Abstract
This research topic on the effects of word knowledge of homorographs, homonysm and hormophones on written English performance of students in Nigeria discuses the issues arises due to lack of proper English terms, the research comprise of five chapter, chapter one which is the introduction and background of the study, chapter two which is the literature review of some related topics relating to the project and lastly is chapter three which is methodology, results and reference .
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 6
1.3 Objectives of the Study 7
1.4 Research Questions 8
1.5 Null Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance of the Study 9
1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study 10
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 INTRODUCTION 11
2.1 Concepts of Word Knowledge 12
2.2 Conceptual Framework 14
2.3 Word Knowledge and Form (Spelling and Sound) 16
2.4 Word Knowledge and Meaning 17
2.5 Word Knowledge and Context 18
2.6 Word Knowledge and Phonological/Phonemic Awareness 20
2.7 Word Knowledge and Learner Content Knowledge 21
2.8 Word Meaning and Stress 22
2.9 Word Knowledge and Explicit Instruction 24
2.10 Word Knowledge and L2 learners’ written Communication 25
2.11 Classification of Word Meaning 27
2.12 Word Knowledge and Spelling 31
2.13 Word Knowledge and Morphological Awareness 33
2.14 Word Knowledge and Minimal Pairs/British and American English 34
2.15 Word Knowledge and families or Classes 37
2.16 Empirical Studies on Word Knowledge and Writing among L2 learners 39
2.17 Word Meaning and Language Theories 41
2.18 Theoretical Framework 44
2.19 Summary 45
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 47
3.2 Research Design 47
3.3 Population of the Study 48
3.3 sample and sampling procedures 49
3.4 Instrumentation 51
3.5 Validity of the instrument 51
3.6 Pilot Testing 51
3.7 Reliability of the instrument 52
3.8 Data collection procedures 52
3.8.1 Presentation of the lesson with the experimental group. 53
3.9 Data Analysis Techniques 56
References 57
Research Data Services + Sciences (2015) using and interpreting Cronbach’s Alpha Retrived from data library.virginia.edu 63
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The relevance of knowledge acquisition in relation to globalization which links individuals and nations certainly requires communication in language. Today, there seems to be an increase in the demand for improvement in language and communication of students across nations and societies. This is because of the belief that knowledge can only be acquired through effective communication. Successful communication especially among student–teachers requires knowledge of word form, meaning(s) and contextual meaning; and the ability to use different lexical items to pass information correctly in writing.
Indeed, the current study becomes necessary in the present century because of the decline in the knowledge of some English words among student-teachers particularly in the study area. It is quite embarrassing the way some student-teachers demonstrate poor knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones in their effort to communicate in writing. In most cases, students succeed in confusing the reader; and communicate virtually nothing. Therefore, unless the issue is addressed with urgency, the young academics may continue to transfer the confused form and meaning of the target language to young learners at the basic level. This could lead to a serious damage to the language among learners across other levels in the country.
The researcher is moved into the study as a result of the fact that some English lecturers at the tertiary level escape teaching homographs, homonyms and homophones; as well as other aspects of the language related to them. There are students of English who show little or no interest in learning and comprehending these lexical items. Word form, meaning(s) and contextual meaning are not explicitly taught to students by some lecturers of English; and some of the students are not aware that a word in English can have extended meaning. Also, student teachers are continuously making mistakes in word form, meaning and contextual meaning in their everyday writing; and lecturers seem adamant to address such issues with concern. In addition, not all English lecturers at tertiary level expose their students to various language theories that can inform learners on how the language functions generally. These plus others related reasons inspired the researcher to conduct the study.
There are nine classes or categories of words recognized in English; Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, interjections, determiners and conjunctions. However, four major classes are recognized by modern grammars: thus verb, noun, adjective, and adverb and the other five classes. Verbs appear to have large number of words compared to other classes with nouns leading. There exist sub-categories under some of these classes like nouns and verbs. The large number of nouns and verbs present in the English language appear to be challenging in terms of learners’ knowledge of these classes of words. What is more crucial to learners’ adequate knowledge of some nouns and verbs such as homographs, homonyms and homophones; is their intricate behaviour in relation to meaning, sound, spelling and grammatical origin.
