LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:6 June 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com is included in the UGC Approved List of Journals. Serial Number 49042.


HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001




BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!


REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES


  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.
  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.
  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2016
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA


Custom Search

Acquisition of L2 English Article Semantic by
L1 Tamil Speakers in Malaysia

Premala Jacob, M.Ed., Ph.D. Research Student & Helen Tan, Ph.D.


Abstract

Ionin (2003) proposes the Article Choice Parameter, a semantic parameter which establishes that articles across languages encode two values which are definiteness or specificity. The English articles are based on definiteness but the Tamil language lacks articles. This study examined the pattern of article choice among adult L1 Tamil speakers in Malaysia, to test Ionin’s (2003) Fluctuation Hypothesis based on the Article Choice Parameter. The Fluctuation Hypothesis reveals that L2 English learners from article-less L1s upon encountering a language that has an article system access both the definiteness and specificity parameter provided by Universal Grammar (UG) and exhibit fluctuation between the two settings. As a result, they perform accurately in the [+definite, +specific] and [-definites, -specific] when both the settings are the same and overuse the with [-definites, +specific] and overuse a with [+ definite, -specific] when both the settings are in conflict. The results of this study revealed that the L1 Tamil speakers had UG access to both the definiteness and specificity settings, as their pattern of English article choice demonstrated fluctuation between the two settings. Article omission error among these learners indicated limited negative-L1 transfer also existed in the article acquisition process.

Keywords: Article; semantic; definiteness; Fluctuation Hypothesis; Tamil

1.0 Introduction

The process of second language acquisition (SLA) looks at the stages involved in acquiring a different language after the native language has been acquired (Gass & Selinker, 2009, p.7). In the Malaysian context, this is most commonly discussed in relation to the learning and teaching of the English language. The nativist approach claims that language learning involves innateness, that is, humans have a natural ability to systematically be conscious of the language around them. In recent years the nativist theory has become more dependent on the idea of Universal Grammar(UG). UG is a system of universal linguistic rules that are genetically determined in every human being since they are born (Brown, 2000, pp. 24-25). UG refers to “the system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages…the essence of human language” (Chomsky,1975, p.29).

According to this theory, all human languages consist of a set of basic abstract principles of grammar that is applicable to all languages and parameters which vary according to languages (Cook, 1997, pp. 250-251). The theory encompasses the idea that language acquirers do not have to learn these basic principles because humans have an innate ability, which is derived from the UG, to discover these basic abstract principles that are common to all languages. On the other hand, parameters are differences across languages. These differences are encoded in UG. L1 learners, through the language input, will be able to establish the most suitable parameter. Input data will lead the learner to the most appropriate parameter setting so that the learner is able to achieve proficiency in the language being acquired.


This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Premala Jacob, M.Ed., Ph.D. Research Student (corresponding author)
Department of English Language
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor
Malaysia
premala.jacob@yahoo.com.my

Dr. Helen Tan, Ph.D.
Department of English Language
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication
Universiti Putra Malaysia
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor
Malaysia
helen@upm.edu.my


Custom Search


  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.