Gabriela Zacnitet Sánchez Jiménez
CHAPTER II
Literature review
1. Description of Homophones in second language acquisition
1.1. Brief information about homophones
Students who have learnt English as a second language could identify words that
have the same sound in a context. Words that have the same sound are call
homophones. According to MacArthur (n.d) homophones “are one of two or more
words that are identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning: beer/bier,
there/their/they're”. Those words have the same sound, but not all are simple
words, some of them are phrases but their sound are identical to an only word as it
was mentioned /they’re & their.
Homophones are several words that have the same sound but differ in spelling.
Many homophones have the same sound. They have different meaning. Teaching
homophones words can help students to write them correctly, although,
homophones can be produced correctly in speaking. If students learn homophones
can improve their second language.
1.3 Phonological aspect
Exist homophones that are pronounced different and it is because of their accent.
The different pronunciation is because of the different situation of the country and
their sound is totally different even if in other cities are pronounced the same. For
example in Wales or in Australia, the pronunciations of some homophones are
different. Rippel (2009) mentions that “the problem with homophones is the accent”
see example weather and whether. These homophones are pronounced the same
in certain parts of America. In other region the wh has retained a distinct /hw/
sound.
Not all homophones have the same sounds in a country. McArthur (1998) mentions
“Words may be homophones in one variety of English but not another: father/father
and four/for are homophones in, but not in America and Scotland”. According to
McArthur, not all homophones can be pronounced the same; it depends on the
country and the accent of people. Some speakers pronounce the word different
according to their accent American and British Fromkin and Rodman (2007) say, “a
word means knowing its sounds and meaning”. Both are necessary, for the same
sounds can sometimes mean different.
In addition to the research of Fromkin and Rodman, as in English exist
phonological aspect in Spanish too, the phonological aspect is very important in
the research for example If the word has a homophone, the spelling of this
homophone is output (e.g., bello for the word vello; notice that the letters b and v
are pronounced as /b/ in Spanish);
Second language acquisition promotes students to know what kind of words are or
exist, in this case homophones that can be a challenge for them to learn them or
using them in a correct way. To make students capable of identify homophones in
a context. It is necessary that the teacher explains students the meaning of each
homophones and their differences in order they can be capable to acquire some
words to have a better vocabulary.
1.4 Homophones or homonyms and their differences
It is necessary to mention what are the differences between Homophones and
homonyms. Those can confuse learners to identify them. According to Despirit
(2010) homonyms “are words that are spelled differently but sound the same”.
Homophones and homonyms have contributed to the learning of a second
language. Homonyms are words that have the same sound and the same spelling.
For example bear (animal) and bear (support). Whereas homophones have the
same sound but sometimes the spellings are totally different and have more than
one meaning.
Practice and visual association can help students to learn them properly. One
useful strategy to achieve homophone words is the comprehension of the text for
example the teacher has to assign to the students homework where they have to
correct the spelling and see the difference between some words but also speaking
comprehension make speakers to know the difference between them. Students
can train their listening skill through practice and games. There are many games
that students can play in order to learn new vocabulary and the most important
issue that they can learn homophones.
There are reasons to teach homophones in second language acquisition. Besides,
improving their vocabulary and their writing skill, students will be able to familiarize
with homophones. They allow learners to read and find out words that they never
know that exist. Also students can improve their writing skill. It is because it
promotes students the development of language.
An easy way to learn
homophones is doing a list; they can do it in order to memorize the homophones to
have a better understanding in a conversation. But also they can improve their
listening skill.
In addition students can understand better the situation of what homophones are
and why they have to learn them in a second language. On the other hand not all
homophones can be taught them at the same time but with a less complex.
Students’ writing skill can improve if they memorize or learn many words as they
can. The important point of this research is that homophones can be helpful to
students and its purpose is that learning homophones vocabulary can help
students in a second language
Likewise teaching homophones in different activities will help students to acquire a
better pronunciation and also they can improve their listening skill. Teaching
homophones will facilitate students to have a better understanding and their writing
skill can improve day by day.
Due to the big influence of homophones, it is necessary to implement a course to
teach them because students can familiarize with them. To make people learn
them, it is necessary to make homophone less complex. One of the activities that
can be easy to students to learn them is using games; it can engage students to
learn the vocabulary of homophones and make them easy for them, but also
students can improve their understanding and their writing skill.
In order students understand why homophones have to be learnt teachers will
explain the purposes of learn them. A purpose to know them is that they can have
a better understanding and know more vocabulary in speaking and they can know
their meaning in a text. According to Haver (2002) “teaching idioms to beginning
English language learners can be challenged. Beginning language learners tend to
be very literal in their thinking process”. Teaching homophones can be difficult for
students who are learning a new language and not all students are capable of
understanding the importance of learn homophones.
2.- Basic English homophones
There are numerous of words that students can learn to increase their vocabulary.
