Browsing by Author "Mensah, D."

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    Lexical Errors in English Language Writing –The Case of selected Senior High School students in the Ashanti Region of Ghana
    (Noyam, 2024-12) Mensah, D.; Owu-Ewie, C.; Abunya, L. N.; Abban, A; Jibril, H. S; https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8116-5518; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6458-4071; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2016-4219
    The present study analyses the lexical errors committed by students in their written output. Using the Quantitative approach, it examines the lexical errors of students selected from each of the three-layered categories (A, B, and C) of Senior High schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A sample of 824 out of 2713 students was arrived at through Yamane’s sample size determiner. The sample was selected through the systematic random sampling strategy. A model based on Corder’s Error Analysis theory was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that the students committed lexical errors in varying frequencies. Lexical errors identified from the essays were wrong word selections, literal translation, omission, misspelling, punctuation, capitalisation, modification, collocation, and morphological/word formation errors. Punctuation errors had the highest occurrence whereas literal translation errors had the least occurrence. The findings also revealed that lexical errors in the students’ output affected clarity and hindered effective communication by causing confusion, misinterpretation, and distortion of the intended messages. The study recommends that English language teachers should employ practical teaching and error correction strategies to address the writing challenges of students. Students should keep track of their learning; identify their weaknesses and relate such to their teachers for redress.
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    Written corrective feedback practices in Senior High Schools in Ghana
    (Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara (UISU), 2024-06) Mensah, D.; Owu-Ewie, C.; Abunya, L. N.; Abban, A.; https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8116-5518; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6458-4071; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2016-4219
    This paper examines the practice of written error correction from different perspectives in real classroom contexts. Although a plethora of research has been done in different contexts, the subject is least exploited in Ghana, especially in senior High school contexts. This paper reports on a qualitative study of written corrective feedback practices in three Senior High schools in Ghana. Drawing on Schmidt’s noticing hypothesis and Swain’s comprehensive output hypothesis models, the study aims to determine whether teachers’ written error corrections effectively direct students towards ‘noticing’ the gaps in their written ‘output’, thereby resulting in higher degrees of learnability. A sample size of 824 students was selected from five common course areas using a systematic random sampling strategy, while a purposive sampling strategy was used to select nine English language teachers who had at least three years of continuous experience from the three schools. The findings of the study indicate that teachers have positive beliefs about the potency of written error corrections in the development of language. However, variances in the choice of strategies, practices of teachers, and preferences of students result in the provision of non-targeted feedback which affects revision and learnability. This study recommends that teachers should collaborate with learners to provide more targeted corrections which would result in enhanced ‘noticing’ and improved learnability of the English language among Ghanaian students.