http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/73 2026-04-04T23:13:43Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4839 The Use of Ghanaianisms in Aidoo's Changes Djoleto's Money Galore and Nyantakyi's Ancestral Sacrifice Adogpa, J.N. What is linguistically appropriate and acceptable in one geographical area may be proven a linguistic misfit in another geographical location. This is always evidenced in second language situations where the second language seems inadequate in expressing the culture and belief systems of the people. The result is for the people to resort to localized lexical items or to ‘bend’ some of the foreign lexical items so as to let them acquire meaning quite different from their original or dictionary meaning. The Ghanaian creative writer (GCW) does this by Ghanaianising the lexical items by means of indigenization, pidginization, transliteration, code switching and other means. The work sets out to find out Ghanaian lexical items known as Ghanaianisms in Aidoo’s Changes, Djoleto’s Money Galore and Nyantakyi’s Ancestral Sacrifice by categorizing the lexical items under the creativity category, interference category and deviation category. Each category has local classification markers out of which the various Ghanaianisms are grouped. The findings are that creativity category carried the greatest number of Ghanianisms followed by interference category and finally deviation category. Taboos influenced the tilting of English lexical items to acquire meaning according to the Ghanaian culture. Also, GCWs use Ghanaianisms not for lack of vocabulary but for the sake of self-identity and avoidance of circuitous expressions. 2014-02-01T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4641 The Comparative Instructional Effectiveness of Print-Based and Video-Based Instructional Materials for Teaching Practical Skills at a Distance Donkor, F. Print-based instructional materials have been more popular than any other medium for teaching practical skills during the delivery of technical and vocational education and training via distance learning. However, the approach has its shortcomings and in recent times alternatives have been sought. The comparative instructional effectiveness of one such alternative is the focus of this paper. The study sought to examine the instructional effectiveness of video-based instructional materials vis-à-vis traditional print-based instructional materials for teaching distance learners of a Block-Laying and Concreting practical skills programme. An experimental design was used and participants were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: Users of video-based instructional materials or users of print-based instructional materials. A researcher-designed performance test and an achievement test of 20 multiple-choice items were used to collect data from 34 participants who used print-based instructional materials and 35 participants who used video-based instructional materials to learn practical skills. The instruments were based on the instructional objectives of lessons on mortar and wall finish. Pilot test data for the achievement test yielded Cronbach’s alpha of 0.84. Descriptive statistics and t-test at a 0.05 level of significance were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that the two instructional materials were pedagogically equivalent in terms of theoretical knowledge acquired. Practical skills acquired, however, were significantly higher among users of video-based instructional materials. Finally, users of video-based instructional materials displayed significantly superior craftsmanship. 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4640 Effects of log export ban policy and dynamics of global tropical wood markets on the growth of timber industry in Ghana Amoah, M.; Becker, G.; Nutto, L. The effects of log export ban (LEB) policy and dynamics of global tropical timber markets on the growth of Ghanaian timber industry were studied. The purpose was to follow the trend in the growth of timber industry from 1984 to 2005 using Fisher index and semi-log regression analysis. The study showed that the volume of plywood, veneer, and processed wood exported before the period of 1984–1995 and during the LEB policy (1996–2005) was, respectively, 6% and 46% of the total exports during those periods. On the contrary, the aggregate price index of all products exported before the LEB policy was up by 129% compared to 3.9% for the period during the LEB policy. A further decline in prices of the most products exported during the LEB policy was found by the study. Thus even though an LEB policy could increase volume share of value-added products, it cannot guarantee growth in prices of wood products. r 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. 2008-01-02T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4639 Assessment of logging efficiency and development allometric models for predicting stumpage volume some commercial tree species in Ghana Amoah, M.; Becker, G. The need to develop instruments to capture the realistic stumpage volume and influence loggers to improve on their logging been a topic of interest in recent times. This study assessed the logging efficiency in Ghana and developed allometric stumpage volume. A total of 135 trees from nine timber species were sampled from three logging sites during commercial logging The average logging recovery for all sampled trees was about 75 %. The small-end diameter of the merchantable residues 31 cm and 60 cm while their length values varied from 3.0 m to 8.5 m. In general, species-specific models exhibited better predictive than mixed-species models. Models that predicted total merchantable volume from the volume of the extracted logs had the Furnival index values ranging from 0.590 to 1.727. Results of the models' validation indicated that mixed species models merchantable volume better for relatively small trees than for big trees with merchantable 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z