LSC S1:Finding information

Introduction
Finding information In this chapter you will practise finding information that you need. You will carry out surveys, read and study information and listen to oral and recorded materials to get information. You will use the information from different sources for a variety of purposes.

Citizenship
Finding and using information from various media responsibly is a key life skill for good citizens.

Activity 2.1 Discuss sources of information
A library is just one source of information. Discuss these questions.
1. Why do you think that a library is such a good source of information?
2.What types of information can you find in a library?
Describe the difference between fiction and non-fiction literature found in a library.
3.If you were looking for information, would you look in the fiction or non- fiction section of a library?
4.What other sources, apart from books, could one find in a library?
6.Would you go and look in a library for a suitable resource or look online? Provide a reason/reasons for your answer.
7.Some sources of information are not reliable. What makes a source reliable when looking for information?

You will need:
A dictionary
Access to a library.
Activity 2.2 Identify why information is important

1. Look up the word information in a dictionary. Make a note of its meaning.
2. Discuss reasons why individuals and organisations need information.
3. Discuss past situations where you have needed information.
   a) Explain to a partner what information you needed and how you found it.
   b) Mention two major challenges you had finding that information.
   c) Tell your partner who or what helped you to find the information.
4. Talk about the different ways to find the information you need in order to do your school work throughout the year.
   Activity 2.3 List and discuss types and sources of information
5. Look up the word source in a dictionary. Make a note of its meaning.
6. Name the different sources of information used by members of your family, your school and your community.

3. Discuss in groups why your community and your school may depend on different sources to find information.
4. Work on your own. Copy and complete the table below. Fill in five different sources of information, the type of information they provide, and the groups of people who are most likely to use that source. An example has been provided for you.

Sources of information
A library is a good place to visit, not only to find books to read but also to find information. Do you have a library in your community or school? If so, do you visit it often and make the most of it? This section provides opportunities for you to learn about libraries and the books you find there as important sources of information. You will discover that there are different sections of the library, including fiction and reference
sections. You will have the opportunity to use the library items and compare the library with other sources of information.
Activity 2.5 Get to know your way around a library

1. Listen to a librarian’s talk on how to use libraries. Take notes to help you
   remember what is said.
2. As you listen, make notes about what the following terms mean:
   a) library card
   c) catalogue
   e) shelving
   b) author
   d) abbreviation
   f) the Dewey Decimal Classification System.

Information everywhere
How do you find out where someone lives? How do you know what the word mystery means? What language is spoken in Cameroon? Where is the pyramid of El Castillo?
Information is found everywhere. We use all our senses to receive information, depending on its source or format. We can learn by tasting something, observing an insect moving, or by watching someone working. We hear news from our neighbours, from listening to the radio, watching television, reading newspapers or by using news applications on our phone or news website on a computer.

You need to know where to find information about people, places, events and situations. You also need to respect any rules about how it can and cannot be used. In this section you will explore the use of private and public information, You will also learn how to use sources of information responsibly.
Correct media use
What is your understanding of media? When do we use it?

Activity 2.6 Using public and private information responsibly

1. Find out the meaning of confidentiality. Discuss how this word relates to using information.
2. You classify information according to whether it is private or public. Discuss when each of the following examples of information might be needed. Identify which examples are public and which are private, and decide which can safely be used publicly. Does it make a difference who
   uses the information?
   a) someone’s name and birthday
   b) someone’s bank account balance
   c) what the government has spent on the army
   d) someone’s education and training qualifications
   e) a large corporation’s profit earnings
   f) someone’s medical condition
3. Discuss what might happen if:
   a) a doctor shared details of a patient’s medical conditions with the patient’s employers.
   b) a soldier openly shared information about the army’s tactics.
   c) a bank gave out your bank account number to anyone who requested it.
4. Explain why there are rules for how groups use different sources of information.
5. Orally share some rules for using the following sources:
   a) the library
   b) the Internet.

Your class is planning to create a class library to store and share personal sources of information in one place. You and your classmates can contribute books, dictionaries, old newspapers, magazines, encyclopaedias and even a few

1. Brainstorm some rules as guidelines for using the library responsibly. Now work on your own. Choose six important rules. Explain how each rule will benefit all the users, as well as ensuring that the information is used responsibly.
2. Write a summary introducing and explaining the rules. Your summary should emphasise the need for confidentiality and for the responsible recording and reporting of information.
3. Share your work with the rest of the class.

