Paragraph writing in the essays of senior high school students- the case of SHS in the Savannah Region

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess students’ paragraph writing problems. The study was carried out in Bole Senior High School and St. Anthony of Padua Senior High/Technical School with special reference to final year students in focus. Case study design and purposive sampling technique were used to address the problem. A sample size of (280) was used. The study employed data collection instruments such as document analysis, open ended questionnaire, interviews, and classroom observation. The data were analyzed qualitatively. The study identified problems of organization, unity, adequacy, topic sentences, supporting sentences, concluding sentences and capitalization as the major paragraph writing problems students encounter. In addition, factors that were affecting students’ paragraph writing were found to be students’ related factors such as lack of knowledge of strategic use, students’ writing apprehension, lack of vocabulary and lack of regular practice, and teachers’ related factors such as teachers’ ways of giving feedback. Therefore, since paragraph writing is a skill that could be improved through sufficient practicing, students of Bole Senior High School and St. Anthony of Padua Senior High/Technical School should be given the opportunity of learning and practicing features of good paragraphing to effectively use them to write paragraphs.