Abstract:
ABSTRACT
The present study identifies and analyzes the factors determining the academic
performance of students of French in three Junior High Schools (JHS) in the
Cape Coast Metropolis. It is specifically aimed at identifying and analyzing
the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect the performance of students of
French. The population of the study comprises 90 JHS 3 students of French
and 7 teachers in three schools. The students are selected using simple random
sampling, stratified random sampling technic for the schools and a census
method is also used to select the teachers for the study. Two sets of self developed questionnaires adapted on Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, are used
for data collection. The data collected are analyzed using the mixed method of
analysis. The results of the study show that, the factors contributing to the
academic performance of students of French are multiple and can be teacher
related factors, learner related factors and home related factors; teacher,
parents, classmates, negative perception, etc. It is also noted from the study
that low self-esteem towards French language learning among students of
French may contribute to the students' poor performance in a French test,
exercise or examination. Finally, since most learners complained about the
level of difficulty of French questions and therefore consider French language
as a difficult subject, it is concluded that the test conditions also have an
influence on the performance of our French learners
