English Proficiency is a student's ability to use the English

language to make and communicate meaning in spoken

and written contexts.
Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four
language skills we need to develop for complete
communication.
What is the English proficiency in the Philippines? - 2022
Rankings, Philippines is rank 22 with high proficiency.
English is the third most spoken and most widely taught
language
English is a “global language,” the “lingua franca of the
modern era.”
A lingua franca is a language or way of communicating
which is used between people who do not speak one
another's native language.
English is a lingua franca because it is the main global
language of trade and is the primary means by which
people across the world communicate with each other
when they have no other language in common.
Proficiency - a high degree of competence or skill;
expertise / the fact of having the skill and experience for
doing something / advancement in knowledge or skill /
progress/ level of advancement in a particular
profession, skillset or knowledge.
Vowels are: a, e, i, o, u . Consonants are the rest of the
letters in the alphabet: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r,
s, t, v, w, x, y and z .
There are eight parts of speech in the English language:
noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition,
conjunction, and interjection.
The term part of speech refers to the role a word plays in
a sentence.
Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or
object. Basically, anything that names a “thing” is a noun,
whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San
Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and
proper nouns. Common nouns are general names for
things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are
names or titles for specific things, like Jupiter and
Jeopardy
Pronouns
Pronouns are words you substitute for specific nouns
when the reader or listener already knows which specific
noun you’re referring to.
You might say, “Jennifer was supposed to be here at
eight,” then follow it with “She’s always late; next time
I’ll tell her to be here a half hour earlier.”
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row,
you substituted she and her, and your sentences
remained grammatically correct.
Adjectives
Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think
about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to
a friend who’s never seen it?
You might say the movie was funny, engaging, well-
written, or suspenseful. When you’re describing the
movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An
adjective can go right before the noun it’s describing (“I
have a black dog”), but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes,
adjectives are at the end of a sentence (“My dog is
black”).
Verbs
Go! Be amazing! Run as fast as you can! Win the race!
Congratulate every participant who put in the work and
competed!
Those bolded words are verbs. Verbs are words that
describe specific actions, like running, winning, and
being amazing.
Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that
refer to feelings or states of being, like to love and to be,
are known as nonaction verbs. Conversely, the verbs
that do refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.
Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb,
or another adverb.
I entered the room quietly.
Quietly is describing how you entered (verb) the room.
A cheetah is always faster than a lion.
Always is describing how frequently a cheetah is faster
(adjective) than a lion.
Prepositions
Prepositions tell you the relationships between other
words in a sentence.
You might say, “I left my bike leaning against the garage.”
In this sentence, against is the preposition because it
tells us where you left your bike.
Here’s another example: “She put the pizza in the oven.”
Without the preposition in, we don’t know where the
pizza is.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions make it possible to build complex
sentences that express multiple ideas.
“I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don’t like
puttanesca sauce.” Each of these three sentences
expresses a clear idea. There’s nothing wrong with listing
your preferences like this, but it’s not the most efficient
way to do it.
Consider instead: “I like marinara sauce and alfredo
sauce, but I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
In this sentence, and and but are the two conjunctions
that link your ideas together.
Articles
A pear. The brick house. An exciting experience. These
bolded words are known as articles.
Articles come in two flavors: definite articles and
indefinite articles. And similarly to the two types of
nouns, the type of article you use depends on how
specific you need to be about the thing you’re discussing.
A definite article, like the or this, describes one specific
noun.
Did you buy the car?
From the above sentence, we understand that the
speaker is referring to a specific previously discussed car.
Now swap in an indefinite article:
Did you buy a car?
See how the implication that you’re referring back to
something specific is gone, and you’re asking a more
general question?
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set
of structural rules on speakers' or writers' usage and
creation of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can
also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that
includes phonology, morphology, and syntax, together
with phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.
Grammar, rules of a language governing the sounds,
words, sentences, and other elements, as well as their
combination and interpretation.
Grammar is a system of rules that allow us to structure
