Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Translation Studies

The Count/Mass Distinction and the English Article System at the Interface: On the Learnability of Interpretable Features by Persian-Speaking Learners

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Sheikhbahaee University

2 University of Isfahan

Abstract

Problems in appropriately using the article system in English are globally known simply because they are observed in learners with different L1 backgrounds. The present study is dedicated to an investigation of the nature and degree of such problems when it comes to using articles for mass nouns by Persian-speaking learners. Data is elicited and analyzed from three proficiency groups. It is shown that even highly advanced learners do not have native-like mastery over the issue. It is also shown that L1 transfer is present in many cases of error. Explicit contrastive instruction based on the two languages is suggested as a more efficient way out. The results are also discussed within the framework of the Interpretability Hypothesis as they do not seem to support it.

Keywords

system by Turkish learners: The role of semantic notions (Unpublished master thesis). Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
Avery, P., & Radišić, M. (2007). Accounting for variability in the acquisition of English articles. In proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition North America (GALANA). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Chierchia, G. (1994). Syntactic bootstrapping and the acquisition of noun meanings: The mass-count issue. In B. Lust, M. Suner, & J. Whitman (Eds.), Syntactic theory and first language acquisition: Cross-linguistic perspectives. Vol.1: heads, projections, and learnability. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ekiert, M. (2005). Acquisition of the English article system by speakers of Polish in ESL and EFL settings. Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 4 (1), 1-23.
Garcia Mayo, M. D. P. (2009). Article choice in L2 English by Spanish speakers: Evidence for full transfer. In M. Mayo & R. Hawkins (Eds.), Second language acquisition of articles: Empirical findings and theoretical implications (pp. 13-35).Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Ghomeshi, J. (2003). Plural marking, indefiniteness, and the noun phrase. Studia Linguistica, 57 (2), 47-74.
Gordon, P. (1985). Evaluating the semantic categories hypothesis: The case of the count/mass distinction. Cognition, 20, 209-242.
Gordon, P. (1988). Count/mass category acquisition: Distributional distinctions in children’s speech. Journal of Child Language 15 (1), 109-128.
Goto Butler, Y. (2002). Second language learners’ theories on the use of English articles: An analysis of the metalinguistic knowledge used by Japanese students in acquiring the English article system. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24 (3), 451-480.
Hua, D., & Lee, H. (2005). Chinese ESL learners’ understanding of the English count-mass distinction. In D. Laurant, R. A. Sprouse, & A. Liljestrand (Eds.), In proceedings of the 7th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2004) (pp. 138-149). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Hudson, G. (2000). Essential introductory linguistics. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishers.
Ionin, T., Ko, H., & Wexler, K. (2004). Article semantics in L2 acquisition: The role of specificity. Language Acquisition, 12 (1),  3-69.
Master, P. (2002). Information structure and English article pedagogy. System, 30 (3), 331-348.
Momenzadeh, M., & Youhanaee, M. (in Press). “Number” and article choice: The case of Persian learners of English. Accepted for publication in Procardia Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Tsimpli, I. M., & Dimitrakopoulou, M. (2007). The interpretability hypothesis: Evidence from wh-interrogatives in L2 acquisition. Second Language Research, 23 (2), 215-242.
White, L. (2008). Different? Yes. Fundamentally? No. Definiteness effects in the L2 English of Mandarin speakers. In R. Slabakova et al. (Eds.), In proceedings of the 9th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2007) (pp. 251-261). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Translation Studies
Volume 2, Issue 2
Summer 2013
Pages 91-102