Extensive English Concord Error Analysis. Problems, Solutions and Recommendations

Scientific Study from the year 2019 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Miscellaneous, grade: 3.49 (B+), , language: English, abstract: This study reports the dominant linguistic errors that occur in the test items given to students of four Senior High Schools. The English sentence has a fairly strict word order and the elements that make up a sentence must be in concord, otherwise, the linear sequence becomes ungrammatical. This study investigated the degree of competence on concord in English attained by the Senior High School students in four selected schools in the Wa municipality of Ghana. The need for the work was underscored by the crucial role played by the English Language in Ghana’s education. The findings of the study would be relevant in English Language learning and pedagogy. A simple survey research design was adopted for the study and the subjects of the study comprised one hundred and eighty-seven students from four SHSs in Wa. Fifteen objective questions set on different types of concord were used as the test instrument. The students’ errors were classified and analysed using a simple percentage. The finding of the research revealed that the students have not mastered the rules guiding different types of concord. They were unable to dictate concord errors caused by a shift in the construction of the elements of sentences. The causes of concord errors were more of the misappropriation of concord rules. The implications of the findings in the teaching and learning of English are discussed and suggestions for improvement are made.