The present article purported to gain insights about English as a second language (ESL) learners’ knowledge of grammatical functions at the declarative and the procedural levels in the higher education context, and argued that the dialogue between the types of knowledge calls for more attention. The study utilised a Words-in-Sentences Test that was administered to 841 ESL students in seven colleges and universities in three Arab countries: United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Oman. The test was used to measure the participants’ declarative knowledge of grammatical functions. The participants’ test scores were then correlated with their essay writing scores to find if there is a significant correlation between the two, and thus gain insight into the relationship between the declarative knowledge and the procedural knowledge of grammatical functions. Finally, a qualitative analysis was conducted on nine essays to gain an in-depth understanding of this relationship. The findings indicated that the university participants’ declarative knowledge of grammatical functions was below the expected level and that there was a significant correlation between the learners’ test scores and writing scores. In addition, intriguing themes emerged from the qualitative analysis. Together, the findings are anticipated to spark more research on grammatical function knowledge among university students in ESL contexts.

中文翻译：

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高等教育 ESL 环境中语法功能的陈述性-程序性知识：虚构与现实

本文旨在深入了解英语作为第二语言（ESL）学习者在高等教育背景下陈述性和程序性层面的语法功能知识，并认为知识类型之间的对话需要更多关注。该研究采用了句中单词测试，对阿拉伯联合酋长国、约旦和阿曼这三个阿拉伯国家的七所学院和大学的 841 名 ESL 学生进行了测试。该测试用于测量参与者对语法功能的陈述性知识。然后将参与者的测试成绩与论文写作成绩相关联，看看两者之间是否存在显着相关性，从而深入了解语法功能的陈述性知识和程序性知识之间的关系。最后，对九篇论文进行了定性分析，以深入了解这种关系。研究结果表明，大学参与者的语法功能陈述性知识低于预期水平，并且学习者的测试分数和写作分数之间存在显着相关性。此外，定性分析中还出现了一些有趣的主题。总之，这些发现预计将引发更多关于 ESL 背景下大学生语法功能知识的研究。研究结果表明，大学参与者的语法功能陈述性知识低于预期水平，并且学习者的测试分数和写作分数之间存在显着相关性。此外，定性分析中还出现了一些有趣的主题。总之，这些发现预计将引发更多关于 ESL 背景下大学生语法功能知识的研究。研究结果表明，大学参与者的语法功能陈述性知识低于预期水平，并且学习者的测试分数和写作分数之间存在显着相关性。此外，定性分析中还出现了一些有趣的主题。总之，这些发现预计将引发更多关于 ESL 背景下大学生语法功能知识的研究。