BA Ghanaian Language Studies At University Of Ghana
GHLS 111: Ghanaian Language Proficiency for Beginners
This is a beginners’ course for non-native speakers of Ghanaian languages. The course introduces
the student to the Ghanaian language and gives brief demographic and linguistic information about
the language. It looks at the location of the language, its administrative boundaries, the regions it
occupies and the population of the speakers. The course will also discuss the number of dialects,
if any.
The sound system and the orthography (spelling) of the language will be taught with emphasis on
what is common to the language and English. The basic grammar of the language such as: word
classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and determiners), tense, aspect, negation and questions
will be taught.
There will be oral drills, pronunciation and written exercises to help students to consolidate what
they have been taught. Areas to be covered are: greetings, description of day-to-day activities,
bargaining, giving directions, talking about food, clothing and the body. Aspects of Ghanaian
culture such as religion, family issues, names and songs will also be introduced.
By the end of this course, the student is expected to demonstrate basic oral skills in the language
and read and write simple sentences in the language.
GHLS 112: Intermediate Ghanaian Language Proficiency
This course will build on what was learned in the introductory course. More emphasis will be
placed on listening, speaking, reading, translation and writing. The grammar section will revise
what was done at the beginners’ level. It will also look at simple sentences and complex
sentences, serial verb construction, phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions.
Students will be expected to do a lot of reading and comprehension exercises using some
intermediate textbooks in the various Ghanaian languages. Students will be encouraged to do
more conversation and narration: dialogues, greetings, description of day-to-day activities,
bargaining, giving directions. There will be outreach programmes where students will interact
with traders and taxi drivers. Aspects of Ghanaian culture including religion, festivals, funerals,
politics and the society will be discussed.
By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to write simple essays about their dayto-
day activities, families, etc. and to translate texts from English into the Ghanaian language and
vice versa.
Course Requirement:
The student must have taken GHLS 111 or any beginner’s course in the respective Ghanaian
language.
GHLS 113: Advanced Ghanaian Language Proficiency I
This course will continue to place equal emphasis on areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing
and translation. More complex syntactic structures of the language such as serial verb
constructions and their negation, relative clauses and inherent complement verbs will be
introduced. Aspects of the written and oral literature of the language will be taught. Students will
also be required to engage native speakers in complex conversations and also handle topics in
various domains. They will be encouraged to listen and contribute to Ghanaian language
programmes on radio, especially Radio Univers.
By the end of the course, students should be able to write various types of compositions in the
respective Ghanaian languages and also be able to write reports based on interviews and
fieldwork. They should be able to read fluently and with comprehension some basic primers and
supplementary readers in the various Ghanaian language. They should be able translate various
types of texts from English to the respective Ghanaian languages and vice versa.
Course Requirement:
The student must have taken GHLS 111 and GHLS 112 or a Beginner’s and an Intermediate
Course in the respective Ghanaian Languages.
GHLS 114: Advanced Ghanaian Language Proficiency II
This course will place much emphasis on both oral and written literature. The students will be
required to read Ghanaian language texts in prose, drama, poetry and oral literature genres and
identify the literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, pun and idiophones used in
them. They will be engaged in listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation. They will be
encouraged to engage native speakers in conversation and also handle topics in various domains
like politics, religion, education and health. Students will be assigned to listen to specific
Ghanaian language programmes on radio, especially Radio Univers, Obonu FM, Peace FM or
watch TV programmes that use the specific language being taught. They will also be encouraged
to watch news broadcasts in the Ghanaian languages on GTV. Finally, the course will involve
aspects of oral literature and customs and institutions of the Ghanaian languages. Areas to be
covered include folktales, proverbs, folksongs, religion and chieftaincy.
By the end of the course, students should be able to write small projects and reports based on
interviews and fieldwork and on some current events in the respective Ghanaian languages.
Students should be able to handle various types of texts in translation from English to the
respective Ghanaian languages and vice versa. Areas of translation should include news items,
advertisement, announcement and editorials.
Course Requirement:
The student must have taken a Beginner’s, Intermediate and Advanced I Courses in the respective
Ghanaian languages (e.g., GHLS 111, GHLS 112 and GHLS 113).