred words. Take into consideration the three main parts of
an essay illustrated in this lecture. 10 marks
3. Write two paragraphs of a researched term paper in which you
use at least here references. Show how you would use these
references in the text and in the reference list. 10 marks

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TEN

LIBRAY AND INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS

INTRODUCTION
The main information in this section is found in the shared drive in “Goupwise” at
Africa Nazarene University (ANU) as posted there by the ANU Senior Librarian (Julia
Ameru, 2010). The rest is from other sources.
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, the student will be able to:
v. Use library effectively for research
vi. Differentiate between different types of libraries
vii. Define the term information and information
retrieval
viii. Use primary and secondary sources of
information
ix. Describe the Dewey Decimal classification and the
Library of Congress classification
x. Identify different collections in the library
xi. Identify and select information wisely
xii. Use search strategy
Definition of a library
A place where books and other literary materials are housed and are arranged in a
systematic order for reading, study and consultation.
The different types of libraries
1. Public libraries
These are libraries that serve every citizen at every stage of life. They serve a wider
range of needs and objectives than other libraries. They serve the needs of all people
from toddlers to senior citizens, patrons from first grade to scholars. Can even be termed
as the “people’s university”. They have the broadest mission. The mission is to meet
the needs of the particular community. Services offered include age specific services,
reference services, outreach services etc.
2. School library
Found in schools. Could be private or public. Just like academic they support the
curriculum of institutions in which they belong. E.g.; primary and secondary schools.
3. Academic library
Found in public and private post-secondary institutions of higher learning i.e. colleges
and universities.
Mission of academic is to support the faculty, students, and staff of the college or
university and achieve the mission of the parent institution. eg grace roles
4. Special library/information centers
Include corporate, medical, law, religious, governmental, prison, not for profit
organizational libraries.
Have a highly specialized collection eg UNEP, UNICEF<ILRI, ICRAF etc
Definition of Information?
1. A collection of facts or data
2. Knowledge derived from study, experience or instruction.
Information may be presented in a variety of ways i.e. illustrations, photographs, charts,
graphs, multimedia, sound recording, computer graphics or animation.
Information retrieval
This is the process of recovering information from stored data.

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Formats of information
Print and non-print
1. Print- e.g books, magazines, newspapers, brochures
2. Non-print –e.g. electronic journals-books, sound recordings, CD-ROMs
Sources of information
Mainly categorized into three
 Primary sources- Primary sources of information allow the learner to access
original and unedited information. A primary source requires the learner to
interact with the source and extract information.

 Person
 Interview
 E-Mail contact
 Event
 Discussion
 Debate
 Community Meeting
 Survey
 Artifact
 Observation of object (animate and inanimate)

 Secondary sources- Secondary sources are edited primary sources, second-

hand versions. They represent someone else's thinking.

 Reference Material
 Book
 CD Rom
 Encyclopedia
 Magazine
 Newspaper
 Video Tape
 Audio Tape
 TV

Primary or secondary

 Internet Web Site

 Graph, chart, diagram, table

 Tertiary sources -works, which list primary and secondary sources in a specific
subject area.
Works, which index, organize and show you how to use primary and sometimes
secondary and primary sources. They include
Almanacs and year books
Guide books and manuals
Indexing and abstracting tools
directorieswcorks and secondary resources in a specific subject
area works

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The role of the University library.