Some words in English are spelt exactly like others, but carry different meaning, grammar, origin and sound. There are those with same spelling and sound, but have different meaning. Other words may have the same sound, but have different spelling and meaning. These words respectively are homographs, homonyms and homophones. A homograph according to (Smith, 2002) is a word that is spelt like another word; but carries different meaning, grammar, origin and pronunciation e,g wind (n) wind (v), rebel (n) rebel (v) record (n) record (v), subject (n) subject (v), desert (n) desert (v) etc. According to Lobner (2013; p.43) a homonym is a word that is spelt like another word and may be pronounced like it, but has different meaning e.g Can (n) can (v), bank (n) bank (v), pass (n) pass (v), mail (n) mail (v), cook (n) cook (v) etc. A homophone on the other hand is a word that is pronounced like another word, but has different spelling, meaning or origin e.g word/ward, write/right, hall/hole, birth/bath, cart/cut etc. below is a figure explaining the three lexical items of the study.
- Homographs Words: Same spelling Different
- Homonyms Words : Same Sound/Spelling Different
- Homophones Words: Same Different
Figure 1.1: Illustrates three lexical items of the study
Indeed, student – teachers’ knowledge of these words can serve as additional advantage for them to write coherent sentences, paragraphs and longer texts to communicate with others. Inadequate knowledge of these words among NCE English major students may indicate academic disaster and immaturity to teach the language to others.
The flexibility and arbitrariness of language permit learners to use words in their different forms, meanings and contexts. Wolfram and Estes (2006, P.60) disclose that “the relationship between the sounds that make up a given word and the meaning or meanings associated with it is essentially arbitrary. That is there is no one ‘true’ name for a given object or idea”. The dictionary gives one word several meanings; while the context can give the same word another meaning. This context according to Youssif (2012) may be grammatical, semantic, pragmatic, historical, social or cultural. It therefore indicates that word meaning may trace its root from grammatical, semantic, pragmatic, historical, social and cultural origin. The knowledge of word families if acquired by learners at different levels of language development can build their vocabulary; and may assist them learn how to spot patterns, identify root words and comprehend their common meaning, or sounds Nordquist (2019). This indicates that knowledge of word families can enhance word recognition leading to development in reading fluency and successful written communication of learners. From analysis of 1963 Dictionary by scholars in 1990, found 54,000 word families; with users of English continuously creating new words (Nordquist). Olaofe in 2014 says “English language has 1.5 million word families.” Within the period of those years more words are expected to come into the language.
Word family is a group of words with a common base to which different prefixes and suffixes are added. The members of a word family are based on its headword, base, stem or root word. For instance, the root word ‘write’ has members which include: rewrite, writer, writes, wrote, written, writing. Similarly the base “work” has members: worker, works, rework, worked, working, workshop, workmanship etc. Other examples are: at, cat, hat, fat and bat are a family of words with the ‘at’ sound and letter combination in common. Repetition of same words as may be observed in writings related to plays, poetry, advertisements and political speeches are just for dramatic effect or emphasis. This further stresses the need for learners at NCE level to acquire knowledge of different classes of words through explicit instruction; so that they can use them to communicate successfully in writing at different social and contextual situations. According to (Jennifer, et al; 2015), Language scholars hold that linguistic form varies as a function of information considerations; which requires a speaker or writer to have knowledge of words and how to use such words in passing message to others without confusion.
The era of information and communication technology (ICT) which necessitates the use of mobile phones, I pads, computers, Groups, WhatsApp, Facebook, twitter, You Tube, Internet etc to write and pass information to others; makes the knowledge of different classes of English words important to learners at NCE level. The present day academic world continues to present multiple of challenges to all category of teachers in the area of communication (Spoken and written). This makes it mandatory for practicing teachers to acquire good knowledge of those words in English that carry different meaning(s) based on form meaning and context. Special explicit instruction by able language teachers with good content knowledge (phonology, phonemic awareness and semantic) can help learners at NCE level acquire and use different kinds of English words to communicate successfully in writing in and outside the classroom.
