Home » JAMB Syllabus » The Use of English exam is a compulsory subject in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME). It is designed to test your language skills, comprehension abilities and will also include sections on comprehension passages, grammar and vocabulary.
To perform well, you must be able to understand complex texts and apply grammatical rules correctly.
Regardless of your course of study or choice of institution, you will be required to take Use of English. So you must study hard and ensure you pass with flying colors.
The Use of English can be the easiest subject and it is possible to score 70 and above. It is also a dicey subject to fail. Do not underestimate it.
The syllabus consists of three sections:
SECTION A: Comprehension/Summary
This section comprises three (3) main parts and will have twenty-five questions The 3 parts are divided into:
SECTION B: Lexis and Structure.
This section will test a candidate’s ability to identify words and expressions in ordinary form, as well as figurative and idiomatic contexts. It will also determine similar and opposite meanings of words and test the candidate’s ability to differentiate between correct and incorrect punctuation and spelling.
Finally, it will test the ability to identify various grammatical patterns in use and interpret information conveyed in sentences. It will contain the following parts:
The hiker struggled through the wilderness with a heavy backpack, gritting his teeth against the pain of the blisters on his feet and the cold wind that tore at his clothes.
Which of the following best describes the tone of this passage
A) Urgent
B) Suspenseful
C) Tragic
D) Descriptive
Examples:
Kunle is quite “inexperienced”compared to Lekan. Which of these is the antonym of the word “inexperienced”?
A) Naive
B) Skilled
C) Qualified
D) Juvenile
Examples:
Pick out the word nearest in meaning to the underlined word.
She thought he was being quite whimsical and it was very unnecessary.
A) Quirky
B) Cheerful
C) Reasonable
D) Modest
SECTION C: Oral Forms
The final section of JAMB English is the Oral Form and will contain 10 questions.
The ten (10) questions will be picked out from the following topics: Vowels (2 questions), consonants (2 questions), Rhymes (2 questions), word stress (2 questions), and emphatic stress (2 questions).
The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Use of English is to guide the candidates in their preparation for the Board’s examination. It is designed to evaluate the candidates’ ability to:
(i) Communicate effectively in both written and spoken English; and
(ii) Use the English Language for learning at the tertiary level.
| JAMB USE OF ENGLISH SYLLABUS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SN | TOPICS | OBJECTIVES | |
| A | COMPREHENSION/SUMMARY | ||
| Description Narration Exposition Argumentation/persuasion (i) Each of the two passages to be set (one will be a cloze test) should reflect various disciplines and be about 200 words long. (ii) Questions on the passages will test the following: (a) Comprehension of the whole or part of each passage. (b) Comprehension of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, figures of speech and idioms as used in the passages. (c) Coherence and logical reasoning (deductions, inferences, etc). (d) Approved Reading text (The Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli) (e) Synthesis of ideas from the passages. NOTE: By synthesis of ideas is meant the art of combining distinct or separate pieces of information to form a complete whole. | Candidates should be able to: i. Identify main points/topic sentences in passages; ii. determine implied meaning; iii. identify the grammatical functions of words, phrases, clauses and figurative/idiomatic expressions; iv. deduce or infer the writer’s intentions including mood, attitude to the subject matter and opinion. | ||
| B | LEXIS AND STRUCTURE | ||
| synonyms antonyms homonyms clause and sentence patterns word classes and their functions mood, tense, aspect, number, agreement/concord, degree (positive, comparative and superlative) and question tags punctuation and spelling ordinary usage, figurative usage and idiomatic usage are to be tested. NOTE: Idioms to be tested shall be those that are formal and expressed in standard British English. | Candidates should be able to: i. identify words and expressions in their ordinary, figurative and idiomatic contexts; ii. determine similar and opposite meaning of words; iii. differentiate between correct and incorrect punctuation and spelling; iv. identify various grammatical patterns in use; v. interpret information conveyed in sentences. | ||
| C | ORAL FORMS | ||
| Vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs Consonants (including clusters) Rhymes (including homophones) Word stress (monosyllabic and polysyllabic) Intonation (words emphatic stress) NOTE: Emphatic stress involves the placement of normal stress on words in an utterance for the purpose of emphasis. | Candidates should be able to: i. make distinctions between vowel types; ii. differentiate between consonant types; iii. identify correct accentuation in individual words and connected speech. |
The JAMB English score is calculated based on a combination of your performance on the exam and your performance on each section. Each section has their allocated marks:
Section A:
Comprehension Passages – 5 questions multiply by (x) 3 marks each = 15 marks
Cloze Passage/Register – 10 questions multiply by (x) 2 marks each = 20 marks
Reading Text – 10 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 10 marks
Section A Total score: = 45 marks
Section B:
SENTENCE INTERPRETATION – 5 questions multiply by (x) 2 marks each = 10 marks
ANTONYMS – 5 questions multiply by (x) 2 marks each = 10 marks
SYNONYMS – 5 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 5 marks
BASIC GRAMMAR – 10 questions multiply by (x) 2 marks each = 20 marks
Section B Total Score: = 45 marks
Section C:
VOWELS – 2 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 2 marks.
CONSONANTS – 2 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 2 marks.
RHYMES – 2 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 2 marks.
WORD STRESS – 2 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 2 marks.
EMPHATIC STRESS – 2 questions multiply by (x) 1 mark each = 2 marks.
Section C Total Score: = 10 marks
The sum of all marks in UTME Use of English; Section A: 45 marks, Section B: 45 marks, and Section C: 10 marks.
UTME Use of English Total Marks = 100.
Note: your JAMB score will be determined by the number of questions in each UTME Subject you answered correctly multiplied by each of their marks.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam is a two-hour exam. You will have to finish all 4 subjects in 2 hours. Since JAMB’s Use of English will have a total of 60 questions, I suggest you spend 20-45 secs on each question so you can finish up on time and have more than enough time for the other 3 subjects and to also cross check your work.
Practice! Practice and more practice!!!. Study past questions daily. Go through the syllabus and read every single topic under it.
You don’t have a choice as Use of English is compulsory, regardless of your choice of course
There is no official pass mark, but scores above 50 are considered good. However, ensure to score as high as you can. The higher you score, the better your chances of admission for your choice course and institution.
JAMB English contains 60 multiple-choice questions. Some of which will be in the recommended reading text which is The Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli.
The entire exam takes 2 hours to complete and while there is no estimated time for each subject, I would advise you to spend at least 50 secs on each question so you can have enough time to go over your work again
Not at all. You can read and ace your exams yourself. All you need to do is to have a consistent reading habit.
However, tutorials can also help you prepare better, connect with your peers, and gauge your confidence levels.
From the syllabus above, questions will be divided into 3 sections and they will be on comprehension passages, lexis and structure. As well as oral forms.Questions on the recommended text “The Life Changer” will also be asked.
Here are a few tips for you:
Start studying early enough. Avoid last minute reading at all costs. Also try practicing time management so you can utilize your time well. Endeavor to study past questions as often as possible and most importantly,get a goodnight rest a day for your exam.
Goodluck!