The Library exists to serve the needs of the University in information provision and
will aim to offer the highest quality of service, so far as resources permit.
Traditionally, the university library is responsible for selecting, acquiring, organizing,
preserving and providing access to information
The Library's aim is to deliver information in the form, at the place and at the time of
most benefit to the user, within the requirements of the University.
Support the university mission of developing an individual in all aspects i.e. physically,
culturally. Spiritually and academically by providing materials in all these areas.
Support research and scholarly publishing by providing books and electronic journals
for consultation during research
Organization of library materials
Classification
A method of organizing book titles so that books on the same subject are kept near each
other on the bookshelf.
Why classification?
It is essential because it keeps information books on the same subject together and users
can find the information they want as quickly as possible.
Types of classification schemes used in libraries
You need to decide which classification scheme to use to meet the needs of your library.
The major ones used are two
1. LC
2. DDC
Dewey decimal classification
It’s used in many libraries especially the secondary school libraries with more than 500
information books.
It classifies books into 10 broad subject areas, which are coded by numbers. The range
starts from 000-900.
Subject Code
Reference: 000
Philosophy 100
Religions 200
Social sciences 300
Languages 400
Science 500
Technology 600
Arts and recreation 700
Literature 800
History and geography 900
Library of congress
The library arranges its books on the shelves in accordance with the library of congress
classification scheme. In this system each major class of knowledge is represented by
a letter. eg L- education H-social sciences.
In this scheme knowledge areas are arranged from A-Z.
The scheme uses a mixed notation i.e. a combination of both letters and numerals.
Call numbers
This is a number consisting of three parts:
a) A classification number
A number that represents what the item being catalogued is about/subject
b) A cutter number or a book number

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An Alphanumeric device for representing words or names by using one or more letters
followed by one or more Arabic numerals treated as decimal numbers.
The combination of letters and numbers called the cutter follows the classification
number and is preceded by a decimal part.
c) Additional information e.g. date, volume etc
HQ
5415
. C65
2006
Reading list and its content
A list of references on a particular subject for further reading.
Main features
Author, title, publisher, place of publication. Date of publication, edition statement.
What is a library catalogue
This is a list that tells you what books you have in your library and where to find them.
Types
 Title catalogue-materials are arranged according to titles
 Author catalogue-materials are arranged according to author
 Subject catalogue-materials are arranged according to subjects
Formats
Mainly can be classified into two
 Print catalogue-card, book
 Electronic catalogue/online –database in electronic format
OPAC
Online public access catalogue. In this catalogue you can search using the title, author
or subject.
Collections in the library
 Books
 Daily Newspapers
 Indexed newspaper files
 Electronic journals
 Print journals
 Videotapes
 CD-ROMs
 Cassettes
 Government publications.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Nazarene/holiness collection
This is a special collection. A book is put in Nazarene collection only when the church
of Nazarene is the main focus of the book, or if a missionary teacher, medical person
or other individual connected or closely allied with the church of Nazarene, writes the
book. The prefix NAZ denotes books in this collection & it precedes the call number
Africana Collection
A book belongs to this collection if it’s authored by an African, or is about Africa. The
prefix AFR should precede the call number.
Maasai collection
Here, any book about the Maasai community belongs to this collection. The prefix
MAS should precede the call number.
Reference materials

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Materials meant for referral & consultation such as dictionaries, encyclopedias etc. are
placed in the reference section denoted by prefix REF
AIDS Collection
Any materials on HIV/AIDS are temporary placed in the holiness/ Nazarene section in
a special AIDS collection. The prefix AIDS precedes the call number.
Thesis and dissertation
Research works such as thesis & dissertations are also held at the Nazarene/ holiness
collection. The prefix THE precedes the call number.
General Literature Collection
This collection holds motivational, inspirational & fiction books. Special labels are put
on the spine to identify them.
skillsGovernment publications
These are official documents issued by a government agency such as a city council,
state or federal body. They contain information covering a wide variety of subjects.
They are processed in the same manner as books.
REFERENCE MATERIALS
A yearbook, the term may refer to a book of statistics or facts published annually.
Handbook: a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or
location
Almanac an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or
fields arranged according to the calendar of a given year
Directory an alphabetical list of names and addresses and telephone numbers
Encyclopedia a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on
various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of
human knowledge or with some particular specialty
Atlas a collection of maps in book form
Dictionary: a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words with information
about them
Bibliography: a list of writings with time and place of publication (such as the writings
of a single author or the works referred to in preparing a document etc
Biography: an account of the series of events making up a person's life
Index: an alphabetical listing of names and topics along with page numbers where they
are discussed
USES OF JOURNAL, PERIODICALS, INDEXES AND ABSTRACTS
i. Journal or periodicals: Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 117), notes
“that journals or periodicals usually contain the latest research for your
subject, as well as book reviews. Most journal articles have a short
abstract at the beginning which tells you what the articles are about.
Browsing through journal articles and reviews helps to keep you up to
date with the subject.” You will be expected to refer to articles in most
assignments. Journals are published at regular intervals during the year.
They are collected into numbered volumes, usually one for each year.
To find a journal article, you need to know the following:
a. The title of the journal, the year it was published, and its volume
number.
b. The name and initials of the article’s author.
c. The title of the article.
ii. Indexes and abstracts: As Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 117), “these are
separate publications which give brief details of journal articles,
including who wrote what and where to find it. Sometimes reading the

