Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of homophones among students
of St. Anthony of Padua S. H. T. S. during their attempt in writing. To realize this
dream, the researcher employed three different tasks and presented to students. The
tasks are dictation, fill-in-the-blank and essay task as the main data collection
instruments. Interviews were also conducted with teachers of the students to get
insight into how their students use homophones in their writing. Simple random
sampling was used to select 200 students to participate in the study out of the total
population of 393 students of forms two and three. The data was analyzed by using
tables and diagrams to illustrate the percentages. Frequency tables were used to
present the findings. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the
respondents acknowledge the importance of homophones in students writing. Their
purpose for using homophones correctly included acquiring knowledge, learning new
things, improving their vocabulary and grades, passing examination and attaining
eloquence. The human resources and materials for teaching should be retooled to
meet the current criteria of students’ performance. The analysis also suggests that
although students could produce and recognize homophones, it is not in all instances
that they used them appropriately. Based on the findings, it is argued that when
students are presented with the context of homophone use, errors committed in
selection and production of these words may be minimized.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Applied Linguistics,
Faculty of Foreign Language Education and Communication,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education
[Teaching English as a Second Language]
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER, 2020
