The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek
A plethora of second-language (L2) acquisition studies have tested the acquisition of English determiners in relation to simple noun phrases (NPs) of the generic versus non-generic type (e.g., Ionin., et al., 2008; Momenzadea & Youhanaeeb, 2014) rather than complex NPs, such as the ‘of-phrase’ c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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White Rose University Press
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of the European Second Language Association |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.euroslajournal.org/articles/64 |
| _version_ | 1819112186472038400 |
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| author | Asma Al-hawi Sviatlana Karpava |
| author_facet | Asma Al-hawi Sviatlana Karpava |
| author_sort | Asma Al-hawi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A plethora of second-language (L2) acquisition studies have tested the acquisition of English determiners in relation to simple noun phrases (NPs) of the generic versus non-generic type (e.g., Ionin., et al., 2008; Momenzadea & Youhanaeeb, 2014) rather than complex NPs, such as the ‘of-phrase’ construction, as in ‘the concept of love’. This study, therefore, contributes to our knowledge by addressing how first-language (L1) transfer from Jordanian-Arabic or Cypriot-Greek to English may influence the use of the definite and zero articles in relation to the configuration of the ‘of-phrase’ construction. This construction is comprised of two nominals (Ns): N1: definite noun+of+N2: bare noun. However, the definiteness feature in the equivalent L1 constructions is realised via an Arabic syntactic construct phrase and a Greek spreading feature. The statistical analyses of the data collected by a questionnaire and a forced-choice elicitation task indicated misuse of the before both Ns by the L2 groups at lower proficiency levels of English and provided evidence of L1 negative transfer, which resulted from the syntax-semantics mismatch between the participants’ L1s and L2. The results supported the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2008, 2009). With the increase in the quality and quantity of input in the form of daily exposure to English, the L2 groups figured out how to restructure their L1 features to match the configuration of the L2 regarding their use of the. The age of the Jordanian participants and exposure to English at university/school/work of both groups influenced the use of zero and the; respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:09:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7358eb4872f74293ac9838faefb1c733 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2399-9101 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:09:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | White Rose University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the European Second Language Association |
| spelling | doaj.art-7358eb4872f74293ac9838faefb1c7332022-12-21T18:39:33ZengWhite Rose University PressJournal of the European Second Language Association2399-91012021-07-015110.22599/jesla.6442The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-GreekAsma Al-hawi0Sviatlana Karpava1School of Language and Global Studies, Cyprus/UK, University of Central LancashireDepartment of English Studies, University of CyprusA plethora of second-language (L2) acquisition studies have tested the acquisition of English determiners in relation to simple noun phrases (NPs) of the generic versus non-generic type (e.g., Ionin., et al., 2008; Momenzadea & Youhanaeeb, 2014) rather than complex NPs, such as the ‘of-phrase’ construction, as in ‘the concept of love’. This study, therefore, contributes to our knowledge by addressing how first-language (L1) transfer from Jordanian-Arabic or Cypriot-Greek to English may influence the use of the definite and zero articles in relation to the configuration of the ‘of-phrase’ construction. This construction is comprised of two nominals (Ns): N1: definite noun+of+N2: bare noun. However, the definiteness feature in the equivalent L1 constructions is realised via an Arabic syntactic construct phrase and a Greek spreading feature. The statistical analyses of the data collected by a questionnaire and a forced-choice elicitation task indicated misuse of the before both Ns by the L2 groups at lower proficiency levels of English and provided evidence of L1 negative transfer, which resulted from the syntax-semantics mismatch between the participants’ L1s and L2. The results supported the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2008, 2009). With the increase in the quality and quantity of input in the form of daily exposure to English, the L2 groups figured out how to restructure their L1 features to match the configuration of the L2 regarding their use of the. The age of the Jordanian participants and exposure to English at university/school/work of both groups influenced the use of zero and the; respectively.https://www.euroslajournal.org/articles/64‘of-phrase’ constructiontransferfeature reassembly hypothesis |
| spellingShingle | Asma Al-hawi Sviatlana Karpava The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek Journal of the European Second Language Association ‘of-phrase’ construction transfer feature reassembly hypothesis |
| title | The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek |
| title_full | The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek |
| title_fullStr | The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek |
| title_full_unstemmed | The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek |
| title_short | The (mis-)use of the English definite article in relation to the ‘of-phrase’ construction by speakers of Jordanian-Arabic and Cypriot-Greek |
| title_sort | mis use of the english definite article in relation to the of phrase construction by speakers of jordanian arabic and cypriot greek |
| topic | ‘of-phrase’ construction transfer feature reassembly hypothesis |
| url | https://www.euroslajournal.org/articles/64 |
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