Communication Studies

As one of the process to create Africa Union, African leaders organised a conference of Heads of States and Governments in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1963. At this Conference, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah delivered one of the most powerful speeches in order to persuade the leaders to embrace the unity. This paper examines the speech delivered by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah during the Conference. It investigates the latent meanings inherent in the speech text. The study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to interrogate the speech based on the concepts of power and ideology in relation to political speeches. It examines how social power, ideology, and social relations are built and retained through communication. The theory goes beyond surfacelevel apprehension of language to explore the concealed meanings, power dynamics, and social inequalities enclosed within texts and conversations. The findings reveal that issues of power and ideology are subtly constructed in the speech through stringing of arguments via carefully selected pronouns to create power, identification and differentials between Kwame Nkrumah and his audience. The findings also discover embedded characterization of Nkrumah as an ideologue and unrepentant supporter of socialism who was obsessed with African unity. Lastly, the findings disclose Nkrumah"s penchant for using logical reasoning in his speeches as a strategy to bring to the fore his ideology.

The debate of grammar teaching has taken center stage in the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) literature over a long period of time. Most of these debates emanate from distinguished scholars like DeKeyser, Long and Ellis. This paper seeks to add to the debate the views of an emerging scholar in the field of SLA. The paper addresses the key questions related to grammar pedagogy in SLA. It discusses whether grammar should be taught and if so, when and how. More importantly, the paper points to alternative solutions to each problem related to grammar teaching. The paper explores the most current debate in the grammar teaching by evaluating the validity of the arguments advanced in the debate. The evaluation is based on the key issues going on in the debate. The paper considered the debate as a healthy one that will give a positive and appropriate way towards teaching useful grammar. The paper suggests that language instructors should take into consideration different aspects regarding; what, how, when, and why should grammar be taught. Also, the paper recommends that teaching grammar should depend on the level of the learners, therefore a good teacher should always teach based on the levels of the learners.

Using Islamic schools as a point of reference, this paper investigates the language contact phenomenon within the Islamic schools in Ghana and how it affects the teaching and learning of English in the classrooms across schools located in the Islamic communities. This investigation is done in relation to language policy of education for the primary schools in Ghana. Data was collected from three primary Islamic schools located in three different communities namely in Accra. This study provides insight into the language contact situation in Islamic schools: codeswitching and language interference. The implication of the issues for the planning of literacy in multicultural contexts is also highlighted.

Issues of national language are very complex in Africa because of the multi-lingual situation on the continent. The situation is even more severe when a country attempts to choose one of the indigenous languages as its national language. Most African nations have peacefully chosen foreign languages as their official languages but there is always a controversy over which language to use as a national language in Africa. The paper investigates the views of Ghanaians on national language. The paper discusses the responses to questionnaire that were administered to respondents who were randomly selected on the street of Accra. The paper finds out that majority of the Ghanaian population, representing 81% want Ghana to adopt a national language. The paper argues that even though Ghanaians want a national language, intensive education on national language must be carried out by the government before any action is taken

Although Hausa is not an indigenous Ghanaian language, it plays an important role in Ghana's sociolinguistics landscape. It is the lingua franca for many people living in the zongos. Zongos are located in every major city in Ghana and they are occupied by different ethnic groups who use Hausa for their daily communications. It is widely used on national televisions, radio stations and market centers. It is also the medium of instruction in the Islamic Schools (makarantu) However, there is dearth of research on the features of the Ghanaian version of the Hausa language and its relation to the social contexts in which it is spoken. This explorative paper examines sociolinguistics aspects of Hausa spoken in Ghana. It first discusses its historical and social contexts of the usage of the Hausa language and further examines its linguistic features in comparison with Standard Hausa. This comparison is done by drawing on data gathered from speakers of the Ghanaian version of Hausa and Standard Hausa speakers who hail from Nigeria. The paper finds that the Hausa spoken in Ghana has peculiar features making it unique from the one spoken in Nigeria.

