Specificity, definiteness, and l2 article production in the l1 serbian /l2 english linguistic environment

Форум 1 (1-2) 2019, (стр. 153-166)

АУТОР(И): Марта Величковић

Е-АДРЕСА:

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DOI: 10.46793/Forum19.153V

САЖЕТАК:

Since little research exists on English L2 article production in the Serbian linguistic environment, the goal of this descriptive study was to identify anytrends in L2 article production,as they pertain to definiteness and specificity (following Ionin et al., 2004). In order to measure this production, four contexts were defined based on the following two semantic features: [±specific] and [±definite]. Considering that Serbian is a language with no article system, and a language that codes specificity (Trenkic 2002, 2004), unlikeEnglish which codes definiteness, combinations of these features should indicate particular contexts that may not only identify any possible patterns in the L2 article production of this segment of the population, but also prove useful as a foundation for further research, and the study of the effects that information of this kind could have on L2 instruction. Based on the findings of previous research, most article substitution and article omission errors are expected in the [+definite, ‐specific] and [‐definite, +specific] contexts. The current results indicated that the sample of participants has a strong tendency of overusing the definite article with indefinites, and to a lesser extent the indefinite article with definites. Furthermore, some unexpected fluctuations were noted in the [+definite +specific] and [‐ definite ‐specific] contexts, indicating that the participants have not yet consistently adopted either the category definiteness or specificity.

КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ:

specificity, definiteness, the article system of the English language, L1 Serbian

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