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abstracts will be sufficient for your assignment but at other times you
will need to read the actual article.”
In the indexes, you can search by subject heading and by keywords for all the articles
in a given subject. They are updated regularly and they are worth using.
iii. Electronic information: To locate the information in the internet, you
type in the address at which it is stored. This will consist of short
abbreviations. Spaces, dots, dashes, and letters must be typed in very
precisely. For example, the following is the address of the website
address of the friends of the earth:
http://www.foe.co.uk
Having logged on to the internet, you would simply type this in on the
computer screen in the space provided. You can usually omit http://.
ADVANTAGES OF USING THE INTERNET
i. The range of information: Through the internet you have access to a
great deal of information including the following:
a. Newspapers
b. Government papers
c. Company data
d. Magazines
e. Financial data
f. Library catalogues and several others.
ii. Types of information: Modes of information on the internet can include
the following:
a. Sound like voices and music
b. Film and video clips
c. Interactive pages
d. Computer programs and many others.
The internet offers you the chance to browse for information across an enormous range
of sources without leaving your chair.
CAUTION IN USING THE INTERNET
Ask yourself the following questions:
iv. Is it an authoritative source? Almost anybody can put
information on the net and much of it is of poor quality, from an
academic point of view, consisting of chat lines, commercial
sites and advertising. This means it is important that you check
for the details of who entered any information you are thinking
of using and consider if that person is an authoritative source.
v. When were the data entered? People sometimes assume that if
data is accessible on the Net it must be true and up to date and
this is not always the case.
BROWSERS AND SEARCH TOOLS
Although there is a lot of information on the internet, it is generally well organized.
Software called “web browsers” help you to find web pages that interest you.
i. Internet explorer: This is a Microsoft web browser. It
is free, and easy to use.
ii. Search tools: These are vast directories that cover a
whole range of subjects and which are cross-
referenced. They are easy to use. Examples are:
Yahoo.com
Google.com

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iii. Research tools (at www.iTools.com/research/) This

browser is useful for definitions, quotations, language
translations, synonyms and many other aspects.
iv. OneLook Dictionaries (at www.onelook.com/)
This checks over 150 dictionaries.

SEARCHING FOR WHAT YOU WANT

First, use a search tool such as Yahoo or Google, to find the general topic such as
“sport”. Then look for the specific topic search as “football, or hockey or volleyball”.
If you are looking for a specific person or event, use a search engine such as one of the
following:
excite.co.uk/
ask.co.uk
Search for keywords that the text is likely to contain. To narrow down the search, look
for a group of keywords. Be as precise as you can or you may be presented with
hundreds of entries. Montgomery (1990), p.27) encourages one to use synonyms or near
synonyms. He says that, “suppose you look up films and find no entry in the subject
index, you might try thinking of a heading like entertainment or leisure and look that
up. Alternatively, you might be wiser to think of another word fo films, that is, a
synonym, and look that up. An obvious word would be cinema”.
Another reason why you should consider looking up cinema rather than films is because
cinema is more technical than films, and you are more likely to find technical and
academic terms.
NOTE:
The word synonym is used here in a very broad sense to include the following pairs of
words:
i. Those which in some way of their senses have the same meaning, e.g.
films/cinema; author/writer.
ii. Those in which one or both words have a subjective value e.g.
guerrilla/terrorist.
iii. Words whose meanings, though not the same, are very closely related,
e.g. murder/homicide.

