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TESTING THE FLUCTUATION HYPOTHESIS IN THE USE OFENGLISH DEFINITE ARTICLE BY URDU SPEAKERS | Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL (JALT)
Abstract
Abstract
The present study examines the acquisition of English articles by Urdu L1 speakers in Pakistan, focusingon the use of definite articles. As seen in Hawkins and Towell (1994), the existing studies highlights thechallenges that L2 learners face in case they do not have an equivalent article system in their L1, Master(1995) emphasizes the role of explicit instruction in facilitating article acquisition, and Ionin (2009)examines the role of the quality of input in L2 article learning, concluding that the amount and type ofEnglish exposure have a significant effect on how well learners master articles. However, it is found outthat acquiring articles can be very difficult for L2 learners when their L1 is does not have an equivalentstructure like the article-less languages of Urdu, Japanese and Korean.The current research explores whether the problem of article learning is similar in different age groups ofparticipants i.e. adolescents (9-19 years old) and adults (20 years old or higher). For this purpose, 100participants were taken. Following the Fluctuation Hypothesis (FH) by Ionin (2004), as a theoreticalframework, the study identified the degree to which learners vary in their patterns of use of articles andhow various input patterns influence proficiency. In addition, the research also examined the effect of leveland grades of education at which start learning English, no of years of learning English and the effect ofMother tongue on the accuracy of the learners in the articles. The Data were collected by using elicitationtest and a judgment task based on Ionin's (2004) methodology to assess learners' accuracy in using definitearticles. The findings focus on how the age, educational level, and knowledge of languages interact andinfluence the acquisition of articles within L2 English regarding the stages when learners developproficiency overcoming interference, overgeneralization and overuse. The findings not only enrich ourunderstanding of the L2 article use, but also give practitioners, including L2 English teachers and learners,empirically based advisory on instructions design improvements and learning maximization
The present study examines the acquisition of English articles by Urdu L1 speakers in Pakistan, focusingon the use of definite articles. As seen in Hawkins and Towell (1994), the existing studies highlights thechallenges that L2 learners face in case they do not have an equivalent article system in their L1, Master(1995) emphasizes the role of explicit instruction in facilitating article acquisition, and Ionin (2009)examines the role of the quality of input in L2 article learning, concluding that the amount and type ofEnglish exposure have a significant effect on how well learners master articles. However, it is found outthat acquiring articles can be very difficult for L2 learners when their L1 is does not have an equivalentstructure like the article-less languages of Urdu, Japanese and Korean.The current research explores whether the problem of article learning is similar in different age groups ofparticipants i.e. adolescents (9-19 years old) and adults (20 years old or higher). For this purpose, 100participants were taken. Following the Fluctuation Hypothesis (FH) by Ionin (2004), as a theoreticalframework, the study identified the degree to which learners vary in their patterns of use of articles andhow various input patterns influence proficiency. In addition, the research also examined the effect of leveland grades of education at which start learning English, no of years of learning English and the effect ofMother tongue on the accuracy of the learners in the articles. The Data were collected by using elicitationtest and a judgment task based on Ionin's (2004) methodology to assess learners' accuracy in using definitearticles. The findings focus on how the age, educational level, and knowledge of languages interact andinfluence the acquisition of articles within L2 English regarding the stages when learners developproficiency overcoming interference, overgeneralization and overuse. The findings not only enrich ourunderstanding of the L2 article use, but also give practitioners, including L2 English teachers and learners,empirically based advisory on instructions design improvements and learning maximization