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can account for all uses of the definite article in English. Epstein cited the following quotes as a further basis for his argument:
- a) “It is not in fact possible to specify a single function of the definite article which will apply in all areas of English grammar” (Du Bois, 1980, p. 208).
- b) “Neither the uniqueness nor the familiarity approach have yet succeeded in providing a satisfactory account of all uses of definite descriptions” (Poesio & Vieira, 1998, p. 189).
- c) “No one has shown conclusively that a version or mutation of either identifiability or inclusiveness accounts adequately for all definite uses” (C. Lyons, 1999, p. 274).
Acquisition Sequences and Usage Patterns
In regards to the acquisition sequences and usage patterns of English articles by L2 learners, it has been consistently observed that L2 learners acquire the features of articles incrementally or learn to use certain functions of a particular article first. For the definite article the, the incremental acquisition can be demonstrated in the following natural order in terms of the accuracy rate (see, among others, Leung, 2001; Liu & Gleason, 2002; Pongpairoj, 2007; White, 2003),
In the case of the indefinite article, it has been reported that the deletion rate is higher when the article precedes a mass noun than when it precedes a count noun. It has also been noted that the highest accuracy in indefinite contexts is for existential sentences (see, among others, Robertson, 2000).