DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Ministry of University and Higher Education

Teacher Training College TTC/ UVIRA

Section of Letters and Humanities

Department of English and African Culture

Composition II

Credit: 2

Designed and taught by Lecturer Raphael Bukuru

Contacts: (+243)976042748,

raphaelbinkyubwa2020@gmail.com

Academic Year: 2023-2024

GLOBAL COURSE AIMS

This course is designed to expose you to the different kinds of compositions. Its goal is to:
 a) enable you to have a broad understanding of some types of
compositions in English.
b) introduce you to the technical details involved in the different
compositions.
c) encourage you (through tutor-marked assignments) to write some of
these compositions.
d) equip you with specialised skills for different kinds of
compositions.
e) make you an effective communicator who will be able to contribute to
national development in all areas of human endeavour.

COURSE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The objectives of a course are the things you are expected to be able to do at the end of the
course. These objectives will guide you when going through the study and they will also
help you in self-assessment and where you need to improve on your learning and study
habits. By the end of this course, you will be able to:
• identify the basic principles of good writing and applying in your
compositions
• discuss the stylistic varieties in the different forms of compositions
depending on the context.
• describe the technical details involved in the different kinds of
compositions.
• attempt the practice exercises that will enable you to demonstrate your
acquired skills on composition writing

COURSE OUTLINE

Unit1 : Some Basic Principles Of Good Writing

Unit 2 : Minutes Of Meeting
Unit 3: Report Writing
Unit4 : Writing A Long Essay

UNIT 1 SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GOOD WRITING

0.1 INTRODUCTION

This unit will introduce you to some basic principles of good writing in English. This unit is
more of a revision of most of the things you have learnt before. You will benefit a lot from
this course if you try as much as possible to take note of the little things that make for good
writing. In this course as a whole, your ENG 101 (Module 2) will be a very useful and good
companion. In language learning in general, a lot of repetition

is necessary for good mastery of the relevant concepts and ideas. So, do not be surprised if
you come across some things you have learnt before.

Writing is societal. The stylistic varieties demonstrated in writing are contextual and depend
on the communities, relationships or groups involved. For example, giving an eye-witness’
account of a situation, giving a speech before an audience, making a report of a case, writing
an application letter for a job, taking down minutes of a meeting, all demand some level of
competence which you have to demonstrate for you to be able to function as expected on
specific occasions in the society. Your writing must conform to the conventions of form and
style although; at times you may need to expand that to be able to accommodate some
varieties of writing. A society is a complex institution with all kinds of practices and
assumptions about behaviours. Writing in the society, for the society or about the society has
a lot of social demands. To meet these demands, your use of language is very important.
This unit is designed to remind you of some of the basic language principles of good writing
which will help you in the various kinds of compositions that you have to write for this
course and later in life.

0.2. OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• identify the essentials of good writing

• construct good paragraphs

• identify what linkers and conjunctions are in English

• discuss how to use grammatical connective devices appropriately in your write-up.

1. The Paragraph

Some of the things which a reader needs to know about a paragraph are the aesthetic,
stylistic and functional aspects of it. A paragraph is aesthetic in terms of its appearance on
the page and what it conveys is recorded in your mind as you read. The stylistics of a
paragraph is seen in the internal patterns in terms of the sentence-by-sentence
connections,management of ideas, sentence length and types, and how it is punctuated and
arranged. The paragraph displays its functional value in terms of the content and how the
writer uses it to present his/her ideas on any issue.

There is no hard and fast rule about the length of a paragraph. You are at liberty to determine
the length and content of any paragraph you create while writing. You might have written a
page and you feel it is too long for you or your reader to hold your thoughts together. At that
point, you can look for a minor boundary where the separation of ideas can be easily done.
You must however make sure that there is, at least, a major point that can hold the other
minor points in the paragraph together.

This can be said to be the edited type of paragraph development because you have already
written a page or two before you start looking for convenient boundaries to separate the text
into paragraphs. Forming a paragraph in this way can be said to be a retrospective approach
to paragraph formation.

The other way to form a paragraph is a concurrent one. That is, developing it as you think
and write, having at the back of your mind the number of main points you want to develop
along with the number of paragraphs that goes along with it. You arrange and group your
points logically with appropriate connective devices. Some of these devices will be discussed
in this unit as well.

The concurrent system of paragraph development is a monitored one because you are
deliberately watching the length, the development of ideas and how a paragraph is linked
with anothers.

In the tutor-marked assignments, since you are writing on your own and you are likely to be
using a computer to write most of the time, you can use either of the two types, but in the
examination, the concurrent one is better because of time constraint. The concurrent one is
more natural in that you are conscious of the fact that you have to write with a monitored
mind in the presentation of a logical and psychologically sound argument or presentation.

1.1 How to Monitor the Growth of a Paragraph

In monitoring the growth of a paragraph, you need what is called compositional competence.
First and foremost, your mind must be in what you are writing. There are also some
rhetorical patterns that are instinctive and some of these have been acquired either through
intensive reading or extensive reading. Some of these patterns which are linking expressions
are also formally taught in classes at different levels of the educational ladder.

In writing, you need appropriate linking expressions to guide whoever is reading the write-up
later. By using appropriate linking expressions, you will be able to engage in useful sentence
connection and management of gaps between sentences through appropriate use of some
structural devices.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

How do you monitor the growth of a paragraph?

1.2. Some Grammatical Connective Devices

Connective devices can be referred to as syntactic or structural devices made up of structural

items such as auxiliaries, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, demonstratives, articles etc.
Functionally, the connections can be in the form of substitution, conjunction, ellipsis etc.
Some of these are discussed below.

1.3. Substitution

Substitution is a device for abbreviating and avoiding repetitions. Pro-forms such as; same,
so, too, any, each, neither, same, none, then, and pronoun references such as he, him, she,
her, hers, my, mine, we, ours, their, them can be used for substitution. Pro-forms and
pronouns can be used within a sentence and across sentences and various parts of the
sentence such as subject, object, verb, complement, adverbial, predicate, and whole
sentences. Below are examples:

a) Sule and Ismail pushed the car. They washed their clothes afterwards.

(Subject of the first sentence is substituted)

b) Bola broke the plate. Its broken pieces are still on the floor.

(Object of the first sentence is substituted)

c) Jane destroyed the wall pictures and did same to the window blinds.

(Verb of the first sentence is substituted)

d) The boy behaved irrationally. Such behaviour is unacceptable.

(Adverbial is substituted)

e) Moji drives a car. I think Tinu does so too.

(Whole predicate is substituted)

1.4. Conjunctions

Conjunctions see to the connection of sentences into meaningful units. They conjoin words
or phrases or clauses within the larger pattern of the sentence. There are two types of
conjunctions – coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions are
known as coordinators while subordinating conjunctions are known as subordinators. While
writing, you will need all these connective devices and that is why it is important that you go
through this section and master their use.
1.5. Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are of three major types – and, but and or. They link items of
strictly parallel grammatical status: The two items could be two nouns, two noun phrases or a
noun and a noun phrase. Below are examples:

And – signals a relationship of equal grammatical units.

e.g. - Aduke and Foluke gave presents to Bose.

(Aduke and Foluke are both nouns)

- Razak washed his clothes and Karim did same to his.

(Both sentences on either side of and are of equal status in terms of the subject and
predicator)

But – signals a relationship of contrast or difference between linguistic items. It is used to

join contrastive clauses.

e.g. - Tinu passed all her exams but her parents were not pleased with her grades.

