Republic of the Philippines

Liceo Del Verbo Divino

Tacloban City,Leyte

A MINI-INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
ON
THE EFFECT OF SEMANTIC
NOISE TO THE STUDENTS OF
OUR LADY OF PILLAR
Prepared by:
Bautista Marlon Roy M.
Mercader Lyndon P.
Noblejas Aron S.

Submitted to:

Mr. John Cristopher C.Parado

i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
.iii
Introduction
..4
Methodology
.6
Results
..7
Discussions
9
Conclusion
10
Recommendations
..11
Bibliography
12
Appendices
..13
A. Research
questionnaires
.14

ABSTRACT
This study attempted to know the very definition of semantic
noise and observe the salient effects of semantic noise to the students of
Our Lady of Pillar.
The study used a variety of research methods in gathering data
for this research, including surveys and observation. Research questionnaires
were prepared and distributed to the respondents. Through surveys students
of Our Lady of Pillar will be able to reflect upon how they observe semantic
noise

in

their

class.

It was found that semantic noise could be a bad factor in the

communication between students and on the other hand it could also give
benefits to other students. Semantic noise leads communication to a
breakdown due to a sudden misinterpretation of messages because of failure
in deciphering process and unfamiliarity and ambiguity of words.

iii
INTRODUCTION
The most obvious role of the school is to evaluate, to foster
cognitive development, to transmit information about the subjects of the
curriculum, and to communicate joy and excitement about education, to
transmit the ideas and values of society, prepare children for their adult roles
and responsibility and support each individuals psychological development
is central. Students spend their day on school engaged in listening activities
and the daily activities in the classroom are based on communication and
concentration.
In account to that, in a classroom scenario, there would always
be communication which partakes, it is essential on a daily basis therefore it
is inevitable. The teacher communicate with his/her students or students
communicate

with

his/her

fellow

co-students.

But

in

the

midst

of

communication which is manifested inside a certain classroom, there would

always be a factor that will affect or disturb the process. In any of the
communication models, noise is an interference with the decoding of
messages sent over a channel by an encoder. There are different types of
noise and each of them prevail depending on the situation or event.
Semantic noise is a type of noise and is a disturbance in the
transmission of a message that interferes with the interpretation of the
message due to ambiguity in words, sentences or symbols used in the

transmission of the message. According to Grimsley, semantic noise doesn't

involve sound but rather ambiguity in words, sentence or other symbols used
in communication. The ambiguity is caused because everybody sees a
different meaning in the same words, phrases or sentences. The differences
in interpretation can be quite small, even undetectable, in regular
communication between people from the same age, education and
experience, or drastically different because of such things as age or
experience. This type of noise can be prevalent especially in mass
communication, where in in a certain group of people, there is a diversity of
cultures. Furthermore, according to Rothwell., This is noise caused by the
sender. i.e., the encoder. This type of noise occurs when grammar or
technical language is used that the receiver (the decoder) cannot
understand, or cannot understand it clearly. It occurs when the sender of the
message uses a word or a phrase that we don't know the meaning of, or
which we use in a different way from the speakers. This is usually due to the
result that the encoder had failed to practice audience analysis at first. The
type of audience is the one that determine the jargon one will use.
In this study, it aims to observe the effect of noise which
prevails in the classroom of grade 11 Our Lady of The Pillar which is semantic
noise, to the process of communication.

METHODOLOGY
Observation and surveys were conducted in gathering
data. The researchers prepared questionnaires that questions about the
effects of semantic noise towards the students of Our Lady of Pillar. Then ten
students from the class were chosen to become the respondents of this
research, three of them lives in distant regions of Leyte and Samar, while
seven of them just live here in the local regions of Leyte. The questionnaires
were then distributed to each of them and let them answer the following
questions

indicated.

After

that,

the

researchers

recollected

the

questionnaires and compared and consolidated all of their answers to come

up with the result.

RESULTS
This study attempted to know and observe the
effects of semantic noise in the class of grade 11 Our Lady of Pillar of
Liceo Del Verbo Divino, and its impact towards the communication
between students and teachers from the class.
The grade 11 students of Our Lady of Pillar had
successfully completed answering questions from the questionnaires
which query semantic noises and its effects to them. Their answer would
now serve as our data or information needed in defining the matter of
course of such noise.
According

to

them,

they

often

encounter

the

semantic noise when they talk to persons who live from other regions,

like Samar and Hindang since these two particular places differ in culture,
language, way of speaking, and attitude from most of how Leytenios or
most students in the class does. Having different languages used in
communication intervenes or alters the interpretation of messages or
information, because words from other language may sound similar to
another language but differs in meaning or implies double meaning. For
some of them semantic noise could also be a severe interruption, that
could also change ones mood, depending on how he/she perceived the
message that he/she didnt understand. However according to some of
the respondents aside from being a big interruption or hindrance in
communication, semantic noise could also be helpful, for you can learn
new

words

from

different

language.

Number of Students That Tells that Semantic Noise is a Severe Interruption in Communication or Not

30%

Yes
No

70%

Figure 1
Based from the graph above, out of 10 respondents,
70% which is equal to 7 out of 10

of them says that semantic noise

greatly interrupts the deciphering process in communication where in the

interpretation of messages are impeded. 30% or 3 students out of 10 tells
that it is not.

DISCUSSION
Based from the information that we have gathered from how
students of Our Lady of Pillar observe semantic noise, they often encounter
semantic noise when they are talking to someone who belong to another
culture and have different language, since there are also diversity of culture
in the class. They often encounter such noise from their classmates that
came from other provinces such as Hindang Leyte and Samar. Since people
from Hindang uses other language and not Waray like what Leytenios
mostly use, but on the other hand people living in Samar uses Waray, still
there are words that sound similar but still implies double meaning or
different meaning.
Semantic noise is really a severe interruption of communication,
and there could be a great chance of misunderstanding, misconception or
misinterpretation to the actual meaning of which a particular person is trying
to convey or infer, that may lead to the breakdown of the process of
communication. One effect of this is that when a person misinterpreted a
particular word and considered that word as vulgar for him or is malicious,
then that person will be bothered by the word that is spoken by the speaker.
On the other side it can also contribute to the interlocutors knowledge.

CONCLUSION
In this research it has been found that semantic noise is a
factor that causes vagueness and difficulty in communication and is
inevitable especially when you are having a conversation with a person
that came from another race or place having different language or
culture. However semantic noise doesnt always originate from the
ambiguity of words and its meaning but also from gestures or other forms
of non-verbal messages. For example the thumbs up for us is good but for
others it could also be bad. More over the salient cause of semantic noise
in Our Lady of Pillar classroom is the diversity of cultures of the students
that belong in the class. Semantic noise could also beneficial to other
people.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the results from the survey that we
conducted. Most of the respondents said that semantic noise is a severe
interruption of communication, or is a factor that could lead the
communication process into a breakdown that would result from
misinterpretation from the ambiguous words that they encounter when
having a conversation with someone having different culture or social
system. In view to this study, in order to avoid and cope with semantic
noise, it is recommended for the students to have a proper way of
understanding or interpretation of words that are unfamiliar to them.
Trying to ask first for the meaning of the words, phrases, or sentences
that you dont understand or uncertain about would also be a great help,
because there might be some instances of different ways of utterances
from

the

interlocutor.

The researchers also advice to use a language where

everyone could understand, like national language or universal language.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_noise
http://study.com/academy/lesson/semantic-noise-in-communicationdefinition-examplesquiz.html#transcriptHeader

APPENDICES