The L2 Acquisition of Mass Nouns by Arab Learners of English

Autor/in	Sabir, Mona
Titel	The L2 Acquisition of Mass Nouns by Arab Learners of English
Quelle	In: Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 10 (2019) 5, S.152-157 (6 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2203-4714
Schlagwörter	Nouns; Arabs; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Transfer of Training; Grammar; Language Universals; Morphology (Languages); Syntax; Decision Making; Task Analysis; Semitic Languages; Teaching Methods; Native Language; Morphemes; College Students; Foreign Countries; Saudi Arabia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Arab; Araber; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Training; Transfer; Ausbildung; Grammatik; Morphology; Morphologie; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Aufgabenanalyse; Arabisch; Hebräisch; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Morphem; Collegestudent; Ausland; Saudi-Arabien
Abstract	This study explores how Arab L2 learners of English acquire mass nouns. The mass/count distinction is a morphosyntactically encoded grammatical distinction. Arabic and English have different morphosyntactic realisations of mass nouns. English mass nouns take the form of bare singular whereas Arabic mass nouns can take the definite singular form or the indefinite singular, but never the bare singular form. Therefore, the study explores how Arab learners interpret English mass nouns in light of the morphosyntactic differences between the two languages. 45 upper- and lower-intermediate Arab English learners were given a context-based acceptability judgment task on English mass nouns. It was hypothesised that Arabic learners would be influenced by their first language (L1), causing them to over accept definite singulars and under accept bare singulars as grammatical in mass noun contexts. The findings are consistent with what was hypothesised, except that Arab learners were found to interpret bare singulars accurately. It is argued that learners' performance is affected by not only L1 transfer but also UG accessibility where learners can structure away from L1 and more towards L2. Consequently, the findings implicate that L2 teachers should not teach grammatical structures that come for free and instead they should focus on grammatical structures that cause L2 acquisition difficulty. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01