candidates' Weaknesses
(a) The compositions revealed the following weaknesses:
(i) ignorance of the basic rules of English grammar;
(ii) wrong use of punctuation marks, especially the question mark, the full stop and the comma.
(b) Answers to the comprehension passages showed the following weaknesses:
(i) a hazy understanding of the content of the passages;
(ii) indiscriminate lifting of portions of the passages;
(iii) inability to find correct synonyms for the words in the vocabulary tests.
(c) The most glaring weakness in the summary section was the verbatim reproduction of portions of the passage as answers.
SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Schools should ensure that their candidates are taught the basics of the English Language
(2) English Language teachers should adopt the functional and communicative approaches to teaching the language.
(3)Candidates on their part, should make a genuine effort to understand the demands of the questions before tackling them.