Use of syntax in written French by French learners in the Tamale Metropolis; A case study by Senior High School french students in Tamale, Ghana

This study examines the use of syntax in written French by learners of French at the Senior High School (SHS) level in the Tamale Metropolis. The specific objective was to find out the areas of difficulties students have with regard to the use of syntax and suggest didactic solutions to the problems. The data collected as a basis for this study was an essay-writing test by 85 learners of the third year in five Senior High School (SHS) in the Tamale Metropolis where French is taught as a foreign language namely, Ghana Senior High School, Presbyterian Senior High School, St. Charles Senior High School, Tamale Senior High School and Tamale Girls' Senior High School. It was discovered from the study that students really have difficulties in the area previously mentioned. It was noticed in their written essays that they used inadequate syntactic constructions, wrong and repetitive syntactic structures. It was therefore suggested that some elements of textual grammar should be introduced in the teaching of essay writing at the SHS level. Teaching activities that contribute to improvement in essay-writing are also suggested in this study. It is finally recommended that the teachers introduce practical training activities in the use of syntax examined in this article and regular exercises in French which lead to the development of essay-writing competence in the learner. Keywords: Coherence, Cohesion, Syntax.