Revisiting Fluctuations in L2 Article Choice in L1-Korean L2-English Learners

Abstract

The current study investigated the distinction of L2 (second language) English article choice sensitivity in fifty-three L1-Korean L2-English learners in semantic contexts. In the context of English as a foreign language, the participants were divided into two groups based on grammatical ability as determined by their performance on a cloze test. In addition, a forced-choice elicitation test and a writing production test were administered to assess, respectively, the participants’ receptive and productive article choice abilities. Regardless of grammatical ability, the results disclosed the overuse of the indefinite a in the [$+$definite, −specific] context and the definite the in the [−definite, $+$specific] context on the forced-choice elicitation test. In the [$+$definite, $+$specific] and [−definite, −specific] contexts, however, the overuse of either the indefinite a or the definite the, respectively, was less likely. Furthermore, it was revealed on the writing test that the participants more accurately used the definite the than the indefinite a, and they were also found to unreasonably omit more articles than to add or substitute articles on the writing production test. The findings across the two tests indicate that L1-Korean L2-English learners are more likely to have intrinsic difficulties transferring their L1 noun phrase (NP) knowledge to L2 NP knowledge owing to structural discrepancies and complex interfaces between L1 NPs and L2 NPs with respect to syntactic, semantic and pragmatic/discourse language subsystems.

Appendix: Cloze Test

Fill in the blanks given in the following passages. You have to use one word for each blank.

Passage A

Many of us do not know_______ Abraham might _______ deserved the right to be treated as one of the best presidents in the history of the U.S.A. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in _______ log cabin in Kentucky. A cabin is a small house made _______wood. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Indiana. In 1830, the family moved to Illinois. As a boy, Abraham Lincoln _______ loved books and always borrowed books from his neighbors. He read_______ for a short time and then took them back to their owners. _______ grew very tall. He was 6’4” tall. He weighed 180 pounds.

Abe Lincoln _______ law in his free time, He was interested in politics. He ran _______ political office. He lost in 1832. Later, he was elected to _______ Illinois legislature 4 times _______, in 1834, 1836, 1838, and 1840. People in the legislature make the laws. He became president of the United States in 1861. He was the 16th president of the U.S.

There was a war between the North and the South in the U.S. It was the Civil War. Lincoln called men to fight for the North. The North won the war. There were slaves in the South. Slaves work for no money. They must work. They are not free to do _______they want. Lincoln set the slaves free in 1863. He let them go _______they did not have to be slaves anymore. Lincoln is famous for that.

Passage B

The first flags were probably _______China. People flew flags in China over 4,000 years ago. Each part _______ army had its own flag so the soldiers _______ see their leaders. Early flags were sticks of wood. _______ had pictures cut into the wood.

Iran had metal flags about 3,000 years ago. Old Greek coins show pictures of flags. People in Rome also used flags over 2,000 years ago. People first made flags of cloth _______ 2,000 years ago. Those flags looked like today’s flags.

Flags are important at sea. Most ships fly their own country’s flags and the flag of the country they _______visiting. When a ship _______ only its own flag, _______ is ready to fight.

Railway lines also use flags. Railway flags tell the trains what to do. For example, a red flag tells the train to stop, just like a stop sign. A blue, white, or green flag tells the train that it can go. A blue flag on the side of a train means someone _______working on the train. It means nobody can move the train.

Passage C

In past, there was nothing like modern means of entertainment _______ if was, it was not surely like the present situation. Many people _______ have worked to create television. In 1862, Abbe Giovanna Caselli invented a machine _______ the Pantelograph. Casella was the first person to send a picture over wires. By the 1880s, _______Alexander Graham Bell invented a machine _______ transmitted pictures and sound over wires. His machine was called the Photophone. The World’s Fair _______ held in Paris, France, in the year 1900. The first International Congress of Electricity was held _______ the World’s Fair. That was when the word television was first used by _______ Russian named Constantin Perskyi. ______ name stuck, and _______ now shortened to “TV.”

At the beginning of TV history, there were several types of TV technology. One system was a mechanical model based on a rotating disc (rotating discs are discs that spin like CDs). The other system was an electronic model. In 1906, Boris Rosing built the first working mechanical TV in Russia. In the 1920s, John Logie Baird in England and Charles Francis Jenkins in the United States demonstrated improved mechanical systems. Philo Taylor Farnsworth also showed an electronic system in San Francisco in 1927. _______ TV was the forerunner of today’s TV, and _______ is ______ electronic system based on his ideas.