THE INFLUENCE OF URDU (L1) SYNTAX ON THE ENGLISH (L2) SYNTAX IN WRITING ENGLISH,AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL IN LAHORE

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the Urdu (L1) syntax on English (L2) syntax in writing among university-level students in Lahore, with the aim of determining the effect of positive and negative transfer. The research, based on semi-structured interviews of university students, finds the role of L1 interference and support in writing. The results indicate that Urdu influences the syntactic structure, adverb position, prepositions, and use of articles, which are mostly unconscious and result in the emergence of grammatical errors and unnatural expressions. Simultaneously, L1 facilitates the generation of ideas, planning of sentences, and formation of simple syntactic forms in writing L2. The paper sheds light on the enduring effects of L1 on advanced L2 learners and the significance of increasing syntactic awareness in multilingual settings.