An Analysis of Prepositional Errors Committed by Undergraduate ESL Learners of Pakistan

Abstract

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) phenomena are very important for social, practical and academic reasons. About 6000 languages are spoken in the world and almost all of them have been learned by second languages by some portion of their speaker. There are four most commonly-used languages and English is one of them that is acquired as L1 by 427 million people and as L2 by 950 million speakers. In Pakistan, English has become most important language for communication and also a symbol of prestige in the society. It has turned into a great asset for Pakistani students; they learn it as their second language from basic to advance level. Moreover, English enjoys the status of official language in Pakistan. However, Pakistani learners face many difficulties and problems in using English in their writings and during speaking. Committing errors in the use of prepositions is one of such difficulties. This research examines the misuse of English prepositions by Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners. The purpose of the study is to find out whether male learners commit more prepositional errors or female. Other than this, following study also focuses on the types of prepositional errors found in tests of MCQs and word deletion. For this purpose, thirty (30) students of Government college university of Faisalabad (fifteen participants from each gender) were selected randomly for quantitative research. The data was collected through two tests; first test was based on gap filling exercise and second was based on MCQs. These tests were then analyzed through tables and graphics by using Microsoft excel software. Researcher used Hot Potatoes as a tool for making test and used statistical methods to find the frequencies and percentage of errors. The study found out various types of prepositional errors in both type of tests. Resultantly, the ratio of errors committed by female ESL learners was higher than male ESL learners.

Keywords: Prepositions, gender analysis, error analysis, influence of L1 on L2

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/53-02