This study is aimed at examining how students of selected Teacher Training Colleges handle one important aspect of sentence structure, i.e. “subordination”. Data were collected from written scripts, questionnaire, and tests responded to by 150 participants from three randomly selected colleges. These were analyzed by identifying both correct and incorrect uses of subordinators to link sentences in their compositions. Three teachers were interviewed to find out their students’ attitudes towards the teaching of grammar and the general challenges in the teaching and learning of English as a second language. All these were also intended to investigate the causes of the errors the participants made. Findings from the tests and the written scripts showed that participants faced a significant level of difficulty in the use of subordination. This meant that the majority of the participants lacked the linguistic understanding of subordination. The response to the interviews and the questionnaires suggested that the cause of participants’ inability to use subordination appropriately was partly attitudinal as students least preferred Grammar. The study suggests that subordination be given the attention it deserves at the Teacher Training Colleges since it is one of the important skills needed to form meaningful sentences in English language
Keywords: Ashanti Region, Subordinate Clauses, Teacher Training Colleges
