Johnson Baah
Biography
I am a grant researcher in postgraduate studies at the Centre for Applied Language Studies. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics with Philosophy from the University of Ghana, an MA in Linguistics (Bergen, Norway), and an MPhil in Linguistics (NTNU, Norway). From August 2018 until the commencement of this study, I taught Academic Writing and Critical Thinking at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana. I have done some research work in the Bono dialect of Akan in serial verb construction, and the inherent meaning of generic verbs of Bono. My research interests include Academic Writing Development of undergraduate students, academic literacies, reading, and syntax and Semantics of the Bono dialect of Akan. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) are areas I am exploring for my research. I am a member of the University Teachers Association of Ghana and a member of the reviewers of the Bono Bible translation of the Bible Society of Ghana.
Research interests
Academic writing is central to higher education; therefore, students transitioning from secondary school to university need support to ease their challenges and engage meaningfully within their disciplines. My research examines how first-year undergraduate students at a Ghanaian university navigate the complex demands of disciplinary academic writing. It focuses on the transitional challenges they face, the strategies they employ to overcome these challenges, and the broader institutional and pedagogical practices that support or hinder their development as academic writers.
Positioned within multilingual and postcolonial educational contexts, the study views writing as both a cognitive and social practice. It explores how students acquire and adapt academic literacies across genres and disciplinary boundaries, and how their identities, language backgrounds, and educational trajectories influence their engagement with academic discourse. Drawing on theories of academic literacies and cognitive discourse functions, the research investigates how writing operates not only as a mode of assessment but also as a site of learning, negotiation, and power. Their challenges in writing reflect a shift in literacy practices as they must learn new discourses in their disciplines and the institutional context.
Using qualitative methods, including interviews and textual analysis, the study captures students’ lived experiences with academic writing, including how they manage source use, respond to feedback, and negotiate institutional expectations. It pays particular attention to students from underrepresented and linguistically diverse backgrounds, examining how they construct their writing voices and how pedagogical approaches either enable or constrain their participation in academic communities.
By foregrounding the socio-political dimensions of writing development, the research contributes to ongoing conversations around inclusive and decolonial writing pedagogies. It aims to inform curriculum design, teacher training, and institutional policy by advocating for approaches that value students’ linguistic and cultural resources. Ultimately, this work seeks to make academic writing instruction more equitable, responsive, and empowering in contexts where access, representation, and linguistic justice are critical concerns.