Activity 2.8 Identify the parts of a news bulletin
You are going to listen to a recording of a news bulletin.
1. As you listen, make notes of:
a) the very first thing that the newsreader says to the audience
b) how the newsreader identifies himself/herself
c) what the newsreader calls the first set of items or points that are read
d) what details the newsreader includes to give the audience a very clear picture of what has happened.
2. The newsreader was probably not at the scene of the events described in the news. Discuss the sources of news items that enable us to hear a full and accurate account of what happened.
3. If you were a newsreader, what would you do to make sure your audience tune in to listen to the news?

Activity 2.9 Extract and present information from a recorded news bulletin
Listen to the news bulletin again. Work with a partner to answer these questions.
1.Tell your partner about the news item that interested you most. Remember to say what details made it interesting.
2.List four things you could do to find out more about the incidents reported in the news bulletin.
3. Write the main idea of the news item that concerned or worried you the most.
4. Write down the words you heard that make this item worrying.
5.Explain why the identified news item concerned you.
6.Search the Internet to read about the news item that worried you. Note one similarity and one difference between the recorded news broadcast and the news on the Internet.
7.Compare your notes with your partner.

Printed materials as a source of information
Activity 2.10 Extract information and summarise a newspaper source

1. Read the extract from a news report in the Daily Update of Friday 19 July, 2019. It is about a police investigation into a disaster. As you read the extract, find out where the disaster occurred and who the victims were. Make notes about these points.

2.Use the information in the report to identify:
a) the suspected cause of the disaster
b) what clues led police to this suspicion.
3.Compare your answers with a partner’s.
4.Look up the words arson and sensitive in a dictionary.
5.Explain why the reporter describes this as a sensitive crime.
6.Imagine you are one of the learners whose dormitory was burnt. The Police want you to write a summary of the incident. Using the details of place, date and time in the report, write a summary of what happened

Activity 2.11 Gathering and comparing data

1. Study the information chart with data on cities of the world.

3.What made it easy for you to find data on the chart?
4.Who do you think compiles this kind of data?
5.Who do you think the chart has been compiled for? Why do you think these users need this information?
6.Write down two ways in which the user might be affected if any of the data is wrong.
7.Use the data to plan a holiday to one of the cities. Think carefully about weather conditions, languages and other relevant details. Write a summary paragraph describing the city you will visit. Remember to include why you made this choice in your summary.

Activity 2.13 Compare information sources and formats

1. Read the information provided with a flask on the next page.
2. Find out what the abbreviations fl., oz. and hr. stand for. Write these out in full and explain them.
3. Think about the abbreviations used on the information provided on cities, a calendar page and a flask.

4. Discuss the differences between the presentation of information in the three sources. Draw a table in your exercise book and comment on the format, content, language and purpose of each source.

Capacity: 20 fl. oz.
Max. time for keeping hot: 6hrs
Care and use:
Before use, wash thoroughly with warm water and a gentle soap.
Do not use scourer to wash.
Flask can be used for cold and hot fluids.
Do not fill beyond ridge on inside of flask.
Do not use if inside is broken.
May contain hot liquid.
Use and keep out of reach of children.

5. Think of a household item that you use often. Write short points summarising how it should be used and cared for properly. Consider the language, format and purpose of what you write. Use abbreviations where you can.

Clear communication
Communication skills are important when finding and processing information.
By asking the right questions, you are more likely to find the information you
are looking for. If your communication is clear, there is less chance of any
misunderstanding.
In this section, you will explore different question forms. You will also explore
using soft and hard vowel sounds in speech and writing.
Read the dialogue. Think about the questions Kirunda asks Kunya.

Kirunda: You seem to be very busy planning a trip. When do you hope to travel?
kunya : We start our trip on Sunday morning.
kirunda: How are you travelling?
kunya: By bus. Everyone says it’s faster that way.
kirunda :Maybe it is. I haven’t used the bus myself. What do they charge for the bus trip?
kunya: Not much. We will pay forty thousand shillings each.
kirundi Hiring a car would have cost only a little bit more but would be a lot
more comfortable. Why did you choose the bus?
kunya, Well, none of us knew that. Now that I know, I’ll consider the option.
Note that all Kirunda’s questions start with a wh-word. Read about such questions on the next page.

• Wh-questions to find out information
• You use:
• what to find out about a thing.
• who to find out which person did or will do something.
• when to find out the time that something happened or will happen.
• why to find out the reason that something happened or will happen.
• how to know the manner in which something was or will be done.
• which to separate one thing from others.

