ZIMSEC O-Level English Language

Listening comprehension, instructions and messages

Forms 1 to 4: questions on stories and narrations, note taking, summary, inference and evaluation; directions, announcements, messages, dialogues, interviews…

Pronunciation

Forms 1 to 4: vowels, consonant clusters, diphthongs and triphthongs, silent consonants, weak and strong forms, intonation and stress, tone and mood.

Registers and conversations

Forms 1 to 4: introductions, greetings, requests, invitations, apologies and compliments, telephone conversations, gratitude, advice, opinions, complaints…

Descriptions, debates and speeches

Forms 1 to 4: describing self, people, scenes, objects, processes and events; debating local, national and international topical issues and cross-cutting…

Intensive reading

Forms 1 to 4: recall and higher-order questions, skimming and scanning, inference, word meaning, note making, summary, synthesis, paraphrasing and evaluation.

• 7.3.1.1 Recall and comprehension questions
• 7.3.1.2 Inference, analysis and evaluation
• 7.3.1.3 Contextual meaning of words and phrases
• 7.3.1.4 Tone, mood, style and the writer's attitude
• 7.3.1.5 Note making
• 7.3.1.6 Summary writing

Extensive reading

Forms 1 to 4: summary, characters and characterisation, setting, plot, themes and style of books read.

Referencing

Forms 1 to 4: reference sources, sections of a book, encyclopaedias, journals and the internet.

Aspects of composition writing

Forms 1 to 4: sentence construction, types of sentences, elements and unity of a paragraph, registers, linking devices and discourse markers, amplification of…

• 7.4.1.1 Sentences, paragraphs and linking devices
• 7.4.1.2 Registers
• 7.4.1.3 Figurative language

Free compositions

Forms 1 to 4: narrative, descriptive, informative, argumentative and discursive compositions and creative writing. Examined in Paper 1 Section A.

• 7.4.2.1 Narrative compositions
• 7.4.2.2 Descriptive compositions
• 7.4.2.3 Informative compositions
• 7.4.2.4 Argumentative compositions
• 7.4.2.5 Discursive compositions

Guided compositions

Forms 1 to 4: letters, reports, speeches, memos, articles and curricula vitae; forms; guided composition techniques (register, correct sentences…

• 7.4.3.1 Letters
• 7.4.3.2 Memos
• 7.4.3.3 Reports
• 7.4.3.4 Speeches
• 7.4.3.5 Articles
• 7.4.3.6 Curriculum vitae and forms
• 7.4.3.7 Amplifying notes and data

Nouns

Types of nouns, plural forms, gender, opposites, noun formation, prefixes and suffixes.

Verbs

Types of tenses, subject-verb agreement, sequence of tenses, auxiliaries and modals, phrasal verbs, active and passive forms.

• 7.5.2.1 Tenses and the sequence of tenses
• 7.5.2.2 Subject-verb agreement
• 7.5.2.3 Auxiliaries and modals
• 7.5.2.4 Phrasal verbs
• 7.5.2.5 Active and passive forms

Pronouns

Personal, relative, possessive and reflexive pronouns.

Adjectives

Formation, comparatives and superlatives, opposites, prefixes and suffixes, order when more than one follow each other, non-gradable adjectives.

Adverbs

Formation; adverbials of manner, time, place and reason; adverbial phrases and clauses.

Spelling and word formation

Consonant-vowel combinations, spelling rules, prefixes and suffixes, derivative words, noun formation, homonyms, homophones and homographs.

• 7.5.6.1 Prefixes, suffixes and word formation
• 7.5.6.2 Homonyms, homophones and homographs
• 7.5.6.3 Spelling rules
• 7.5.6.4 Opposites, synonyms and idioms

Sentence construction

Simple, compound and complex sentences; conjunctions, phrases and clauses; punctuation; articles, determiners and prepositions; questions, question tags…

• 7.5.7.1 Simple, compound and complex sentences
• 7.5.7.2 Conjunctions, discourse markers and sentence modifiers
• 7.5.7.3 Articles and determiners
• 7.5.7.4 Prepositions
• 7.5.7.5 Punctuation and meaning
• 7.5.7.6 Questions, question tags, commands and exclamations

Direct and indirect speech

Punctuation and switching between direct and indirect speech.