Vol. 4, Issue 8, Part C (2018)

Abstract
This paper explored the components of the Basic School English Language Syllabus and identified the challenging topics that posed and continue to pose problems to both the pre-service Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) student-teachers on teaching internship and the in-service professionally-trained teachers at the basic schools in Ghana. The problem identified was that pre-service student-teachers often have difficulties in teaching some of the components of the English language syllabus, when they are given these topics in both on-campus and off-campus teaching practice. On occasions when they are asked to pick topics on their own during On-Campus Teaching Practice (OCTP), student-teachers tend to focus on only few topics – all in one component. One hundred and thirty-four (134) student-teachers and sixty-six (66) fully fledged, professionally trained teachers who were mentoring these student-teachers, making a total of 200 respondents constituted the sample size of the study who responded to questionnaire that sought to tap the views of pre-service student-teachers (mentees) and the in-service teachers (mentors) about their challenging topics in the English language syllabus. Out of the 200 questionnaires administered, 174 representing 87% were retrieved. They were asked to list their preferred topics in the English Language Syllabus in order of pedagogical comfort ability. All the six (6) major components of the English syllabus were listed in the questionnaire to enable respondents to choose their preferred topics that they could effectively handle. It became evident in the study that only 5.2%, 5.7% and 7.5% of both the in-service teachers (mentors) and student-teachers (mentees) can effectively and comfortably teach literature, grammar and library respectively. The majority group was comfortable in teaching the reading, oral work and writing components in the syllabus; representing 54.6%, 15% and 12% respectively. Few of them (thus 28.20%) were confident of handling all the five (5) components of the English language syllabus without difficulty in content knowledge while 71.80% of both mentors and mentees admitted that they could not effectively handle all the components in the English Language syllabus. It is therefore recommended that tutors of English in the colleges of education (CoEs) emphasize the methodology of grammar and literature to student-teachers to be able to handle these components with ease.