Activity 2.14 Identify and review wh-questions

1. Read the notes about wh-questions.
2. Identify which wh-word you will use to:
   a) find out the reason something happened.
   b) find out about the best time to visit someone.
   c) help you to choose between two products.
3. Write down the wh-question that is answered by each statement (the first
   question has been started for you):
   a) Salome answered the telephone when her mother called. (When did …D
   b) The SiPi Falls are found in Kapchorwa.
   c) Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart.
   d) He became famous for winning a gold medal at the Olympics.
   e) We decided to use the old car.
   f) Margarita is the highest peak in the Ruwenzori Mountains.
   g) Human rights were documented by the United Nations.
   h) They will need to eat more fruit.
   i) I hope to travel to Kasese by road.
   j) You can read atx)ut children’s rights at the library.
   k) They could not travel to France because they did not have a visa.
   I) I want to take the first bus to Mbale.
   m) Our teacher could not come today. She is sick.
   n) Her elderly aunt is the one who died.

In English, vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u, and y when it sounds like /i/) and consonant sounds (all the Other letters) are classified as either soft or hard sounds. A soft vowel sound is the sound made by a letter when it stands alone for example 10/ in dog, /e/ in red.

A hard vowel sound is when the sound is the same as the name of the letter, for example /el/ in game, /al/ in time. The sound is determined by where the letter is placed in a word.

Soft vowel sounds
The vowel sound is soft when it: is short is different from the name of its letter

• occurs in a word where it is not paired with another vowel
• occurs in a word that does not end in the letter e.
  For example, say these words aloud:
  /æ/: at, and, cat, mat, bat
  /e/: egg, bet, net, set, keg
  /1/: ink, wig, lick, kid, pig
  /D/: ot not, hog, mop, soft, hop
  /A/: shut, hum, sum, sun, cut

1. Add to the list of soft vowel sounds and practise saying them.
2. Hard vowel sounds
3. The vowel sound is hard when it: is long

• sounds the same as its name in the word
  is paired with another vowel.
  For example, say these words aloud:
  /a:/: rage, gate, age, blade, shade, make
  /i:/: sheep, need, feed, seed, meet, steel
  /al/: lie, bike, spike, might, sight, tie
  /ao/: hope, scope, groan, rose, boat, croak
  /u:/: flu, cute, fuel, use, huge
  /al/: bye, my, sky, fly, dry, cry

1. Add to the list of hard vowel sounds and practise saying them.

Activity 2.16 Identify soft and hard consonants

1. Read how to identify some soft and hard consonant sounds.
   When you say a soft consonant sound, almost no air escapes from your mouth. With a hard consonant sound, a small rush of air escapes through your mouth as the sound is spoken.

Soft c sound
Put your hand in front of your mouth. Say the soft sound made by the letter
c and notice how little air is released with the sound.
For example, say these words aloud:
/s/: ice, spice, mice, rice, cereal, city, percent, dance

2. Add to the list of soft c sounds and practise saying them. Hard c sound
   Put your hand in front of your mouth again and say the hard c sound.
   You will feel a rush of air escaping from your mouth.
   For example, say these words aloud:
   /k/: cab, crab, cat, car, cage, cane, cake, scream, clear, climb
3. Add to the list of hard c sounds and practise saying them.
4. Can you notice the difference between the hard and soft c sounds?

Activity 2.17 Produce the soft and hard g sound
Hard g sound
The hard g is a voiced consonant g sound (where air escapes from your mouth).
For example, say these words aloud:
/g/: gift, girl, gang, gum, bag, log, rug, gate, goat

1. Add to the list of hard g sounds and practise saying them. Soft g sound
   The soft g is also a voiced consonant (where air escapes from your mouth) but the sound of the letter g is a /d3/ sound.
   For example, say these words aloud:
   /d3/: age, giant, gym, giraffe, magic, engine, large, charge
2. Add to the list of soft g sounds and practise saying them.
3. Compare the hard and soft g sounds.
   Activity 2.18 Practise th soft and hard the sound
   Soft the sound
   When you say the soft the /0/ sound in words almost no air escapes through
   your mouth. That is why it is sometimes called ‘the unvoiced th’.
   For example, say these words aloud:
   /0/: thick, thin, thorn, thumb, thunder, thread, thrill, throat, path, birth, earth, bath

1. Add to the list of soft th sounds and practise saying them.
   Hard th sound
   The hard th /ö/ sound is sometimes called ‘the voiced th’ because, with this sound, more air escapes through your mouth.
   For example, say these words aloud:
   /ö/: the, that, this, their, there, feather, weather, whether
2. Add to the list of hard th sounds and practise saying them.
3. Compare the hard and the soft th sounds.
   Activity 2.19 Recognise and practise saying diphthongs
   Two vowel sounds together
   A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds that together make up one syllable of a word. The sound begins with the first vowel and moves towards the second vowel. Both vowel sounds are clearly heard.
   For example, say these words aloud:
   /el/: main, rain, break
   /la/: year, near
   /eo/: hair, pair
   /ao/: out, drought
   /01/: boil, coin, boy
   Find more examples of diphthongs and write them in your exercise boo
4. Practise saying the words with diphthong sounds.

