Abstract:
This study looks at some difficulties of learners in written French at the SHS level in the Tamale Metropolis. The purpose was to find out the nature of difficulties students have in French essay writing with regard to the use of cohesive elements (anaphors and connectives) and syntactic structures.
The data collected as a basis for this study were through three instruments "namely, indepth interview for the teachers, questionnaire and essay writing test for the students. The target group constituted SHS 3 students of five secondary schools (Ghana Secondary School, Presbyterian Secondary School, S1. Charles Secondary School, Tamale Secondary School and Tamale Girls' Secondary School) in the Tamale Metropolis where French is taught as a foreign language.
It was discovered from the study that students really have difficulties in the areas previously mentioned. It was noticed in their written essays that they used inappropriate anaphoric expressions and connectives which do not best depict cohesive texts. As regards the syntactic structures, the study also showed inadequate and erroneous use of different syntactic constructions which distort the information structure of sentences. This results in incoherent texts.
It was therefore suggested that some elements of textual grammar should be introduced in the teaching of essay writing at the SHS level. The concepts of cohesion and syntax (which lead to thematic progression) should be thoroughly learnt by students.
