Using the process approach to teach essay writing at St. Francis College of Education, Hohoe

Abstract

Despite the constant efforts in developing English Education in Ghana, it is still obvious students at almost all the levels display poor skills in composition. In view of this, the researcher decided to find out the effective ways that teachers of the English language could use to help students at the colleges of education level to overcome their writing difficulties. Among the tools used were test, observation, interview and the design took the form of pre-intervention, intervention and post intervention. Findings revealed the following deficiencies in students’ essays: lack of substantial content, poor organization, poor expression and very horrible mechanical accuracy. Besides, teachers adopted only the traditional method in teaching essay writing. Also teachers who handle large classes hardly give written assignments to their students. These were some of the problems identified. The researcher recommended that teachers of English language should eschew laziness and give equal attention to essay writing just like the other aspects. This will encourage the students to study and practice the descriptive essay writing.