Easy Approaches on How to Answer English Language Questions in WAEC 2021

LEXIS

In addition to items testing knowledge of the vocabulary of everyday usage (i.e home, social relationships,  and common core school subjects) questions will be set to test candidates’ ability in the use of the general vocabulary associated with the following fields of human activity:

1.       (a) Building and Building  Construction;

(b) Agriculture;

(c)  Fishing;

(d) Stock exchange;

(e)  Health;

(f)  Environment;

(g) Culture, Institutions and Ceremonies;

(h) Law and Order;

(i)  Motor Vehicles and Travelling;

(j)  Government and Administration;

(k) Sports;

(l)  Religion;

(m) Science and Technology;

(n) Animal husbandry;

(o) Advertising;

(p) Human Internal Body system and function.

1. Idioms, i.e. idiomatic expressions and collocations (e.g. ‘hook, line and sinker’, ‘every Tom, Dick and Harry” etc.) the total meaning of which cannot be arrived at simply by consideration of the dictionary meanings of the words in the structures in which they appear.

III.       Structural elements of English e.g. sequence of tenses, matching of pronouns with their antecedents, correct use of prepositions etc.

1. Figurative Usage

            The term ‘general’ vocabulary refers to those words and usage of words normally associated with the fields of human activity in A1 above which are generally known, used and understood by most educated people who, while not engaged in that field of activity may have occasion to read, speak or write about it. Thus, for example, in the vocabulary of transportation by road, one would expect knowledge of terms such as ‘pedestrian bridge’ and ‘traffic signs’ which most educated people understand, but not ‘berm’ or ‘camber’ which are specialized.

            All items will be phrased in such a way as to test the use and understanding of the required lexis, rather than dictionary definitions and explanations. In practice, the test of lexis will be so designed as to explore, not merely the extent of the candidates’ vocabulary but more importantly their ability to respond to sense relations in the use of lexical items e.g. synonyms, antonyms and homonyms.

            In the test of figurative language, candidates will be expected to recognize when an expression is used figuratively and not only when it is used literally.

STRUCTURE

Structure here includes:

• The patterns of changes in word-forms which indicate number, tense, degree, etc;
• The patterns in which different categories of words regularly combine to form groups and these groups in turn combine to form sentences;
• The use of structural words e.g. conjunctions, determiners, prepositions, etc.

Recommended Textbook for English Language

1. MacMillan Brilliant English for Senior Secondary Schools
2. Exam Focus English for WASSCE & SSCE
3. Essential English by Ibitola A. O
4. ‘A’-One English, A Complete GCE/SSCE Text

Especially ‘A’-One English is my favorite, I strongly advice every candidate to purchase this text, it simply explains every topics, terms, and techniques used in English Language concisely and precisely with couples of illustrations.

PAPER 2 carries majority of the total marks, 100 marks, approximately 59% of the entire marks. It is recommended for every candidate to give adequate attention to PAPER 2, more explanations on paper 2 will be discussed; below are excerpt from the WAEC syllsbus

PAPER 2:

The paper will be divided into three sections: Sections A, B and C. Candidates will be required to spend 2 hours on this paper.                      

SECTION A: ESSAY WRITING      (50 marks)

Candidates will be required to spend 50 minutes on this section. There will be five questions in all and candidates will be required to answer only one question.

The questions will test candidates’ ability to communicate in writing. The topics will demand the following kinds of writing:

• letter;
• speech;
• narration;
• description;
• argument/debate;
• report;
• article;
• exposition;
• creative writing.

Marks will be awarded for:

• Content: relevance of ideas to the topic;
• Organization: formal features (where applicable), good paragraphing, appropriate emphasis and arrangement of ideas;
• Expression: effective control of vocabulary and sentence structure;
• Mechanical Accuracy: correct grammar, punctuation, spelling etc.

The minimum length will be 450 words.

SECTION B:        COMPREHENSION (20 marks) 

Candidates will be required to spend 30 minutes on this section. The section will consist of one passage of at least three hundred and fifty (350) words. Candidates will be required to answer all the questions on the passage. 

The questions will test candidates’ ability to

• find appropriate equivalents for selected words or phrases;
• understand the factual content;
• make inferences from the content of the passage;
• understand the use of English expressions that reveal/reflect sentiments/emotions/attitudes;
• identify and label basic grammatical structures, words, phrases or clauses and explain their functions as they appear in the context;
• identify and explain basic literary terms and expressions;
• recast phrases or sentences into grammatical alternatives.

The passage will be chosen from a wide variety of sources all of which should be suitable for this level of examination in terms of theme and interest. The passage will be written in modern English that should be within the experience of candidates. The comprehension test will include at least four questions based on (ii) above.

SECTION C:        SUMMARY    (30 marks)

Candidates will be required to spend 40 minutes on this section. The section will consist of one prose passage of about five hundred (500) words and will test candidates’ ability to

• extract relevant information;
• summarize the points demanded in clear concise English, avoiding repetition and redundancy;
• present a summary of specific aspects or portions of the passage.

The passage will be selected from a wide variety of suitable sources, including excerpts from narratives, dialogues and expositions of social, cultural, economic and political issues in any part of the world.