- The manager received a lot of encomiums from his staff members but got rebuked
at the top management level. - We built our hope on him but he disappointed us.

Or – signals a relationship of choice between two items. It can be used to join two items
ranging from words to clauses.

e.g. - Either Kola or Yesufu is expected to be at the meeting. - You can come to
my house or meet me at the junction.

Some other markers of coordination may be correlatives such as both, either---or, neither ---
nor. These are referred to as correlatives because they function in pairs. For example:

1. Both Kola and Ajayi came.

2. We would prefer either Peter or Chima.

3. Neither Jane nor Bade came.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

What do coordinating conjunctions do?

1.5. Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions e.g. because, therefore, although, yet, while, since, where, when,
that, who, before, after, which, whom, etc. furnish us with reasons, conditions, provisions,
concessions or attach some indication of time to what we write.

Subordinators are used in the formation of non-simple sentences such as complex and
compound-complex sentences. Examples are:

1. When I arrived, I met the little old man.

2. Before I say anything at all, I’ll like to introduce the chairman.

3. After completing his first degree at the University of Ibadan, he left for the United
States of America.

4. The man who came in after you wrote The Gods are not to

Blame.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Mention some subordinating conjunctions.

1.6. Ellipsis

This is the omission of linguistic items that have been realised elsewhere in the sentence.
Ellipsis is used to avoid monotony or unnecessary repetition.

1.6.1 Types of Ellipsis

a) Anaphoric Referent

With anaphoric referent, the omitted item is referring backward to an earlier referent. Below
are examples: The empty spaces indicate where the linguistic items have been omitted.

1. The baby cries a lot at night but (…) sleeps well during the day.

(the baby is omitted)

2. She can dance but I don’t think she should. (…) (dance is

omitted)
3. I’m happy if you are. (…) (happy is omitted)

4. Kate is singing soprano because Joy won’t. (…) (sing soprano).

b) Cataphoric Referent

With cataphoric referent, the omitted item refers forwards. Below are examples:

1. While (…) working for the professor, he became a good typist.

2. Although (…) told to stop, he kept on running.

3. Not knowing what else (…) to do, Ade resigned from the meeting.

The omitted items could be nouns or pronouns like the ones in the second half of the
sentences.

c) Ellipsis of Subject

1. He sang and (…) danced at the party.

2. Bola couldn’t come but (…) sent her secretary.

3. He walked along the corridor, (…) saw the coins on the floor, (…) picked them up
and (…) went his way.

The empty spaces indicate where the ellipted subjects should have been inserted.

d) Ellipsis of Subject and Auxiliary

1. Kola has worked and (…) (…) put everything in place.

(Kola and has are omitted)

2. The chairman has written and (…) (…) presented the bill to the house. (The chairman
and has are omitted)

3. He has done the work and (…) (…) cleaned up the mess. (He and

has are omitted.)

e) Ellipsis of Predicate

The predicate refers to the group of items in a simple sentence or clause after the removal of
the subject. Below are examples:

1. Adeodu is playing baseball for his school and Peter (…) for his

club. (is playing baseball is omitted)

2. Sade will cook the meals this morning and Bola (…) tomorrow.

(will cook the meals is omitted)

3. Let’s meet the chairman today and (…) tomorrow.

Other types of ellipsis are those of

a. whole predication (group of items remaining when the auxiliary or operator has been
taken away from the predicate)

b. predicator

c. subject and predicator

d. adverbials

e. direct object and subject complement

Details of these can be got in Asiyanbola (2005). See details of references in the reference
section at the end of the unit.

1.7. Punctuation Marks

This is an aspect that you have been exposed to since you were in the primary school.
Nevertheless, you still need to go through the section to remind yourself of a few things
you might have forgotten about them.

Punctuation marks such as the Full Stop, Comma, Hyphen, Colon, Semi Colon, dashes,
etc. are important for good writing. The purpose of punctuation is to help you present
your ideas clearly and effectively. Punctuation marks must be used only when necessary.
Please read up about punctuation marks in Babalola (2005). See details by checking the
reference materials at the end of this unit.
 SUMMARY

You have learnt from this unit that:

i.the concept of a paragraph is aesthetic, stylistic and functional.

ii.the internal structure of a paragraph is seen in terms of the sentence-by-sentence

connections, management of ideas, sentence length and types, how it is punctuated, and
arranged.

iii.there is no hard and fast rule about the length of a paragraph.

iv.forming a paragraph could be in two ways –retrospective approach and concurrent

approach.

v.compositional competence is important in monitoring the growth of a paragraph.

vi.conjunctions conjoin words or phrases or clauses within the larger pattern of the
sentence. vii.coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or) link items of parallel grammatical
status.

viii.subordinators are used in the formation of non-simple sentences. ix.substitution is a

writing device where an item is replaced by another within or across sentences to avoid
undesirable repetition.

x.punctuation marks and capital letters are also important ingredients for good writing.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

With adequate examples, explain what you understand by ellipsis and identify some parts of
a sentence that can be omitted.

UNIT 2 : MINUTES OF MEETING

2.0. INTRODUCTION

In this unit, you will learn about the actual writing of minutes of meetings and you will be
given an example. Minutes are expected to be written in good and carefully chosen
expressions in English. If they are hand written in the minute book, they should be written in
clear handwriting that other people apart from the writer can read. It happens at times that the
secretary or the person who took the meetings is unavoidably absent and someone else is
chosen to stand in for the secretary by first reading the minutes. In such a situation, the
person reading should have no problem reading the minutes in the absence of the writer.
Minutes have their own organisational structure and this should be followed so that there can
be adequate documentation of the report. In the next section, you will be introduced to the
general organisation of minutes.

Organising your minutes of meeting very well helps in the understanding and search for
particular bits of information from the minutes. There are some things that should be in the
minutes of meetings and these are the things that will be discussed in this section. They are:

1. Title

2. Attendance/Membership

3. Preliminary discussion

4. Adoption of the minutes of the last meeting

5. Matters arising

6. Items for consideration

7. Adjournment

8. Endorsement by the chairperson

All these will be discussed under Main Content.

2.1. OBJECTIVE

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

 identify the organisational structure of minutes  describe how

minutes of meetings are arranged  write out a sample minutes of an
imaginary meeting.

2.2. MAIN CONTENT

A good format to follow in the writing of minutes is as indicated in the introduction and
below. Just as mentioned in Module 1 Unit 2, a notice of meeting has to be passed
round to the members before the meeting. This notice has to indicate the title, name of
the club, society or institution, date, venue, time, convener, agenda etc. It is also
important to note that whoever is developing the section on matters arising, should
number it e.g. Minute 1,2,3,4 etc depending on how the items were recorded.

2.1 Title

At a glance, there should be a clear indication of the group holding the meeting, at what
place, and time and for what purpose. Below is an example.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF ACADEMIC STAFF UNION

OF UNIVERSITIES– (ASUU) AGBA OSELU UNIVERSITY

BRANCH, ILE-IFE, NIGERIA HELD ON TUESDAY,

DECEMBER 15, 2007 AT AUDITORIUM 1, HUMANITIES BLOCK 1, AGBA

OSELU UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE.

