Articles

Qualitatively, the study adopted a case research design. The population of this study comprised the last batch of Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) and the current first-year students of the new programme (Bachelor in Basic Education) of Mount Mary College of Education. Simple random and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 15 long essays from the final year, while 30 assignments were chosen from the first year. Nine (9) long essays from the English language, five (5) essays from Social Studies and one (1) essay from Mathematics. The main tools used for the study were students' assignment items and copies of long essays. Through an interpretative lens, the data were analysed into themes. The data and the analysis largely showed that students employed different kinds of modal verbs in their writing, including complete and periphrastic modal verbs. There was evidence that students have used these modal verbs in different ways that sometimes affected the intended meaning. These inappropriate choices are evident in both written texts and oral presentations. Findings showed that students employed modal verbs indiscriminately with little attention to contexts. It would be recommended that language teachers deal with the issue by giving written feedback on the use of modal verbs to students in their texts anytime they are given assignments.

Qualitatively, the study adopted a content analysis approach. There were eight State of the Nation addresses that the Ex-President John Kufour delivered during his tenure of office but only two of them are analysed in this study. The purposive sampling approach was used to select two State of the Nation addresses samples. The State of the Nation addresses of two years were picked for the study. The years are: 16<SUP>th</SUP> February 2001, and 14<SUP>th</SUP> February 2008. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the content analysis of the two speeches delivered by ex-president Kufour. Selective coding was used to code the occurrence of the categories of the epistemic modality expressions in the data. The epistemic modal elements as well as the sentences in which they occurred were then manually copied for further verification. These processes made the frequency count faster, more effective and more accurate. The data shows the relevant clauses or sentences containing modal expressions sampled within the contexts of epistemic meanings in the texts. The study has made it apparent that the expression of certainty is predominant. The data also indicates that the Ex-president has a greater tendency to use more modal adjuncts followed by the other modal auxiliary verb categories in expressing certainty in the selected State of the Nation Addresses during his State of the Nation Addresses. One question that arises is, why the Ex-president had a greater tendency to express more certainty in his State of the Nation Addresses. The answer is that Ex-president was fully sure and convinced of the information on the nation’s development and future programmes captured in the addresses. Thus, he appeared a confident, trustworthy and knowledgeable leader. Furthermore, the use of epistemic modality in the State of the Nation Addresses is neither haphazard nor coincidental. Instead, it is informed by reason of specific communicative intent. It is recommended that Public speakers and politicians should take the epistemic markers into consideration when writing the State of the Nation Address or any other texts in order to clarify shared opinion. It is also recommended that the Faculty of Language of the University of Education of Winneba should consider the concept of epistemic modality as a course of study in all various Language Departments including the Department of Communication Skills.

The study adopted a mixed-method research approach. The population size of this study constitutes the last batch of Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) and the current first-year students of the new programme (Bachelor in Basic Education) of Mount Mary College of Education. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select seven hundred and seventy-nine (779) respondents for the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select final year Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), made up of 312 and first-batch first-year students of the new programme (Bachelor in Basic Education) of Mount Mary College of Education, made of up 467 were used for data collection. A simple random technique was used to select 15 long essays from the final year Diploma in Basic Education while 30 assignments were selected from the first batch Bachelor in Basic Education students. Documents and interview guides were used for data collection. With an interpretative lens, the data were analysed in themes. The challenges in writing are the substitution of one modal verb for another, forceful insertions of modal verbs and improper modal forms. There was also proof that students were found to have used modal verbs in sentences that lacked the corresponding relationship with other clausal elements, making such constructions grammatically and pragmatically non-harmonious. It is recommended that there is a need to have a run-on design of the curricula by making sure that, a gradual introduction of modal verbs begins from the basic and low-grade level of the educational system to the highest. As these learners move up, they will correctly apply the verbs, changing from the core meaning of the modals to more complex uses. This concerted effort though will not be a panacea to the modal verbs challenge; it could mitigate he problem to a large extent.

This paper addresses the labial-palatalization process in Akuapem, a dialect of Akan. In this paper, we study the labial-palatalization, and the tonal processes related to the verbal prefix bɛ when cliticized to reduplicative verbs in the Akuapem dialect of Akan. Based on labial-palatalization, it is not all the Akuapem dialect that labial-palatalizes a C in a CUa/e string that triggers the labial-palatalization process. The study also concluded that when the verbal prefix or the modal marker bɛ is cliticized to reduplicated class I verbs, all the reduplicant and the base form of the verb assume different tonal melody in all the sub-dialect of Akuapem.