13 Reasons why Students fail English Language WAEC 2018

Without gainsay, the subject is the ace at the park of the card because, its omission spelled doom for the entire result. Therefore, it is germane and in the best interest of the prospective candidates to unravel reasons why Students fail English Language WAEC 2018 as unveiled by the Council (WAEC). The article is tripartite, it has weaknesses, suggested remedies and candidates’ strength.

Candidates’ Weaknesses

The weaknesses observed include:

1. poor paragraphing;
2. poor expression as a result of wrong concord, poor punctuation marks, wrong use of tenses, poor use of prepositions and articles;
3. failure to grasp the requirements and demands of some questions attempted;
4. inability to construct simple and correct sentences;
5. wrong use of the first-person pronoun “I”;
6. writing below the required number of words on the essay topics;
7. illegible handwriting;
8. use of SMS language such as “u” for you; “4” for for
9. spelling errors;
10. wrong use of the word “cause” instead of “because”, “there” for “their”;
11. poor knowledge of the basic rules of English grammar;
12. mindless lifting of answers from the passage;
13. inability to restate in the candidate’s own words, ideas contained in the passage.

Suggested Remedies by WAEC

Candidates should:

1. endeavour to improve on their vocabulary and grammar in English Language through extensive reading;
2. acquaint themselves with the techniques of answering questions;
3. take time to understand the exact demands of questions before attempting to answer them;
4. draw up an outline to organize their thoughts before writing their essays;
5. read through their work to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes before submitting their scripts;
6. practice essay writing constantly;
7. converse regularly in simple and correct English expressions.

Candidate’s Strengths

Many candidates:

1. demonstrated adherence to rubrics;
2. showed improvement in their knowledge of the features of formal essay writing;
3. wrote full length essays;
4. were able to identify the grammatical name and grammatical function of the expression given in question 6g.

Conclusion

Candidates who lack knowledge of the rudiments of English Language and the right approach to summary and comprehension questions will continue to perform poorly. The only way to overcome the weaknesses highlighted every year is to study well and practice constantly.

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