Abstract:
Fundamentally, summary writing entails the shortening of a text based on the main
and secondary ideas in the text and subsequent restatement by the reader. It has been
regarded as an all-involving task that involves the interplay of two abilities, namely,
the ability to comprehend the main ideas and schematic organization of a text and the
ability to compose a concise and coherent re-wording of the author's ideas. The
overwhelming importance of summary writing has made it a key component in the
Core English paper in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations.
Despite the importance of this skill, textbooks generally provide a cursory treatment
of this concept. Summarization undeniably is a difficult skill for many Senior High
School students. Summary writing has over the years proven to be a major cause of
failure in core English Language paper at the West African Senior School Certificate
Examinations (WASSCE). Therefore, there was the need to identify the forms of
challenges that students in the study area encounter when undertaking a summary
task. It is for this important reason that this study sought to unravel the challenges
confronting final year students of Sefwi Bekwai Senior High School in the Bibiani Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality of Ghana in executing summary tasks.The qualitative
research design was used for the study. Random sampling technique was used to
select 50 final year students in Sefwi Bekwai SHS and total sampling method to
recruit all five teachers in the department of English. Two sets of questionnaires were
used to elicit responses from the teachers and the students. All recruited students were
given a passage in English and were thereafter tasked to summarize the passage based
on some pre -determined questions. The scripts were marked by experts. The marked
scripts of the students were analyzed to identify and extract the challenges the
students faced. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 24.The challenges
faced by students in summary writing are due to lack of effective instruction on the
processes of producing a summary, lack of comprehension skills and vocabulary
among students and poor reading habits among students.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign
Languages Education and Communication submitted to the School of Graduate
Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education
(Teaching English as a Second Language)
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER 2020