2.2 Attendance/Membership

This section is a highlight of the names of all those who were present at the meeting. It also
indicates those who were absent (with or without permission). If there are new
members/observers etc, this will be indicated here as well. Below is an example:

2.2.1 Membership

2.2.1.1 Present

1. Mr. J.A. Adigun Chairman

2. Mr. O.O. Ogungbe

3. Mr. J.S. Otunbo

4. Mr. J.B. Jumbo

5. Mr. O.B. Jegede

6. Mr. A.A. Fabusuyi

7. Mr. O.O. Adeojo Secretary

2.2.1.2 Absent (with Permission)

1. Mrs. J.A. Oni

2.2.1.3 Absent (without Permission)

1. Engineer O.O. Alebiosu

2. Chief O.O. Ogunleye

3. Mr. O.O. Adelaja

2.2.1.4 In Attendance

1. Mrs. J.O. Bolarinwa (Town planner)

2. Mrs. O.O. Ojo (Business woman)

It could also be a list of all the members, indicating absentees with abs, abswa or *, **, ***
in the margin. Abswa means absent with apology.

2.3 Preamble

This is not a compulsory part or feature of minutes of meetings. It can be included in the
minutes if the chairperson makes some preliminary remarks by welcoming members,
introducing a new member or visitor, giving apologies for lateness or apologies sent in by
members, etc. Remarks on a member’s new status, addition to a family or news of
bereavement could also be included in this section. The preamble usually takes place before
the meeting proper.

2.4 Adoption of Minutes of the Previous Meeting

There are two ways of distributing the minutes of a previous meeting. The first one is by
getting it ready and sending it to members before the day of the next meeting so that
members will enable to go through and have their comments ready for the meeting. In this
way, time will not be wasted reading through the minutes. The chairperson calls for any
observation on the minutes. If there are none, he then calls for the adoption of the minutes.

The other way which is common in most organisations, societies, or high school staff
meetings is the method of reading the minutes of the last meeting while members are seated.
The members are advised to listen attentively while the secretary or any other designated
person reads the minutes.
While going through the minutes or having gone through the minutes, observations such as
the following can be taken and addressed:

a. omission of a member’s name

b. misspelt names

c. mis-representation by the secretary, etc.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Discuss three important sub-headings that have to be in the minutes of meetings.

2.5 Matters Arising

In this section, the chairperson does a follow-up on the assignments given to members or
report on actions taken on some issues that had been previously discussed. This section
emphasises the need for members to work on the implementation of decisions taken at
meetings so that the society or organisation can move forward. For example, the following
can be part of what is discussed at a meeting:

Chairperson: Mr Adagunodo was asked to see to the purchase of

a new piece of land for the building of a new business office complex for the
society. Can you please give us a

report on that?

Mr Adagunodo: Thank you Mr Chairperson. I visited the surveyor and he promised to

release the land on the condition that we pay the amount for the land
once.

Chairperson: Do we all agree to do that?

Members: Yes.

In taking the minutes of such a meeting, the secretary can write that the members agreed to
pay for the proposed piece of land upfront.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

What is the importance of the section on matters arising?

2.6 New Items for Consideration

In this section, the chairperson takes the members through the new items listed for
discussion and consideration at the meeting (that is, the list of items to attend to). These
may include, for example:

a) members’ participation at their old students’ founder’s day celebration (for an

association)

b) application for sabbatical leave for some members of a department ( institution )

c) discussion of the new year budget (Ministry or parastatal)

d) promotion cases (institution, etc.)

2.7 AOB (Any Other Business)

At times members have some observations, contributions or requests which have not been
listed as part of the agenda for the day. Such comments or contributions can be discussed and
recorded in this section.

2.8 Adjournment

This is a move to bring the meeting to a close. After all items on the agenda might have been
discussed, the chairperson can then call for an adjournment of the meeting. This should be
moved by a member and supported by at least another member. For example, the secretary
could write:

The adjournment of the meeting was moved by Mr. A.O. Ajayi and supported by Mr. A.K.
Akamo. The meeting came to a close at exactly 6.45 pm.

2.9 Endorsement

Spaces must be created at the end of the minutes for the secretary and chairperson to put their
signatures and date. Below is an example:

Signature/Date Signature/Date

Secretary Chairperson
2.10. Sample Minutes of Meeting

MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE

NIGERIA NATIONAL BOOKFAIR, WESTERN ZONE, HELD AT AGBA OSELU
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ODE-IRELE ON JANUARY 19, 2007

3.10.1 Attendance

Mr. Ade Fatomilola Chairman

Dr. G.A. Adeowo

Mrs. O.M. Olaoba

Mr. T.A. Agbakuru Secretary

Dr. M.A. Adetayo

Mrs. B.J. Adeojo

Mr. O.M. Bintu

Alhaji O.T. Balewa

2.10. 2 Preamble

The meeting started at 12.15p.m with a prayer by Mrs Olaoba. The Chairperson reported that
Mrs Dada and Dr Adetayo sent in apologies for their absence. He also reported that Mr
Olorunwa would join us at the Vice Chancellor’s office at 2.00 p.m.

2.10.3 Adoption of Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on July 20, 2007 were read through by members. The
motion for the adoption was moved by Mrs Olaoba and it was seconded by Mr Bintu.

2.10.4 Matters Arising

2.10.4.1 Publicity

Mr Jide Omisola was being expected to give details of his plans. Members reiterated the
earlier decisions on publicity to go out early enough, get more posters pasted and handbills
well distributed aside the usual newspapers, TV and radio advertisement.
2.10.4.2 Cultural Activities

Dr Kola Adeowo apologised for not being able to attend the last meeting. He brought and
submitted his plans as well as the financial implication of the programme he drew up. It was
being planned that Irele Outreach Performers would perform at the opening ceremony while
a full length play would be fixed for one of the nights during the Book Fair. The total cost
was put at about N95, 000.

2.10.4.3 Children’s Programme

Mrs Olaobaju said that she was still working on the activities for the children’s programme.
She promised to package it up and submit soonest.

2.10.4.4 Lectures

Prof. Eniayekan and others would be contacted on the lectures as planned. It was also
reported that Mrs Odunsi already saw the Principal Personal Secretary (PPS) to the Odia
State Governor, and that there was every hope that the government would be adequately
represented at the Book Fair. The Ministry of Education had also been contacted.

2.10.5 New Items for Consideration

The following items were listed for consideration

2.10.5.1 Topics for the Seminar Session and Key note Speaker

Members discussed the need to inform the keynote speaker and other discussants concerning
the following topics:

a) The Role of Children in Functional Education.

b) Children and Functional Education.

c) The Role of Government in Functional Education.

2.10.5.2 Visit to the Vice Chancellor

The visit to the Vice Chancellor scheduled for 2.00pm was discussed and finalised. Members
agreed to visit the Vice Chancellor at the appointed time to discuss the possibility of getting
some financial support for the programme.
2.10.5.3 Date for the Next Meeting

The date for the next meeting was tentatively fixed for January 21st 2007

2.10.6 Adjournment

In the absence of any other thing to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 1.40 p.m. to give
members enough time to prepare for the visit to the Vice Chancellor.

2.10.7 Endorsement

……………………………. ……………………….

Secretary Chairperson

SUMMARY

In this study unit, you have learnt that:

i. minutes are expected to be written in good and carefully chosen expressions in

English

ii. anybody reading the minutes of a meeting should have no problem reading it in the
absence of the writer.

iii. organising your minutes very well helps in the understanding and search for particular
bits of information from the minutes.

iv. minutes of meetings have a format which can be adjusted occasionally for
convenience

v. a notice of meeting has to be sent out before the actual meeting.

vi. endorsement of minutes of meetings by the secretary and the chairperson after it has
been adopted is important.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

You can practise writing the two questions in this tutor-marked assignment but submit only
one to your tutorial master.

