Universal Grammar (UG) Access in the Acquisition of Literacy Skills: Evidences from the Undergraduate (BS- English) Students’ Knowledge of Punctuations
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the gap between the explicit and implicit knowledge of L2 learners of English language at undergraduate level within the framework of Universal Grammar (UG). The process of error analysis used to find UG access in the acquisition of literacy skills (punctuations). The population of this study comprised of the students of BS-English 4th semester. The total number of participants was 60. The data was collected through multi-stage, sampling techniques; essay, descriptive questions/answers, MCQs and true/false, then a representative sample group was selected for the study. The collected data were analyzed through mean scores, standard deviation and through the analysis of their writing with the help of SPSS version 16. The result reveals that students sometimes unable to describe their implicit knowledge explicitly in responding to descriptive questions which can be counted an evidence of gap between their implicit and explicit knowledge. The gap that exists between the explicit and implicit knowledge of punctuation on the part of the learners may therefore be related to Universal Grammar (inter-language)and the same may be counted as an evidence of UG access in the acquisition of literacy skills (punctuations).A further extensive study is required to verify the results with a large number of participants.
Authors
Jasim Khan
Scholar, Department of English & FL, University of Swat, KP, Pakistan
Dr. Abdul Hamid
Assistant Professor, Department of English & FL, University of Swat, KP, Pakistan
Dr. Imdad Ullah Khan
Assistant Professor, Department of English & FL, University of Swat, KP, Pakistan
Keywords
Explicit Knowledge, Implicit Knowledge, Inter Language, Universal Grammar