Explicit instruction and translation : a generative view of the acquisition of English articles
Articlesâ substitution errors are commonly documented in L2 research. Ionin, Ko and Wexler (2004) tested the âFluctuation Hypothesisâ, which predicts that learners overuse âtheâ with indefinite specific contexts of article use and overuse âaâ with definite non-specific contexts. They demonstrated that specificity has an effect on learners whose L1s are article-less, but left open the question of fluctuation regarding learners whose L1s have articles. Additionally, genericity distinctions (Noun-phrase vs. Sentence-level Generics) are rarely addressed by L2 researchers (Ionin et al., 2011). Meanwhile, classroom instruction is lacking in terms of article semantics, as specificity and genericity are currently not taught to learners of English, whereas definiteness is. This study aims to discover whether explicit instruction in definiteness, specificity and genericity, and translation activities that target article use can contribute to accurate article choice. The study adopts an experimental design including 67 Saudi (Hejazi) Arabic-speaking learners of English and 23 native English speakers. The participants took three tasks (Article Elicitation, Acceptability Judgment and Elicited Written Production)
Sabir, Mona Hussien T.
Explicit instruction and translation : a generative view of the acquisition of English articles. Articlesâ substitution errors are commonly documented in L2 research. Ionin, Ko and Wexler (2004) tested the âFluctuation Hypothesisâ, which predicts that learners overuse âtheâ with indefinite specific contexts of article use and overuse âaâ with definite non-specific contexts. They demonstrated that specificity has an effect on learners whose L1s are article-less, but left open the question of fluctuation regarding learners whose L1s have articles. Additionally, genericity distinctions (Noun-phrase vs. Sentence-level Generics) are rarely addressed by L2 researchers (Ionin et al., 2011). Meanwhile, classroom instruction is lacking in terms of article semantics, as specificity and genericity are currently not taught to learners of English, whereas definiteness is. This study aims to discover whether explicit instruction in definiteness, specificity and genericity, and translation activities that target article use can contribute to accurate article choice. The study adopts an experimental design including 67 Saudi (Hejazi) Arabic-speaking learners of English and 23 native English speakers. The participants took three tasks (Article Elicitation, Acceptability Judgment and Elicited Written Production)
explicit instruction translation generative view acquisition_english article articles substitution error commonly document research test fluctuation hypothesis predict learner indefinite specific_context article use definite non specific_context demonstrate specificity effect learner whose article less leave_open question fluctuation regard learner whose article additionally genericity distinction noun_phrase sentence_level rarely address researcher meanwhile classroom instruction lack term article semantics specificity genericity currently teach learner_english whereas definiteness study aim_discover whether explicit instruction definiteness specificity genericity translation activity target article use contribute accurate article choice study_adopts experimental design include saudi arabic_speaking learner_english native_english_speaker participant take task article elicitation acceptability judgment written production