BECE JHS
Ghanaian Language and Culture asks you to name the people a custom belongs to. A greeting, a rite or a festival is not the same in every community.
Customs and institutions are part of the objective paper, and they belong to a people. Name the people. A greeting, a naming rite, a festival or a chief is not one custom for the whole of Ghana. If you are not sure which people practise it, leave it out rather than guess. Asante Twi and Akuapem Twi are separate entries, and their customs are not interchangeable on the paper. Fante is not Twi. Ga is not Dangme.
An institution is an organised way a community does something important: chieftaincy, the family, a festival, a naming. Describe what a visitor would see, and say why the community does it, if the question asks for a reason. "It is our culture" is not a reason. A festival may remember an event, thank God for a harvest, or gather the people. Say which of those the question asked about, for the people you named. The language of a written answer is still the language of your entry, except where a translation task asks for English.
The Ghanaian Language tips guide asks you to name the people before you describe the custom. BECE Ghanaian Language tips
The people are part of the answer. A festival with no community can belong to anyone, so it does not show that you know the custom. Two rites that you describe as if they were the same, when they belong to different people, are one confused point, not two. A reason has to match the custom. Do not give a harvest reason for a rite that remembers the dead, or the other way round, unless that is true of the people you named.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
3 marks
(a) Why must you name the people when you describe a custom? (2 marks)
(b) What should you do if you are not sure which people practise it? (1 mark)
(a) The custom belongs to a people. The same greeting or festival is not used in every community in Ghana.
(b) Leave it out. Do not guess.
2 marks
State two things a full answer about a festival should include. (2 marks)
The people who keep the festival, and one thing a visitor would see or one reason the community keeps it.
2 marks
Explain why "it is our culture" does not earn the reason mark. (2 marks)
The phrase names no people and no reason. The marker needs the community, and what the custom is for, such as a harvest, a memory, or gathering the people.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise Ghanaian Language freeNo. Name the people. A greeting, a rite or a festival can differ. If you are not sure which people practise it, leave it out rather than guess.
The language on your entry, together with the customs and institutions of that people. The essay is in that language. Asante Twi and Akuapem Twi are separate. Fante is not Twi. Ga is not Dangme. All BECE Ghanaian Language past questions