1. Using examples of your own, illustrate how minutes of meetings should be organised.
2. Is it true that minutes of meetings are verbatim reports of meetings?

UNIT 3: REPORT WRITING

3.0 INTRODUCTION

Curtin University of Technology (in its write-up on report writing) sees

a report as a structured written presentation directed to interested readers in response to some

specific purpose, aim or request. Reports give information on an assignment or research that
has been completed. This is an exercise we all engage in daily at home, in our places of work
and other places whether verbally or in written form. Students could be asked to give a report
on an experiment done. A government official may be asked to inspect a sight and give a
report of the assessment of the situation.

There are several kinds of reports. You have technical, business, engineering, accounting,
financial information, technology and police reports. The assignments for which reports are
required are set in form of a task, a problem or a case study. An individual may be asked to
research a problem, visit a particular site or go through some documents and then write a
report on the observations or notes the person has taken based on what has been researched
into and analysed.
ENG 224 ADVANCED ENGLISH COMPOSITION II

There must be a problem to analyse and a report of that analysis which is expected to give
beneficial information to those concerned. In short, a report may give account of
something or offer a solution to a problem or answer a question. Reports are different from
ordinary essays. A report has some specific features that have to be studied, researched
into and reported. In this study unit, you will be taken through the essential structure of
reports. When you go through the structure of essay writing, you will notice that there are
differences between essay writing and report writing.

3.1. OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• describe a report

• identify the specific purpose of reports

• identify and describe the component parts of report writing.

3.2. Components of an Effective Report

There are so many things to look for in a report. Some of them are discussed in this
section.

An effective report is appropriate to its purpose and audience. This, in effect, means that
the writer should identify the reason for the report, the purpose and the audience. A report
should also be accurate, clear and well organised with appropriate sub-headings. At a
glance, a reader should be able to identify the section he wants to examine or go through in
the report. Reports also have a structure and standardised format which should be followed
as much as possible.

Curtin University of Technology notes some essential features of a good report. Some of
them are discussed below.

3.2.1 Transmittal Document

A transmittal document personalises the document for a particular reader drawing attention
to the part that really concerns that reader. A transmittal document is not part of the
document but accompanies the report. It can be in the form of a letter, memo or minute.

3.2.2 Title Page

There must be a title page which spells out what the report is about – that is, the subject
matter. The title page features the organisation, author’s name and position, authority for
report, place of origin, the date of receiving the report and the date of submission of the
report.
3.2.3 Foreword

It is important that someone who knows the genesis of the enquiry that led to the report
put in a word at the beginning so that readers can have an idea of what the problem was
that warranted the writing of the report.

3.2.4 Acknowledgements

In this section, there is an acknowledgement of all who contributed to the success of the
work. In addition, this section is also used to acknowledge the contributions of earlier
authors, if there are, whose works have influenced the writer’s contribution to the report.
Others such as the typist(s) and those who helped in collecting data and information for the
work can also be acknowledged in this section.

3.2.5 Table of Contents

This shows the section titles and major headings with the page locations (i.e i, ii, iii, 1, 2, 3,
etc.)

3.2.6 Table of Charts

This section indicates the locations of charts, diagrams, graphs as they appear in the report.

3.2.7 Abstract or Summary

This is a very brief summary of the report. After writing the body of the report, you need
to write the abstract. The abstract is a brief summary of the essential elements of the
report. The abstract covers the main points. In paper writing, most editors request between
150-200 words for an abstract. In report writing, an abstract of about 10-15% of the entire
length of the report should be written. The abstract should be compact and to the point.

3.2.8 Procedure for Collecting Data

This section spells out the procedure for collecting the data used for the report. Report data
can be collected through interviews, questionnaires, tests, experiments, recorded data,
telephone calls that can be confirmed through face to face interaction, e-mails, etc. The
procedure for analysis should also be spelt out in this section. This should state the total
amount of data collected, the sample used and rationale for the sample preferred.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

What are reports and what are the component parts of report writing?

3.2.9 Discussion and Findings

In this section, the discussion and the findings are discussed.

72
3.2.10 Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions are usually drawn at the end of reports from the findings and the
investigations done. Recommendations are the line of action to be taken based on the
conclusions drawn from the findings.

3.2.11 Appendix

There are some information that cannot be incorporated in the body of the report but which
are circumstantial evidences. These include materials like photographs, letters, statistical
details which may be difficult to include in the body of the work. All these will be in the
appendix at the end of the report.

3.2.12 Bibliography

This is a list of the books, journals, or reference materials consulted while writing the
report.

3.3. Types of Reports

Lekan Dairo (2001:178) notes that there are all kinds of reports and that reports are
required by initiators (companies, government establishments, etc.) to guide them in
making some important decisions or policy statements.

3.3.1. Periodic Report

Periodic reports are written at some specified intervals – e.g. weekly, termly, quarterly,
annually, etc. In hospitals, nurses write reports on patients in the wards but such reports
may not have all the necessary details as described above. Theirs is a daily report on the
medical condition of the patients under their care.

3.3.2 Progress Report

These are periodic or progress reports written at regular intervals. They are normally
written on the progress of a particular project for the duration of the period it is supposed
to last. This kind of report provides up-to-date account of the work in progress.

3.3.3 Investigative Report

This is based on authorised investigation. The body asking for such reports normally
prepare some terms of reference or guidelines for the writers of the reports. Such terms of
reference could include: causes, prevention, possible outcomes of some issues plaguing a
society or a community. Below is an example of terms of reference

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

73
Mention different types of reports that you have leant in this study unit and some others
that you have probably heard of and describe what they are used for.

3.4. Terms of Reference

The panel was given the following terms of reference:

a) To look into the causes of the fire outbreak at Aluta Market, Oba Akinwale
Memorial University, Are-Agbo on the 20th January 2008.

b) To make appropriate recommendations that will forestall future occurrences of fire

outbreak in the market.

c) To submit its report on or before the 28th February 2008.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this study unit, you have been introduced to report writing, the different kinds of reports
and the essential features of reports.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this study unit, you have learnt the following:

i.that reports give information on an assignment or research that has been completed.
ii.there are different kinds of reports. iii.a report should be accurate and well organised.
iv.reports have a standardised format which most writers follow.

v.a transmittal document personalises the document for a particular reader.

vi.the title page features the organisation, author’s name and position, authority for
report, place of origin, the date of receiving the report and the date of submission of the
report. vii.the abstract is a brief summary of the essential points.

viii.that the bibliography contains the list of all publications and works consulted.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What is a report and what do you understand by the following

terms – title page, transmittal document, abstract, terms of reference, periodic report, and
investigative report?

