TRANSITION FROM HOLOPHRASTIC TO TELEGRAPHIC STAGE: URDU L2 ACQUISITION IN A PREDOMINANTLY PUNJABI–SPEAKING ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Children in Pakistan grow up mostly in bilingual or multilingual environments, where they tend to make unique phonological errors as they acquire Urdu as a second language. This research aimed to identify and examine the phonological errors made by children while transitioning from holophrastic to the telegraphic stage in a predominantly Punjabi-speaking environment. For this small-scale observational research study, convenience sampling was used to collect data from 9 children, aged 12 to 30 months, across three phases. The research findings reveal that the most dominant theme in the children's language errors was ‘segmental sound errors’, 
with consonant substitution being the most frequent phonological error. The analysis of phonological errors during the transition from the holophrastic to the telegraphic stage offers valuable insights into the acquisition of Urdu as a second language. It also highlights the strategies such as syllable/sound omission, consonant substitution, and consonant cluster simplification, children adopt to overcome phonological challenges.