Oral skills in 101/1 English Paper 1
This forms the bulk of the English paper one and candidates must strive to collect all the marks available here. Many questions here do not require crammed responses since they are mostly functional applications. The learner must be keen on the different contexts provided by the question and then give appropriate responses specific to the contexts.
Generally the area tests listening and speaking skills of a learner.The following areas are tested. Read widely on them.
1. Pronunciation in English 101/1 Paper 1
- English sounds. (vowels and consonants)- The letter vs the sound.
Words with similar pronunciations.(Homophones)
Words with more than one pronunciation to change meaning.They retain spelling but change sound and meaning. (Homographs)
Onomatopoeia and ideophones - Short and long vowel sounds
- Problematic sounds within meaningful contexts such as tongue twisters, songs and poems.The idea of minimal pairs.
- Stress and intonation
- Rhyme/rime in poetry
- Rhythm in poetry
- Puns or word plays
- Alliteration, consonance and assonance.
- Repetition in poetry.
2. Listening and responding to narratives. How do you effectively narrate?
3. Skills in attention and turn taking through dialogues.
4. Receiving and giving instructions.
5. Giving directions.
6. Listening and responding to oral poetry(songs), proverbs, puns, tongue twisters, and riddles as well as oral features of these genres.
7. Presentation of debates
8. Interviews.
9. Hot seating
10 . Organization and presentations of group discussions.
11. Making Speeches
12. Solo and choral poetry recitation/ presentation.
13. Oral report presentation.
14. Etiquette
15. Paying attention
o Non-verbal cues that enhance listening and speaking (performing)
• Importance of respecting personal space
• Facial expressions (eg smile, grin, grimace, frown, a beaming face,smirk, sneer,pout, pursed lips, raised eye brows, squint, sideways glance, rolled eyes, wrinkled nose, long face, wince, quizzical face etc)
• Gestures eg knodding and shaking of head, shrugging, beckoning or dismissing with hand, putting hand on ear etc.)
• Body postures movement ie the way we walk, stand and sit.
• Eye contact
• Bowing and curtsying
• Appearance and grooming.
• Space
• Touch
16. Verbal cues that enhance listening and speaking (saying)
• Stress
• Intonation
• Tone and tonal variation
• Voice projection/audibility
• Correct pronunciation
• Pace/tempo/speed of presentation.
• Pitch
Contexts of the above areas shall be provided. The candidate shall be required to respond either as a listener or speaker. Verbal and non verbal cues can be almost not be divorced from each other. One reinforces the other. Try to design your own questions in all the all above areas providing specific contexts.
In responding to the contextualized question, be specific about the verbal or non verbal cue tested.The question may ask “How would you say or perform a given line”. Do not say ‘Iwill use facial expression’.Be specific eg smile, grin, frown, grimace sneer, widen eye brows etc depending on the context. Always give reasons why.(Illustrate)
See this example of last year’s 2019 KCSE, Question 3d.
Assume that you attended a youth conference on drug abuse. Your principal has asked you to give an oral report during the assembly. How would you use your voice effectively. (6 marks)
Expected responses.
Be audible/have the correct degree of loudness/project your voice properly
Articulate words properly and distinctively/ clear pronunciation /enunciation of words
Vary the tone/ intonation
Proper pacing/ do not speak too fast or too slowly/ Deliberate pace /tempo
Vary the pitch
Stress on certain words properly
Revise all the past KCSE papers and see the way the questions are worded.
Paper one is the most practical, easiest and most applicable and should be the easiest for any candidate. For all candidates who excel in English, it should be a guarantee that this is a walk walker. It’s about what we do every day…what we hear…see….feel…each day. Questions remain the same but contexts are varied each year.
All the best as you prepare for the 2020 KCSE examinations . Do as many questions as you can come across and enhance personal reading.