On L2 Learners’ Metalinguistic Ability and Related Issues: A Synthesis of Theory and Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it presents an overview of pertinent research dealing with aspects of metalinguistic awareness (MLA) and to posit a link between (MLA) and students’ performance in multi-dimensional linguistic problems. Second, it reports on the outcomes of an experiment on some foreign language learners. The subjects of the present study (N=80) were in their fourth year of academic study in the Department of English and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Menufia University, Egypt. Forty subjects were males and the other forty were females. Two tasks were used: (1) “Sentence Completion” task, and (2) “Error Recognition and Correction” task. In the first task, a list of 15 incomplete sentences was given to the subjects who were asked to choose the word or phrase that best complete the sentence. The focus, in this task, was on the meaning of the sentence rather than the form, although accurate understanding of the formal properties of language is a must. In the second task, students were asked to detect the word or phrase that must be changed in order for the sentence to be correct. A list of 25 sentences with four words underlined, and marked (A), (B), (C), and (D) was given to the subjects. Finally, students were individually interviewed to explain and comment on their performance in the previous tasks. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results were obtained and conclusions were made.