NOTE:
It needs mental energy and flexibility on your part to think of suitable synonyms. You
will not be able to think of another word for a topic if you know only one word for it.
It is important, therefore, that you should have a broad knowledge of the names of
academic and technical topics.
SUMMARY

This section has concentrated on library skills. Although this section is usually handled
by the library staff as per the requirement of Commission for higher Education, (CHE),
the author has felt it is necessary to have all the study skills notes in one manual. We
hope that this will help you greatly.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
i. Differentiate between the different types of libraries.
ii. Define information and information retrieval.
iii. Identify the different types of a library.

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iv. Describe the different classifications of library material i.e. The Dewey
Decimal classification and the Library of Congress Classification.
v. Describe what the call number of a book is.
vi. Identify different types of library catalogues.
vii. Identify the special collections found in ANU library.
viii. Identify the advantages of using journals, periodicals, abstracts and indexes.
ix. What are the advantages and the shortcomings of using the internet?
x. What are the criteria of identifying and selecting relevant research material?
xi. Why is it useful to know synonyms when doing your research?

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ELEVEN
MEMORY RETENTION, PREPARATION FOR AND TAKING OF
EXAMINATIONS

` INTRODUCTION
Preparation for examinations in the university is an exercise that begins right from day
one of the semester. The “banking” practice whereby students ‘bank’ or store notes
until the last few days to exams is thus not only counter-productive but must be avoided
for better performance. This section will concentrate on memory enhancement
strategies, effective preparation of examinations and the actual taking of examinations.
We hope this will help you.
TOPIC OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section the student should be able to:
i. Revise effectively for the final examination.
ii. Use different memory enhancing techniques.
iii. Read examination instructions properly.
iv. Use time wisely during the exams

MEMORY ENHANCING TECHNNIQUES

MEMORY RETENTION
Stella Cottrell, (2003, p. 241), notes that your memory can be assisted by any or all of
the following:
i. Semantic association. You remember words with useful associations or
those which are closely related e.g. bread, butter, sandwich etc.
ii. Visual association. You can link words with visual or mental pictures.
iii. Sound. You may remember rhyming words, odd-sounding words, or words
you heard together in your head.
iv. Locus or place. You may associate the words with a place you know.
v. Color and activity. If you remember several of the words you colored, you
may be sensitive to color or perhaps you befit from doing things with the
information you are learning.
vi. Musical association. You can sing or chant information to tunes you know.
vii. Repetition. This is essential. Go over information at least three times. Check
back often, for short lengths of time rather have once for a long time.
viii. Association. Link what you want to know with what you already know.
ix. Mnemonics. Any trick to help you remember is a mnemonic. One common
mnemonic is to use the first letter of each keyword to make a new “word”
that sums up the whole subject as in the “CREAM” strategy we used earlier
in this unit. It does not matter if the letters do not make a real word.
x. Play with information. Look for the fun in it. Relax and enjoy the process.

STAGES OF THE MEMORY PROCESS

Another way of using the brain to improve memory is to work with the different stages
in the memory process.

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FOUR STAGES IN THE MEMORY PROCESS

i. Taking in information. Noticing or attending to information and absorbing it.
ii. Retaining it in short term memory.
iii. Encoding it. Interacting with the information in working memory so that the brain
can retain it in long-term memory.
iv.Recalling it. This is retrieving or remembering information whether on purpose or
by accident. Sometimes recall seems accurate even when it is not.

