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Though debatable and controversial (see the next section), there are a number of findings to indicate that L2 learners of English are significantly more accurate in using the definite article than in using the indefinite article, and a natural acquisition order of the definite article the before the indefinite article a(n) can be observed regardless of L1 background (see, among others, Lardiere, 2004; Zdorenko & Paradis, 2008). To account for this acquisition sequence, Lardiere (2004) suggested that the definite article is categorized as featurally less complex than the indefinite article since the definite article does not need to take number and the count/mass distinction into account. In other words, L2 learners of English have to identify at least one additional semantic feature in order to use the indefinite article appropriately.
Reflection
A review of the current research literature reveals many contradictory findings and results. For instance, some findings (Ionin et al., 2008) supported the Fluctuation hypothesis, which predicts that L2 learners fluctuate between the two settings of the Article Choice Parameter until the input leads them to set this parameter to the appropriate value, while other findings (Hawkins et al., 2006; Snape, Leung, & Ting, 2006) argued against the Fluctuation hypothesis.
To give another instance of contradictory findings, Avery and Radišić (2007) concluded that the acquisition of the indefinite article lags behind the definite article. In contrast, Ekiert (2007) drew the conclusion from her studies that the learner appears to be more successful with the marking of indefiniteness than definiteness.
Contradictory findings might be the result of the following. First, a variety of distinct theoretical perspectives is used—generative school, functional grammar, and cognitive theories, to name just a few. Even within the same theoretical framework, different positions might be taken. For instance, different positions in the generative school can be noticed regarding the L2 initial state, subsequent grammars during development, as well as the final state. The various approaches to the