ERIC ED427518: Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles by English-Speaking Learners of Spanish.

20 Pages·1998·0.28 MB·Interlanguage

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
FL 025 690
ED 427 518
Ramirez-Mayberry, Maria
AUTHOR
Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles by English-Speaking
TITLE
Learners of Spanish.
ISSN-0898-8471
ISSN
PUB DATE
1998-00-00
19p.; For the complete volume of working papers, see FL 025
NOTE
687.
PUB TYPE
Journal Articles (080) -- Reports - Research (143)
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education; v3 n3 p51-67
JOURNAL CIT
Fall 1998
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
*Determiners (Languages); English; *Interlanguage;
DESCRIPTORS
Introductory Courses; *Language Patterns; Language Research;
Linguistic Theory; Second Language Learning; *Second
Languages; *Spanish; *Transfer of Training
IDENTIFIERS
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis; *English Speaking
ABSTRACT
A study examined the stages of acquisition of Spanish
definite articles by two groups of English-speaking learners enrolled in
their first semester of Spanish. The approach taken was to analyze writing
samples produced by the groups at different times during the semester, to
obtain the basis for a pseudo-longitudinal analysis of article usage. The
main goal was to expose variability in the students' interlanguage systems
and to propose early developmental stages in the acquisition of articles.
Results support studies postulating a natural order of acquisition, and
showed a relatively significant incidence of first-language (L1) transfer
consistent with the weak form of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. Ll
interference seems to be only one of many factors in acquisition. Existing
theories on natural order of acquisition and interlanguage provide a
framework for analyzing the results. Interaction of several factors
(simplification, communicative value, frequency of input, first language
transfer) was useful in accounting or some of the stages of acquisition
suggested by these results. Contains 18 references.
(MSE)
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English-Speaking
Definite Articles by
Acquisition of Spanish
Learners of Spanish
University of Texas at Austin
MARfA RAMIREZ-MAYBERRY, The
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
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DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL
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INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
BEST COPY AVAHABLE
Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles by English-Speaking
Learners of Spanish
MARfA RAMfREZ-MAYBERRY, The University of Texas at Austin
This study examines the stages of acquisition of Spanish definite articles
by two groups of English-speaking learners enrolled in their first semes-
ter of Spanish. The approach taken was to analyze writing samples pro-
duced by the groups at different times in the semester in order to acquire
the basis for a pseudo-longitudinal
analysis of article usage. The main
goal was to expose the variability in their interlanguage system and to
propose early developmental stages of acquisition of the articles by learn-
ers of an introductory course. The results supported studies that postu-
late a natural order of acquisition. The results also showed a relatively
significant incidence of first-language (L1) transfer consistent with the
weak form of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. The Ll interference,
to be only one of many factors in the acquisition. Van-
therefore, seems
Patten's ideas on a natural order of acquisition and Ellis's Interlanguage
Theory provided a frame for analyzing the results. The interaction
o f
several factors (simplification, communicative value, frequency of input,
and first language transfer) proposed by VanPatten were useful
in ac-
counting for some of the stages of acquisition suggested in this study.
INTRODUCTION
Research in the past two decades has supported claims of natural stages
in second language acquisition. These studies have provided evidence against
the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis, which states that all errors in a second
language can be predicted by identifying the differences between the learner's
native language and the target language (Ellis, 1990). Morpheme studies of the
1970s asserted that learners follow a certain order of acquisition regardless of
language background, age (Ellis, 1990), method, text, teacher, or even error
correction (VanPatten, 1987). More recent studies have illustrated more
clearly the developmental stages that learners pass through in their acquisi-
tion of target grammatical structures. These studies have revealed patterns of
acquisition of morphemes such as the copulas ser/estar and the prepositions
por/para (VanPatten, 1987; Guntermann, 1992a and b; Ryan and Lafford, 1992;
Lafford and Ryan, 1995). Other explanations, such as markedness (Rutherford,
1982; VanPatten, 1987; Guntermann, 1992a and b; Perdue and Klein, 1992) and
cognitive theories (Gass, 1988, 1994; VanPatten, 1989; Tomlin and Villa, 1994;
Bialystok, 1994), have sought to explain what is known as the Natural Order
of Acquisition (VanPatten, 1987). One area that has been neglected, however,
is the acquisition of Spanish definite articles by English-speaking learners.
