The Acquisition of English Articles by Second Language Learners
The Sequence, Differences, and Difficulties
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3395014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ganzhao Sun (SUNY Old Westbury, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2158244016635716 |
| OpenAlex | W2298214666 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 23 |
Despite the numerous studies on English article acquisition, the acquisition sequence, differences, and difficulties by English-as-a-second language learners (ELLs) remain to be further explored. With a detailed literature review, this study investigated the acquisition sequence, differences, and difficulties of English articles by ELLs with diverse first language backgrounds. Eighteen college ELLs participated in the study. Data were collected through cloze exercises. The results, through the analysis of its database of 6,178 article used, indicated that "zero article" was the last to be acquired while article "a" is the first to be acquired; positive correspondence existed between the growth of the acquisition of article "a/an," "the," and "zero" between "+Art" (with article system) group and "−Art" (without article system) group. The results also revealed that (a) the most difficult article for participants in both groups to acquire was "zero article," (b) "the" was the most difficult article for participants in "+Art" group, and (c) "a" was the easiest one acquired by both groups. These findings, in fact, challenge the commonsense belief that "+Art" ELLs acquired English articles faster than "−Art" ELLs and that when two languages were similar, positive transfer would occur
Ell · English language · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Second-language acquisition · Teaching method · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
A First Language
Article Semantics in L2 Acquisition
The language bioprogram hypothesis
A Communicative Grammar of English
The acquisition of four nongeneric uses of the article the by Spanish EFL learners
The English article system
Relevance Theory and the in second language acquisition
On definiteness
The Articles in English
Relevance
Teaching the English Articles as a Binary System
Understanding and Using English Grammar
Teaching the Article in English
The Influence of Context on Children's Use of Identifying Expressions and References
Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English articles
The Role of L1 Transfer in the Interpretation of Articles with Definite Plurals in L2 English
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,8 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |