Assessing grammatical errors in the essays of form 2 students of Amankwakrom Rc junior high school in the Kwahu Afram plains north district

Abstract

This research is a qualitative study that assessed causes of grammatical errors committed by Junior High School Students in their writings in English language and how to help reduce or correct them. The study sought to identify the grammatical errors, classify them and suggested ways to help students of Amankwakrom R/C Junior High School reduce the occurrence of such errors in their writings. This study used fifty-four (54) participants made up of fifty-two (52) students and two (2) teachers. The researcher used instruments such as observation, interview and essays (main instruments) to collect data. In this work hundred and four (104) essays were analyzed and a number of grammatical errors were identified. These errors include concord, tense, adjective, article, preposition, pronoun, infinitive, word order and L1 transfer errors. From these, concord errors had the highest frequency while infinitive errors had the lowest. Causes of these errors identified ranged from context of learning, inadequate knowledge on rules of restriction, overgeneralization of concepts, teacher competence to methods of teaching and L1 transfer. Based on the findings, it was suggested that teachers create conducive classroom environment for students to participate actively in class activities. Also, various stakeholders should play their roles effectively to improve teaching and learning of the English Language in basic schools.