Investigating Effects of Age on Sequential Syntactic and Morphological Development in Pakistani Second Language Learners

Abstract

Learning a second language, primary-level students find the process of developing syntax complex perhaps because they do not have sufficient awareness of the syntactic errors they commit at this early stage. Yet, there is a scarcity of studies on this domain to the best of our knowledge. Employing a mixed-method approach, the current study used tests, interviews, and observations to investigate the complexity of the developmental sequences with a particular emphasis on syntactic errors made by Pakistani learners of ESL. Analyzing the data quantitatively and qualitatively, the study caters to the common syntactic errors committed by Pakistani primary school students, including tense, subject-verb agreement, missing articles, conjunction, pronouns to infinitives, and word order. The study concluded that the sequential syntactic development in acquiring syntax is highly influenced by the factor of age perhaps because older children acquire syntax faster than younger ones. The study implicates to development of the second language at the primary level with a diverse age range.