It is common knowledge that English is considered a not-so-serious topic of discourse, matter of concern, or course of study in these parts. The assertion “English is not our mother tongue”, otherwise rendered in popular Nigerian pidgin as “English no be our papa language”, although possessing an iota of truth, is inherently faulty. I say this because English, through various forms of trade, colonization, religion, and so on has come to stay and remains a huge part of the future. West African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Gambia amongst others, over the years, have been involved in the use of English language across local and international lines, even as non-native speaking communities. This is necessitated by the advancement of English as a notable global language. The language contact between English and other native languages of Africa have given rise to diverse national varieties of the language, which serves various purposes across board with a continuous process of evolution.
This, of course, would mean that different language scholars have, for the longest time, been concerned with and involved in studies and research in English language to achieve near-native competence. For language newbies or high school leavers looking to a future or career in fields with huge dependence on language and communication, the academic interest, likewise, has spread like wild fire. Institutions of higher learning such as universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education continually record high influx of students admitted yearly into English departments. While the excitement and expectations of these students are at a record high, for the larger percentage of the quota, these are rather met with disappointment sooner or later due to the difficulties they encounter along the way, sometimes insurmountable as they may appear. Whereas many outsiders (let’s call non-English students this) consider English to be a rather simple course of study, those who wear the shoes know best where it pinches. It is safe to say at this point, dear reader, that English studies is not for the weak. Therefore, despite the systemic challenges with infrastructure, learning resources, and the limitation of personnel which we cannot deny, the search for personal learner-tips and all forms of valuable information that could come in handy as a guide for students of English to get it right, continues from year to year, an endless journey. It is these meaningful tips that this article outlines and discusses clearly in your favour, and by extension, in favour of your friends who may be students of English at the time, or prospective English scholars. I hope it reaches just as far.
English Studies is for Readers: This first point may be a difficult pill to swallow, but it is a given. The majority of students of English do not excel at it because they have not cultivated a healthy reading culture, and sometimes, are not even willing to make the effort. The course is naturally a reading-and-research focused one, filled with lots of texts, academic articles, journals, and other materials. Several concepts and issues are presented and examined from multiple standpoints. Consequently, there is always a lot to be read and plenty of investigation to be carried out. A student who wishes to excel in English studies must take interest in reading, and even building upon existing strengths in this area, as this invaluable skill would broaden the information base and the mind of the student, which would eventually lead to the provision of richer answers during examinations and other grading exercises.
Reading Must Evolve into Studying: While a good reading culture may be a prerequisite for success in English studies, it is not sufficient in itself to guarantee success. Reading must progress to studying, which is a more focused endeavour. Many English students are readers, but not so many study as they really should. Students must pay attention to salient details while studying, make marks where necessary (by either highlighting or underlining), read and re-read certain important paragraphs, internalize key factors or points as they are encountered, compare and contrast information that presents itself differently in various materials and be open-minded. Students who will succeed are those who are open to listening to different worldviews and acknowledging them, even if they do not necessarily accept or subscribe to them.
Poor Planning and Time Management: There is truly no fire-brigade scholarship in English studies. Even in instances where we tend to see good academic performances with the semblance of a rushed approach, it is indeed not the whole picture that we see. Prior to the time of examinations, some sort of preliminary effort would have been put in, or preparation would’ve been done. English students must start studying very early, in the academic year, setting goals and breaking the study load into bits using the popular SMART acronym (Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Relevant-Time bound). When the examinations come, it would be difficult to rush through all the work there is to do, and to expect that one would have achieved proper understanding and retention of all the needed information is to lie to oneself. I will also like to mention at this point that cramming, for English students, is not the way out. It is a tool that would eventually disappoint you if you depend on it for survival. At best, cramming would keep you at average, and there would really be no seat for you at the table of the high flyers. This article has been put together for those who are interested in the membership of the high flyers club.
Dominance of Mother Tongue: The mother tongue is the first language (L1)—Igbo, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Hausa, Ijaw, Ibibio, and so on—acquired by a child, who then grows to become a student of English years later. Although English language is later learned, for many persons, the effects of language contact such as code-mixing and code-switching come into play. This further strengthens the mother tongue interference which occurs when students speak English. A scholar of English must make deliberate effort to keep a good balance and curb all forms of interference, as failure to do so would impede success in speech or writing. Interference would mainly affect production or perception with regards to phonological analysis and others, where sound production and perception is a major part of English scholarship.
