- 2024 UTME candidates have been given tips on how to answer questions in the oral section of the English paper
- An English Language expert, Akeem Lasisi thought about how to handle consonant challenges, vowel sounds, stress and rhyme
- He urged the UTME candidates to always read and pronounce the given options before picking their answers
Lagos state - An educationist, Akeem Lasisi, has shared tips on factors to watch out for in the oral aspect of the English paper in the forthcoming 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Lasisi urged UTME candidates to simultaneously undergo two processes when they get to the oral aspect of the English paper, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
UTME candidates should adopt 2 process style
As reported by The Punch, he said UTME candidates need to read and cautiously pronounce the given elements/options before picking their answers.
He explained that it is important because sounds matter a lot in the phonetics and phonology tests.
Lasisi advised UTME candidates to focus on the sound and not what they see in the JAMB question.
How to deal with consonant challenge in UTME English
He also advised candidates on how to deal with questions on speech sounds, especially consonants and vowels.
He reminded candidates that it is not just about what their eyes see, but also what the mouth pronounces. So, they should articulate both the given sound and the one you are looking for.
Secondly, a good number of silent consonants in English. These include W in how show and wrinkle; T in hasten, wrestle and listen; B in the womb, comb and debt; and K in knight, knotty and knowledge. So, the way the given expressions are said greatly matters.
Also, beware of consonants with similar appearances but different pronunciations. These include words with TC (watch, hatch, match); CH (chance, charm, church); SH (show, shout, wash); S (strong, astute, assign) and Z (zoom, puzzle and was).
How to handle vowel sounds in UTME English
UTME candidates are reminded not to forget the clash between long and short vowels.
Relatedly, don’t mix pure vowels with diphthongs. While a pure vowel contains just one vowel sound, a diphthong is a sound that combines two vowels. Pure vowels include those you have in spot, but and hit while the ones in spoil, buy and high are diphthongs.
Stress and rhyme
Firstly, emphatic stress is recurrent. UTME candidate's understanding of common sense and logic is required alongside their knowledge of stress and intonation.
In the rhyme sub-section, candidates' focus should be on the last syllable/sound of the term. They are to identify the option whose last syllable sounds like that of the given one.
UTME candidates are once again reminded not to be deceived by words with similar letters/spellings because they may not end with the same sounds.
12 states with highest 2024 UTME applications
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the top 12 states with the highest number of 2024 UTME applications have emerged.
Three south-west states Oyo, Ogun and Osun top the list and were closely followed by Imo and Delta state.
While Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara and the FCT are the states with the lowest applications in the 2024 UTME
.. Source: Legit.ng
