scholarly journals Is that Different from the?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Quek Soh Theng ◽  
Mei Yuit Chan
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Positive Performance ◽  
English Articles ◽  
Teachers Training ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Lexical Transfer

English is a language with overt morphological representations of articles. On the other hand, Malay and Mandarin Chinese have none. In Malaysia, pupils are exposed to English articles as early as four years old. Despite early exposure, articles, or the definite article the specifically, appear to be a marked grammatical property for Chinese-speaking and Malay-speaking learners, two languages without articles. Based on the Fluctuation Hypothesis and Article Choice Parameter, this study seeks to investigate and compare the role of first language (L1) transfer on the article acquisition of the 77 L1 Chinese and 116 L1 Malay ESL learners, who were teacher trainees recruited from three teachers’ training institutes in Malaysia. The respondents were tested utilising a production task and a comprehension task. The statistical analyses of the participants’ performance revealed that only the advanced and intermediate groups of both L1 Chinese and L1 Malay ESL learners registered clear distinctions between the usage in the ‘Unique and salient’ and ‘Unique and non-salient’ categories and that usage in the ‘Non-unique’ category. The high accuracy rates suggest that L1 lexical transfer contributed to the positive performance by the ESL learners. The advanced and intermediate L1 Chinese and L1 Malay learners continuously interpreted the singular definite descriptions as referring to uniquely immediate salient entities similar to the demonstrative descriptions, making interpretations of the and that seemed similar.

scholarly journals L1 transfer in article selection for generic reference by Spanish, Turkish and Japanese L2 learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal Snape ◽  
María Del Pilar García Mayo ◽  
Ayşe Gürel
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
The Way

<p>This study examines second language (L2) acquisition of English generic noun phrases (NPs) by Spanish, Turkish and Japanese learners. The aim is to identify the role of the first language (L1) in the L2 acquisition of definite NP-level generics and indefinite sentence-level generics with singular, bare plural, and mass generic nouns. The four languages in this study differ in the way they express generic interpretations: English and Spanish have article systems, Turkish has an indefinite article, but no definite article, and Japanese lacks an article system. Advanced and upper intermediate L2 learners were tested via a forced choice elicitation task. The results reveal different patterns of article selection across the three groups of L2 learners, which correspond with L1 transfer effects. Our findings suggest that L2 article choice is largely determined by the way the L1 realizes generic reference.</p>

scholarly journals Difficulties in The Acquisition and Use of English Articles among Adult Pashto Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalil Ahmad ◽  
Addul Qadir Khan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Count Nouns ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
English Articles

The acquisition of the English articles is one of the most difficult areas for the second language learners particularly when there are no articles in the first language of the learners. The purpose of this study is to investigate the difficulties in acquisition and use of the English articles. The study aims at identifying the errors the EFL learners make in using the English articles. Two theoretical approaches regarding noun classification for articles choice were adopted in this study. The data were collected in the form of a gap-fill task from seventy five (75) adult Pashto learners of English. The results showed the students used the definite article ‘the’ and the indefinite article ‘a/an’ more often than the zero article Ø. In noun types, a few subjects made errors in using articles before count nouns. In the noun phrase environments, the lowest error rate was in referential indefinite while the highest error rate was in generics. The reasons for difficulties in acquiring and using the English articles were found to be mainly the identification of noun types, NPs environments, and language transfer.

scholarly journals Language and Context in Mathematical Problem Solving: A Threat to Students’ Performance and Assessment

sjesr ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-263
Author(s):  
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Mahmood ◽  
Mobashra Mobeen ◽  
Sajid Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Mathematical Problem ◽  
First Language ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Mathematical Problem Solving ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Esl Learners