But in some cases is not necessary to learn a lot of words. According to Nation
(2001: 9) “Some words are much useful than others”. It means that students do not
have to learn words that have not value than other and native speakers show few
frequency words there is because the high frequency have increased to native
speakers’ vocabulary. High frequency means the times words can be use.
Although all students need to increase their vocabulary, only some of them want to
learn enough words in order to apply them to their second language. Despite
learning new vocabulary in English class, most students were not reaching the goal
to apply it to their second language.
2.1 Difficulty to learn new vocabulary
There is more new vocabulary that student can learn. But words can vary in order
to the level they are. According to Gentry (1982) “homophones were placed in rank
order from most common to least commonly by listing each individual homophone
by number occurrences”. It is easier to order homophones in order to list the most
commonly homophone to the least commonly word. Students might learn them in
an easy way. Theses words are currently frequent (e.g., there and their) but this
one is not e.g., eye & i Gentry (1982: 4). These and more words can be learnt by
students. Students can memorize them; they would make a list.
There are words that have complexity in order to be memorized them by students.
According to Nation (2001) is very important that students continue learning new
vocabulary in order to increase their knowledge. There are some words that need
to be learnt but some do not. Students might learn the words they need to learn to
be a better speaker in a second language. Nation (2001) says “Although not all
words need to be known to be a very successful language user” Moreover,
learning new vocabulary is not easy.
Homophones can be tricky for students who are learning a second language.
According to Ferrand & Grainger (2003) “Much recent work on how people
recognize written and spoken words has focused on the competitive nature of the
underlying processes”. Students who are learning a second language must have a
good visual recognition to pick words and have a better understanding. It is
important to mention that a good recognition also depend in how they acquire it
2.2 Interpretation of homophones
The interpretations of words take an important point in this research; because it is
necessary that learners can distinguish between one homophone to another if they
have similarity. For example it is more difficult for adults to learn homophones as
proper names. Regarding interpretation of homophones, students often confuse
some words that have similarity.
Burke (n.d). gives a useful explanation about proper names and how this can be
challenging for adults than young. “proper names are difficult to retrieve, especially
for older adults. On intermixed trials young and older adults produced a word for a
definition, or a proper name for a picture of a famous person. Prior production of a
homophone (e.g., pit) for a definition increased correct naming and reduced tip-ofthe-tongue experiences for a proper name (e.g., Pitt)” Burke (n.d)
The study that Burke presented means that adults tend to have more problems in
order to learn new vocabulary, in this case homophones, these can be more
difficult for adult to acquire a second language. The production of homophones and
its orthographical form is not easy for adults to get them. As mentioned above
production is an important piece in this research but it is important to mention that
pronunciation takes an important point in this study. Phonological aspects are
linked with pronunciation and it takes an important place in this piece of research.
Burke (n.d) mentions that “homophone production strengthens phonological
connections, increasing the transmission of excitation”. Proper names are
susceptible and their weak connections are increasing. The author mentioned that
speeded naming latency for age’s groups, adults learners and young learners. Also
the authors for the research mentions that “proper names carry reference because
they indicate individuals, but little sense or meaning because they indicate few
attributes or qualities” the author wants to explain that words are capable of to be
known for learners because homophones are not difficult and some of them can be
know in a sentence.
2.3 Types of homophones
There are two types of homophones the low frequency and high frequency. In a
study from Homophone Effects in Visual Word Recognition Depend on
Homophone Type and Task Demands, Kerswell (2007) found two types of
homophones. The first one was presented as “low-frequency homophones with
higher-frequency mates that are not animal names (e.g., maid – made), and 2) lowfrequency homophones with mates that are, on average, of equivalent frequency
and are animal names (e.g., foul – fowl)”. Kerswell (2007) mentions that those
kinds of homophones can be produce and empathized in the task, namely and
orthographic processing.
This research wants to examine the interaction between phonological aspects,
orthographic, and semantic aspect. As it was mentioned before homophones are
word like maid and made, where phonological aspects corresponds to more than
one spelling and more than one meaning. Kerswell & Siakaluk (2007). The author
specified the meaning of homophone in order that readers can know what the
purpose of this piece of research is.
Students might confuse some homophones words with names. But in order
students do not get confused they capitalized the word/name, Whalen and Zsiga
(1994). Also the authors metion that the stress is an important factor on the uses of
homophones. Whalen and Zsiga made an experiment where they eliminated any
effect of stress differences “such as Mabel and Nadene” Whalen & Zsiga (1994).
The purpose of this was eliminating the vowel reduction.
The study the author made was select word and names and both were randomized
together, each word had to be spoken and pronouncing in order to stimulate the
students’ listening. So it is important that students train their listening skill in order
they have a better understanding and they will be capable to identify homophones
in context.