52
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education
The purpose of this study is to
Subjects
examine the acquisition of Spanish
The subjects consisted of two
articles by two groups of
definite
groups of English-speaking learners:
Group A included nine
English-speaking learners, with par-
learners;
ticular regard to the variability in
Group B included ten. All learners
systems. The
interlanguage
were randomly chosen from a first-
their
main goal is to propose early devel-
semester Spanish class.
opmental stages of acquisition of the
definite article by the learners. W e
Instrument
Writing samples of the two
analyze these acquisition
patterns
groups were gathered in order to
based on Bickerton's (1975) "dynamic
paradigm," a notion that "seeks to
a pseudo-
provide
the
basis for
describe exactly what learners do in
longitudinal analysis of article usage.
their developing interlanguage sys-
The writing samples were obtained
tems rather than how closely they
as follows:
approximate the
target"
(Master,
1. Group A (9): Writing was col-
1988, p. 5). As Van Patten (1987, p.
102) pointed out 10 years ago, "there
lected after 5 weeks of classes.
is a dearth of research detailing the
acquisition or development of any
2. Group B (10): Writing was col-
one particular syntactic or morpho-
lected after 15 weeks of classes
logical feature."
(Final Exam).
In light of these objectives, this
It was not possible to obtain
analysis proposes to answer the fol-
data from the final exam of Group
lowing questions:
A. For this reason, we collected the
1. What stages of acquisition
writing samples from the final exam
of
Spanish definite articles can be
of a different group, Group B. It is
perceived in the writing samples
recognized that this is a flaw in the
design of the experiment. The re-
of learners in their first semester
sults, therefore, are intended as an
of Spanish study?
indication of what one can expect to
2. Does first language transfer in-
find at this time period.
fluence these developmental pat-
assignment
writing
The
for
Group A has five parts. The first
terns?
four parts consist of oral compre-
hension exercises from which the
If first language transfer does not
3.
learners gather information to use
occur, what other factors may ac-
in the fifth part, the actual writing
count for these stages of acquisi-
tion?
assignment. For this part, the learner
writes a letter home of about 100
words. The writing assignment for
DATA COLLECTION [1]
The data for answering these
Group B is a letter of at least 120
words in which the learners follow
questions were collected as described
below.
the
description
instructions
and
Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles
53
provided. This composition is part
used,
nite regardless
of
articles
of the final exam, and there are n o
whether they were correctly or in-
correctly provided (C + I), was la-
preparatory exercises. See Appendix
A for a more detailed description of
beled "U." Phrases requiring a defi-
nite article in which the learners
the writing assignments
for each
used a zero article instead were la-
group of learners.
Each learner from each group
beled as "N."
was assigned a number from 1 to 10.
A list of noun phrases was created
Quantitative Analysis
The method of analysis used in
for each learner. Each entry included
this study was adapted from Mas-
the following information:
ter's (1988) study. The following no-
1. Time of data collection (5 weeks
tions were derived:
or Final)
Context
Correct
Obligatory
in
1.
To measure accuracy
2. The noun phrase being analyzed
(COC).
plus minimal context
based on Master's proposed con-
cept of "Supplied in Obligatory
3. The article used
Context," this figure indicates the
number of correct definite articles
4. The article required
used (C), divided by the number
of correct obligatory contexts in
This study analyzed only the
which the article should be used
definite
the
articles
usage
of
(T).
(singular forms: el, la; plural forms:
los, las). Therefore, all the phrases
2. Used
Context
in
Obligatory
produced by the learners where the
(UOC). To analyze learner usage,
as the "dynamic paradigm" sug-
use of a definite article is obligatory
in Spanish (T) were counted, and
gests, we divide the number of
those phrases in which the learners
total definite articles used (U) by
incorrectly used definite articles
the number of obligatory contexts
(I)
were included also. The expressions
(T).
that contained a correct definite arti-
Incorrect in Nonobligatory Con-
cle were marked as "C." It should be
3.
noted that for the purpose of this
To obtain a com-
text (INOC).
plete picture of the usage of arti-
study, any form of the definite article
cles by learners, we added this no-
(el, la, los, las) was counted as correct
even if it was used with the wrong
tion, which is the number of in-
casa 'the
(for example, *el
noun
correctly supplied definite articles
house'). This decision was reached
(I) divided by the total number of
in the
because we are interested
definite articles used (U).
learner's selection of definite article
over indefinite or zero article and
4. Needed
Obligatory Context
in
not whether the learner has learned
(NOC). This value is the number
the gender notion in the Spanish
of definite articles needed (N) di-
noun phrase system. The total defi-
5
54
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education
vided by the number of correct
trying to reveal any hidden systema-
tization (Ellis, 1990, p. 50) in what
obligatory contexts (T).
seems an apparent variation of arti-
As Master (1988, P. 9) points
cle production by learners. As men-
out, these notions are necessary to
tioned before, we follow Master's
show how often definite articles are
(1988) approach and analyze the data
being used, regardless of accuracy,
in terms of learner usage (dynamic
and with what degree of target-like
paradigm) and target language accu-
use. Table 1 shows the variables and
racy.
that of
In our analysis, like
concepts used in this study.