One-sided Responses to Questions: Marks would be lost if one-sided responses are given when answering examination or test questions, even during presentations of any kind. It is expected of students of English to explore widely theories and the proponents, the kernel of these theories, the methods, rules, models, frameworks, systems and whatnot that cut across periods, linguistic environments, communities and groups. There is almost no topic or issue in English language that cannot be examined from different valid points of view, and even in cases where the answer may be focused on a particular feature, making mention of some other related matters in your essay usually attracts marks. EVERY ANSWER IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT IS AN ESSAY AND THE RULES MUST APPLY. In addition, examination questions are typically structured in ways such that the student must draw input from more than one text or source to give a balanced answer. Failure to do this would further attract loss of marks.
Lack of Examples or Illustrations: Many students share their thoughts on issues and just take the easy way out. This is a very popular own goal in this course of study. Considering the applicability and relatability of English language, it would be challenging to deem successful any work or academic rendition that does not present sufficient valid examples or illustrations. To excel at English studies, the student must be armed with, and must put to proper use as many examples and illustrations as possible to convince the examiners that he or she understands the idea being sold. Graphical or diagrammatic representations are indispensable. Proper data presentation and analysis as time allows, and transcriptions as in cases of phonological studies (oral English), would always be an invaluable addition to the responses which students of English turn in.
Bad Punctuation: While issues such as punctuation, proper capitalization and so on may not matter much to students of other fields, these are very pertinent matters when it comes to English studies. As a matter of fact, they are as relevant as the entire answer presented in any essay, as they make reading and comprehension easier, even possible in some instances. Many students of English do not have a good grasp of punctuation best practices, and this is a huge deficit when essays are graded. Every student must make deliberate effort to practice correct punctuation if he or she must excel.
Distortion of the Rules of Concord and Agreement: As basic as this may seem, it continues to be a challenge to many students. Subject-verb agreement is a definitive factor in proper English usage and singular subjects must go with singular verbs, as plural subjects must likewise take on plural verbs. Mixing both would always be a drawback for the student. Correct usage of English tenses is also a popular challenge which must be checked.
Poor Organization of Essays and Lack of Cohesion: Essays by English students must be properly organized with correct choice of words, grammatical sentences, and paragraphs. Haphazardly-presented information is usually frowned at by examiners and does not even appear appealing on paper or in print. This goes to say that much attention may not be paid to your work if the examiner is irritated by the outlook of it. This would only lead to low marks being awarded to you, if any. There should also be cohesion which is the action or fact of forming a united whole; the sticking together of particles of the same substance. Your essay must have a natural flow from the opening paragraph, through the body, to the closing paragraph. Connectives like firstly, thereafter, consequently, as a matter of fact, therefore, however, finally, and others are very effective in achieving this.
Keeping Your Opinion to Yourself: Students of English who hope to make excellent grades must not be economical with their opinions and views. Many students of English tend to hold back due to low self-esteem or poor confidence levels, and this typically does more harm than good. The examiners find it thrilling when students, though surrounded by multiple suggestions and propositions, air their own views. The student as a scholar in his or her own rights must learn to express his or her own concerns, analyze data, propose new methods or ways of looking at issues, and present relevant findings that will be meaningful contributions to knowledge. Furthermore, in order to excel, the student must feel free to make recommendations for further research, alternative approaches to studies, and vice versa, provided they are significant, applicable, and possess the potential to solve certain linguistic challenges.
Failure to Proof-read the Entire Essay: Many students poorly manage the time available to them and end examinations by just making their submissions. This has proven to be a recipe for disaster, especially in the English department where every I must be crossed and every T must be dotted. A lot of errors can be spotted and corrected if students allocate time, however little, in their planning to proof-read their essays before final submission. Every student ought to make this a compulsory part of the process, a procedure that must be not be left undone.
Frankly speaking, I am quite certain that students of English who encounter this article, as well as those with general interest in the topic, would experience a performance boost if the points discussed in this article are taken seriously. Poor preparation, they say, is still preparation, and there would always be a result. Furthermore, even the saying that “knowledge is power” has been contested in recent times, with progressive thinkers saying that the power of knowledge is only truly activated when knowledge is applied.
I hope that beyond being an essay that is read in passing, you make this article your personal guide and a guide also for your friends and fellow scholars.
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