Formal and Informal Register, Nouns in Context, Cohesive Devices and Visualising Texts

1. What Is Register?

Register: The variety of language a speaker chooses to suit the situation, the listener and the purpose.

Register can be formal or informal. Formal register is used in serious or official situations, such as speaking to elders, teachers, officials or strangers, at interviews, in assemblies and in official letters. Informal register is used with family and friends in relaxed situations, such as chatting at break time or sending a message to a classmate.

2. Features of Formal and Informal Register

3. Two Conversations

Formal: Learner: "Good morning, Madam. May I come in, please?" Teacher: "Good morning. Yes, you may. Why are you late?" Learner: "I am sorry, Madam. The trotro I boarded broke down on the way. It will not happen again."

Informal: Kwame: "Hey, Esi! You've finished the maths homework?" Esi: "Yeah, it was easy. Come, let's check our answers before the bell."

In the first conversation, the learner uses a title (Madam), full sentences, "May I" and "please", and apologises politely. In the second, the friends use first names, short questions and contractions such as "You've" and "let's".

4. Choosing the Right Register

Before you speak, think about three things: who you are talking to (your listener), where you are (the setting) and why you are speaking (the purpose). Using informal language in a formal situation can seem rude, while using very formal language with close friends can sound strange. In Ghanaian culture, respect for elders is shown through formal greetings and polite words, so formal register is especially important when speaking to older people.

1. What Is a Noun?

Noun: A word that names a person, place, animal, thing or idea.

2. Kinds of Nouns

3. Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns can be counted and have plural forms: one basket, three baskets; a calabash, two calabashes. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted and usually have no plural: water, rice, information, furniture, advice. We say "much rice" but "many oranges", and "a piece of advice", not "an advice".

4. Nouns in a Passage

Read this passage and notice the nouns: "On Saturday, Kojo and his family travelled to Bolgatanga. At the craft market, a group of weavers showed them how baskets are made from straw. Kojo admired the patience and skill of the women. His mother bought two baskets and some information about the cooperative."

Proper nouns: Saturday, Kojo, Bolgatanga. Common nouns: family, market, baskets, straw, women, mother. Collective noun: group. Abstract nouns: patience, skill. Uncountable noun: information. Compound noun: craft market.

5. Plurals of Nouns

Most nouns form plurals by adding -s (cup, cups) or -es (box, boxes). Nouns ending in consonant + y change y to -ies (city, cities). Some are irregular: child, children; man, men; tooth, teeth; foot, feet. Some do not change: sheep, sheep; fish, fish.

1. What Are Cohesive Devices?

Cohesive devices: Words and punctuation marks that link sentences and ideas so that writing flows smoothly and makes sense.

Without cohesive devices, writing sounds choppy: "Ama went to the market. Ama bought tomatoes. Ama bought onions. Ama went home." With them, it flows: "Ama went to the market, where she bought tomatoes and onions. Then she went home."

2. Pronouns as Cohesive Devices

Pronouns replace nouns so that we do not repeat them: "Kofi lost his bag. He looked for it everywhere." Here "his", "he" and "it" refer back to Kofi and the bag. Make sure the reader always knows which noun a pronoun refers to.

3. Conjunctions and Linking Words

4. Punctuation as a Cohesive Device

Punctuation also links ideas. A comma joins a short introductory phrase to a sentence: "After school, we played football." A semicolon joins two closely related sentences: "It rained heavily; the roads were flooded." A colon introduces a list or explanation: "We need three things: water, soap and a towel."

5. Improving a Paragraph

1. Monitoring Comprehension

Monitoring: Checking your own understanding while you read and fixing problems when you do not understand.

2. Mental Visualisation

Mental visualisation: Creating pictures in your mind of the people, places and events described in a text, using all your senses.

When you visualise, ask: What do I see? What do I hear? What can I smell, taste or feel? Writers give clues through descriptive words. The more clearly you picture a scene, the better you understand and remember it.

3. Reading Passage: Market Day at Techiman

The sun had barely risen over Techiman when the market came alive. Lorries groaned under mountains of yams, and women balanced wide trays of tomatoes and garden eggs on their heads. The air smelled of roasting plantain and fresh fish. Somewhere a radio blared highlife music, competing with the shouts of traders calling out their prices.

Abena held her grandmother's hand tightly as they squeezed between stalls. Her sandals were soon covered in red dust. Grandmother stopped at a stall where an old man sat on a low stool, carving wooden spoons. Chips of pale wood curled from his knife like ribbons. "Good morning, Nana," Grandmother said. The carver looked up, smiled and offered Abena a tiny spoon. "For your first visit," he said. Abena turned it over in her palm. It was smooth and warm, as if it had been sitting in the sun.

4. Visualising the Passage