JAMB Syllabus for Use of English 2024/2025 (PdF Download)

Looking for the Official JAMB Syllabus for Use of English 2024/2025? You can download it right here.

Many JAMB candidates underestimate the difficulty of the English exam, only to find later that it’s often their lowest score. To excel on the UTME, you need high marks across all four test subjects.

Of these, English is the most important. Mastering the JAMB Syllabus for Use of English is essential for achieving a high score.

The syllabus covers all aspects of English language tested on the exam. Be sure to study vocabulary, grammar, lexis and structure, comprehension, summary writing and more. With the right preparation using the official syllabus, you can ace the English section of JAMB 2024/2025.

JAMB Syllabus for Use of English 2024/2025

• Comprehension/Summary
• 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.
• Vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs)
• Consonants (including clusters)
• Rhymes (including homophones)
• Word stress (monosyllabic and polysyllabic)
• Intonation (words emphatic stress)

Objectives of JAMB Syllabus for Use of English 2024

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. Consequently, is designed to evaluate the candidates’ ability to:

• communicate effectively in both written and spoken English; and
• Finally, use the English Language for learning at the tertiary level.

How Many Parts is the English Syllabus for JAMB Divided into?

The Use of English syllabus for JAMB is divided into three (3) sections, which are:

• First Section: Comprehension/Summary
• Second Section: Lexis and Structure, and
• Third Section: Oral Forms

Comprehension/Summary in JAMB English syllabus 2024

The candidates would be tested in the following areas under comprehension:

• description
• narration
• exposition
• argumentation/persuasion

Comprehension and Summary Test Overview

Each of the two passages to be set will include a cloze test of approximately 200 words reflecting various academic disciplines. The cloze test omits select words that test-takers must identify to complete the passage.

The passages will assess:

• Comprehension of the whole or parts of the passages
• Understanding of vocabulary, phrases, clauses, sentences, figures of speech, and idioms used in the passages
• Coherence and logical reasoning skills (making deductions, drawing inferences, etc.)
• Synthesizing ideas from the passages

Note: A cloze test is an exercise where words are removed from a text and must be replaced by the test-taker.

Note: Synthesizing ideas refers to the skill of combining separate pieces of information to form a unified overall understanding.

Objectives of Comprehension Passage/Summary for JAMB Use of English 2024

Candidates should be able to:

• Identify main points/topic sentences in passages;
• determine implied meaning;
• identify the grammatical functions of words, phrases, clauses and figurative /idiomatic expressions;
• deduce or infer the writer’s intentions including mood, attitude to the subject matter and opinion.

Students would be tested on the under-listed topics in the examination:

• 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.
• Vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs)
• Consonants (including clusters)
• Rhymes (including homophones)
• Word stress (monosyllabic and polysyllabic)
• Intonation (words emphatic stress)
• Objectives of Lexis and Structure for JAMB Use of English
• identify words and expressions in their ordinary, figurative and idiomatic contexts;
• determine similar and opposite meanings of words;
• differentiate between correct and incorrect punctuation and spelling;
• identify various grammatical patterns in use;
• Interpret information conveyed in sentences.

Note: Idioms to be tested shall be those that are formal and expressed in standard British English.

Areas of Concentration for JAMB Syllabus for English 2024

Test of Oral in JAMB Syllabus 2024

Students would be tested on the under-listed topics in the examination:

• Read and practice Life Changer
• Vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs)
• Consonants (including clusters)
• Rhymes (including homophones)
• Word stress (monosyllabic and polysyllabic)
• Intonation (words emphatic stress)

Objectives of Test of Oral for JAMB Use of English

Candidates should be able to:

• make distinctions between vowel types;
• differentiate between consonant types;
• identify correct accentuation in individual words and connected speech

Note: Emphatic stress involves the placement of the normal stress on words in an utterance for the purpose of emphasis.

Structure of the JAMB syllabus for English Language 2024

SECTION A: Comprehension/Summary

• A comprehension passage with five questions
• One cloze passage with ten questions
• Not more than one reading text with ten questions

SECTION B: Lexis and Structure

• Sentence interpretation with five questions
• Antonyms with five questions
• Synonyms with ten questions
• Sentence completion with ten questions

SECTION C: Oral Forms

Ten questions will be asked in this section.

How many questions are asked in the English Language during JAMB?

There are 60 question in this examination altogether.

Recommended text for Use of English in JAMB

• Attah, M. O. (2013). Practice in Spoken English for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Maiduguri: University of Maiduguri Press.
• Bamgbose, A. (2002). English Lexis and Structure for Senior Secondary Schools and Colleges (Revised Edition), Ibadan: Heinemann
• Banjo, A. et al (2004). New Oxford Secondary English Course Book Six for Senior Secondary Schools, Ibadan: UP Plc.
• Caesar, O. J. (2003). Essential Oral English for Schools and Colleges, Lagos: Tonad Publishers Limited
• Daniel Jones (2011). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Egbe, D. I (1996). Mastering English Usage and Communication Skills, Lagos: Tisons
• Elugbe, B. (2000). Oral English for Schools and Colleges, Ibadan: Heinemann
• Grant, N. J. H, Nnamonu, S. Jowitt, D. (1998). Senior English Project 3, (New Edition) Harlow: Longman
• Idowu, O. O, Sogbesan, T. S, Adofo, A. K. Burgess, D. F and Burgess, L. J. (1998). Round-up English: A Complete Guide, Lagos: Longman
• Idris, U. (2001). Oral English at Your Fingertips for Schools and Colleges, Lagos, M. Youngbrain Publishers
• Igiligi, E. C. and Ogenyi, S. O. (2010) Grammar and Composition in the G.S.M. Age, Enugu: Joe Hills Production Services
• Jauro, L. B. (2013). Oral English for Schools and Colleges: A Teaching and Learning Approach, Yola: Paraclete Publishers.

If you need more syllabi on all the subjects you are to write in JAMB, you can see any of the following