Genre Analysis of Chief Examiners’ Reports from Selected Colleges of Education in Ghana

Henry Kwao Ayitey, Obed Nii Broohm ORCID iD  & Gladys Mimmie Edjah

Issue: Vol.3  No.4  April  2022  Article 3 pp. 115-129
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022343  |   Published online 28th April, 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Although studies on genre abound in the Ghanaian literature, only a few have paid attention to the form and function of Chief Examiners’ Reports on the academic performance of candidates at examinations. To address this gap, the current study analyzes Chief Examiners’ Reports from selected Colleges of Education, covering several disciplines. The study adopts a qualitative descriptive design to examine movement patterns as well as the linguistic devices employed in such reports. Cast in Bhatia’s model of move analysis theory and Kanoksilapatham’s move criteria, the study shows that moves employed include both obligatory and optional ones: six (out of the ten) of the moves are obligatory while four are optional. Furthermore, the study found that most Chief Examiners’ Reports lack Introduction sections, and there appears to be no standard structure/format in Chief Examiners’ Reports. Regarding stance-taking devices, the study found that only three pronouns, it, they and this were used. It is recommended that Chief Examiners pay critical attention to the Introduction segments of their reports and that a standard format is provided to all Chief Examiners so as to achieve uniformity.

Keywords: Genres, Moves, Chief Examiners’ Report, English for Specific Purposes

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Mr. Henry Kwao Ayitey is an English Tutor in the Languages Department, Kibi Presbyterian College of Education, Ghana. He holds a Bachelor in Education in Primary Education (English), from the University of Cape Coast, Bachelor in Education in English, from Valley View University, Ghana, and Master’s Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. He is currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy (English Education) at the University of Cape Coast. His research focuses on English Methodology, Content, Language and Linguistics.

Obed Nii Broohm holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Verona, Italy, as well as MPhil/BA in Linguistics from the University of Ghana. His research interests lie in Morphological Theory, comparative Kwa morpho-syntax, Phonology and Language Documentation. He enjoys teaching, and researches on several aspects of Linguistics including Morphology and Morphological Theory, Phonology and Phonological Theory, Syntax-Phonology Interface, as well as language documentation. Dr. Broohm peer-reviews for a number of journals including the Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, Studies in African Linguisitcs, Journal of West African Languages, Nordic Journal of African Studies, Contemporary Journal of African Studies and Ghana Journal of Linguistics.

Gladys Mimmie Edjah (Mrs.) is with the Languages Department, St. Louis College of Education. She graduated from the University of Cape Coast in 1995 after which she taught English at OLA College of Education from 1996 to 2013. From 2013 to present, she joined the staff of St. Louis College of Education. She holds M. Ed Teacher Education in English, and currently pursuing Master of Philosophy, English Education, at the University of Cape Coast. She has been teaching English Methodology, Content, Language and Linguistics.

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© 2022 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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