American Research Journal of English and Literature

 The pervasiveness and compulsoriness of the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course in tertiary education environments in Ghana is such that irrespective of first-year students’ course offerings they must of necessity take it, even if for a short period. This makes it imperative that the quality assurance principles for enhancing its teaching and learning be examined. The object of this study has been to explore and compare the application of quality assurance principles to the teaching and learning of EAP in four higher education institutions in Ghana with the aim of identifying: (a) how context-specific QA systems work in the case study institutions; (b) what is being done differently there and (c) to offer suggestions for quality enhancement and replication elsewhere. The study asserts that since every tertiary-level course in Ghana is taught in English, assuring the quality of English language teaching and learning would naturally have a “multiplier effect” on the quality of the other courses. Findings of this research were derived largely from a student survey and, to a lesser extent, from interviews with senior members and subject lecturers at the case study institutions. Institutional context, quality culture, quality assurance mechanisms, pedagogy, and curriculum designs of the case study institutions were found to be very similar. Through its cross-case analysis of QA strategies in the public and private sectors of higher education in Ghana, the study contributes to the identification of the differences between the two sectors as regards the enhancement of the quality of EAP teaching and learning.