Abstract
It has been widely recognized in the field of second language acquisition that language learners tend to struggle with the acquisition of articles when their first languages (L1) do not have a similar linguistic system. Thus, various L1 effects on the usage of articles have been studied. In this context, the present study examined how the same L1 (i. e., Korean) would influence article usage in two different languages (i. e., English and Spanish). Specifically, advanced learners of English and advanced learners of Spanish performed a task of consecutive interpreting from Korean to English and Spanish, respectively, and their article usage patterns in English and Spanish were analyzed for comparison. The results show that both groups exhibited high levels of accuracy in the use of English and Spanish articles while major error types were article omission and article misuse, which can be partly attributed to L1 effects. As for differences, the participants in the English group tended to employ other determiners instead of articles, such as possessives, quantifiers, and demonstratives. In Spanish, the tendency to over-use definite articles was stronger than the English group. These differences may be related to certain consecutive interpreting strategies as well as differences in pedagogical approaches of teaching English and Spanish in Korea. Detailed patterns in the use of articles in English and Spanish are compared, and their implications are discussed.
Funding statement: This paper was supported by 2018 Hankuk University of Foreign Studies research grant.
References
Brizuela, M. 1999. The selection of definite expressions in Spanish. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science Series 4. 75–90.10.1075/cilt.176.06briSearch in Google Scholar
Butler, Y.G. 2002. Second language learners’ theories on the use of English articles. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24. 451–480.10.1017/S0272263102003042Search in Google Scholar
Christophersen, P. 1939. The Articles: A Study of their Theory and Use in English. Copenhagen: Einar Munksgaard.Search in Google Scholar
Díez-Bedmar, M.B. & S. Papp. 2008. The use of the English article system by Chinese and Spanish learners. Language and Computers 66(1). 147–175.10.1163/9789401206204_007Search in Google Scholar
Ekiert, M. 2010. Articles as expressions of definiteness in L2 English of Slavic speakers. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University.Search in Google Scholar
Ekiert, M. & E.S. Park. 2010. Acquisition of the English article system by Spanish and Korean speakers. Korean Journal of Applied Linguistics. 26(2). 153–184.Search in Google Scholar
Furukawa, A. & Y. Okami. 2016. The error analysis of Spanish articles: A view from Japanese. In F.K.C. Lee, et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Linguistics and Language Studies, 62–72. Hong Kong: Chartered Institute of Linguistics Hong Kong Society.Search in Google Scholar
Gor, K. & M.H. Long. 2009. Input and second language processing. In W.C. Ritchie & T.J. Bhatia (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, 445–472. New York: Academic Press.Search in Google Scholar
Gumul, E. 2006. Explicitation in simultaneous interpreting: A strategy or a by-product of language mediation? Across Languages and Cultures 7(2). 171–190.10.1556/Acr.7.2006.2.2Search in Google Scholar
Hawkins, J.A. 1978. Definiteness and Indefiniteness. London: Croom Helm.Search in Google Scholar
Hawkins, J.A. 1991. On (in)definite articles: Implicatures and (un)grammaticality prediction. Journal of Linguistics 27. 405–442.10.1017/S0022226700012731Search in Google Scholar
Huebner, T. 1979. Order-of-acquisition vs. dynamic paradigm: A comparison of method in interlanguage research. TESOL Quarterly 13. 21–28.10.2307/3585972Search in Google Scholar
Ibañez, M.P.V. & A. Ohtani. 2014. Annotating article errors in Spanish learner texts: Design and evaluation of an annotation scheme. Conference Proceeding of the 28th Asia Pacific Conference on Language, Information and Computation, 234–243.Search in Google Scholar
Ionin, T., S. Baek, E. Kim, H. Ko & K. Wexler. 2012. That’s not so different from the: Definite and demonstrative descriptions in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 28(1). 69–101.10.1177/0267658311432200Search in Google Scholar
Ionin, T., H. Ko & K. Wexler. 2004. Article semantics in L2 acquisition: The role of specificity. Language Acquisition 12(1). 3–69.10.1207/s15327817la1201_2Search in Google Scholar
Ionin, T., M.L. Zubizarreta & S.B. Maldonado. 2008. Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English articles. Lingua 118. 554–576.10.1016/j.lingua.2006.11.012Search in Google Scholar
