Abstract:
The researcher identified the problem of pupils inability to use past tense well at Nyamati JHS
one in the Sissala West District of the Upper West region in Ghana. The purpose of this paper is
to identify the underlying factors for the weakness of tense usage and address the practical
problems faced by the students of JHS one students to use tenses appropriately in
communication. The research design was qualitative. The target population for the study was the
pupils of Nyimati JHS in the Sissala West District of the Upper West region in Ghana. In this
research the census technique was used to select all the JHS One students (N = 22) of Nyimati
JHS to examine their first term exams answer sheets for English Language for the 2019/2020
academic year. The instruments used for the research are observation, interview and test. Based
on the responses given by pupils and teachers it was found out that the students had difficulty in
tense usage and it affected their general academic performances. Students’ score in English
language was the lowest among the four core subjects studied at the JHS.
Description:
A Dissertation in the department of
Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Languages, submitted to the school of
Graduate Studies, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of
Master of Education
Degree in Teaching English as Second Language
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER, 2020