Conducting a survey
Have you ever wondered where the data that is useful to us comes from? For example,
how does a radio station know which programmes its listeners prefer? How does
an ice cream company know how many of each flavour to make?
Data is often collected from the public to answer particular questions and provide useful data for personal reasons, businesses or governments. In previous tasks you worked with information that had
been collected by other people. In this s ection you will collect your own data and use it to answer specific questions. You will conduct a survey to gather
information on the backgrounds and aspirations of your classmates. Once you have completed
this task you will report your findings.
1)

Activity 2.20 Plan to conduct a survey
1.Find out the meanings of the following words: survey, consent and interview.

2.Identify six classmates who you will interview for information about their social backgrounds and ambitions/goals. If possible, choose both boys andgirls to interview.
3 Explain to these six classmates that the main objective of this task is for you to practise conducting a survey. Make sure that you tell them that you will not use the data you collect from them for any other purpose.

4. Ask your six interviewees for their permission to interview them.
5. Read the headings of the table in Activity 2.20. Use them to help you plan a list of questions that you will ask your classmates. Compose questions that are likely to result in clear answers and provide the information you need to complete the table. Include wh-questions, yes/no questions, and open-ended questions (which require more than a one-word answer).
6. Use these five question ideas to get you going:
What is your name?
What education do your parents have?
What jobs do your parents do?
Who has influenced your choice of career?
Why do you think …
is a more popular profession than … ?
7.Your interview questions should include soft and hard vowel and consonant
sounds. You will also use diphthongs in some words. Identify the sounds
and practise asking the questions. Be sure to pronounce the sounds
correctly so that your interviewees understand you.

Activity 2.22 Interview classmates for your survey (out of class)

1. Interview the six classmates you identified in Activity 2.19. Use the stions ou lanned, ronouncing all the sounds and words correctly.

2.
Write notes in the table as your interviewees provide answers to the questions. Reword or use question tags if you have to ask some of your questions a second time. This will help you to check that you have recorded all the information accurately and clearly.
For example: Your mother is a …, isn’t she? Did you say your brother wants to be a … ? ho did ou sa our role model is?

Your mother is a isn’t she?
Did you say your brother wants to be a … ?
Who did you say your role model is?

3. Make sure you complete the table fully, clearly and correctly.

Question tags are shortlauses at the end of a statement that turn it into a question. For example:
She is coming, isn’t she?

Activity 2.23 Finalise your survey report
Check the content of your table in preparation for writing your survey report.
1. Review the data you collected about backgrounds and ambitions. Work
out and make a note of the following:
the ages of your interviewees
the youngest interviewee
the eldest interviewee
the parents who have the highest level of education
the most popular job among the interviewees.
2. Now consider these questions and predict:
a) Which interviewee’s dream job is likely to be the busiest? Explain why.
b) Whose dream job is likely to to be the least demanding? Explain why.
3. Look up the meaning of frequency when used in the context of data. Your teacher will help you to find out the frequency of your interviewees’ answers regarding their dream jobs and where they plan to be 6 or 7 years from now.

4. Use a computer to draw graphs that show:
   a) the ages of all your interviewees
   b) the frequency of the interviewees’ answers to three different questions.

Comparatives and superlatives
Adjectives are words that give you more detail about nouns. Adjectives are found before nouns. For example: The girl found an interesting book. Adjectives can also be found at the end of a sentence. For example: The book was interesting.
When you compare items, use comparative and superlative forms of the adjective.
Comparatives
Use the comparative form when you compare two items. For example: The article on dogs is long but this article on cats is longer. ‘longer’ is the comparative form of the adjective ‘long’.
Superlatives
When you compare three or more items using the same adjective, you use the superlative form of the adjective. For example: The article on dogs is long. The article on cats is longer. The article on birds is the longest of all three. ‘longest’ is the superlative form of the adjective ‘long’.
Rules for the comparative and superlative forms
You often add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative.

When the adjective ends in -y, you change the -y to an -i and add -ier (comparative) and -iest(superlative).

If an adjective has two or more syllables or ends in -ful, dd ‘more’ (comparative) and ‘most’ (su erla

Some words change completely.