Earticle

초록

영어

One account of English L2 learners’ errors in the use of articles is based on the assumption that they are influenced by the specificity of the reference, which is a non-target semantic feature, as contrasted with the target feature, definiteness. Another problem that has been increasingly recognized, and yet treated independently of the specificity-driven errors, is L2 learners’ tendency to use articles excessively in the contexts for a zero form. The present study aims to seek for a connection between these two problems by reexamining the intervention effect of specificity on Korean EFL learners’ substitution errors of the definite and indefinite articles, together with the patterns of their excessive use of articles in zero-form contexts. Data were collected from three proficiency groups of high school students (N = 102) with a forced-choice elicitation task comprising 40 questions across 8 distinct combinations of three semantic features: definiteness, specificity, and plurality. The results indicate that Korean students are only partially under the influence of specificity; their responses did not fluctuate consistently according to the value of specificity in relation to that of definiteness. That they also make omission errors frequently suggests that their awareness of the zero article affects their decision in the first place before they choose between a and the . Furthermore, Korean students tend to use the for indefinite singulars and generic plurals, while overusing the zero article for non-generic definite plurals. These findings imply that definiteness is a notion that requires learning rather than resetting and that its acquisition correlates more closely with the usage of the zero article than with the specificity ambiguities of the indefinite article.

목차

1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1. Participants
2.2. Materials and Procedures
3. Results
3.1. Errors in the Contexts of the Definite Article
3.2. Errors in the Contexts of the Indefinite Article
3.3. Errors in the Contexts of the Zero Article
References

키워드

저자

• Jae Hyuck Yang [ Chonnam National University ]
• Mun-Hong Choe [ Graduate Student·Associate Professor ]

참고문헌

발행기관

간행물

표지보기 관심저널 등록

• 간행물명

  21세기영어영문학회 학술대회

• 간기

  반년간

• 수록기간

  2007~2026

• 십진분류

  KDC 840 DDC 820