The weaknesses observed include:

1. inability to differentiate a report from an ordinary narrative;
2. inability to understand the content or message contained in the passages;
3. poor use of language;
4. poor expression as a result of wrong concord, poor punctuation marks, wrong use of tenses, poor use of prepositions and articles;
5. failure to grasp the requirements and demands of the questions attempted;
6. inability to construct simple and correct sentences;
7. ignorance of common literary terms;
8. writing below the required number of words on the essay topics;
9. illegible handwriting;
10. spelling errors;
11. poor knowledge of the basic rules of English grammar;  
12. mindless lifting of answers from the passage;
13. use of text message abbreviations such as “u” for “you” “d” for “the”, etc.

SUGGESTED REMEDIES

1. Candidates should:
2. endeavour to improve on their vocabulary and grammar in English Language through extensive reading;
3. take time to understand the exact demands of questions before attempting to answer them.
4. read through their work to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes before submitting their scripts;
5. read for meaning and main points of any given passage;
6. practise essay writing constantly;
7. converse regularly in simple and correct English expressions.
8. Teachers should:
9. spend more time in teaching grammar topics and comprehension skills;
10. give their students assignments frequently and also mark such assignments in order to help students identify and correct their mistakes;
11. regularly attend workshops and seminars that would keep them abreast of global best practices in the teaching of the English Language.
12. Schools should ensure that:
13. only qualified teachers are engaged to teach the subject;
14. the library is equipped with relevant books and materials that will aid the students academically.