An informed language teacher can have positive impact on learners’ ability to acquire knowledge of every aspect of a language and apply it to achieve communicative purpose in written or spoken form. The fact that some teachers of English in Nigerian tertiary institutions frowned at teaching areas of phonology, morphology, phonemic awareness, syntax and semantic add to learners’ difficulty in applying the knowledge in written communication in the language. In addition, some of those who teach English at NCE level appear to have had pre-mature training in the language. Most of them learnt the language as L2 and had no classroom contact with the native speakers. Therefore, it is obvious that learners at NCE level demonstrate weakness in their efforts to communicate in writing with a number of errors ranging from grammatical, orthographical, phonological, semantics, morphological and others.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Like primary and secondary levels, the teaching/learning of English language at tertiary level as L2 language in Nigeria over the years has suffered untold hardship; as a result of the common general-purpose approach used by lecturers in the classroom. Jiboku (2006) discloses that 35.1% of English language lecturers in tertiary institutions use the traditional general purpose English teaching learning approach more than any other; with yet no clear visible favourable result. This calls for the suspicion of the approach; and the need for a change to enable learners use the language to compete well in the global market; where the English language leads. Explicit instructional approach of teaching homographs, homonyms and homophones, based on their form, meaning and context; at NCE level and specifically to NCE English major students still remains a considerable ignorance in the teaching of writing literature. As young academics, the lifelong knowledge of this group of words and how to use them along with other words in correct grammatical sentences may assist NCE students couple with challenges of writing in their later life education at the university home and abroad.
Beyond any doubt, learners at this level when at the university environment are expected to write grammatically correct sentences, paragraphs, essays, letters, reports, stories etc for others to read and comprehend. With more than 50% of scientific research findings across the world published in English language and its wide – spread with highest number of speakers (Dare, 2016), there is need to upgrade the teaching and learning of the language in L2 environment like ours. There seem to be limited studies in Nigeria on the extent to which student – teachers at NCE level acquire knowledge of these words (homographs, homonyms and homophones) and their familiarity with how to use the words to communicate successfully in writing. Many NCE students tend to confuse these words based on their form, meaning and context. Also, some of the learners are not aware of the fact that to communicate information in English, one can employ different styles that are pragmatically accepted. Hence the need for the conduct of the study using explicit instructional method to improve written performance of student teachers in the target language.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The study aims at investigating the effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones; based on form, meaning and context at sentence and paragraph levels on written. Performance of NCE II English major students in state colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano states, Nigeria. In summary, the objectives of the study are to:
1. Find out the effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on form on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in state colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
2. Disclose the effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on meaning on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
3. Determine the effects of word knowledge of homographs; homonyms and homophones based on context on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
4. Bring out the overall effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on form, meaning and context at sentence and paragraph levels on written performance of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
Based on the stated objectives, the study seeks to answer the following questions
1. What are the effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on form on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in state colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria?
2. Do word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones in relation to meaning have any effect on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria?
3. How does word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on context affect written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria?
4. What are the overall effects of word knowledge of homograph, homonyms and homophones based on form, meaning and context at sentence and paragraph levels on written performance of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria?
1.5 Null Hypotheses
Related to the specific objectives of the study, the following null hypotheses will be tested at P ≤ 0.05 level of significance.
1. There is no significant effect between word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on form on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in state colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
2. Word knowledge of homograph, homonyms and homophones in relation to meaning has no significant effect on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
3. Word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones in line with contextual meaning has no significant effect on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria
4. The overall word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones has no significant effect on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in state colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study may be of relevant to NCE students particularly those who study English as a core subject. Students of English beyond NCE level may find the study of benefit more especially in the areas of learning vocabulary, grammar, phonology, syntax, morphology and semantic; related to lexical items under the study. Lecturers of English language in tertiary institution may find the study relevant in the methodical approach to teaching homographs, homonyms and homophones; as well as other grammatical items. Also, pragmatic skills of communicating information in written English can be acquired. Learners’ knowledge on these aspects of the language can build their confidence to write and pass information successfully for people to comprehend. As student – teachers, their ability to write correct grammatical sentences, can lead to production of coherent paragraphs and longer texts to communicate information to colleagues, lecturers, parents and others. Acquisition of these lexical items by learners at tertiary, level could enhance their receptive and productive vocabulary; and ability to communicate in writing.
Writing is re-writing; and the more students write to communicate messages, the better such messages are understood. The fact that knowledge of vocabulary goes with knowledge of grammar and usage makes the study important to other users of the language; particularly those who want to acquire communicative competence in written aspect of the language. Academics in the area of language education may find the study interesting; particularly as it covers various aspects of English that currently receive researchers’ attention globally.
1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study
The study discloses the effects of word knowledge of homographs, homonyms and homophones based on form, meaning and contextual meaning on written performance of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano States, Nigeria. Also, it is limited to finding out the effects of word meanings of homographs, homonyms and homophones at three levels (form, meaning and context). Lastly, it sets to bring out the overall effect of word form, meaning and contextual meaning of homographs, homonyms and homophones on written sentences and paragraphs of NCE II English major students in State Colleges of Education in Katsina and Kano State, Nigeria.
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