Listening skill is one of the four important language competencies. However, it has not received the needed scholarly attention, not only in classroom pedagogy and curriculum planning but also in studies and researches in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English as Second Language. This study therefore attempts an investigation into the teaching and learning of listening skills in the language classroom in Ghana. It focuses on three issues in English as Second Language (ESL) listening comprehension; i) the strategies/methods for teaching listening skills, ii) the challenges for learning listening skills and iii) the ways to overcome the challenges. This descriptive qualitative study, having used two major instruments for data collection; observation and open-ended questionnaire, engaged 200 students and 7 teachers as the sample from selected Senior High Schools in the Agona West Municipality. The analysis of data revealed that indeed clarity of speaker, speed of delivery, learning e...

The teaching and learning of language has, for many years, been centered on the four language competencies- listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, in modern times, the need to train students with critical, analytical, evaluative, creative, and problem-solving skills in order to meet and deal with the complex nature of modern-day challenges and real-life issues has made the teaching and learning of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) indispensable. This study, therefore, investigates the attitude of language tutors towards the teaching of HOTS. This study has a descriptive qualitative approach. 39 English language tutors from the Colleges of Education who voluntarily availed themselves as participants were recruited for the study. Using semi-structured interviews and classroom observation as data collection instruments, the data were subjected to a thematic analysis. It is revealed that teachers perceive HOTS to be a good concept and hence use strategies such as asking op...

The study explored the English-speaking anxiety of trainee teachers in the colleges of education in Ghana. It aimed at unravelling the causes of the speaking anxiety in the learners and proffering strategies to mitigate the causes of the speaking anxiety. For that purpose, qualitative data were collected from 30 English-major students who attend a college of education in the Western North region of Ghana using semi-structured interviews as the data collection instrument. The data were analyzed using inductive coding data analysis procedures and techniques, where the dominant patterns and themes emerging from the data were grouped and examined. The results showed that the major causes of speaking anxiety are inferiority complex, fear of committing mistakes, spontaneity and the lack of preparation, fear of negative evaluation from tutors and peers, limited knowledge and vocabulary in the language and self-criticism. The participants also indicated the strategies that can curb the prob...

Social media has drastically changed the communication perspective of the world through different aspects, both positively and negatively. The existence of social media has made it easy for scholars and non-scholars to pass information in the form of communication as well as has boosted businesses through online advertising and selling. Social media is enhanced by different aspects and forms of technology hence it is safe to say the two go hand in hand in depicting a social and now our academic world. Social media and Institutions of Higher Education work together to explore different skills including critical thinking, collaborations, and knowledge construction. This means that students, lecturers, and professors benefit differently from social media. For instance, in certain countries, social media is accepted as a tool for teaching and learning. Ideally, through social media, one is able to attend online classes without necessarily appearing physically at the lecture hall. In a country like Ghana, social media has paved ways to very many teachers and students in higher educational institutions who have benefited differently. This paper focuses on a literature review of social media utilization by students in higher educational institutions in Ghana. Other concepts of social media will also be explored including the positive and negative effects of social media on students and professors in tertiary education.
Keywords
Social media
Students
Higher educational institutions
Technology.

Digital media, also called by many as “New Media,” is the use of computers and mobile devices (blogs, e-book, and video games) which are aided by internet to create and disseminate content as well as other physical embodiment such as flash memory sticks, hard drive among others. Some scholars prefer to define digital media in contrast to “analog”, “mass media” in relation to “new media” and so on.The history of digital media documents the move of computers from glorified calculators to devices that are transforming human communications, entertainment, and creative production, linking digital media to earlier interactive machines and media. Digitization and media convergence in Ghana is considered by many media experts as the gateway to the socio-economic development of Ghana. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, digital media and information and communication technology have shaped and continue to shape the media landscape of the good people of Ghana. In spite of the numerous opportunities presented by the digital media technologies developing country like Ghana, the challenges are still eminent which prevent the country from tapping the full potentials of digital media. This article starts with a review of literature on the concept of digital or new media in global, Africa and Ghana context,the Internet and new media production. The article closes on the opportunities, challenges and the way forward for the development of digital media technology use in Ghana.Sources of material for this article included published and unpublished academic articles, media reports, and personal and institutional blogs, as well as Web sites.
Keywords: Digital Media, Internet, New Media, media convergence, ‘‘analog’’

