Linguistic Tokens among High School Students’ Discourse: A State University Experience

This study explores the sociolinguistic aspects of English language use among Junior High School students at Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU) in Dapitan City, focusing on cultural norms and social practices. Using Oral Discourse Completion Tasks (ODCTs), the study examined students’ speech acts in refusal, compliment responses, and apologies. Findings indicate that students exhibited varying degrees of sociolinguistic competence, with personal addresses, nicknames, and role-based titles such as "ma’am" and "sir" commonly used. Participants demonstrated politeness strategies, often refusing requests indirectly to maintain social harmony. The study also reveals that sociolinguistic behaviors did not significantly vary based on gender, grade level, religion, ethnic affiliation, home language, or parents’ educational attainment. Moreover, students with strong motivation in learning English displayed higher proficiency and confidence in communication. The research underscores the need for enhanced instructional strategies that incorporate cultural and social dimensions of language learning. It recommends periodic language proficiency assessments and continuous teacher development programs to further improve students’ communicative competence.