Acquisition Of English Article Semantics By Chinese L2-English Learners

English article system only includes three forms: the, a/an, and zero article, but it is commonlyregarded as one of the most problematic grammatical aspects for the second language(L2) English learnersto master, especially for those whose first languages (L1s) lack articles. Article errors committed byL2-English learners mainly include two forms: omission and substitution. And the latter was usuallyattributed to the complexity of article semantics.Some researchers (e.g., Ionin, Ko&Wexler,2004; Leung,2005) have pointed out that even if the L1lacks articles, learners can still get access to universal article semantics through Universal Grammar (UG).Among the UG-based studies on the acquisition of article semantics, the most influential and controversialone in recent years is Ionin et al.(2004)’s Article Choice Parameter (ACP) and Fluctuation Hypothesis(FH). According to ACP and FH, definiteness and specificity are the semantic contrasts marking two-articlesystem, and L2-English learners with article-less L1s background will distinguish English articles either bydefiniteness or specificity by accessing to semantic universals through UG until sufficient input leads themto set the correct parameter.Chinese has been constantly used as an article-less language to test the validity of FH since FH wasproposed. However, studies on the acquisition of article semantics by Chinese L2-English learners do notunanimously validate FH. In addition, directionality effect, the tendency of using definite article in definitecontexts more accurately than using indefinite article in indefinite contexts, is rarely examined in theacquisition of article semantics by Chinese L2-Englsih learners, though it is claimed to be present in manyprevious studies and even regarded as a general property in second language acquisition (SLA).Inspired by the claim about the acquisition of article semantics mentioned above and new discoveriesconcerning FH, the present study, by using an elicitation task modeled on Ionin et al.(2004), examined theacquisition of English article semantics by29Chinese L2-English learners (9beginners,12intermediateand8advanced learners) at both the group level and individual level. Results indicate that:(1) Participants in the present study as a whole do show fluctuation with both definites and indefinites.(2) At group level and individual level, the fluctuation patterns shown by the participants tend to be various rather than uniform. More specifically, the beginners behave as the children in Ionin et al.(2009)’sstudy and fluctuate with indefinites mostly, which is within the bounds of natural language data andprovides proof for their full access to article semantic universals through UG, without the sign of L1transfer; the intermediate group, as a whole, distinguishes specificity with definites only, and at individuallevel, intermediate participants show variety rather than uniformity, although most of them only fluctuate indefinite contexts; the advanced learners succeed in acquiring the English article semantics and showtarget-like pattern.(3) The directionality effect does not appear in the present study and the Chinese participants show thepattern which is just opposite to the directionality effect.Based on the findings, the present study has drawn the conclusion that fluctuation is a generaltendency shown by Chinese L2-English learners in the acquisition of article semantics, and thus proves thevalidity of Fluctuation Hypothesis. However, there are discrepancies between the fluctuation patternsshown by the participants in the present study and those in the previous studies. Classroom input, L1transfer, as well as domain-specific knowledge, are all argued to be responsible for the patterns presentedby Chinese L2-learners. The absence of directionality effect provides negative proof for the universalapplicability of directionality effect. And the totally opposite pattern provides proof for L1-transfer, for inChinese, yi ‘one’ has reached the end point of grammaticalization regarding indefiniteness while thedemonstrative nei ‘that’ is still on its way to full grammaticalization of definiteness, as a result, ChineseL2-English learners show more accuracy in article choice with indefinites than with definites.The present study helps delineate a comparatively complete picture of the acquisition of Englisharticle semantics by Chinese L2-English learners. It not only enriches the theory of SLA by further provingthe accessibility of UG in the acquisition of English article semantics, but also carries pedagogicalsignificance for the teaching and learning of English articles.