The study recognizes that word problems are the necessary part and a key component of mathematics education. Knowing that mathematics, language as a means, and the situation context are never separable, the study was designed to identify the effect of language (L1, L2) and the context on problem solving in mathematics for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grader English as a second language (ESL) learners. For this, four achievement tests with possible variations of language and context were utilized as instrument to investigate three research questions. 867 students from three existing scenarios of school mathematics learning in Pakistan participated in the study. The data were analyzed through SPSS utilizing both descriptive as well as inferential methods. The results revealed that language and context have significant effect on problem solving. The study exposed that mathematical problem-solving assessments cannot be called valid if the factors of language and context are not taken into consideration. Learners’ first language was strongly recommended for teaching mathematics at low levels. This study will uniquely contribute to understanding and determining the due role of language in mathematics learning, performance, and assessments in all educational contexts.

scholarly journals English Aspect: L1 Transfer and Explicit Instruction

2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Yuko Koike
Keyword(s):  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
First Language ◽  
Effective Instruction ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Japanese Learners

Aspect shows cross-linguistic variation, and the role of the first language in the acquisition of aspect is often discussed in second language literature. However, whether L1 transfer actually occurs in the areas of grammar is controversial. In this paper, I discuss the aspectual characteristics of English and Japanese associated with their aspectual verb classes, which show both similarities and differences between the languages. Japanese learners of English are predicted to have difficulty in associating the form with the meaning and transfer L1 features when learning aspectual properties of English. In order to investigate this prediction, I examine whether the learners transfer the L1 interpretations associated with the verb classes and the aspectual morpheme when learning English aspect. I then discuss effective instruction for teaching aspect and introduce instructional materials designed to be used for Japanese learners of English. アスペクトには言語特有の特徴が見られ、第二言語習得における母語の影響がしばしば指摘されている。しかしながら、文法習得において母語の転移が起こるか否については意見の統一が見られていない。本論文は、英語と日本語それぞれの動詞のアスペクトによる分類に基づく特徴と両言語の類似点及び相違点について述べ、日本語母語話者が英語のアスペクトを学ぶ際に母語の転移が起こるかについて考察する。さらに、日本語母語話者を対象とした英語のアスペクトの効果的な指導方法を考察しその教材を紹介する。

scholarly journals Definite Descriptions, Presuppositions and Reference

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Marco Ruffino
Keyword(s):  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Definite Article

In this article I review some fundamental aspects of the singularist view of definite descriptions taking as paradigm the Frege-Strawson version of it. I consider more closely the role of the definite article and its relation with presuppositions. Finally, I raise some doubts about the coherence of such approach as an explanation for the phenomenon of reference.

The role of phonemic awareness in second language reading

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko Koda
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Esl Learners

This study investigates the effects of disparate L1 (first language) alphabetic experience on L2 (second language) phonemic awareness and decoding among ESL (English as a Second Language) readers with alphabetic and nonalphabetic L1 orthographic backgrounds. It was hypothesized that amount of L1 alphabetic experience is causally related to the development of L2 phonemic awareness and decoding skills. The specific objectives were threefold: to compare varying aspects of phonemic awareness among Chinese and Korean ESL learners; to explore the relationship between L2 phonemic awareness and decoding skills;and to examine the extent to which L2 text comprehension is facilitated by phonemic awareness and decoding skills. Data demonstrated that the two groups differed neither in their phonemic awareness nor in decoding;phonemic awareness was differentially related to decoding performance between the groups; and strong interconnections existed between reading comprehension, decoding and phonemic awareness among Korean participants, but no such direct relationships occurred among Chinese. Viewed collectively, these findings seem to suggest that, while differential L1 orthographic experience is not directly associated with L2 phonemic awareness, variations in prior processing experience may engender the use of diverse phonological processing procedures and, thus, account for qualitative differences in L2 processing behaviours.

