Abstract:
T
The significance of the learner’s errors has been the focus of many studies in second
language acquisition research. This study is an attempt to review some of the issues
discussed in SLA research as well as to propose an operational framework for
comparing some of the problematic areas of English syntax for Farsi speakers. The
Study is limited to the comparison of the English article system with its counterpart in
Persian. Having compared the two equivalent systems in both languages, the results of
an error analysis will be reported and discussed. It will be shown that L1 transfer
would most likely happen for Farsi speakers learning the English article system where
the NP carrying the article appears in subject position.
Machine summary:
THE ENGLISH ARTICLE SYSTEM AND FARSI SPEAKERS Ardesbir Geranpayeh Department of Applied Linguistics University of Edinburgh ABSTRACT The significance of the learner's errors has been the focus of many studies in second language acquisition research.
He has observed that amongst the problematic areas of English for native Farsi speakers is the acquisition of the English article system: errors persist even in advanced learners and are probably subject to fossilisation.
So it was crucial to identify the potential problematic area of the target language for specific learner's L1 background so as to-enable the teachers to avoid unwanted utterances before a right set of habits were established.
There are many factors involved in L2 learning such as age, motivation, attitude, experience of the L1 which make the acquisition of one task easier or more difficult As Dulay et al pinpoint, · certain structures i11 English, such as articles, are particularly susceptible to variation across subjects' (1982:202).
A word of caution: the speaker's possession of any of these knowledges does not mean that the learner necessarily has specific previous knowledge of such definite referents, but merely that at the Lime of utterances/he is assumed by the speakers to have access to sufficient information through reference Lo the above knowledges to recognise the existence of the referent set, to locate and uniquely identify it within the relevant set of entities or the relevant schematic set.
Having compared the definite / indefinite structures in English and Persian, one may observe that it is very difficult to apply markedness theory to this area of syntax in the two languages concerned here.