In the modern world today, epidemics, disasters, and tragic information have dominated social media platforms. This space offers a wide range of diets that, to some extent, the distinction of what is credible information is embryotic to misinformation, disinformation, fake news, and mal-information. This field has continued to raise questions from the scholars in a wide range of spectrum in social science research. The study of misinformation in social media is a very multifaceted problem that draws different conception from different continuums in both academia and policymakers. Recently, there has been widespread misinformation coined with mal-information and infodemic in the various social media concerning the spread of Coronavirus not only in China but also in the rest of the world. This has raised debate from credible health organizations, the media, and the members of the public on the veracity of this information on social media platforms. Therefore, this study employed a survey as a method to investigate the strategies used by international students in China to debunk the misinformation about Coronavirus in various social media. The study suggests the implementation of various media literacy programs by different stakeholders to empower students to minimize and fight misinformation in multiple online spaces.

Ghana has deployed high-speed technology and digital initiatives for the daily management of all the sectors of the country under the theme ''Ghana Go Digital Agenda'' policy initiative. These digital governance initiatives include the electronic or digital-health care systems, e-justice system paperless clearing of goods at port-banking, and other online services. Paramount among the many digital initiatives is the introduction of drones for emergency digital health delivery. Access to medical supplies in Ghana has been hindered by the difficulty of getting the supplies from the central points to other areas that are remotely located to enable the patients who need the services to get them. To overcome this challenge and deliver affordable and accessible health care services to the Ghanaian populace, the Government of Ghana engaged a US-based company Zipline Technology to use Drones in the supply of medical supplies for emergencies and hard-to-reach areas of the country. Since the introduction of this initiative in 2019, it has attracted mix-reactions from various stakeholders on the relevance of the drone technology project on health delivery in Ghana. This study used the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework to assess drone technology's impact on Ghana's emergency health delivery system. The study utilized an online survey questionnaire to solicit data from participants. From the hundred (100) health facilities, located within the operational zone of the drone, twenty (20) were purposively sampled. Out of 550 questionnaires distributed, a total of 533 health workers (participants) validly responded to the online questionnaire. One key finding of our study indicates that the introduction of drone technology for medical supplies in Ghana has significantly impacted positively on the emergency health delivery system in Ghana.

Social media has provided the best source of information about the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. Updates are received via social media, and people encourage keep-up with public health measures to stay safe. Using best practices in crisis communication theory as the theoretical framework; this article investigates how social media is used in informing people during the COVID-19 pandemic and its possible impact. This study employed an online survey to investigate whether social media platforms helped to educate and prevent the COVID-19 pandemic or have instead caused panic among the Ghanaian migrants in Beijing, China. The statistical population of this study consisted of the entire 472 members of the WeChat groups of Ghanaian migrants while purposive sampling was used to select 460 Ghanaian migrants. The findings from this study indicated that the utilization of social media has dramatically caused panic among the Ghanaian Migrant community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public educations regarding pandemics are done through social media; therefore, there is a need to monitor social media usage. From a critical search of the literature on studies on social media and COVID-19, this article happens to be among the very few papers on how many social media has caused panic during the COVID-19 global public health crisis. Also, this study will contribute to both academia and policymaker's knowledge of how information disseminates on similar future public health crises. Also, the current research adds to the previous efforts by researchers and scholars to add to research on social media and pandemics.

The 21st century is best described by many as the Digital Age. The digital revolution at the beginning of the century has witnessed the introduction of social media platforms.  About two decades now, globally the are several questions on the effects of social media on the new production. While a section of media and communication experts view that social media has positively promoted news production,  other scholars strongly see the negative side of social media in news production, especially with the context of the propaganda model.  The objective of this article is to offer insightful review literature on the effects of social media on news production, within the context of the propaganda model to improve the reader's understanding of the role of social media news production.  The review is divided into two sections; the first part gives us much insight into what the propaganda model is all about and the second section critically looks at the net effects of social media in news making via the propaganda model.

