The prof says according to the Umalusi matriculation board 2011/12, students fail due to poor language proficiency skills, that is a lack of dictionary and vocabulary skills.
It is a fact of life that most students have no dictionaries in their respective classes, in particular at primary and secondary schools.
Read: Prof Skosana shares his expertise
Students enter college and university with very little general vocabulary skills.
There are certain skills that each student and every student need to train him/herself in, including:
• How to find a word in a dictionary, using letters and alphabets;
• How to read the meaning of a word;
• How to read a verb, adverb, adjective and a noun;
• How to read the synonyms and antonyms of a word;
• How to read tenses of words;
• How to use the word in a sentence; and
• How to spell the word.
The above skills need to be practised by every student at their own time at home or after school in order to be proficient in their language of instruction.
Every student needs to take action to master the basics of language.
Knowledge of a subject is dependent on how to use words correctly.
Knowledge of words enables a student to understand ideas and expressions used by their teachers in class and during an examination.
Read: Knowledge is power
Knowledge of words also allows a student to follow the teacher in class.
In many instances students are asked to summarise and paraphrase information.
So students need to have a vocabulary exercise book for new words and use a dictionary to be proficient in language.
One of the most effective strategies is to take a past exam question paper and work on difficult words.
This practice will enable a student to be proficient in the English language.
Last but not least, every student has to understand the meaning of the following key words: explain, discuss, describe, solve and name the characteristics, paraphrase and summarise in an examination question paper.
Those who follow the above characteristics stand a better chance of passing exams.
Be diligent and take action to practise how to answer the above questions on your own. In doing so, you will discover your weakness and correct mistakes on time.
Be tenacious, that is stick to your purpose to be motivated and inspired.
