Abstract:
One of the basic grammatical rules often abused by basic school students is that regarding
the use of grammatical concord. Thus, many Junior High School learners are challenged in
the appropriate use of grammatical concord which obstructs communication. In line with
this the study explored the difficulties in the study and use of concord among students of
Chansa Junior High School. The theoretical arguments of this study are grounded in the
dependency grammar theory and the syntactic theory. The qualitative research approach
was used in the study. In all, fifty-six (56) students and two (2) teachers participated in the
study. Purposive and quota sampling techniques were used to select the teachers and
students respectively. Data collection for the study was done using interviews, observations
and content analysis of the essays of students. Data analysis was done using thematic
analysis. The study revealed that the students had very poor knowledge of general basic
grammar, especially in the area of agreement (concord). Tenses used were particularly
chaotic. The pedagogical treatment of grammatical structures by the teachers has been
ineffective. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with
the Ghana Education Service and the Metropolitan Director of Education are advised to
frequently organize workshops, seminars and refresher courses that will help enhance the
professional skills and knowledge of the teachers. Teachers are advised to use a more
creative and simulative approach to the teaching of grammatical concord to build students’
confidence in grammar
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign
Languages Education, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education
(Teaching of English as A Second Language)
in the University of Education, Winneba
JULY, 2023