Referential place-holding in Chinese children's acquisition of English articles

1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Lee ◽  
Catherine Ann Cameron ◽  
Murrary J. Linton ◽  
Anne K. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
English Articles

ABSTRACTThis longitudinal study examines the acquisition of English articles by three 6-year-old, second language learning children whose native tongue is Chinese, a language without articles. Brown's coding scheme and an extended coding scheme were used in scoring the corpora of children's responses to a Syntax Elicitation Task. Results revealed that the Chinese children's acquisition of the definite article differed from- what had been previously found using Brown's coding scheme with English as first language learners and second language learning children of other native language origins. Chinese children's use of the definite article developed through an unmarked phase, a referential place-holding phase, a marked phase, and a referential substitution phase before the definite article was fully acquired. The acquisition of the indefinite article, on the other hand, was similar to the acquisition pattern already reported for children learning English as a first language or as a second language. It is suggested that referential place-holding, as well as referential substitution, might not be a Chinese-specific second language learning phenomenon; rather, they might be derived from a universal referential strategy for learning articles.

The role of the native language in the use of the English nongeneric definite article by L2 learners: A cross-linguistic comparison

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Chrabaszcz ◽  
Nan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners

The study uses an elicited imitation (EI) task to examine the effect of the native language on the use of the English nongeneric definite article by highly proficient first-language (L1) Spanish and Russian speakers and to test the hierarchy of article difficulty first proposed by Liu and Gleason (2002). Our findings suggest that there is a clear influence of L1 on participants’ reproduction of the second-language (L2) definite article in nongeneric contexts, but that various contexts present different levels of difficulty for the two L1 groups. The participants whose L1 is Spanish – a language with an article system – perform at a native-like level of accuracy in the grammatical condition of the test, whereas the participants whose L1 is Russian – a language without articles – demonstrate a tendency to omit definite articles in the same contexts. In the ungrammatical condition, Spanish speakers differ from the native speaker control group in their suppliance of the definite article in conventional and cultural contexts, while Russian participants supply the definite article significantly less than both the Spanish participants and the control group along all article categories. The study offers novel insights into what constitutes article difficulty for L2 learners from different L1s.

scholarly journals L2 acquisition of Spanish dative clitics by English and Dutch learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ángeles Escobar-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Double Object ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
New Findings

This article examines the second language acquisition (SLA) of Spanish dative clitics in clitic doubling (CLD) structures that are closely related to the double object construction (DOC) in English and Dutch. It also addresses the question of how adult English and Dutch speakers learning L2 Spanish in a formal setting develop knowledge and use of the animacy constraint in the target language, which is different from the first language (L1) counterparts. The role of transfer in acquiring new syntactic structures has been taken into account, where dative clitics appear and animate objects are marked by the dative preposition ‘to.’ New findings are obtained on CLD and the Spanish animacy constraint from a grammaticality judgement task (GJT), completed by English and Dutch learners at B1 and B2 CEFR levels. The difficulties learners experienced were not always due to negative L1 transfer, but also related to the complexity of the argument structure where the clitic is inserted. This has clear implications for the teaching of pronominal elements which are closely related to different syntactic configurations in Spanish.

Examining transfer in the acquisition of the count/mass distinction in L2 English

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110237
Author(s):  
Wenting Tang ◽  
Robert Fiorentino ◽  
Alison Gabriele
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Atomic Mass ◽  
Minimal Elements ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
Mass Nouns ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Lexical Transfer

We investigate whether second language (L2) learners of English rely on first language (L1) transfer and atomicity in the acquisition of the count/mass distinction by examining L1-French and L1-Chinese learners of English. Atomicity encodes whether a noun contains ‘atoms’ or minimal elements that retain the property of the noun. As a semantic universal, atomicity holds across languages. However, the count/mass status of nouns may differ cross-linguistically. Our results, which show difficulty on atomic mass nouns in both learner groups, support an argument that atomicity is used as a semantic universal in the L2. Our results also suggest that both count/mass status in the L1 and word frequency in the L2 impact performance, suggesting roles for both L1 lexical transfer and lexical frequency. In addition, learners had better performance on abstract as opposed to concrete atomic mass nouns, providing evidence consistent with a theory of the accessibility of atoms.

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