Investigating Iraqi EFL Preparatory Students’ Ability in Using Homonyms

Abstract

This paper highlights the concept of homonymy, which is a semantic phenomenon that is part of our everyday language. It aims at investigating EFL preparatory students’ ability in using homonyms. It finds out the problems that students encounter in using homonymous words. A diagnostic test was distributed to (50) of sixth class preparatory students in two secondary schools in Nineveh Governorate. They were selected in a random way. The data of the research were collected from the test that consisted of two questions, each question includes (10) items, so the full number of the items were (20). The test’s results show that students’ ability is weak and they commit errors in using homonyms. The researcher discovers that the most committed errors are because of the students’’ low knowledge of acquiring vocabulary especially preparatory students who study English as a foreign language. At the end, the research is finished with recommendations for further studies.