Jeong, H., G. Kim & S. Park. 2013. Seu-pe-in-eoh Ttok-so-ri-na-gae Seu-gi. Seoul, Korea: HUFS University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Klaudy, K. & K. Károly. 2005. Implicitation in translation: Empirical evidence for operational asymmetry in translation. Across Languages and Cultures 6(1). 13–28.10.1556/Acr.6.2005.1.2Search in Google Scholar
Lee, J. 2013. The effects of discourse types on the use of English articles by Korean learners of English: Oral vs. Written narratives. English Language Teaching 6(8). 33–43.10.5539/elt.v6n8p33Search in Google Scholar
Lee, J. & E. Ronowicz. 2008. Interpretations of the English definite article among Korean translation students: A study of errors in a writing and translation task. Interpreting and Translation Studies 12(1). 181–220.Search in Google Scholar
Liu, D. & J.L. Gleason. 2002. Acquisition of the article the by nonnative speakers of English: An analysis of four nongeneric uses. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24. 1–26.10.1017/S0272263102001018Search in Google Scholar
Mariñas, L.T. 2011. Definite article use in the IL of Spanish speakers: A multi-dimensional problem. Miscelánea. A Journal of English and American Studies 43. 87–195.Search in Google Scholar
Master, P. 1990. Teaching the English articles as a binary system. TESOL Quarterly 24(3). 461–478.10.2307/3587230Search in Google Scholar
Master, P. 1997. The English article system: Acquisition, function, and pedagogy. System 25. 215–232.10.1016/S0346-251X(97)00010-9Search in Google Scholar
Mizuno, M. 1999. Interlanguage analysis of the English article system: Some cognitive constraints facing the Japanese adult learners. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 37(2). 127–153.Search in Google Scholar
Park, S.B. 2006. The acquisition of written English articles by Korean learners. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Southern Illinois University.Search in Google Scholar
Parrish, B. 1987. A new look at methodologies in the study of article acquisition for learners of ESL. Language Learning 37. 361–383.10.1111/j.1467-1770.1987.tb00576.xSearch in Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, F. 2004. Introducing Interpreting Studies. London and New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203504802Search in Google Scholar
Reid, W. 1991. Verb and Noun Number in English: A Fundamental Explanation. New York: Longman.Search in Google Scholar
Robertson, D. 2000. Variability in the use of the English article system by Chinese learners of English. Second Language Research 16(2). 135–172.10.1191/026765800672262975Search in Google Scholar
Suh, C.S. 1996. Korean Grammar. Seoul: Hanyang University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Thomas, M. 1989. The acquisition of English articles by first- and second-language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics 10. 335–355.10.1017/S0142716400008663Search in Google Scholar
Trenkic, D. 2000. Establishing the definiteness status of referents in dialogue (in languages with and without articles). Working Papers in English and Applied Linguistics 7. 107–131.Search in Google Scholar
Trenkic, D. 2002. Form-meaning connecctions in the acquisition of English articles. In S. Foster-Cohen, T. Ruthenberg & M. Poschen (eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 2. 115–133. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/eurosla.2.09treSearch in Google Scholar
Trenkic, D. 2007. Variability in second language article production: Beyond the representation deficit vs. processing constraints debate. Second Language Research 23(3). 289–327.10.1177/0267658307077643Search in Google Scholar
Vinay, J.P. & J. Darbelnet. 1995. Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A Methodology for Translation. (J. C. Sager and M. J. Hamel Trans.). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/btl.11Search in Google Scholar
White, L. 2003. Fossilization in steady state L2 grammar: Persistent problems with inflectional morphology. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 6(2). 129–141.10.1017/S1366728903001081Search in Google Scholar
Yang, S.K. 2001. La Adquisición y el Aprendizaje de los Artículos Según la Contabilidad de los Nombres del Español. Journal of the Institute of Iberoamerican Studies 13(2). 101–126.Search in Google Scholar
Yoon, K.K. 1993. Challenging prototype description: Perceptions of noun countability and indefinite vs. zero. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 31(4). 269–290.10.1515/iral.1993.31.4.269Search in Google Scholar
Young, R. 1996. Form-function relations in articles in English interlanguage. In R. Bayley & D.R. Preston (eds.), Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Variation. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.10.1075/sibil.10.07youSearch in Google Scholar
Zegarac, V. 2004. Relevance theory and the in second language acquisition. Second Language Research 20(3). 193–211.10.1191/0267658304sr237oaSearch in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
