An Analysis of Mechanics in Written Essays of Ghanaian ESL Students: A Focus on the Problems of Punctuation Marks

Abstract

Appropriate punctuation in written texts contributes significantly to the understanding of the message; however, issues of punctuation appear to be under-researched, particularly through qualitative approach. This study therefore adopts the descriptive qualitative study and presents the findings of written essays of ten (10) ESL Ghanaian students, who were purposively sampled. The paper aims to identify and explain the punctuation problems discernible in the students' written essays. The main question of this study is what problems are discernible in ESL students' written essays in terms of punctuation marks? The findings of the study reveal that in terms of punctuation, the students have problems with the use of comma, which is the commonest and the most abused punctuation mark. Thus, analysis of the students' essays reveals the omission of comma where necessary, redundant use of the comma and confusion of comma with other punctuation marks. Again, the problem of capitalization is shown in the study, as two levels are identified – discoursal and lexical.  Another problem discernible in the students' written essays has to do with the apostrophe, as the students confuse the contracted form of the verb is in the expression it is, as in it's with the third person possessive determiner, its.  It is therefore suggested that teachers of English language should be aware of the punctuation problem and as such, engage students in a lot of exercises and practices in punctuation matters in order to enhance students' writing skills.