Huebner (1983), we omitted proper
Qualitative Analysis
nouns, idioms, and common expres-
This study analyzes the article
el ver-
sions such as en verano/en
ano 'in summer /in the summer',
production from the point of view
of the relationship between form
and en agosto 'in August,' which, he
and function in discourse. We are
observes, may be learned as formu-
Table 1
Definition of Terms
[Adopted from Master's (1988)]
Number of articles correctly used
Number of articles incorrectly used
Number of articles needed but not used
Total number of articles required (C + N)
Number of articles used (C + I)
Percentage of correct articles used (C/T * 100)
COC
Percentage of total articles used (U/T * 100)
UOC
NOC
Percentage of incorrect articles used (I/U * 100)
NOC
Percentage of articles needed (N/T * 100)
Measures:
Needed
Not Needed
Used
C
I
Not Used
N
Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles
55
lae. We included phrases such as
quantitative results. For Group A,
en/por la mariana 'in the morning'
we tallied a total of 104 obligatory
and regresar a casa/regresar a la casa
contexts. The accuracy registered was
'come back home,' however, even
83%, with 86 articles correctly sup-
though these expressions are also
plied and 18 places where the articles
as formulae,
because we
learned
were required but not provided (17%
NOC). The group, however, sup-
found some learners omitted the re-
noun
plied 19 extra articles not required
quired
in these
articles
phrases, and we wanted to seek the
(18% INOC). Group B had a total of
90 correct obligatory contexts and
pattern behind this usage.
provided 92 definite articles (102%
UOC, which is the same percentage
RESULTS
for Group A). The group's accuracy
Analysis of Data
(COC) was 80%, a little lower than
We begin our analysis by calcu-
that of Group A. They supplied,
lating the results per group. Tables
2A and 2B present a summary of the
however, more unnecessary definite
Table 2
Distribution of Definite Article Usage
A. Group A
INO-
NOC
STU
N
UOC
LEV U
COC
T C
I
C
%
% %
%
5wk
2
2
40
5 3 40
1
60
0
0
2
4
117
21
94
17
19
18
6
1
33
3 0
67
3
33
2
0
1
1
4
0 2
0
8 6 6
75 75
25
22 22
3
100
86
19
14
14
5
3
2
92
14
108
6 12
13
14
1
8
7
3 17
77
12 2
92 23
13 10
10 10
9 0 90
100
0 10
8
1
12 18
8 2
44
9
10
150
17
83
104 106
86
102
19
17
18 83
18
7
56
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education
Table 2
Distribution of Definite Article Usage (Continued)
B. Group B
INO-
STU
N
U
LEV
COC
NOC
UOC
C
T
I
C
% %
%
%
Fin
67
1 3
2
33
100
33
3
1
1
2
12
2
13
85 92
11
8
15
1
6
3
100
5
0 120
17
5
0
1
4
7 10
7 3
100
0 143
30
0
4
50
5 2 2
100
50
4
25
1
6
100
16
177
44
7 0
9
9
0
7
12 10
7 3 5
30 42
58 83
4
8 0 73
27
15
73
11
0
11
9 7
4
60
10
40
70 14
6
1
10
100
13
12 12
0
108
0
8
1
17
90 92 20
80
102
72
22
19
out, learners used fewer incorrect
articles (22% INOC) than Group A
(18%); also, the number of definite
in non-obligatory contexts
articles
articles needed but not supplied pro-
than Group B. It is interesting to see
that out of the nine learners from
duced a slightly higher percentage in
Group B (19% NOC) than Group A
Group A, four of them did not sup-
ply any extra incorrect articles
(17% NOC).
(I),
Although
the
which means they have less overuse
difference
be-
tween the results of Group A and B
of articles than learners from Group
does not seem to be significant, in-
B. Among the other five, the num-
in non-
dividual results are revealing and
ber of incorrect
articles
supportive of the
obligatory contexts for all but one
tendencies
ob-
the general results. In
served in
was less than 20%. Only one learner
Group A, as we already have pointed
had a higher percentage (44%). The
0
57
Acquisition of Spanish Definite Articles
results from Group B are also reveal-
stages in the acquisition of articles in
Spanish. We propose the following
ing. As noticed before, their number
stages of acquisition shown in Ap-
of incorrect articles in non-obligatory
contexts as a group was slightly
pendix B, although the stages and
higher (22%). Their individual per-
suggested order are tentative. A true
formances confirm these data:
longitudinal study must be done be-
all
but one learner supplied extra arti-
fore arriving at definite conclusions.
cles (I) not required, and five of the
Stage 1. Omission of the Defi-
learners showed percentages of 30%
nite Article. This stage is demon-
or more.
strated by the omission of articles
The results shown by the num-
ber of articles required but not sup-
even in formulaic expressions such
la mailana 'in the morn-
plied support the tendencies noticed
as en/por
so far. Even though, as a group,
ing,' los sdbados 'on Saturdays,' etc.,
learners from Group B seem to lack
regardless of the fact that similar ex-
pressions are found in English (for
more needed articles than do learn-
ers from Group A (Group A had a
apartamento
example, *Limpio
el
'I clean the
17% NOC versus 19% from Group
dias maiiana
todos
apartment every day in the morn-
B), a look at the individual tenden-
cies shows a different picture: 4 out
ings').