Here is an example an investigative of a report :

74
REPORT ON STUDENTS CRISIS ON OBA AWON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS,
ODE-IRELE, ERUOBODO STATE, NIGERIA

1. Abstract

On the 19th January 2007, a five-man panel was instituted to investigate the
causes of students’ unrest on the campus between 10 th and 12th January 2007 and
make recommendations on how to forestall future occurrences of students’ unrest
on the campus. The investigation revealed that the main cause of the unrest was
the inability of the University authority to provide some essential services such as
clean water and electricity supply for the students’ hostels. The disturbances
resulted in two members of staff of the University getting wounded by the
students and this led to their being hospitalised. It is recommended that the
University authority should without delay employ the services of commercial
tanker drivers for the supply of water on an hourly basis to students’ halls of
residence and empower the University power house with enough funds to operate
the available generators for the supply of electricity in the absence of power
supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. The University should also
make a release that, in future, students should make their complaints known to
the University instead of managing the situation by themselves.

2.Members of the Panel

a) Professor A.A Adeolu Dean of Students Affairs - Chairman

b) Dr. Ade Adegoke Head, Department of Human Relations

c) Dr. M.A. Olateju Head, Department of English

d) Dr. E. Egbonwon Lecturer, Department of Communication

Arts

e) Mrs. O.O. Ogunwo Head, Maintenance Department –

Secretary

3. Terms of Reference

The five man panel was given the following terms of reference:

a) to find out the cause(s) of the students unrest at Oba-Awon University, Ode-Irele
between 10th – 12th January 2007 and the havoc wrought while it lasted.

75
b) to recommend solutions to the problem of lack of good water
supply and electricity to the students; hostels.

c) to submit its report within two weeks from the date of its first

Sitting

4. Methodology

a) The panel interacted with the following persons:

i) Students in different students’hostels ii) Students wounded

during the crisis

iii) Members of staff hospitalised at the University health

centre

iv) The public relations officers of the University

vi) The head, maintenance department

b) The panel visited the power house, the University water dam and the
students’hostels.

c) The panel also visited the wounded students and members of staff at the State
Hospital.

5. Findings

The following were the findings of the panel:

a) The cause of the students’ unrest was lack of water and electricity supply to the
students’hostels.

b) Three days before the crisis, students had been going to fetch water from the only
borehole in the students’ hostel in one of the halls

c) The pumping machine of the borehole broke down and students could no longer get
water to bathe and wash.

d) The quality of the little water coming from the taps in the halls was not good
enough. The colour was brown which shows that it had not been purified.

76
e) The electricity supply was epileptic and dull. The students could not read or cook
with it.

f) Some of the students also went to the power house in annoyance to protest against
poor power supply. In the process, two members of staff of the power house were
rough-handled by the students which led to their being hospitalised at the State

Hospital.

g) Five of the students were wounded and some windows of Hall 4 got broken while
the students were struggling for water in their hostel.

h) The five wounded students were given first aid treatment at the University Health
Centre.

6. Conclusions

a) Water supply to students’hostels is not adequate.

b) Electricity supply to students’halls is also not good enough.

c) Many of the water pipes carrying water to students’ hostels are already damaged
and rusty.

d) Many of the security/search lights in students’ hostels and those on the paths
leading to the hostels are no longer functioning.

7. Recommendations

The members of the panel therefore recommend the following:

a) The damaged water pipes leading to the students’ hostels should be replaced
immediately.

b) Work on the generators at the University water dam should commence immediately
so that students’ hostels can be supplied with clean water.

c) Materials for the purification of water for use should be purchased immediately.

d) The power house should be empowered financially for better generation and supply
of electricity.

Thank you for the opportunity given us to serve.

77
Yours Faithfully,

Ogunwo Olujimi

Secretary,

Panel on the January 2007 Students’ crisis at Oba-Awon University, Ode Irele, Eruobodo
State.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Why must you revise your report before sending it out to readers?

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, we have been able to deal with the practical aspects of writing a report by
looking at the planning, writing and revision stages.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this study unit, you have leant that:

i. in planning to write a report, you need to take note of four things – the purpose,
audience, terms of reference, and fact finding.

ii. in writing a report, you need to introduce the subject matter by writing the
background information. iii. the discussion comes after all the investigations and
researches on the work must have been done. iv. the abstract is a brief summary of
the essential elements of the report and it covers the main points.

v. you do not send out a report without going through for spelling or other errors which
might have occurred during the preparation of the report.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Attempt any one of the questions.

1. You were an eye-witness to the robbery that occurred at your branch in a bank. As
a staff member, write a report of the incidence to the head office under suitable
headings, inventing names and details as necessary.

2. There is a reported case of mismanagement of funds in an establishment. You are

one of the auditors of the company and you have been asked to investigate the case
and give a report. Write a report to be submitted to the director of the
establishment.

78
UNIT4 : WRITING A LONG ESSAY

4.0 INTRODUCTION

We have been working on different types of writings. Here is another one that is both
specialised and technical. You need to learn the skills and practise them. This study unit
will try to introduce you to this specialised type of writing but you will need to go through
the references so that you can learn more because we may not be able to go through
everything in this study unit.

A long essay is a piece of academic work in which students are asked to write on a specific
topic. Long essays are usually required for first degrees. Aremo (1997) also refers to long
essays as special reports on pieces of academic research. Long essays are usually
submitted by students in tertiary institutions such as universities, colleges of education, and
polytechnics for the award of various degrees. Some other pieces of academic work done
by students in tertiary institutions are theses and dissertations. Theses are done by post
graduate students for the award of a master’s degree while dissertations are done for the
award of a doctoral degree.

As a student you need to get prepared and get equipped for this exercise which you will
eventually have to face towards the end of your course and at postgraduate level, if you
decide to go for postgraduate studies.

Writing a long essay or dissertation is not a child’s play. You need both mental and
physical preparation. Some of what you need to do before you get started and what you
need to do after you have started will be discussed in this study unit and the next one.

4.1. OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

 describe a long essay, theses and dissertation  itemise the

essential features of a long essay  describe a proposal.

4.2. MAIN CONTENT

When you get to your final year in your institution or you are on your postgraduate studies,
you need to write a long essay, a thesis or a dissertation. You must however write it under
supervision. This means that you need a supervisor.

1 Supervision

Different institutions have different means of choosing supervisors for their students. Some
institutions appoint supervisors for their students while some allow students to choose
whoever they feel they can work with, depending on the area of study. Some institutions
even insist that the names of supervisors be put against the names of intending candidates
79
before the postgraduate school can ratify the admission. This is to prevent a situation
where the department may not have enough hands for supervision of PG students thereby
making the students to spend more than the required time on the programme.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Differentiate between long essays, theses and dissertations.

2. Getting a Research Topic

You need a research topic for a long essay, thesis or dissertation and the topic has to be
approved by an appointed supervisor. You can get a research topic through any of the
following ways:

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Discuss two ways by which you can get a research topic.

3. The Supervisor

A supervisor can be of immense help in getting a research topic. If you interact with your
supervisor, he/she can give suggestions on a topic. The supervisor can suggest directly or
give materials that you can read which will inspire you or prompt a topic in you.
Immediately a topic occurs to you, you must share the idea with your supervisor who will
look through and tell you whether it is researchable or not. Do not hide anything from your
supervisor.

Another reason why you need to show your supervisor your topic is that, a topic may be
researchable but has been done by someone else in that same institution or another one
which the supervisor knows about. In that case, the supervisor will be in a better position
to advise you on the topic. The supervisor may say that even though someone has done
something on the topic, you can still approach the topic from another angle. In that case,
you will not be doing exactly the same thing as the other person.

