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ACQUISITION OF WH-QUESTIONS BY SECOND LANGUAGE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH IN PAKISTAN
Corresponding Author(s) : Azhar Pervaiz
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 9 No. 3 (2021): May
Abstract
Purpose of the study: The purpose of the current study is to investigate the acquisition of Wh-questions of English by Urdu L1 speakers in Pakistan. Acquisition of different syntactic structures has been an attractive area of interest for the scholars working in the area of second language acquisition. The study draws on approaches of Universal Grammar (UG) and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). The researchers aim at finding out whether the second language is acquired in the same way as the first language or not. Both Urdu and English allow Wh-questions formation but the placement of the Wh-word is completely at a different position. Urdu is an in-situ language that does not allow Movement of the Wh-word, and English allows the Movement of the Wh-word. So, this study highlights whether speakers of Urdu can acquire the structures of Wh-questions or not.
Methodology: The study uses a mixed-method research design, and the data was collected from the speakers of Urdu who speak it as their native language in order to draw the findings. The current research employs a questionnaire that is divided into two parts: elicitation task and grammatical judgement task. For the elicitation task, the students were provided with the statements with the underlined words of which they had to form Wh-questions and for the second, a task was designed on the basis of the lickert scale and it was designed to judge the grammar of the students. The population of this study is limited to speakers of Urdu who speak English as their second language and the sample was selected from the vicinity of Sargodha city of Pakistan.
Main Findings: The results of this mixed-method study reveal that students face problems while forming and identifying Wh-questions, despite compulsory education in English. The findings of the current study supported the partial access hypothesis.
Applications of this study: The study is very important in the area of second language acquisition and informs how the speakers of the English language as a second language acquire the Wh-question structure. The study can be applied in designing teaching materials for the learners of English as a second language besides informing the language software modulation in order to ease the language learning process.
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- Abbas, F. and Iqbal, Z. (2018). Language Attitude of the Pakistani Youth towards English, Urdu and Punjabi: A Comparative Study. Pakistan Journal of Distance and Online Learning, 4(1), 199-214.
- Abbas, F., Aslam, S. and Yasmeen, R. (2011). Communicative Language Teaching: A Modified Version. Language in India, 11 4), 331 – 341.
- Abbas, F., Jalil, M. K., Zaki, H. N. & Irfan, F. (2020). Implicit measure of language attitude: study of Punjabi native speakers by using matched guise technique. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 13(1), 194-206.
- Abbas, F., Pervaiz, A. and Arshad, F. (2018). The competing status of Urdu and English after declaration of Urdu as official language in Pakistan. Journal of Research (Urdu), 34(1), 142 –158.
- Ahmed, S. N., Abbas, F. & Naz, F. (2020). Historical development of orthography in English and impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on the emerging orthographic patterns in English. PalArch's Journal of Archeology of Egypt 17(11), 162-175.
- Bhatti, A.M., Abbas, F. & Rana, A.M.K. (2020). An Empirical study of learning styles used by undergraduate English learners in public sector colleges in Pakistan. Elementary Education Online, 19(3), 1864-1875.
- Bley-vroman, R., & Yoshinga, N. (2000). The acquisition of wh-questions by high proficiency non-native speakers of English. Second language research, 16, 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1191/026765800676857467 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/026765800676857467
- Bukhari, N. H. (2009). The syntax of serial verbs in Gogri. PhD thesis. Newcastle university: UK.
- Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures (Janualinguarum 4). Gravenhage: Mouton. https://doi.org/10.15 15/9783112316009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112316009
- Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.
- Chomsky, N. (1995). The minimalist program. MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.
- Chomsky, N. (2000). New horizons in the study of language and mind. (p.12). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811937 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811937
- Chomsky, N. (2009). Cartesian Linguistics: A chapter in the history of rationalist thought. (101-110). Third edition. America: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803116
- Cook, V. C., & Newson, M. (2007). Chomsky’s universal grammar: An introduction. (pp.9-133). Oxford: Blackwell.
- Eubark, L. (1996). Negation in early German- English interlanguge: More valueless features in the L2 initial state. Second language research, 12, 73-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200104
- Gedik, M. (2018). The scope of Wh-phrases in Turkish. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio n/328428833
- Goodluck, H. (1991). Language acquisition. A linguistic introduction, Oxford: Blackwell.
- Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. (p.130). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Jalal, S. (2012). The acquisition of multiple wh-questions by natives and non-natives. The international journal of social sciences and interdisciplinary research, 1(10), 1-3.
- Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1991). Critical period effects on universal properties of language: The status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language. Cognition, 39(3), 215-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90054-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90054-8
- Klein & G. Martohardjono, (Eds.), the development of second language grammar: a generative approach. (p.289). Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
- Klein, E. C. (1995). Evidence for a ‘wild’L2 grammar: when PPs rear their empty heads. Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 87-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/16.1.87
- Michell, R., & Myles, F. (1998). Second language learning theory. London: Hodder Arnold.