sentences. It includes several aspects of the English
language, like: Parts of speech (verbs, adjectives, nouns,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, modifiers, etc.)
Clauses (e.g. independent, dependent, compound)
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and
a verb that have a relationship. This relationship is
crucial; a clause conveys information about what that
subject is or is doing, rather than simply being a random
grouping of words.
clause is defined as “a group of words that includes a
subject and a verb, and forms a sentence
A clause is comprised of a group of words which includes
a subject and a finite verb. A clause contains only one
subject and one verb.
What is a figure of speech?
Language that uses figures of speech is known
collectively as figurative language. You will find
examples of figurative language in novels, poems, essays,
and plays. The opposite of figurative language is literal
language. Literal language is the type of straightforward
writing you’ll find on road signs, in office memos, and in
research papers.
20 types of figures of speech
1 Alliteration
Alliteration is the repeating of consonant sounds right
next to each other, which creates a memorable or
melodic effect.
Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
2 Antithesis
Antithesis is a literary technique that places opposite
things or ideas next to one another in order to draw out
their contrast.
Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times . . .” —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
3 Apostrophe
Apostrophe as a figure of speech is when a character
addresses someone or something that isn’t present or
cannot respond. The character might speak to someone
deceased, an inanimate object, or a concept.
Example: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou
Romeo?” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
4 Circumlocution
Circumlocution is the use of a purposely wordy
description. You can think of it as talking in circles.
Example: In the Harry Potter series, most characters
don’t say Lord Voldemort’s name; instead, they use this
circumlocution: “He Who Must Not Be Named.”
5 Epigram
An epigram is a clever and memorable statement. You
will find epigrams in speeches, poetry, and at the front of
a book.
Example: “No one can make you feel inferior without
your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
6 Euphemism
A euphemism is a way to say something in an
understated manner, often to avoid difficult topics—like
money, death, or sex.
Example: Death can be an uncomfortable subject, so
we’ve developed many euphemisms to avoid
confronting it head-on. Rather than telling a friend that a
relative died, you might say they “kicked the bucket,”
“passed away,” or are “no longer with us.”
7 Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration that adds
emphasis, urgency, or excitement to a statement.
Example: If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to die of hunger.
8 Irony
Irony is a situation that subverts a reader’s expectations.
Example: One of the characters in your story is a
hypochondriac, always convinced that they have an
exotic and uncurable disease. An ironic ending for that
character would be if they died of a common cold.
9 Litotes
Litotes use a double negative to create a positive.
Example: You’re not wrong.
10 Metaphor
A metaphor is the direct comparison of dissimilar things
to create more vivid imagery or understanding.
Example: He was an onion; to understand him, she had
to peel back the layers.
11 Metonymy
Metonymy is a literary device in which a word or object
stands in for a closely related word or object. Metonymy
gives a writer more variability with descriptions.
Example: I thought his movies were better when they
weren’t so Hollywood.
12 Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it means.
Example: When a character is exasperated, they might
exclaim, “Sheesh!” That’s both a word to show
exasperation and a sound that happens when you sigh
loudly.
13 Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a phrase that uses two contradictory
words to create a new meaning.
Example: That strawberry cake was awfully good.
14 Paradox
A paradox is a statement that appears to contradict itself
but contains some truth, theme, or humor.
Example: “All animals are equal, but some animals are
more equal than others.” —George Orwell, Animal Farm
15 Personification
Personification is assigning human attributes to
nonhuman things.
Example: The floorboards groaned under the weight of Concorde or Subject-Verb Agreement
each step.
Have you ever wondered why we say, She looks very
16 Pleonasm pretty and not She look very pretty? The answer lies in
grammar rules on concord or subject-verb agreement.
Pleonasm is the use of more words than necessary to
The basic rule is that singular verbs must agree with
convey meaning. A writer might use pleonasm for humor
singular nouns, while plural verbs must agree with plural
or emphasis, or they might not realize they’re using extra
nouns. What is a noun? It is a word to name people,
words at all.
places, events, things or ideas.
Example: The burning fire warmed the whole house.
E.g.
17 Pun
 teacher, Orchard Road, party, basket, beauty.
A pun is a form of wordplay that purposely substitutes
How do you recognise a singular or plural verb?
words that sound similar but have different meanings.
A singular verb is one that has an s added to it in the
Example: “‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!’ said the Mouse,
present tense, such as writes, plays, runs, and uses forms
turning to Alice and sighing. ‘It is a long tail, certainly,’
such as is, was, has, does. A plural verb does not have an