PREPARATION FOR EXAMINATION

1. Prepare early. The best way to do well on tests is to begin by preparing on
the first day of the lecture. Prepare by attending all lectures, arriving on time,
and staying until the end. Set up review schedule on the first day. Observe
your instructors during lectures to see what they consider important and
what points and key words are stressed. As you listen to lectures or read
your notes ask yourself what questions could be on the examination.
2. Know the expectations. The first day of class is important because most
instructors outline the course and clarify the syllables and expectations
concerning grading, test dates, and the types of tests. Ask your instructors
about test formats. Ask for sample questions, study guide or additional
material that may be helpful for studying. You are in a partnership with your
instructor and it is important in any relationship to understand expectations.
A large part of fear and anxiety comes from the unknown. The more you
know about what is expected concerning evaluations and exams, the more
at ease you will be.
3. Keep up, manage your time and keep up with daily reading homework, and
assignments. Consolidate your lecture notes with your reading notes. Avoid
waiting until the night before the exam to prepare for it.
4. Ask questions. Ask questions in class. As you read, take notes and renew
chapter or topic material. Topic summaries, key concepts, reviews, end of
topic questions and exercises, all provide examples of possible test
questions. Save all quizzes, courses materials, exercise sheets, and lab work.
Ask if old tests or sample tests are available at the library. This will give you
an idea of the format and possible questions.
5. Review early. Start the renew process by previewing topics before lectures.
Take a few minutes to review your lecture notes immediately after class.
When information is fresh, you can fill in missing pieces, make connections,
and raise questions to ask later. Set up a schedule so that you have time to
renew daily notes from all your lectures each day. Review time can be short;
five or ten minutes for every lecture is often sufficient. Daily renew should
also include scanning notes and items that need memorization. This kind of
review should continue until the final exam.
6. Review weekly. Spend about an hour or so for each course to investigate and
renew not only the week’s assignments, but what has been included thus far
in the course. These renew sessions should include lecture notes, reading
notes, topic questions, checklist of items to study and summaries written in
your own words. After reading close the materials and write a summary.
Then go back and fill in the missing material. Make a mind map of the
revised summary.
7. Final review. A week or so before a test, commit yourself to a major renew.
This should include lecture and book notes and summaries. You can practice
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test questions, compare concepts, integrate major points, and renew and
recite with your study group. Long-term memory depends on organizing the
information. Fragmented information is difficult to remember or recall.
Understanding the main ideas and connecting are relating information
transfers the material into long-term memory.
8. Rehearse. One of the best tips for doing well on exams is to pretest yourself
by predicting questions and making up and taking sample tests.
9. Summarize. Write in nutshell the most important concepts, formulas,
keywords and points. This exercise really highlights important material.
10. Use your study group. actively participate in your study team. Revise the
course content, generate questions, share these and discuss possible
answers.
2.3.5 Last Minute Study Strategies
Cramming isn’t effective if you haven’t studied or attended lectures. The following tips
may be helpful just moments, the night or minutes before exams:
i) Focus on a few points. Describe what is important. Focus on a few of the most
important points or formulas instead of trying to cram everything into a short study
time. Preview the topic quickly.
ii) Intend to be positive. Don’t panic or waste precious time being negative. State your
intention of being receptive and open, gaining on overview of the material, and
learning a few supporting points.
2.3.6 Overcoming Exam Anxiety
Many people see exams and performance assessments as huge mountains where one
slip can cause them to tumble down the slope. Exam anxiety is the number one burner
to doing well on exams. Exam anxiety is that anxious feeling one gets when an exam is
announced or when they set down to take exams and their minds go blank. Even the
thought of taking a test causes some people to feel anxious and sends others into a state
of panic. Symptoms of exam anxiety include nervousness, upset stomach, sweaty palms
and forgetfulness. Exam anxiety is a learned response to stress. Since exams, tryouts,
presentations, interviews and performance reviews are all evaluations and part of life,
it is worth your effort to learn to overcome exam anxiety. The following guidelines may
help you overcome exam anxiety.
1. Be prepared. Sound preparation by attending all lectures, renewing, writing,
summarizing and studying the course content adequately makes you feel confident.
2. Practice taking a sample test. This too makes you more confident during the actual
exam.
3. Don’t cram. Last – minute, frantic cramming only creates a hectic climate and
increases anxiety. Instead, go for a long walk. Exercise is great for reducing stress.
4. Stay calm. Make your exam day peaceful by laying out your clothes, books,
supplies, and keys the night before. Renew your summaries just before you go to
sleep, repeat a few affirmations, and then get a good night’s rest. Set an a alarm so
you will be awake in plenty of time. Before you jump out of bed, relax and visualize
your day unfolding in a positive way. Eat a light breakfast that includes protein.
5. Get to the exam. Venue early. Use the few minutes before the exam to take a few
deep breaths. Do several head rolls and relax. Your may renew your note cards.
TAKING THE EXAMINATION
6. Listen carefully to instructions: Ensure that you understand clearly the exam
rubrics.