4. Library

A candidate can visit the library and go through many books, articles and works done in an
area of interest. A student can even go through theses that have been submitted in previous
years so that he/she can have an idea of the kind of work that has been done in various
areas of discipline. This can be an eye-opener for a research topic. At whatever stage you
have the break through concerning a research topic, make sure you discuss it with your
supervisor so that you can both agree on the methodology of doing the work. We are
spending so much time on how to get a research topic because this has been problematic
for most students recently. At times some of them spend over one year thinking and
looking for a research topic at the end of which they put the blame of their inability to
finish on time on the supervisor or the institution.

80
It is even advisable for undergraduates to try and identify their areas of interest while going
through the different lectures before they get to their final year so that it will not be
difficult for them to find a topic when the time is ripe for long essay writing. PG students
are also advised to do the same by trying to identify their areas of interest as they go
through the different courses during the first and second semesters when they are on their
coursework.

For most undergraduates, there are two approaches to long essays depending on the
amount of time they have. The first approach is that they do a library research work. This
means that the topic they have chosen can be written up by using materials from the
library. It means they are not involved in any field work. The other one is one that
involves field work. Which means that the data they are using will be the product of
researches carried out on their immediate community or through their interactions with
people. With this kind of research, you still need the library while writing up your findings
and literature review.

5. Examples of Research Topics

The research topic you choose should not involve too much otherwise you will not be
able to finish at record time or you can end up doing a shoddy job. That is what usually
happens to those who bite more than they can chew. So, you should try as much as
possible not to choose a topic that is too wide or too broad. For example, the topic below
will be too wide to cover within a short time. ‘Errors in General Olusegun Obasanjo’s
speeches’

The topic above looks short and simple but it is not, in the sense that it is too wide.

1. The speeches of Obasanjo are many, so you can not possibly go through all the
speeches.

2. Errors are of different kinds, so you can not work on all the errors.

You can select a particular speech because they are always long. You

have to select which of the errors you want to work on. Is it grammatical, semantic, lexical
or what? When you are trying to do this you are delimiting the topic

You can, therefore, delimit the topic above to read:

A Pragmatic Interpretation of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s

Inaugural Speech to the National Political Reform Conference.

With the above topic, you have the particular speech you want to analyse and you also
have the particular area of English language you want to examine. This is a manageable
topic.

Below are examples of some other delimited topics.

81
1. The linguistic features of letters exchanged between President Olusegun Obasanjo
and Professor Wole Soyinka

The number of letters involved here would definitely not be many. So going through them
would not be difficult.

2. Conversation analysis of language use in the Osun State House of Assembly

This topic can still be delimited to include the particular sessions the writer wants to use
and for which period of time. Is it for a whole year, for three months or for which number
of years? Parliamentarians always have a lot to say, so going through all their proceedings
would definitely be a hard task for a research topic.

3. Discourse features in selected sermons in Nigerian Churches

This topic still needs further delimitation in that there are many preachers in Nigeria and
the writer has not included the name(s) of the preachers whose sermons he wants to work
on. The topic would read better thus:

Discourse features in selected sermons of Pastor E.A. Adeboye in Nigerian Churches

His sermons in non-Nigerian churches may have some other peculiar discourse features.

A topic such as:

4. The Grammatical Problems of Secondary School Learners of English in Eruobodo State

is definitely too wide in scope for a long essay, theses or even a dissertation. This is
because, if the state is a large state that has many secondary schools, going through the
secondary schools will be too much a task for a single research work. Apart from this,
grammatical problems are many. It may not be possible going through all of them for a
group of schools, not to mention a whole state. The topics can be delimited thus:

Common Tense Errors in the Written English of Secondary School Students in Ode- Irele.

Grammatical Errors in the Written English of Secondary School

Students in Ode-Irele.

These topics can still be delimited further otherwise you will have too much data to cope
with. This is because the secondary schools in Ode-Irele may still be too many for you to
deal with. Not only that, classes one to six may be too many in all the schools. You may
have to choose one of the classes in some of the schools. The topics above can be re-
written as:

82
Grammatical Errors in the Written English of Selected Secondary School Students in Ode-
Irele.

Grammatical Errors in the Written English of J.S.S three Students in Ode Irele.

Grammatical Errors in the Written English of Selected J.S.S three Students in Ode Irele.

You can now think of a selection model to use in choosing the schools you want to use. It
could be any of the following:

Private/public schools

Town/village/suburb schools

Schools according to performance in public examinations Schools according to

gender i.e. boys only, girls only

You can use some other selection criteria depending on the environment the data is found.

We have taken so much time to dwell on the issue of topic selection and delimitation
because it is very crucial. If your topic is not well chosen or delimited you may have
problems with data collection, duration of the time for completion of the thesis, analysis of
the data etc. In addition to the above, your research topic must have something it wants to
contribute to knowledge or existing contributions of earlier scholars in that area of study.
You do not choose a topic because you want to. You must think about how the research
will benefit humanity on the long run.

6 . Writing a Proposal

A proposal is a plan of how you intend to carry out the research and the writing of the long
essay, theses or dissertation. This plan has to be approved by the supervisor before you
start the work. This is very important because occasionally, students’ plan or proposal may
not work out the way they think if it is too elaborate or if the topic has not been delimited.
There must be a set time-table for the commencement, progress and completion of the
work.

Below are some of the essential features of a proposal.

Title page

Table of contents

Abstract

Introduction

83
Methodology

Timetable for completion

Trial table of contents of proposed long essay Bibliography

a) Title Page

This is where the title of the proposed long essay, the student’s full name, the purpose, and
the date the student is submitting the proposal are all written. Below is an example:

ADVERBIAL TENSE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE WRITTEN ENGLISH OF SELECTED

OBA AWON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BYMOJIRADE ADESOLA FABUSUYI

A Proposal for a Long Essay to be submitted in Partial

Fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in

English Language, Oba-Awon University 2008

b) Table of Contents

This section highlights the heading and page numbers of the different sections and
subsections. Below is an example of Table of Contents.

Table of Contents
Abstract------------------------------------------------------------ 1

i. Introduction----------------------------------------------- 2
1. Background to the Study------------------------ 4
2. Objectives of the Study-------------------------- 5
3. Research Questions------------------------------- 6
4. Scope of the Study-------------------------------- 7
5. Theoretical Framework-------------------------- 8
6. Expected contribution to knowledge----------- 1
1
ii. Methodology---------------------------------------------- 1
4
iii. Time table for completion------------------------------- 1
6
iv. Trial table of contents of the long essay---------------- 1
7
v. Bibliography------------------------------------------------ 1

84
c) Abstract

This is a short summary of the whole work in just a few words; usually not longer than a
page. Although it is normally written last, it comes immediately after the Table of
Contents in the arrangement of the long essay. An example is given below:

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the written work of some University undergraduates at
Oba-Awon University, Ode-Irele. The objective of the study is to identify the kinds of
adverbials that the undergraduates use in relation to the tenses and, in the light of the
findings, to make recommendations for improvement in the quality of English language
instructions given to undergraduates.

The data will be got from the answered scripts of 140 undergraduates in their final year
and analysed using David Crystal’s 2007 categorisation of adverbial groups in English.

The relative frequency of occurrence will be determined based on the total number of
occurrence of each group of adverbials on the total number of adverbials used by the
students. Recommendations can then be made based on the findings.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

What are some of the things you have to take into consideration concerning a research
topic?

d) Introduction

The introduction gives information on the background to the study, the objectives, some
research questions, the scope of the study, the theoretical framework and the expected
contribution to knowledge.

