Zeknyte 1 Renata Zeknyte English 2126 Prof. D.

Kies June 15, 2008

ARTICLE USAGE PROBLEMS WHILE LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

One of the most complicated and confusing aspects of the English language for non-native speakers is the use of articles. That particularly applies to people who speak languages that do not use them. Native English speakers usually do not encounter major problems in article usage, except in occasional difficulty in choosing between a and an. However, to speakers whose native language is not English, many times articles seem troublesome because of very complex article usage rules. Most of the Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian etc.), Baltic languages (Lithuanian and Latvian) do not have articles; Sanskrit, Latin, Persian, and even Old English did not have any. Thus, articles are often mentioned as a typical obstacle learning English. In many of these languages definiteness may be indicated by different type of determiners, for example, postpositions, pronouns or pronominal adjectives. Sometimes noun cases or word order in the sentence help to determine the definiteness or indefiniteness of the noun. According to Nancy M. Acles in The Grammar Guide, many foreign students assume that articles are just extras attached to nouns, and they either use them with every noun or do not use them at all (60). The following example perfectly demonstrates this choice problem: (1) (2) (3) They discussed meaning of life. They discussed the meaning of life. They discussed the meaning of the life.

Zeknyte 2 In this research I will primarily use sentences in English to illustrate and discuss the problems, and I also will give a few examples in Lithuanian (where applicable) to point out comparison and contrast differences between languages that either stand out with a heavy usage of articles or have none at all. The first issue in article usage problems of the English language is understanding the concept of definiteness. Definite and indefinite are terms that are usually applied to noun phrases. In English, the is referred to as the definite article, and a/an as the indefinite article (Abbott 392). Articles play an important role in modifying nouns; they could be considered something similar to adjectives. For example, the words a car and the car have to different meanings, the same way that brown car and black car differ. In traditional description the car would indicate that the speaker or the writer is referring to something specific or something that is clear to both of them. However, this explanation often is inaccurate. Compare the following: (1) (2) Yesterday I bought a car. Yesterday I bought the car.

Even though the noun phrase in (1) could make a non-native speaker think that it is definite because he is referring to a car that in his mind is distinguished from other cars, it is unknown to the hearer. Thus, a car is an indefinite phrase. On the other hand, the noun phrase in (2) is definite because both the speaker and the reader know which car they are talking about. This is the major difference and one of the greatest difficulties while learning articles in the English language (Lyons 2). In comparison, the translation of (1) and (2) in Lithuanian would be identical: Vakar | a | pirkau | main. Yesterday | I |bought | car.

Zeknyte 3 Because in this case the definiteness is undetermined and unknown in the Lithuanian version of (1) and (2), a Lithuanian student would often skip the article altogether; the same case is with many other languages that do not use the article system. The second problem for non-native speakers of English is incorrect article usage with non-countable nouns. The reason for that is that they face great difficulty in recognizing non-countable nouns, so they are likely to treat a non-countable noun as if it were a regular countable noun. Furthermore, many languages have the same concept of countable and non-countable nouns, but they do not always put them in the same category as we do it in English. Thus, ESL students incorrectly make them plural or use the indefinite article a or an with them. Non-countable nouns do not have plural forms, and they should not be used with numbers or words suggesting plurality (Hacker 219): (1a) (2b) Mary asked her friend for an advice. The teacher offered the students some good advices.

In contrast to English, in Lithuanian the word advice could be used either plural or singular, and is always countable: (1) (2) Mary papra draugs patarimo. (singular) Mokytojas pasil studentams ger patarim. (plural)

However, in English there are nouns that can be both used as countable or non-countable, depending on the context, and that gets even more confusing for non-native speakers. I like to drink coffee in the mornings. (treated as a non-countable noun) Could I have a coffee, please? (a countable noun, meaning one coffee) The third problem for foreign students of English is article use with proper nouns. Most of them do not take any articles; however, there are many exceptions. For example, united countries, rivers, oceans, seas, desserts, groups of islands, mountain ranges,

Zeknyte 4 peninsulas, language names etc. take a definite article. Sometimes articles are even used with first or last names, depending on the context and the idea being expressed. Compare the following: Hawaiithe Hawaiian Islands Mount Everestthe Himalayas Englishthe English language Is she the Anna that you met at that party? The Johnsons are coming to the party too. These are just a few examples to demonstrate the complexity of article use with proper nouns. Proper names come in many forms, and the only safe rule for a foreign learner is to learn each name individually. When in doubt, one should consult a dictionary or ask a native speaker (Hacker 222). Finally, the forth problem I will discuss is article use when making a generalization about something. In sentences of this type countable nouns can be either used in singular or in plural form: A chicken develops from the egg. Chickens develop from eggs. From the examples above, it would seem that in English there is no difference between singular or plural; definite, indefinite, and zero articles. However, this is not true. While the indefinite article is used with a singular noun to mark any thing or person from a specific group, the definite article is used with a singular noun to show a group of things or persons as a whole. Furthermore, zero article before plural shows undetermined quantity of things or people (Pasis, Rosinien, emaitien 56). For example: (1) (2) (3) A tiger is a dangerous animal. (any individual tiger) The tiger is a dangerous animal. (all tigers: tiger as a generic category) Tigers are dangerous animals. (all tigers)

Zeknyte 5 If we add a modifier after a noun, the meaning changesit is not a generalization about all nouns anymore, but rather a particular noun: (1) (2) Cheese is very salty. (generalization) The cheese in the refrigerator is very salty. (a particular piece of cheese)

I did not discuss all the issues with which non-native English speakers have to deal, rather I overviewed the most common or biggest troubles in general sense while using ESL. From my personal experiencebeing a non-native English speaker, as well as from the research done, I suggest that students learn which nouns are which because the incorrect usage affects other grammar principles. The pointers mentioned here were intended only to make students aware that there are many aspects of English that are not a problem for native speakers, but they can cause misuse and confusion for ESL students.