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Referral Trends among Students of the Communicative Skills Course in a Ghanaian University

Wincharles Coker and Francis M. Abude

^ABSTRACT

While there exists an exponential increase in studies on learner needs over the last three decades, research into trends of performance of university students is rare. The present paper explores the referral trends of first year students of Communicative Skills, an EAP course, at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Data were mainly obtained from the University’s Student Records and Management Information Section (SRMIS) over an eight year period from between 2003 and 2010. Key findings showed that generally the referral rate among male students was significantly marked than among female students. The study also found that this trend was consistent across all the faculties and schools safe the School of Business. Finally, the analysis showed that students of this School had the lowest referral rate, and that there was no statistically significant difference between the sexes. The study bears implications for course designers, policy implementors and best interventionist programmes.

Keywords:  referral trends, performance, Communicative Skills, University of Cape Coast

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