SHS English Language practice questions
749 questions across 45 topics of the new NaCCA curriculum, each with a written explanation.
English Language is the widest subject in the bank, because it carries four strands at once: speech sounds and pronunciation, grammar, reading and comprehension, and writing. Year 1 covers word classes, nouns and pronouns, tense, consonant sounds, register, summarising, informal letters, literature, themes and text types. Year 2 adds clauses of every kind, subject-verb agreement, active and passive voice, synonyms and antonyms, collocations, stress and intonation, and the formal writing tasks — formal letters, reports, articles, minutes and speeches.
- Year 1
- 21 topics
- Year 2
- 24 topics
- Questions
- 749
Question mix across the subject: 295 recall, 358 applying skills and concepts, 88 strategic thinking and 8 extended thinking.
Year 1 topics(21)
- Analysing Fiction and Non-Fiction Texts, Tense, Fricatives and Affricates17 questionsDistinguishing fiction from non-fiction texts, verb tense, and the fricative and affricate speech sounds.Try sample questions
- Consonant Sounds and Register14 questionsPlosive and fricative consonant sounds, information retrieval from texts, and formal versus informal vocabulary.Try sample questions
- Conversation and Communication in Context16 questionsHow context shapes conversation and communication choices.Try sample questions
- Determiners and Interjections15 questionsDeterminers and interjections as word classes, and their use in sentences.Try sample questions
- Discourse, Summarising Text and Forms of Adjectives17 questionsConversational discourse strategies, summary-writing technique and the different forms of adjectives.Try sample questions
- Formal and Informal Contexts, Linear Narrative Essay, Monologues and Dialogues17 questionsRegister in formal versus informal contexts, structuring a linear narrative essay, and monologue/dialogue writing.Try sample questions
- Forms of Verbs, Writing Paragraph Strategies and Creating Monologues and Dialogues17 questionsVerb forms, strategies for structuring a paragraph, and composing monologues and dialogues.Try sample questions
- Functions of the Noun17 questionsNouns functioning as subjects, objects, complements and appositives, plus cohesive devices and paragraph development.Try sample questions
- Grammar Usage, Narratives, Drama, Poetry, Text Types and Purposes16 questionsApplied grammar usage across narrative, drama and poetry, and the purposes of different text types.Try sample questions
- Informal Letter Writing11 questionsThe format, tone and conventions of an informal letter.Try sample questions
- Listening Comprehension and Pronouns17 questionsListening comprehension technique, extracting main ideas from oral texts, and the pronoun as a word class.Try sample questions
- Literature10 questionsLiterary elements including plot, and how they are analysed in a text.Try sample questions
- Main Ideas, Subsidiary Ideas, Summary Writing and Prepositions16 questionsDistinguishing main from subsidiary ideas, summary-writing technique, and prepositions.Try sample questions
- Nasal Sounds, Reading Techniques and Tenses15 questionsThe nasal speech sounds, strategies for effective reading, and verb tenses.Try sample questions
- Reading15 questionsReading comprehension strategies and question types.Try sample questions
- Speech Sounds and Nouns18 questionsPure vowel sounds in connected speech, and the noun as a word class.Try sample questions
- Subject and Predicate14 questionsIdentifying the subject and predicate of a sentence.Try sample questions
- Text Types and Purposes12 questionsThe different text types and the purposes they serve.Try sample questions
- Themes10 questionsIdentifying themes across narrative, drama and poetry.Try sample questions
- Types of Pronouns17 questionsInterrogative, reflexive and demonstrative pronouns, and how to use them accurately.Try sample questions
- Word Classes and Cohesive Devices15 questionsThe eight word classes and the cohesive devices that link ideas within a text.Try sample questions
Year 2 topics(24)
- Active and Passive Voice, Speech Writing and Imagery18 questionsIdentifying active and passive voice, argumentative/persuasive speech writing (debate), and imagery in narrative, drama and poetry.Try sample questions
- Adverbial Clause, Narrative Writing and Poetry18 questionsThe adverbial clause, narrative writing, and identifying common themes across poems.Try sample questions
- Affricates and Approximants, Grammatical Structures and Clauses18 questionsConsonant sounds (affricates and approximants), grammatical structures, and the subordinate clause.Try sample questions
- Antonyms17 questionsWords that are opposite or nearly opposite in meaning.Try sample questions
- Article Writing17 questionsWriting articles for international and local newspapers and magazines.Try sample questions
- Consonant Clusters, Reading and Adverbial Clause18 questionsPatterns of consonant clusters, reading for pleasure, and the adverbial clause.Try sample questions
- Consonant Clusters, Reading Fluently and Subject-Verb Agreement17 questionsConsonant cluster practice, the importance of reading fluently, and concord/subject-verb agreement.Try sample questions
- Cues in Communication, Registers and Speech Writing18 questionsEuphemistic expressions, proverbs and idiomatic expressions, registers, and debate speech writing.Try sample questions
- Cultural Perspective in Communication and Vocabulary in Context18 questionsThe impact of technology on cultural communication practices, and determining word meaning from context.Try sample questions
- Diphthongs, Reading Comprehension and Phrase & Clause22 questionsThe eight English diphthongs, a guide to reading and answering comprehension questions, and the phrase and clause as grammatical units.Try sample questions
- Formal Letter Writing16 questionsThe structure and conventions of a formal letter.Try sample questions
- Minutes Writing15 questionsThe structure and format of writing minutes.Try sample questions
- Noun Clause, Cohesive Devices and Poetry Appreciation17 questionsThe noun clause in depth, cohesive devices in paragraph coherence, and appreciation of a selected non-African poem.Try sample questions
- Oral Narrative, Summary Writing and Subject-Verb Agreement20 questionsThe purpose of oral narrative texts, strategies for summarising texts, and subject-verb agreement usage.Try sample questions
- Relative/Adjectival Clause, Essay and Poetry18 questionsThe relative (adjectival) clause, concluding an essay, and identifying common themes across poems.Try sample questions
- Report Writing20 questionsThe structure and format of report writing, and strategies for learning it.Try sample questions
- Research and Presentation20 questionsConducting research and presenting it, including a sample research format.Try sample questions
- Research and Presentation (Building and Presenting Knowledge)20 questionsBuilding and presenting knowledge through research and presentation.Try sample questions
- Stress, Intonation and Meaning, Active Voice and Summary Writing18 questionsStress, intonation and meaning in speech, alongside listening comprehension and summarising.Try sample questions
- Subject-Verb Agreement, Speech Writing and Imagery20 questionsConcord/subject-verb agreement, formal and informal speech writing, and imagery.Try sample questions
- Subordinate Clause, Paragraph Coherence and Poetry19 questionsThe subordinate clause, cohesive devices (connectors and transitional devices) in paragraph coherence, and non-African poems.Try sample questions
- Synonyms15 questionsWords that are similar or nearest in meaning.Try sample questions
- Triphthongs, Question Types and Clauses17 questionsEnglish triphthongs, reading comprehension question types, and the features and structure of the noun clause.Try sample questions
- Word Collocations17 questionsWords that are best linked together in natural usage.Try sample questions
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