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Role of the specific–non-specific distinction in the acquisition of English articles by Japanese learners of English and stages of article acquisition

English and English-American literature Volume 58 Issue 岩部浩三教授退職記念 Page 51-71
published_at 2023-12-20
英語と英米文学No.58-005.pdf
[fulltext] 1.24 MB
Title
Role of the specific–non-specific distinction in the acquisition of English articles by Japanese learners of English and stages of article acquisition
Abstract
The fluctuation hypothesis (Ionin et al., 2004) holds that learners of English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) will continue to make errors in their use of English articles until they switch their criteria for English article selection from specificity to definiteness. However, L1 language acquisition research indicates that young children who are L1 speakers use English articles accurately on the basis of whether the referent is specific or nonspecific before they acquire the definite–indefinite distinction. It is possible that Japanese EFL learners, like young L1 learners, can accurately use English articles employing the specific–non-specific distinction even before they master the definite–indefinite distinction. This study examined this hypothesis using Bickerton’s (1981) semantic wheel-based taxonomy and Díez- Bedmar and Papp’s (2008) tag-coding system. An analysis of 38 essays from the Nagoya Interlanguage Corpus of English Reborn showed that the specific– non-specific distinction can contribute to a highly accurate use of English articles for non-specific referents and relatively accurate article use for specific referents by Japanese EFL learners who have difficulty applying the definite– indefinite distinction. The pedagogical implications of the results were discussed.
Creators Takahashi Toshiaki
Affiliate Master Yamaguchi University
[kakenhi]15501 grid.268397.1
Source Identifiers [PISSN] 02882396 [NCID] AN00021380
Languages eng
Resource Type departmental bulletin paper
Publishers Yamaguchi University
Date Issued 2023-12-20
File Version Version of Record
Access Rights open access
Funding Refs
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [crossref_funder]https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001691
Award 「一般・特定」の区別が日本人英語学習者の冠詞習得に果たす役割と冠詞指導への応用 20K00804