Keywords:  digital revolution; news production; social media; propaganda model

In recent years, students in the high schools in Ghana continue to perform poorly in English Language examinations,
especially for students at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Various stakeholders in the
education sector continue to deliberate to find answers to this unfortunate development. Some scholars have suggested
that students' failure in the English Language examination is as a result of the readability and comprehensibility levels of
the comprehension passages presented to students in their examinations. English language examination questions that
cannot be read easily cannot be well understood. Determining the level of readability is of great importance if
comprehension is aimed at. The authors made use of two Readability Indexes which include the Flesch-Kincaid Reading
Ease and Gunning Fog Scale to carry out document analysis of the reading ease of seven comprehension passages
presented to candidates from 2014 to 2020 in the WASSCE, to carry out the readability analysis and how that may have
affected their Comprehensibility. The key findings from this study indicate that the readability of the comprehension
passages analyzed between 2014 and 2020 was either very difficult or difficult for the students to comprehend. In
conclusion, the researchers believe that the high level of readability of the comprehension passages has partly
contributed to the low pass rate of the student in the English language at the WASSCE.
Keywords: Readability, comprehensibility, students, stakeholders, Ghana

In 2005, Ghana initiated its digital governance strategy, this has resulted in Ghana becoming one of the fastest-growing countries on the African continent noted for flagship initiatives on Government-to-citizens digital systems. However, the have been some concerns from a section of the Ghanaian population about the impacts of these laudable initiatives, especially since 2017. This study aims to investigate citizen's perceptions of digitization initiatives embarked on by the Government of Ghana, in terms of the benefits and challenges of accessing the digital governance services in Ghana. The researcher adopted an online survey questionnaire to collect data from 1, 964 Ghanaians for six months, thus from June 1 2020 to December 1, 2020, on their perceptions of the digital governance initiatives. A total of 1, 964 questionnaires were validly responded to, which translates to 65.4 % of the targeted population for the study. The key finding according to this study revealed that digital governance initiatives in Ghana have greatly help to reduce corruption, increase productivity, and increased citizens e-participation in governance. Despite the key benefits identified by this study, participants also reported challenges such as high-cost internet data and the lack of a legal framework to protect users of digital governance service as key hindrances to digital governance initiatives in Ghana. This study concludes that 68% of citizens see the digital governance services embarked on by the government as beneficial and are easy to use.

Ghana currently has over 25 registered political parties. The two key political parties in Ghana are the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC). Before introducing social media, especially Facebook, political parties in Ghana employed traditional communication strategies, such as TV, Radio, and News Papers, to execute political communication. However, since 2012 political parties in Ghana have deployed and relied heavily on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, as a political communication tool to disseminate their political manifestoes to the electorates to clinch political power. This article adopted a purely descriptive approach with an emphasis on document analysis to review relevant information and literature for the study. Hence literature is sourced from secondary sources like a pool of online libraries, political party’s websites/Facebook pages, and other scholarly research related to the subject under investigation. The objective of this paper is to carefully explore political parties on Facebook, emphasizing the two main Political parties in Ghana, thus the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Quick Response (QR) code utilization has exploded in China to a higher extent compared to other Western countries. QR codes have become part and parcel of the digital world and the online shopping environment in China. This study adopted the Theory of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) as the theoretical framework of this study, to investigate the perceptions of how African students use QR codes for online shopping within China. The study utilized an online questionnaire design to collect data from 615 African students from 9 countries studying in 10 purposively sampled Chinese universities. One key finding of our study shows that the type of QR code mostly used among African students is the product information types and their reason for opting for the product information QR code type is mainly for searching for the right product before they do online shopping or buy. Our study also reported that despite some challenges identified by respondents, which include: the acquisition of a smartphone and the need to download an app, there a general level of acceptance of QR codes among African students in China. In conclusion, 55.9% of the sampled African students for this studying in China specified they were ready to recommend QR code usage in their respective African countries for online shopping.

The growing use of social media across the world has attracted several scholarly investigations on the actual impact of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp among others for intercultural communication purposes in higher educational institutions. With the Theory of Technological Determinism as the theoretical basis, this study investigates how social media use impacts intercultural communication among international students in Chinese universities. The research design consisted of online questionnaires administered to 1635 cross-cultural international students from ten (10) different countries and across ten (10) universities, randomly sampled from the Beijing municipality of China. The online questionnaire was distributed via the QuestionPro platform and administered via the WeChat groups of participating universities. The data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, standard deviations, mean, and coefficient of variation. The findings generally showed that social media users have impacted positively promoting intercultural communication among international students studying in Chinese universities. The implications of the findings suggest that encouraging social media use among international students from different cultural backgrounds have helped in sustaining intercultural communication processes among students from different background and cultures.