Agbaglo, Ebenezer

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Persuasive strategies in grant recommendation letters written by senior faculty in a Ghanaian university

By Afful, Joseph Benjamin Archibald

The genre system of grant application has gained attention from researchers in Applied Linguistics, Discourse Studies, and Higher Education. However, the grant recommendation letter (GRL), also known as the “letter of support”, has been understudied in this system. To address this gap, this study examined the persuasive strategies used in GRLs. Using Aristotle’s Theory of Persuasion and a qualitative inductive discourse analysis, we analysed 90 GRLS. The findings revealed that GRLs employ different frequencies of ethos, logos, and pathos to influence the grant committee. The writers primarily emphasised rational justifications for the applicant’s qualifications, while also demonstrating ethos through appropriate personal traits. Personal pronouns were used to perform discursive functions as well. Based on the findings, we offer implications for pedagogy and further research on GRLs. © 2023 Sciendo. All rights reserved.

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Truancy: How food insecurity, parental supervision, and other factors influence school attendance of adolescents in Seychelles

By Agbaglo, Ebenezer

Truancy is identified as one of the key problems that school directors in Seychelles face,yet it has received little attention by the key stakeholders of education in the country. This study investigated the prevalence of truancy and its associated factors among in-school adolescents in Seychelles. Using data of 1,833 in-school adolescents from the 2015 Seychelles Global-based School Health Survey, the study employed descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression to model the factors associated with truancy. While the results show that the prevalence of truancy among in-school adolescents was 25.9%, gender differences were observed (28% males vs 24.4% females). In-school adolescents who experienced hunger (AOR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.60), consumed alcohol (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.49,2.41), engaged in fight (AOR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.31, 2.12), smoked (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.51, 2.77), were bullied (AOR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.75), and experienced an attack (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.20, 2.01) had higher odds of being truants. However, students whose parents checked what they did at their free time had lower odds of being truants (AOR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.61, 0.89). The findings, therefore, highlight the need for school authorities to ensure that school environments are free from physical fights, attacks and bullying. To reduce the level of truancy in Seychelles, schools should have strict measures to curtail the factors that predispose adolescents to this social problem. Parents should be encouraged to monitor their children at home so that they can identify any changes in their behaviour. The government of Seychelles and welfare institutions should consider hunger as a serious problem resulting in truant behaviour among in-school adolescents and provide welfare support to families with very low incomes. Finally, the government should implement truancy laws that will sanction truant students and their parents for allowing them to stay at home. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

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