Neologism in Reading and Writing Connections of Grade 11 Senior High School Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Words play a critical role in our everyday living and it comes to no surprise that our languages continue to expand in an effort to reflect the world they are used in. Nowadays, with the development of different inventions and innovations, a significant number of new words have appeared in the English language many of which are still unfamiliar to many people. This study aimed to gather sufficient data regarding the meanings of newly coined words introduced by the millennials and also to categorize it to its relevant words. In connection with this, the study explored the neologism in reading and writing of the Grade 11 senior high school students.

METHODS

The qualitative design of research used in this study is a descriptive content analysis which understands thorough analysis of language in its widest sense. The interview protocol was used as a research instrument to gather the data. The participants of the study were composed of Grade 11 Senior High School Students of Sta. Teresita National High School who have been identified to be immersed in Social Networking Sites and have been using neologisms. They were personally interviewed by the researchers on the campus during their convenient time and transcribed as soon as possible and were then coded for interpretation by the researchers.

RESULTS

The result shows the percentage distribution of the 45 neologisms formed based on the process of word formation. The chart indicates that Acronym was the dominant process used in the neologisms as it occupies 47% of the total sample words. It was followed by coinage and compounding both has 16% of the total sample words. Next to it are the processes of Borrowing, Multiple Process with 5% and Blending with 4% of the total sample words. Lastly, with 2% each of the total sample words are the processes of Clipping, Hypocorism, Conversion, and Derivation. Word formation processes such as analogy and backformation have no word listed under them so there are no percentages recorded on it.

DISCUSSIONS

This study is different from other studies which resulted in blending is the most common word formation process. It also has a different set of words and almost half of the collected data was discovered to be formed under the process of acronyms. There are many underlying reasons why an acronym is the most common word formation process. The main recommendation of this study is for the future researchers to continue studying the neologisms because as technology advancement new words are created almost every day.