Assessing Final Year Secretaryship and Management Students academic writing proficiency in Ghanaian Technical Universities

Abstract

Academic writing plays an important role in the academic discourse community. In all higher education across the world, writing plays an indispensable role because students need to write assignments, examinations, academic reports and field or laboratory reports. Writing is a fundamental skill that underpins students’ academic success in university studies. It is, therefore, expected by lecturers that final-year university students demonstrate adequate writing competences but unfortunately, in Ghana and beyond, many final-year university students are unable to exhibit high levels of competence in their writings. This is because many of them lack the abilities needed to successfully communicate in writing. The primary aim of the study was to assess the academic writing proficiency of final-year university students. The multiple case study design was used for the study. In-depth interviews were used to elicit data from four lecturers and forty final-year students of Secretaryship and Management Studies from four selected Technical Universities in Ghana. Additionally, test scripts were analysed. In analysing the data, thematic content analysis and document analysis were used. Error Analysis, Cognitive Processes Theory, Schleppegrell’s (2004) model of academic written language, and Halliday and Hasan’s framework on cohesion undergirded the study. The interpretivism and constructivism paradigm underpinned the study, and the research approach was qualitative. The study's sample consisted of four (4) lecturers who taught Secretarial English from the Secretaryship and Management Studies Department, forty (40) final-year students conveniently selected from the Department, and sixty (60) examination scripts purposively selected from the same Department of the four selected technical universities. It was found that final- year university students in technical universities in Ghana were not proficient in their academic writing. They committed grammatical, mechanical, content and structural errors. It is recommended that students be given the necessary interventions needed to overcome the challenges identified. Universities and educational systems should integrate academic writing interventions directly into their curricula to effectively address and overcome the widespread challenges students encounter in academic writing.