Investigating Why Senior High School Candidates Perform Poorly in the Essay Writing component of The English Language Paper at the WASSCE, Ghana

This quantitative survey case study of some selected schools in two school districts in Ghana investigates why many WASSCE candidates do not do well in composition writing, an aspect of the English language paper, at the senior high school level. The study found that insufficient time allocated to the teaching of composition, the inability of teachers to mark students’ exercises and guide them through the necessary corrections and interventions, the trend of large classes’ size were key factors for the poor performance of students at the WASSCE. The studies further found the overburdened extra- curricular activities which made it difficult for teachers to complete their schemes of work, as part of the problem. Additionally, high level of apathy among students in reading books and writing of compositions, coupled with inadequate reading materials were the other factors. The conclusion drawn from this study is that when teaching and learning processes are given strong commitments by teachers and students, and if there is application of appropriate methodology and sufficient time allocation to this subject area, the performance of students in English composition writing will be enhanced