JAMB Use of English Topics & Areas of Concentration
Comprehension and Summary+
Topics to Cover:
- •Description
- •Narration
- •Exposition
- •Argumentation/Persuasion
- •Synthesis of ideas
What JAMB will test you on:
- Identify main points and topic sentences in passages
- Determine implied meanings
- Identify the grammatical functions of words, phrases, clauses, and figurative/idiomatic expressions
- Deduce or infer the writers' intentions, mood, attitude, and opinion
Lexis and Structure+
Topics to Cover:
- •Synonyms
- •Antonyms
- •Clause and sentence patterns
- •Word classes and their functions
- •Mood, tense, aspect, number, agreement/concord, degree, and question tags
- •Mechanics (Punctuation and Spelling)
- •Ordinary, figurative, and idiomatic usage
What JAMB will test you on:
- Identify words and expressions in their ordinary, figurative, and idiomatic contexts
- Determine similar and opposite meanings of words
- Differentiate between correct and incorrect spellings
- Identify various grammatical patterns in use
- Interpret information conveyed in sentences
Oral Forms+
Topics to Cover:
- •Vowels (monothongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs)
- •Consonants (including clusters)
- •Rhymes (including homophones)
- •Word stress (monosyllabic and polysyllabic)
- •Emphatic stress (in connected speech)
What JAMB will test you on:
- Make distinctions among vowel types
- Differentiate among consonant types
- Identify correct pronunciation of individual words and articulation of connected speech
Official JAMB Use of English Recommended Textbooks
- Bamgbose, A. (2002). English Lexis and Structure for Senior Secondary Schools and Colleges. Ibadan: Heinemann.
- Banjo, A., et al. (2004) New Oxford Secondary English Course Book six. Ibadan: University Press Plc.
- Jones, D. (2011). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary. Cambridge University Press.
- Nnamonu, S. and Jowitt, D. (1989) Common Errors in English. Lagos: Longman.