1. Background to the Study

It is important to discuss what prompted the study or why you think it is important at this
point in time to embark on such a study. For example, on our topic above, you can discuss
how the use of English by some university graduates have been defective and you feel that
tackling the problem while in the university would be a good idea. If you know of some
efforts that have been made over the years on improvement along such lines you can
mention them.

2. Aim/Objectives

These are the primary goals of the study. The aim is usually one- that is, the specific
problem you want to tackle while the objectives are the steps to be taken to achieve the
aim. For example,
85
Objectives:

a) to identify the various types of adverbials used by the undergraduates,

b) to categorise these adverbials/tenses intostructural/semantic groups,

c) to offer suggestions in the light of the findings for improvement in the quality of
university students of English.

3. Research Questions

This study will attempt to answer the following questions:

1. What kinds of adverbials do the undergraduates use most in their written English?

2. Are the students aware of the adverbials they do not use or is it that they do not
know how to use them?

3. How often do students use the adverbials with the tenses that have been identified?

Scope of the Study

You must let the reader know the scope of the study. That is, what you will be able to do
and what you may not be able to do. For example, you can have something like:

The scope of this study has been restricted to final year students of the Department of
English because of the need for in-depth study and analysis of the data----.

3.2 Theoretical Framework

You must make adequate reference to the linguistic concept related to the topic. In the
example we are using in this section, the tenses and adverbials are important. You must
read up relevant and current literature on both concepts and use them as the basis for your
discussion on the topic. In the introduction, there should be a section on tenses and another
on adverbials. With adequate review of literature of these linguistic concepts, your work
will have a theoretical base or framework. You should try to review the work of the scholar
that you feel is most appropriate for the work you are doing currently.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Explain what you understand by background to the study, scope and research questions.

3.3 Methodology

This is the section that deals with data collection and analysis.

86
3.3.1 Data Collection

The data for any form of research must be adequate. It must be both quantitative (enough)
and qualitative (must adequately represent the population you have chosen). Your data
must represent the different groups and sections of any representative data. For example,
our topic demands that we collect samples of the written work of English language
students at all levels but this may be an arduous task taking into consideration the time
limit. We therefore have to limit ourselves to final year students alone.
3.3.2 Selection from the Total Population

It is not possible to use all final year students and that is why we limited ourselves to
English language students alone.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

What are some of the things you should take into consideration under methodology?

3.4 Research Instruments

In this section, you have to mention what you used to get your data. You might have
conducted a written test or a series of tests for your subjects or you used a questionnaire,
interview, cassette recorder, etc. from which you transcribed the data before analysis. All
these have to be explained.
3.5 Timetable for Completion

The time table you provide must be a realistic one and you should try to adhere strictly to
it so that the work can be completed in record time. A sample of a timetable is given
below:

1 and 2 months :Reading around the topic

3 month : Literature review

4 month : Chapter one etc.

3.6 Table of Contents of Proposed Long Essay

The sections and subheadings of the long essay are almost the same as that of the proposal.
The sections that will be added to the main long essay later are the acknowledgements,
discussion of findings, conclusions, recommendations and appendices.

3.7 Bibliography

In this section, you have to list all the works you have referred to or the ones you went
through while writing the proposal. It is important that you refer to the source of your

87
information each time you use materials by other people or else you will be accused of
plagiarism which is a very serious offence. This section is also in the final long essay. If it
is only the works or books you used in the write up, then you should title the section
references. E.g.

Badejoko, A. (1982) The English Language in Nigeria, Journal of the Nigeria English
Studies Association, 6(1) pp1-23.

Chomsky, N. (1957) Syntactic Structures, The Hague: Mouton

_________ (1966) Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar, The Hague: Mouton.

These are examples of how you can make your entries in the bibliography or references.
You will notice that the title of books is written in italics. Names of authors are written in
alphabetical order and if an author has many publications, you enter them with the earliest
ones first and you may just omit the name of the author and just write the dates and the
other entries for the author. Whoever sees it will know that the same author has all the
publications. Please note the punctuation marks. You should find out how your institution
wants you to make your bibliographic entries because some institutions have specific ways
by which they want it done and specific style sheets that they want students to use. Some
journals too have their preferences. If in future you write an article you want published,
make sure you read their ‘instruction to authors’ so that you can make adequate
bibliographic entries.
3.8 Style of Writing

The language of a long essay is formal. As a result, you do not include any form of
colloquial language or jestings or jokes. You must also not get used to using the pronoun
‘I’ too often. It tends to present you as a proud person who claims to have done all the
work alone without the help of anybody. You can use ‘we’, ‘our’ etc. Try to spell out every
word and where you have to use abbreviation, make sure you have explained it much
earlier. Do not write complicated sentences. Make yourself clear by writing simple and
correct sentences. Do not assume that the reader knows or should know, try to explain
every step and make sure you bring your discussion to a logical conclusion. If you have to
quote and it is a long one, you must indent. For example

‘-------------------------------------------------‘

3.8.1 Style Sheets

In the Arts, there are two common style sheets that are normally used.
The language section uses the APA (American Psychological Association) style sheet
while the literature section uses the MLA (Modern Language Association) style sheet.

The APA sample is what has been used in all the references in this work because it is
language. Below are just two examples of APA entries for an article in a book and an
article in a journal.

88
Article in a book

Aremo, B. (2001) Long Essays in (Ed.) Aremo, B. Advanced English Compositions,

Lagos,Nigeria: Scribo Educational Books.
pp. 116-177.

Journal Article

Olateju, M.A. (2007). Reading Kiosks: Literacy Empowerment for the Girl-child.
Language, Culture and Curriculum. Clevedon England: Multilingual Matters. Short
Run Press Vol. 20(2): 155-163.

The MLA style sheet is normally used by those in the literature section. There are some
peculiar features of this writing system which is quite different from the APA. Below are
some examples.
Article in a book

Olateju, M.A ‘Journal Keeping’ (eds) Onukaogu, C.E; Arua A.E &
Jegede O.B Teaching Reading in Nigeria: A Guide Book to Theory and Practice.
Newark D.E USA: International Reading Association, 2003, 212-220.

Journal Article

Olateju, Moji. & Yusuf Yisa. ‘Backchannel Communication in Ola Rotimi’s Our
Husband Has Gone Mad Again’ Nordic Journal of African Studies 15:4 (2006):
520-535.

Olateju, Moji. ‘Reading Kiosks: Literacy Empowerment for the Girl-child’ Language,
Culture and Curriculum Vol. 20:2 (2007) Clevedon England: Multilingual
Matters. Short Run Press, 155-163.

You will notice in the examples given above that the date comes towards the end in MLA
while it is fronted in APA. We may not be able to give details of the two writing systems
mentioned in this unit because of time and space. But you can go through the samples
and see the differences. You can also check the APA/MLA style sheets on the internet
and the references at the end of this unit for details of these writing procedures so that
you can get used to them.

3.8.2 Footnotes

This used to be fashionable in the past. You may use footnotes to refer to sources of
quotation, provide additional information or explain some uncommon language use. They
are usually written at the bottom of the page on which the word or expression referred to
appears. If there are many expressions like that, you must number them in the body of the
work and down the page where you explain them. If you refer to the same work but on
another page, you should write ibid., followed by the page number. E.g.
89
 __________________________________________________________

Olateju, Moji. Analysing Discourse in the ESL Classroom, Ile-Ife, OAU

Press, pp. 23-27 Ibid, p.26

3.9 Appendix
In this section, you can attach or write out some of the materials you used which you would like
readers to go through if they want.