said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail;
s added to it, such as write, play, run, and uses forms
‘but why do you call it sad?’” —Lewis Carroll, Alice’s
such as are, were, have and do.
Adventures in Wonderland
E.g.
18 Simile
 Jack (singular noun) enjoys (singular verb)
A simile compares two dissimilar things using “like” or
playing golf every Sunday.
“as.” The goal of simile is to give the reader a more vivid
understanding of something.  The mm (plural noun) enjoy (plural verb) playing
golf every Sunday.
Example: It was the first real day of summer, and by the
time she came back indoors, she was as red as a tomato. In the case of pronouns, he, she and it take a singular
verb while you, we and they take a plural verb.
19 Synecdoche
We (plural pronoun) think (plural verb) that she (singular
Synecdoche is when a smaller unit is used to signify a
pronoun) is (singular verb) innocent.
larger unit or vice versa.
However, there are exceptions to the rules mentioned
Example: New England won the game by a touchdown.
earlier.
(Here, New England means New England’s football
team.) If the two nouns joined by and represent a singular idea,
then the verb is singular.
20 Understatement
E.g.
Understatement is the intentional downplaying of a
situation. This can create a humorous or deadpan effect  Bread and butter is available on request.
in writing.
 Fish and chips is my favourite meal.
Example: “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very
Problems also arise when the speaker or writer is faced
serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” —J.D.
with more than one noun or pronoun in the sentence.
Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
E.g.
Subject-verb agreement means that a subject and its
verb must be both singular or both plural: A singular  The quality of our students’ essays has fallen
subject takes a singular verb. A plural subject takes a drastically.
plural verb.
In this case, the verb “fallen” agrees with the subject
(first noun mentioned) or head noun of the noun phrase,
“quality”.
Similarly, in the following example, “The spokes of that
wheel are broken.”
The subject of the sentence is spokes (plural head noun),
hence the plural verb, are.
When a singular and a plural noun or pronoun (subjects)
are joined by or or nor,the verb should agree with the
subject nearer the verb.
E.g.
 The girls or their father collects the newspapers
every morning.
 In this example, the singular verb, collects agrees
with the noun closest to it, the singular noun,
father.
People often get confused when deciding whether a
singular or plural verb should agree with some collective
nouns.
E.g. Should we say,
The football team are (plural verb) ready for their
photograph?
OR
The football team is (singular verb) ready for its
photograph?
Well, it all depends on whether we are thinking of the
team as a single collective unit or as individuals. If it is the
former, then the verb should be singular. However if we
are considering the team as comprising individual
members who are not acting as a single unit, then we use
the plural verb.
Other examples:
 My family (considered as a collective unit) comes
from Kuala Lumpur.
 The audience (considered as individuals) were
clamouring for more songs but the singer left the
stage.
 Your bunch of keys (considered as a collective
unit) is next to the door.
A point to note is that American English almost always
treats collective nouns as singular, hence a singular verb
is used with it.
Nouns which have two parts such as spectacles, scissors
or pants require plural verbs.
E.g.
 My spectacles are missing.
 These scissors need sharpening.
However, when regarded as a pair, a singular verb is
used.
E.g.
 My pair of spectacles is missing.
 This pair of scissors needs sharpening.
There are some occasions when we should use singular
verbs. Expressions such as each of, one of, anybody,
each, every and nobody must be followed by a singular
verb.
E.g.
 Each of the ladies has a designer handbag.
 Anybody is allowed to enter this hall.
 Nobody is disappointed with the results.
A singular subject with attached phrases introduced by
with or like or as well as is followed by a singular verb.
E.g.
 The boy, with several others, was late for school.
 Meiling, like Johan, is tall for her age.
 Tom, as well as Fred,is on the first shift.
Two singular nouns or pronouns separated by either … or
or neither … nor take a singular verb.
E.g.
 Either he or she has eaten the cake.
 Neither Meera nor Gopal knows anything about
the accident.
Amounts, even if plural, have a singular verb.
E.g.
  Sixty dollars is too much to pay for that dress.

 Ten kilometres is too long a distance for me to

walk.

 Five kilogrammes of flour is all that I need for my

baking.

There are some occasions when we should use plural

verbs.

When two or more plural subjects are connected by

“and”, the verb is plural.

E.g.

 The officers and his men were patrolling the

area.

 Domestic cats and dogs need adequate care and

attention.

Plural subjects separated by either…or or neither …

nor,both …and, and all but take a plural verb.

E.g.

 Either the boys or the girls are to blame.

 Neither the contestants nor the audience were

aware of the fire.

 All but Sam are going to the cinema.

 Both the twins are attending their graduation

ceremony.

Another problem that users of English face is this: does

the verb in a sentence agree with the noun (subject)
before it or the noun or adjective after it (complement)?

The answer is that it should agree with the subject – the

noun before it.

E.g.

 The thing (subject) we need at this moment is

(verb) more eggs.

 The greatest benefit (subject) is (verb) the

opportunities presented to our staff.