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Writing is considered as a daunting task in second language learning. It is argued by most scholars that this challenge is not only limited to second language speakers of English but even to those who speak English as their first language. Thus, the ability to communicate effectively in English by both native and non-native speakers requires intensive and specialized instruction. Due to the integral role that writing plays in students' academic life, academic literacy has garnered considerable attention in several English-medium universities in which Ghanaian universities are no exception. It is therefore surprising that prominence is not given to Academic Writing and Communicative Skills at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS). In this paper, I argue for much time and space to be given to Academic Writing and Communicative Skills, a programme that seeks to train students to acquire the needed skills and competence in English for their academic and professional development. This argument is based on the findings that came out after I explored the errors in a corpus of 50 essays written by first year students of UHAS. The findings revealed that after going through the Communicative Skills programme for two semesters, students still have serious challenges of writing error-free texts. Out of the 50 scripts that were analyzed, 1,050 errors were detected. The study further revealed that 584 (55.6%) of these errors were related to grammatical errors, 442 (42.1%) were mechanical errors and 24 (2.3%) of the errors detected were linked to the poor structuring of sentences. Based on these findings, recommendations and implications which are significant to educators, policy makers and curriculum developers are provided. This study has implications for pedagogy and further research in error analysis.

Government implemented education access policies occupy a prominent place in the discourse on access to education. Education access issues have, thus, been examined almost exclusively from macro-level structural perspective. The micro-politics that take place behind the scenes after structural access issues have been resolved is minimally broached. Drawing on qualitative data from first generation educated women in Ghana and their mothers, this paper addresses the dark underbelly of girls' access to education, and the resistance activities undertaken by women to ensure that girls who become causalities of non-enrolment decisions are enrolled. Thus, the paper is guided by two questions. How do girls who become casualties of non-enrolment decisions go to school? How does the resistance activities women take against such non-enrolment decisions enable access for girls? In presenting the roles played by different actors such as mothers and kins, this paper makes an argument that, through women's resistance activities such as subverting the norms, covert diplomacy, and infractions of gendered rules in decision-making, women resist structural distribution of norms that exclude them from decision-making before girls can go to school unimpeded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from a social constructionist perspective to written scholarly communication, this paper argues that training in academic writing for students in higher education especially in second language contexts should go beyond emphasis on grammatical correctness and paragraphing strategies, and also focus on the rhetorical character of academic discourse together with the mastery of its communicative protocols. Using the University of Ghana as a reference point, the paper reviews a selection of Ghanaian graduate students' awareness of the protocols that govern academic discourses in scholarly writing, and in consideration of their unique educational and socio-cultural circumstances, the paper proposes strategies, from the pedagogical and institutional standpoints, aimed at increasing students' awareness of the relevant communicative practices that engender credibility and accountability.

Any communication endeavor that overconcentrates on organizational interests and fails to uphold the sacred duty of promoting consumer interest is akin to shooting oneself in the foot. The paper highlights public concerns about ethical standards of advertising practice in Ghana. The study adopted a qualitative research approach involving a review of existing documents and interviews. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 consumers who were conveniently selected from five large retail shops in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The study revealed a very high level of consumer disillusionment with the form and content of many advertising campaigns in Ghana. Specific areas of concern cited included the use of children, exaggeration and blatant untruths in advertising features. Scholarly writings that seek to align corporate interest with societal wellbeing are important. Those in charge of corporate communication must value the interest of their stakeholders, restrain their idiosyncratic intentions, and succumb to the invaluable importance of their external communities by demonstrating high ethical standards. The supposition that advertising is costly and so organizations should endeavor to maximize its returns at all costs is challenged by this write-up. Rather, light is shed on the fact that intricate, multifaceted stakeholder interests need to be appreciated, acknowledged and balanced with corporate intentions in ensuring advertising effectiveness and sustained corporate gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated students' perception of plagiarism, sources of information on plagiarism, attitude towards plagiarism, reasons for acts of plagiarism and knowledge of the consequences of plagiarism. A quantitative approach was used. Data was gathered using survey from a sample size of 319 graduate students of University of Ghana, selected using the stratified sampling technique. The main data collection instrument was the questionnaire and the data were analysed descriptively. Findings showed a universal awareness of plagiarism with lecturers as their major source of information. Students generally had a basic understanding of the concept of plagiarism but have broadened the concept of plagiarism to encompass other forms of academic dishonesty. Although they believed they have control over plagiarism, they still plagiarized. Reasons for plagiarising included poor academic writing skills, laziness, lack of time management skills, poor understanding of plagiarism, ease of downloading other people's work from the Internet and pressure to succeed. The study creates awareness of plagiarism and its consequences, and facilitates increased knowledge, and understanding of the subject among students. It also adds to knowledge and serves as an additional source of reference to researchers and students in this area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]