Teaching English in Ghanaian Schools: Where is the Grammar? John Kumah Quagie 1 and Ernest Kwesi Klu 2* and L. M. P. Mulaudzi 2# 1 School of Informatics, Ghana Telecom University College E-mail: jkumah@gtuc.edu.gh 2 English Department, University of Venda, South Africa E-mail: * asongkwesi@gmail.com, # Lindiwe.mulaudzi@univen.ac.za KEYWORDS Grammar. Second Language. Teaching. Concord. Textual Analysis ABSTRACT This paper argues that the grammar of English as a second language should be taught in English second language classrooms so that some complex grammatical issues such as students’ poor knowledge about word classes, subject-verb agreement – concord, mechanics of writing, confusion with the use of the relative clause, challenges with modifiers, etc. which persistently inundate students’ essays can be ameliorated. Textual analysis approach is used to analyse grammatical structures from selected Ghanaian newspapers - Daily Graphic and The Daily Guide, students’ manuscripts and other sources to arrive at the findings, which support the need for the teaching of English grammar in Ghanaian schools. In addition, the paper seeks to argue that until the challenges as mentioned above are dealt with in English grammar as a second language, both students and teachers, especially in Ghanaian schools, cannot be comfortable with the use of the language. As a recommendation, the paper suggests that experienced teachers of English should be employed by school authorities to teach the subject at all levels of education. In addition, the paper recommends that English second language curriculum planners should make adequate provision for good textbooks for students and teachers. * Corresponding author: Dr. E. K. Klu INTRODUCTION Although English is an official language in Ghana, its teaching and learning often pose some challenges to both teachers and students in schools, colleges and even universities. Stud- ies have however revealed that the challenges posed by the use of English as second language in Ghana is as a result of how the language is taught and learned at all levels of education in the country. For example, studies have revealed that that some teachers of English as a second language do not have the requisite training or qualification before teaching the subject in some schools, colleges and even universities in Ghana (Afful 2007). For this reason, certain aspects of the English second language, such as grammar, is often relegated in the English second language classroom. Indeed, our experiences over the years as teachers and lecturers of English sec- ond language have revealed that some teachers of English second language often shirk the re- sponsibility of teaching English grammar, which is the core of the language. It is in an attempt to salvage some of these challenges pertaining to the teaching and learning of the grammar of English second language that we intend to ad- vance arguments in this paper for English Sec- ond Language teachers to seriously intensify, the teaching and learning of grammar of English second language, especially in Ghanaian schools and elsewhere. Statement of the Problem A group of students who were interviewed at the University of Cape Town, (UCT) South Af- rica in 1995 as to what they thought about the teaching and learning of English grammar as a second language said, ‘… Good academic work is characterized by good style of grammar espe- cially in arts and sciences…’ (Angelil-Carter 1998:53). Indeed, their response underscores the important role of English grammar in academia. Notwithstanding the challenges the teaching of English grammar as a second language poses to both teachers and students in schools, col- leges and even universities, not much effort has been made by teachers and students to curtail the recurrence of some of these problems. Ironi- cally, some schools of thought have argued that English grammar as first, second or even third language should not be taught in English sec- ond language classrooms because its teaching does not help students, but rather confuse them since there are many rules to be learnt by stu- dents. In particular, Krashen (1982) and Prabu (1987) are of the view that students become natu- rally good speakers of a target language – En- glish Language, on their own than when they are taught by somebody or when it is learned from somebody. In contrast to the views ex- © Kamla-Raj 2013 Int J Edu Sci, 5(3): 263-270 (2013)