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7. Jot down short notes. On the back of your test or in the margins, write formulas,
dates or important information that you want to remember. Having this information
may help you feel more confident.
8. Preview the whole exam. Do the easiest problem first to build your confidence.
Don’t feel rushed. If you don’t know the answer to a problem, don’t panic. More
on and return to it later.
9. Get involve. Focus on the subject. Get involved with answering the questions and
be fully in the present.
1) Pace yourself. Keep moving through the test according to your plan. Make your
time count – look at points / marks for each question and determine the
importance that should be give to each question and section. For example you
will want to spend more time on an essay worth twenty five marks than on a
question of five marks. Don’t panic if you don’t know an answer right away –
leave it and answer all the questions you do know. Build on success and don’t
block your thinking. Rephrase the questions that you find difficult. It may help
you if you change the wording of a sentence. Use memory strategies if you are
blocked.
2) Go back to difficult questions. After doing the questions you can do with ease,
go back to the difficult questions that you either skipped or you answered half
way.
3) Do not use too much time with the question you know. Sometimes students do
not finish the whole exam because they use too much time on one question. It
is better to get 15 marks out of 20 in two questions and get a total of 30 marks
than get 20 out of 20 in one question and zero out of 20 for the question you did
not do giving you 20+0, which is 20 out of 40 marks.
4) Review. Once you have finished, reread the test and check for careless mistakes
or spelling errors.
2.4.8 After the Exam
1. Reward yourself. Reward yourself with a treat such as a cool or warm bath, a
walk with friends, or a special dinner. Reward yourself with a good night’s
sleep.
2. Analyze and assess. When you receive the graded test, analyze and assess it. Be
a detached, curious, receptive observer and review the results as feedback.
Feedback is critical for improvement. Ask yourself the following questions:
 Did I prepare adequately?
 What should I have studied more?
 Did I anticipate the style, format and questions?
 What didn’t I except?
 What did I do right?
 How was my recall?
 Did I test myself with the right questions?
 Did I handle test anxiety well?
 Would it have helped it I studied with others?
NOTE:
Remember, a test or an exam is information and feedback on how you are doing, not
an evaluation of yourself as a person. Learn from your mistakes and move forward.
Assess what you do wrong and what you will do right the next time.
Summary
This chapter has dealt with memory enhancement strategies, revision and preparation
for exams, avoiding examination anxiety and examination taking skills. The guidelines
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outlined in this chapter if well followed would go along way in enhancing your success
as a student in the university.

Review Questions
1) What would you do to overcome exam anxiety?
2) Mary has just reported for her first semester in the university. Advice her on how
she should ensure she adequately prepares for her end of semester examinations.
3) Describe some strategies that you can use to enhance your memory.
4) What strategies can you use before, during and after the exam.
5) We learn from taking exams. Discuss.
6) How can marked examination papers be useful to students.
7) John got very low marks from his first examination at the university. He looked
at it, threw it away in anger and decided that the lecturer is mean and does not like
him. How can you advice John?
GENERAL CONCLUSION
Dear reader, we hope you will benefit greatly from this manual. With the careful and
elaborate treatment of the main aspects of Communication Skills which are: Reading
skills, Comprehension skills, Study and Examination skills, Listening and Critical
thinking skills, Writing skills and finally Speaking skills, the author is convinced that
justice has been done to this unit. This manual has also tackled aspects of Intelligence,
Learning, Note-Making and Memory Enhancement. The various skills discussed with
their respective strategies will be of great help to the students in higher institutions of
learning in their academic pursuit and in their job related concerns there after. This
manual is very important especially for university first year students as they prepare for
serious university work.
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