- Newport, E. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive science, 14, 11-28. https://doi.or g/10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2
- Radford, A. (1994). The syntax of questions in child language. Journal of child language, 21, 211-236. ttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008722 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008722
- Radford, A. (1997). Syntactic theory and the structure of English. (pp. 211-212). Cambridge: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166706
- Schachter, J. (1989). Testing a proposed universal. In S. Grass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. (pp. 73-88). Cambridge: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/C BO9781139524544.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524544.007
- Schachter, J. (1990). On the issue of closeness in second language acquisition. Second language research, 6, 93-124. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839000600201 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839000600201
- Schwartz, B., & Sprouse, R. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/ full access model. Second language research, 12, 40-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200103
- Tatika, K., Fuji, C., Yang, C. Y. B. (2007). WH-questions in Chinese and Japanese I: Anti Crossing and Anti-Superiorty. Nazan Linguistics, 2(1), 99-112
- Wu, F. (2008). L1 transfer in processing English subjacency sentences from Chinese focused cleft Whs. Proceedings of the 9th generative approaches to second language acquisition conference (GASLA 2007), ed. Roumyana Slabakova et al. (pp. 267-271). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla proceedings project.
- Yule, G. (2006). The study of language: thoroughly revised and updated.
- Yusa, N. (1999). Multiple specifiers and wh-islands effects in L2 acquisition: A preliminary study. In E.C. Klei, and G. Martohardjono, (Eds.), the development of second language grammar: a generative approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 289-315. https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.18.15yus DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.18.15yus
References
Abbas, F. and Iqbal, Z. (2018). Language Attitude of the Pakistani Youth towards English, Urdu and Punjabi: A Comparative Study. Pakistan Journal of Distance and Online Learning, 4(1), 199-214.
Abbas, F., Aslam, S. and Yasmeen, R. (2011). Communicative Language Teaching: A Modified Version. Language in India, 11 4), 331 – 341.
Abbas, F., Jalil, M. K., Zaki, H. N. & Irfan, F. (2020). Implicit measure of language attitude: study of Punjabi native speakers by using matched guise technique. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 13(1), 194-206.
Abbas, F., Pervaiz, A. and Arshad, F. (2018). The competing status of Urdu and English after declaration of Urdu as official language in Pakistan. Journal of Research (Urdu), 34(1), 142 –158.
Ahmed, S. N., Abbas, F. & Naz, F. (2020). Historical development of orthography in English and impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on the emerging orthographic patterns in English. PalArch's Journal of Archeology of Egypt 17(11), 162-175.
Bhatti, A.M., Abbas, F. & Rana, A.M.K. (2020). An Empirical study of learning styles used by undergraduate English learners in public sector colleges in Pakistan. Elementary Education Online, 19(3), 1864-1875.
Bley-vroman, R., & Yoshinga, N. (2000). The acquisition of wh-questions by high proficiency non-native speakers of English. Second language research, 16, 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1191/026765800676857467 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/026765800676857467
Bukhari, N. H. (2009). The syntax of serial verbs in Gogri. PhD thesis. Newcastle university: UK.
Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures (Janualinguarum 4). Gravenhage: Mouton. https://doi.org/10.15 15/9783112316009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112316009
Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.
Chomsky, N. (1995). The minimalist program. MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.
Chomsky, N. (2000). New horizons in the study of language and mind. (p.12). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811937 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811937
Chomsky, N. (2009). Cartesian Linguistics: A chapter in the history of rationalist thought. (101-110). Third edition. America: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803116
Cook, V. C., & Newson, M. (2007). Chomsky’s universal grammar: An introduction. (pp.9-133). Oxford: Blackwell.
Eubark, L. (1996). Negation in early German- English interlanguge: More valueless features in the L2 initial state. Second language research, 12, 73-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200104
Gedik, M. (2018). The scope of Wh-phrases in Turkish. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio n/328428833
Goodluck, H. (1991). Language acquisition. A linguistic introduction, Oxford: Blackwell.
Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. (p.130). New York: Oxford University Press.
Jalal, S. (2012). The acquisition of multiple wh-questions by natives and non-natives. The international journal of social sciences and interdisciplinary research, 1(10), 1-3.
Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1991). Critical period effects on universal properties of language: The status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language. Cognition, 39(3), 215-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90054-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90054-8
Klein & G. Martohardjono, (Eds.), the development of second language grammar: a generative approach. (p.289). Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
Klein, E. C. (1995). Evidence for a ‘wild’L2 grammar: when PPs rear their empty heads. Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 87-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/16.1.87
Michell, R., & Myles, F. (1998). Second language learning theory. London: Hodder Arnold.
Newport, E. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive science, 14, 11-28. https://doi.or g/10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2
Radford, A. (1994). The syntax of questions in child language. Journal of child language, 21, 211-236. ttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008722 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008722
Radford, A. (1997). Syntactic theory and the structure of English. (pp. 211-212). Cambridge: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166706
Schachter, J. (1989). Testing a proposed universal. In S. Grass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. (pp. 73-88). Cambridge: Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/C BO9781139524544.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524544.007
Schachter, J. (1990). On the issue of closeness in second language acquisition. Second language research, 6, 93-124. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839000600201 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839000600201
Schwartz, B., & Sprouse, R. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/ full access model. Second language research, 12, 40-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839601200103
Tatika, K., Fuji, C., Yang, C. Y. B. (2007). WH-questions in Chinese and Japanese I: Anti Crossing and Anti-Superiorty. Nazan Linguistics, 2(1), 99-112
Wu, F. (2008). L1 transfer in processing English subjacency sentences from Chinese focused cleft Whs. Proceedings of the 9th generative approaches to second language acquisition conference (GASLA 2007), ed. Roumyana Slabakova et al. (pp. 267-271). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla proceedings project.
Yule, G. (2006). The study of language: thoroughly revised and updated.
Yusa, N. (1999). Multiple specifiers and wh-islands effects in L2 acquisition: A preliminary study. In E.C. Klei, and G. Martohardjono, (Eds.), the development of second language grammar: a generative approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 289-315. https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.18.15yus DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.18.15yus