The research investigated how Millennials and Generation Z from Mankayan, Benguet differ in their understanding and application of English words that have undergone semantic changes. The study evaluated respondent profiles through meaning recognition and contextual interpretation assessment while measuring their communication abilities in different contexts and examining how various factors interacted with each other. The research used a quantitative approach with descriptive and comparative methods to study relationships between different variables through a researcher-developed questionnaire, which three experts validated, and a pilot test produced a Cronbach's alpha result of 0.87, which showed acceptable internal consistency. The study involved 100 total participants who completed the research. The researchers applied frequency analysis and percentage calculations, weighted mean determination, t-test evaluation, ANOVA testing, and Pearson correlation analysis to their data. The results demonstrated low perception levels (M = 2.14) and low usage levels (M = 1.98). Participants demonstrated significant differences based on their age and sex, educational attainment, social media exposure, and generational status. The study demonstrated a strong positive correlation between perception and usage among both Generation Z (r = 0.72, p < 0.001) and Millennials (r = 0.91, p < 0.001), which showed that people who understand more will use the material more frequently. The previously reported inconsistency in the Millennial correlation result was corrected, confirming statistical significance. The results show that people who see digital language trends online do not gain the ability to interpret digital language trends correctly, nor do they develop the habit of using digital language trends. The study highlights the requirement for language instruction that uses real-life contexts to develop two skills, which are semantic comprehension and communicative ability in Philippine English.
Leonarine D. Soliba (Wed,) studied this question.