| Chapter 2: | Background Study |
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Karmiloff-Smith (1979), in a different approach, considered the articles as part of a broader system of determination. Karmiloff-Smith divided the functions of the articles into two major categories of descriptor and determinor. The determinor function, according to Karmiloff-Smith, can be further subdivided into five functions: deictic reference, exophoric reference, non-specific reference, anaphoric reference, and generic reference. The deictic reference means that the speaker uses an indexical definite referring expression together with paralinguistic markers such as gaze, head motion, and finger pointing (e.g. Give me the pencil in a context where several pencils are present, but an indexical gesture at the moment of uttering the determiner enables the addressee to identify the referent). The exophoric reference implies a distance between the speaker and his utterance. It involves the choice made by the speaker of a definite referring expression when a referent is the only member of its class in the current extra-linguistic setting, and the choice of an indefinite referring expression when the referent is one of several identical ones (e.g. The boy pushed the red car vs. The boy pushed a car). Exophoric reference thus means the speaker takes into account the relationship between objects in the extralinguistic setting, rather than the speaker’s subjective involvement with an object upon which the speaker is focusing all of his or her attention. Non-specific reference is close to the generic function. However, whereas the generic use of the articles involves a conceptualized reference with no concrete instantiation as in the example The tiger/a tiger is an animal, non-specific reference implies any non-particular member of a class as in the case of Give me a cigarette. The generic use of articles indicates a collected whole, as shown in the example The cigarette is a danger to health. The anaphoric reference involves intralinguistic procedures. It implies substitution and reference back to a previously mentioned antecedent, as shown in the following: I saw a pretty girl near your house. Do you know the girl?
Based on the findings of 16 experiments, Karmiloff-Smith suggested that the acquisition of the indefinite article could be categorized into the