A study of the use of homophones among students of St. Anthony of Padua Senior High Technical School, Bamboi

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.