Cover not available
Part of
Cross-linguistic Influence in Bilingualism: In honor of Aafke Hulk
Edited by Elma Blom, Leonie Cornips and Jeannette Schaeffer
[Studies in Bilingualism 52] 2017
► pp. 279–302

L2 Acquisition of English article choice by Dutch native speakers

Cross-linguistic influence?

| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam

Some languages base their article choice on specificity (Samoan), others on definiteness (English: a vs. the). As for L2 article acquisition, Ionin, Zubizaretta, and Maldonado (2008) argue that definiteness-based article choice in the L1 (Spanish) enhances article-acquisition in a definiteness-based L2 (English). However, Deprez, Sleeman, and Guella (2008) show that Dutch learners of L2-French (both definiteness-based) perform poorly on French article choice, suggesting reliance on specificity, and refuting positive L1 influence.

The current study is a pilot investigation into L2-English article choice in 104 native Dutch speakers. The results show definite and indefinite article overuse in the primary, but not in the elementary-intermediate-proficiency groups. We propose that lexical-semantic proficiency is a necessary condition for cross-linguistic influence to be visible.

Keywords: article choice, definiteness, Article Choice Parameter, L2, cross-linguistic influence, proficiency
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Article choice
    • 2.2Previous L2 acquisition studies on Article Choice
    • 2.3Hypothesis and predictions
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Experiment
      • 3.2.1Questionnaire
      • 3.2.2Anglia placement test
      • 3.2.3Article elicitation task
      • 3.2.4Procedure
      • 3.3Coding and statistics
    • 4.Results
      • 4.1Results questionnaire
      • 4.2Results Anglia Proficiency task
      • 4.3Results Article Elicitation task
        • 4.3.1Results Article Elicitation task control group
        • 4.3.2Results Article Elicitation task primary proficiency group
        • 4.3.3Results Article Elicitation task preliminary-proficiency group
        • 4.3.4Results Article Elicitation task elementary-intermediate group
    • 5.Discussion
    • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.52.13sch
References
Anglia/Chichester College
(2015) Anglia Placement Test. Anglia Examinations Europe. Available at [URL]
Butler, F.
(1980) Cloze as an alternative method of ESL placement and proficiency testing. In J. Oller & K. Perkins (Eds.), Research in language testing (pp. 121–128). Boston, MA: Newsbury House.Google Scholar
Deprez, V., Sleeman, P., & Guella, H.
(2011) Specificity effects in L2 determiner acquisition: UG or pragmatic egocentrism? In M. Pirvulescu (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the 4th Conference on Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition North America (GALANA 2010) (pp. 27–36). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Hawkins, R., Al-Eid, S., Almahboob, I., Athanasopoulos, P., Chaengchenkit, R., Hu, J., Rezai, M., Jaensch, C., Jeon, Y., Jiang, A., Leung, Y. -K., Matsunaga, K., Ortega, M., Sarko, G., Snape, N., & Velasco-Za’rate, K.
(2006) Accounting for English article interpretation by L2 speakers. EUROSLA Yearbook, 6, 7–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heim, I.
(1991) Articles and definiteness [Published in German as ‘Artikel und Definitheit’]. In A. von Stechow & D. Wunderlich (Eds.), Semantics: An international handbook of contemporary research. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Horton & Keysar/Horton et al.
(1996): Horton, W.S. & Keysar, B. (1996) When do speakers take into account common ground? Cognition, 59, 91-117. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ionin, T., Ko, H. & Wexler, K.
(2004) Article semantics in L2-acquisition: The role of specificity. Language Acquisition, 12, 3–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ionin, T., Zubizarreta, M. L., Maldonado, S. B.
(2008) Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English articles. Lingua, 118, 554–576. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kondal, B.
(2015) Effects of lexical variety and lexical denisity in language performance and proficiency. International Journal of IT, Engineering and Applied Sciences Research (IJIEASR), 4, 25–29.Google Scholar
Keysar et al.
(2000): Keysar, B., Barr, D.J., Balin, J.A. & Brauner, J.S. (2000) Talking perspective in conversation: the role of mutual knowledge in comprehension. Psychological Science, 11, 32-38.Google Scholar
Kopeckova, R.
(2011) Differences in L2 segmental perception: The effects of age and L2 learning experience. In C. Munoz (Ed.), Intensive exposure experiences in second language learning (pp. 734–755). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Matthewson, Lisa
(1998) Determiner systems and quantificational strategies: Evidence from Salish. The Hague: HAG.Google Scholar
Mosel, U., & Hovdhaugen, E.
(1992) Samoan reference grammar. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.Google Scholar
Reid, J., Battaglia, P., Schuldt, M., Narita, E., Mochizuki, M. & Snape, N.
(2006) The article choice of learners of English as a second language. Unpublished term paper. University of Essex.Google Scholar
Schaeffer, J., & Matthewson, L.
(2005) Grammar and pragmatics in the acquisition of article systems. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 23, 53–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snape, N., Leung, I. -K., & Ting, H. -C.
(2006) Comparing Chinese, Japanese and Spanish speakers in L2 English article acquisition: Evidence against the fluctuation hypothesis? In M. Grantham O’Brien, C. Shea, & J. Archibald (Eds.), Proceedings of the 8th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2006) (pp. 132–39). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Sorace, A.
(2011) Pinning down the concept of “interface” in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 1–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) Referring expressions and executive functions in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, DOI logo.Google Scholar
Ting, H. C.
(2005) The acquisition of articles in L2 English by L1 Chinese and L1 Spanish speakers. Unpublished MA dissertation. University of Essex.Google Scholar
Zdorenko, T. & Paradis, J.
(2008) The acquisition of articles in child second language English: Fluctuation, transfer or both? Second Language Research, 24(2), 227–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zoreva, A., Schwanenflugel, P., & Nikolova, Y.
(2005) Relationship between lexical competence and language proficiency – variable sensitivity. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27(4), 567–595.Google Scholar