3.- Challenging of learning Homophones
For some learners is difficult to acquire and learn a second language. New
vocabulary in a non-native speaker is hard to memorize and to learn it. There are
many words that learners must know. However, it is not necessary that a nonnative speaker learn a lot of words, there many words that are not necessary to
know but, for some students is very important to acquire and know words in order
to have a better understanding a also to have a better conversation with a native
speaker.
Challenging of learn a new vocabulary is a hard work. Learning homophones can
be difficult for some but not for others. The main problem here is that homophones
might confuse students in a speech and it is because there are words that have the
same sound but different meaning and beginners do not know yet. The question in
this research is how students who are learning a second language for first time can
differentiate a word to another. It means, words that have the same sound but with
different meaning.
There are numerous of ways to teach new vocabulary. Haver (2002) mentions
“[t]here are many word play activities a teacher can use with students to improve
their understanding of figurative language”. Students can learn new vocabulary in a
easy way and make the class fu to students.
The big deal here, it is that exist homophones that are compound for 2 or more
words (e.g, tthey’re and their) they’re is compound for two words, it is a contraction
with are.
Another example is “who's & whose, who’s a contraction meaning 'who is' OR 'who
has' whose: a possessive pronoun” Teaching & Learning Centre (n.d). An
homophones study was presented to New Haven connection, The authors
measure some words with identically pronunciation, students who were taken this
experiment might do a comparison between names and words. They may have
familiarity with words, the authors select just the helpful words to the students in
order they could make a good work. For some students is not easy to select or
identify words easily. It is hardly to identify them because students who are
learning a second language are not familiarized with too much words, but the point
is of the research is that students can identify words in a context.
3.1 Recognition
How do students can recognize homophones in context? The answer is, training
their listening skill and also training their ability to identify word/ names or just
words that have a same pronunciation but with another specific purpose in a
sentence. Kerswell and Siakaluk (2007) mention influence homophone effects, as
a function of task demands. It means that homophones affect in lexical decision,
semantic categorization and naming. Those researchers have found how to
measure those things. It is important to mentions that visual recognition takes an
important place in lexical decision.
Edwards and Pexman (n.d) concluded that “homophone effects in lexical decision
task (LDT) were robust, and argued for automatic activation of phonology in visual
word recognition”. As it was mentioned before visual recognition is the big deal for
students to identify homophones. Kerswell and Siakaluk (2007) mention “language
researchers agree that visual word recognition involves orthographic, phonological,
and semantic processing, along with complex interactions among these different
types of processing”.
Learners who are studying for first time a second language can have identifying
homophones. Orthographic representation takes an important place; it is because
words can be typing identically but their meaning vary in context.
Kerswell and Siakaluk (2007: 322) gives a useful explanation about orthographical
responses and a feedback of use of homophones and its spelling for an
experiment they did, in order to provide activation orthographic. This quote
explains homophones and its representations in writing.
“For homophones, one pronunciation corresponds to
multiple spellings. This feedback delays responding to
homophones
words,
relative
because
to
with
nonhomophonic
multiple
control
orthographic
representations activated additional time is necessary
for the competition among those representations to be
resolved”.
The term homophones are referred to the phonological pronunciation and also it
corresponds to the multiple meaning that a homophone has. There are a large
number of homophones that can be learnt and their meaning can vary according to
the text. The representation of each homophone corresponds to its lexical decision.
It is important that students know the gender of homophone because they might
confuse them. Spinelli & Alario (2002) “A number of languages in the world have
grammatical gender. In these languages the form of certain items (e.g.,
determiners) is dependent on certain grammatical or semantic properties of other
items in the utterance”
3.2 Grammatical mistakes
Students should not have mistakes in grammar. However, students tend to have
mistakes in their writing skill. Researchers have found that homophones tend to
make confusion in students who are learning a second language. Orthographically
students have problems writing words they do not know. According to Kerswell and
Siakaluk (2007: 322) “psudohomophones in [lexical decision task] (LDT) because
only orthographic information reliably distinguish words from psudohomophones”.
The authors say that students must have a good orthographic to reject.
In this research attempt to emphasized the nature of learning a second language
and how students can be familiarized with new words but, the most important is
that they have a better understood. In addition the morphological structure takes an
important fact in this research. Edwards and Pexman (n.d) mention “the
morphological structure of the /-ed/ homophones is an important factor in
explaining the null (and sometimes facilitory) effects for that category”. They also
mentioned an example of homophone like “GUESSED, that have different
morphological characteristics than their homophone mates (GUEST), are
apparently not confused with their homophone mates at the orthographic level”. It
is taking into account that morphological structure is very important in grammatical
mistakes. Students might forget how to write some words, there is because the
pronunciation but, some words are easy to recognize because the pronunciationat
the end /ed/.
In addition to giving more information the mistakes students have, students might
take into account the phonological aspects and also semantic representations as
Kerswell and Siakaluk (2007: 322) say “when a homophone is presented, there is
an initial activation of the word’s orthographic representation followed by parallel
activation of the word’s phonological and semantic representations.”
Reference
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