This stage is supported by the
of 10 learners from Group B did not
use articles at all. The rest of the
following observations: All learners
learners of this group showed per-
from Group A wrote sentences lack-
centages of 40% or less. The data
ing a required article. Two of those
learners failed to use required arti-
from Group A learners show that all
cles more than 50% of the time. In
that
were
were
lacking articles
contrast, four learners from Group B
obligatory. Two of these learners, in
particular, showed underuse of arti-
did not have this problem at all (0%
NOC), which means that they did
cles in obligatory contexts over 50%.
In general, then, the errors de-
not produce sentences like *todos
dias 'everyday' or *no me gusta
tected in the two groups seem to be
related to the difference of data col-
trabajo 'I don't like my job.' Also, for
lection times. The writing samples
no Group B learner did the percent-
of Group A show that learners, after
age of sentences that lacked required
5 weeks of classes, tended to omit re-
articles exceed 42%.
quired articles; meanwhile, the data
of Articles
collected from Group B show a dif-
Stage 2.
Overuse
ferent error after 15 weeks of classes,
(The los-Stage). In this stage, learners
that of the overuse of articles, possi-
in
articles n on-
use
definite
bly due to the learners having en-
obligatory contexts. This stage seems
to reflect an increased awareness of
tered a stage of experimentation after
because learners
the longer exposure to Spanish.
start
articles,
to
overuse them.
Observations that support this
Stages of Acquisition
The analysis of the data suggests
stage are the following: Group B had
in non-
go through
that
learners
22% of incorrect
certain
articles
2
58
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education
learners
jeans, los pantalones,
obligatory
las camisas, y
contexts.
All
from this group, with one exception,
necesite los
las camisetas. También
produced unnecessary articles (e.g.,
zapatos, las botas y los suéteres 'The
student needs to bring blue jeans,
*El estudiante necesite traer los blue
pants, shirts and T-shirts. He also
jeans, los pantalones, las camisas, y
needs to bring shoes, boots, and
las camisetas. También necesite traer
sweaters' but he also wrote: Los es-
los zapatos, las botas, y suéteres 'The
0 futbol
student needs to bring blue jeans,
y yo jugamos
tudiante
pants, shirts, and T-shirts. He also
Americano, 0 beisbol, 0 tenis, y 0 fut-
needs to bring shoes, boots, and
bol 'The students and I play football,
sweaters').
baseball, tennis, and soccer.' It seems
Group A had 18% of incorrect
that learners from Group B began to
use all of the articles more than
articles in non-obligatory contexts.
Four learners from this group did
learners from Group A in the same
not make this error (0% INOC). All
environment
elements,
listing
of
this may be evidence that there is a
which brings us to the next stage [2].
direct correlation between the over-
use of definite articles and the time
Stage 3. Vacillation. After over-
of data collection. Thus, as men-
using articles, learners seem to go
tioned before, as the learner is ex-
through a period of inconsistency in
posed to more Spanish, the
their selection of articles, called here
inci-
dence of overusing the articles in-
a stage of experimentation. At first,
creases, and learners supply articles
appear
they
articles
choose
to
(definite, indefinite, or zero article)
even in a context where English may
not require them (e.g., The learner
at random; however, we noticed a
to bring _blue jeans, _pants,
systematic use
subtle,
articles.
of
needs
Learners seem to make their own
etc.).
An additional observation
rules of usage based on number, and
is
once they have made a rule, they
that
learners groups
both
from
to overuse
articles when
seem to follow it consistently in any
tended
faced with a string of nouns. Six
given string. As with the previous
learners from Group A produced
stage, it is important to notice that
this rule seems to apply when the
strings of nouns (list of classes or of
clothing), and five of them overused
learners see a string of nouns.
the definite article. All the learners
The following are some of the
from Group B produced strings of
patterns detected:
nouns, with six of them having
more than one string. In particular,
1. Three learners of Group B used
learners 4, 5, and 6, who produced
plural
with
definite
articles
two sets of strings each, had one set
nouns
and
indefinite
articles
in which the definite articles were
with singular nouns. For exam-
overused and one set in which other
ple,
articles or a combination of definite,
and zero
indefinite,
el estudiante
was
articles
ne-
también
*.
. .
y un
used. Learner 6, for example, wrote
los suéteres
llevar
cesita
*El estudiante necesite traer los blue
abrigo.