Abstract:
The essence of this study is to identify noun errors, why students commit such errors
and suggest measures which can be used to enhance students‟ knowledge on the
identification of head noun within a noun phrase by students of Chiana Senior High
School. The study sets forth to ascertain the specific grammatical problem areas
students of Chiana Senior High School (CHIANSEC) faced, to find out the possible
factors that account for the challenge, and to suggest ways of solving it. Data were
collected from Form One Business 1B students of the school by way of interview,
questionnaires, an in-class objective test. Students‟ comprehension, composition and
summary for end of term examination scripts were also analysed using percentage
chart. The findings revealed that students of CHIANSEC could not identify noun head
in context that is making them to commit the following errors, concord, selecting
adjectives as nouns, using adjectives as post-modifiers, making pre-modifiers number
and genitive problems and others. The findings also point to the fact that the challenge
was due to the Effects of the Affective Factors (motivation, attitude, intelligence and
anxiety). It was also disclosed that students attitude towards their personal study of
English Language is the cause of the poor performance.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign
Language Education and Communication, submitted to the School of Graduate
Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education Degree
(Teaching English as a Second Language)
in the University of Education, Winneba
