The Phonological Sensibility of Nigerian Pre-Varsity English Speakers’ Activation of Heterophones and Pseudohomophones in Reading Comprehension

A very vital aspect of word learning includes phonological discrimination of lexical items. This study investigated the degree by which accurate pronunciation of heterophones and pseudo-homophones could be excitatory to comprehension of English sentences by young Nigerian learners of English. Five sentences, each containing a target word, were presented to 40 pupils to read and interpret. Perceptual, referential and statistical analysis of the data revealed the negative effect of deficit of phonological knowledge on word identification and decoding. It was discovered that phonological sensibility was a vital predictor of correct contextual selection of heterophones and pseudo-homophones. The findings support a model of comprehension in which phonological knowledge is vital