90
3.10 Writing the Long Essay

The actual writing of the long essay is not too different from the proposal. One of the
significant differences of your writing is that, in the proposal, you use the future tense while
in the real essay, you express yourself in the past tense because you have conducted the
research and you are reporting what you have done. Another significant difference is that, the
section on the chapters are now well arranged to reflect in-depth details of what has been
done and the findings.

Chapter one which is the introduction has all the listed sections which have already been
highlighted in the proposal. Chapter two is the literature review and we shall dwell a little on
this because it has not been fully discussed.

3.10.1 Literature Review

This chapter discusses the references consulted while choosing the topic,
getting the theoretical framework for the write up, tracing the arguments that have ensued on
the topic up till the present moment and the justification for choosing the topic. This section
can also be highlighted in the proposal to give your work a focus for the theoretical
framework. Your literature review must be current. For example, you can not be writing in
2008 and your latest reference will be 1995. This is too far away. Scholars are always
working and you can be sure that there would be someone somewhere who has done
something recently on what you are writing on. You only need to search and you will find
that out. You should not also assume that nobody has done something or anything on what
you are writing on. Visit the internet, consult books in the library, ask your lecturers or
tutorial masters for materials, go to other libraries of other universities, consult
encyclopaedias, etc. and your literature review will be rich in quality. However, do not allow
your review to now degenerate to a list of research reports. But the chapter should present
what scholars have done before which you need to improve on or borrow ideas from. You
should explain how your work is related to earlier works and how, to some extent, it is
different from the previous works. This review should be reported in the past- i.e:

Olateju (2007) worked on--------. The findings revealed that ---------and she concluded
that---------
3.10.2 Summary, Conclusions and Suggestions
This section usually begins with the summary which states briefly the background to the
research, the objectives and the procedures for data collection and analysis. The conclusions
of the findings come next, followed by the recommendations based on the findings. There

Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024
could be suggestions on what later researchers could work on in future, having highlighted
the focus of your own research.

3.11 Sample of Table of Contents of the Long Essay

Title Page------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgements--------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents----------------------------------------------------
List of Abbreviations and Symbols------------------------------
Abstract----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1 Introduction ----------------------------------------------
1.1 Background to the Study--------------------------1.2 Objectives of the
Study-----------------------------
1.3 Research Questions--------------------------------1.4 Scope of the
Study----------------------------------
1.5 Theoretical Framework-----------------------------
Chapter 2 Review of Literature-----------------------------------2.1
Introduction--------------------------------------------
2.2 The English Language in Nigeria-------------------
Chapter 3 Data Collection and Analysis--------------------------3.1
Introduction--------------------------------------------3.2 Data
Collection-----------------------------------------
3.3 Data Analysis-------------------------------------------
Chapter 4 Discussion of Findings------------------------------------
4.1 Introduction----------------------------------------------
Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations--------
5.1 Introduction---------------------------------------------5.2
Summary-------------------------------------------------5.3
Conclusions-----------------------------------------------
5.4 Recommendations---------------------------------------
Bibliography--------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix-------------------------------------------------------------------

Your own table of contents could be longer than this. It depends on the contents. This is just
a sample.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit we have been able to discuss the remaining format of proposal writing which
started in Module 3 unit 3. We have also been able to conclude our discussion on the writing
of long essays. You
ENG 224 ADVANCED ENGLISH COMPOSITION II

Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024
should however go through the references at the end of units 3& 4 for more details on this
topic.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit you have learnt that:

i.a proposal that should be approved by your supervisor is important.

ii.an abstract is a short summary of the long essay.
iii.a timetable for completion is important for a long essay. iv.the timetable is a
guide for the final writing.
v.you must make adequate bibliographic references.
vi.data collection must be adequate. vii.your methodology must be well
spelt out. viii.you must include all references in the bibliography.
ix.your literature review must be comprehensive and up to date. x.there are APA and
MLA style sheets for the Arts.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Answer one of the questions below.

1. What are the major differences between the proposal of a long essay and the actual
essay?
2. What are the essential components of a long essay? Your ingenuity as a writer will
be rewarded.

4. CONCLUSION

In this study unit, we have tried to introduce you to the writing of long essays, thesis and
dissertations. We have also dwelt at length on topic selection and delimitation because of its
importance in the whole process of writing. We started proposal writing and stopped with the
research questions. Please proceed to the next unit for completion of the discussion on
proposal writing and some hints on the actual writing of the long essay.

Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024
 5.0 SUMMARY

In this study unit you have learnt that:

i.a long essay is usually written by undergraduates in their final year.

ii.a thesis is usually written by master’s degree students. iii.a

dissertation is written by PhD students.

iv.the topic has to be delimited for easy management of data. v.you

need a supervisor who will assist you.

vi.you can get a research topic by going through relevant literature.

vii.you can also interact with your supervisor, members of the academic staff
or some other students for suggestions on a research topic. viii.your topic must
make sense. ix.you must make sure it has not been researched on before.

x.you must write a proposal and draw up a timetable for completion of the
work.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Think about an area of study in English and think about what you
can write on it. Discuss the possibility of working on it with your
lecturer and then write out the topic. While writing the topic,
consider the fact that it has to make sense and it has to have what it
will contribute to knowledge.

2. Go through the topic below and write down your comments on the
topic.

The phonological problems of learners in the English Classes in

Uvira town.

Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Dairo, L. (2001). “Reports.” In, Aremo, B. (Ed). Advanced English Compositions. Lagos,
Nigeria: Scribo Educational Books. pp.178-198

http://www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/media/docs/reports%20writing

Adedeji, E.O. (2005). “Grammatical Ties in English Discourse,” In, Moji Olateju & Lekan,
Oyeleye. (Eds.). Perspectives on Language and Literature. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Obafemi
Awolowo University Press, pp 157-166.

Aremo, B. (1995). An Introduction to English Sentences (1) Ibadan, Nigeria: Caltop

Publications Nigeria Ltd.

Aremo, B. (1997). An Introduction to English Sentences (2) Ibadan, Nigeria: Caltop

Publications Nigeria Ltd.

Asiyanbola, A.A. (2005). ‘Sentence Connective Devices as Linguistic

Tools for English Reading Tasks in a Nigerian ESL.’ In, Moji

Olateju & Lekan Oyeleye (Eds.). Perspectives on Language and Literature. Ile-Ife,
Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo University Press, pp 187-184.

Babalola, E.T. (2005). The Grammar of Paragraphs and the Mechanics of Good Written
English. In, Moji Olateju & Lekan Oyeleye

(Eds.). Perspectives on Language and Literature. Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo

University Press, pp 269-284.

Zandvoort, R.W. (1967). A Handbook of English Grammar. London:Longman Group

Limited.

Aremo, B.(Ed.).(2001). Advanced English Composition.Lagos, Nigeria:Scribo

EducationalBooks pp. 99-115. envision.ca- Community Services Council Newfoundland and
Labrador.

Aremo, B. (2001). “Long Essays.” In, Aremo, B. (Ed.). Advanced English Compositions.
Lagos, Nigeria: Scribo Educational Books, pp. 116-177.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/modules/writess.html
Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024
Ass2 Raphael KUKURU, a course in CompositionbI, for ba2 students, ISP/UVIRA, 2024