Problems Of The Use Of Articles In English By Second Language Learners
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The acquisition of English grammatical articles has been of considerable concern since early 1970s. For native speakers, the proper use of English articles is acquired unconsciously and at an early stage, Master, P. (1997). However, English language learners, especially those whose first languages (L1) do not have the equivalent article systems, tend to have difficulty acquiring English articles Ionin, T. and Montrul, S. (2010).
This study explored the problems of the use of English article by English language learners whose L1 has, or does not have, the equivalence of English article system. Article ‘the’ was used for different purposes. The major use of the definite article ‘the’ was to demonstrate that the noun referred to a particular example of something Richards, J. C., Platt, J., and Platt, H. (2002).
According to Yotsukura, S. (2012) and Palmer, H. E. (2013), there were two types of zero ‘article’. Yotsukura found it necessary to separate two types of noun phrase (NP) occurring without visible articles, which he defined as the zero forms. This is consistent with the believes of Palmer (2011), Sinclair, J. M. (2009), Chesterman, A. (2009), and Master (2009), who separated zero indefinite, with mass and plural and null definite, with singular proper nouns and some singular count nouns. However, no unified theory of English articles was yet available Chesterman, A. , (2009). This study was governed by the definition mentioned above and focuses on ‘a’ or an, the, and zero article.
Problems Of The Use Of Articles In English By Second Language Learners
Articles such as ‘a’ and ‘the’ are the most commonly used words in English, and yet their usage is in fact surprisingly complex. Part of the complexity can be attributed to the fact that the English article system does not consist of one-to-one form and meaning relationships. This complexity poses a number of challenges for L2 learners of English Andersen H. (2004). This is true even for those learners who have studied for years. Teachers of English as a second language find it difficult to understand how or why their students choose to use articles in the ways that they do; effectively teaching the article system to their students often remains an elusive goal. Students use of articles “bears little or no resemblance to established English practice; the students seem to use articles almost randomly”.
Do L2 learners really use articles randomly, or do they develop theories of the English article system that do not readily make sense to teachers? It thus becomes very important to examine theories about the English article system by L2 learners at different developmental stages. If indeed they develop such theories and to understand how such theories relate to L2 learners’ uses of articles. This paper offers one approach to this issue by attempting to reveal and examine L2 learners’ meta-linguistic knowledge with regard to the use of articles. In doing so, we may better understand the nature of L2 learners’ problems with articles and thus lay the groundwork for addressing such problems.
Master, P. (1997) The English article system: Acquisition, function, and pedagogy.
Ionin, T., & Montrul, S. (2010). The role of L1 transfer in theinterpretation with articles in plural definite in L2 English. Language Learning, 60, 877-
925.
Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Platt, H. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. New York, NY:
Palmer, H. E. (2012). A grammar of spoken English on a strictly
phonetic basis (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: W. Heffer.
Chesterman, A. (1991). On definiteness: A study with special reference to English and Finnish. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press
Master, P. (1997). The English article system: Acquisition, function,
and pedagogy. System, 25,
Sinclair, J. M. (2009) Sinclair, J. M. (1991). Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Poor results in the use of English article by second language learners of Akwa Ibom are enduring problem. Among the factors that affect effective study of the English articles is interference, inadequate use or non-use of teaching aids and qualifications and experience of English language teachers. These factors go hand in hand in hampering the effective study of the English articles in our schools.
The problem of interference has to do with bringing Ibibio speech patterns into English. English and Ibibio belong to different linguistic families, and so the rate of language interference is quite high. Interferences can occur in different levels of the language, for example in phonology and syntax. Ibibio being a tonal language, an Ibibio student, learning to speak English tends to mix Ibibio language structures with English language patterns. There is therefore the tendency to speak in syllables, each of which is divided into tones, high or low.
1.3. Purpose of the Study
Despite the outstanding aforementioned studies on English article, the acquisition sequence, differences, and difficulties by English language learners remain to be further explored. Based on the definition of articles mentioned above, this study examined the problems of the use of articles in English demonstrated by English language learners with various (L1) backgrounds.
Although it is well known that many second language (L2) learners have trouble using articles “properly,” the primary causes of their difficulties remain unclear. This study addresses this problem by examining the knowledge of the English article system that learners employ when selecting articles in a given situation. By doing this, the present study attempts to better understand the process of “making sense” of the English article system by learners who are at different stages in their inter-language development.
1.4. Significance of the study
The present study is significant because it aims to provide evidence on the positive relationship between exposure to English language articles and how they are used. Moreover, it intends to concentrate on other studies where outside classroom activities are assessed with reference to their possible relationship with in-class performance. Additionally, it provides information for further research on the use of and English articles.
1.5 Research Hypothesis
This study tries to answer the following questions:
(i) To what extent does exposure to L1 affect the use of article in learning L2 as a second language?
(ii) What is the relationship between exposure to English language and developing the use of articles?
1.6 Limitation of the study
This research was undertaken to explore the problems of the use of articles in English by second language learners. This study was limited to Akwa Ibom and the materials for this study was obtained from resource centers like library and internet
study.