Grammar and the Chinese ESL Learner: A Longitudinal Study on the ...

7. The first stage of the acquisition of articles for L1 learners is characterized by the use of the indefinite and/or definite article(s) for specific referents, and zero article for both non-specific referents and naming (Cziko, 1986).

8. Beginning learners are speculated to have a three-way division between a definite article for presupposed-specific NP, an indefinite article for asserted-specific NP, and a zero form for non-specific NP (Bickerton, 1981, 1984).

9. Low proficiency L2 learners use articles significantly more often in front of specific NPs than high-proficiency L2 learners (Adamson, 1988).

10. L2 learners systematically use different articles to realize different functions at different levels of their language proficiency (Huebner, 1983).

11. L2 learners are most accurate in tasks that have been designed to require least attention to form (Tarone, 1985; Tarone & Parrish, 1988).

Research Questions

Based on those important findings regarding the acquisition of English articles and on the problems stated previously, the following research questions were designed to present the major areas of inquiry that are explored in this study. The central research question for this study was: Are the acquisition sequences of the English articles documented in L2 research literature applicable to a Chinese ESL learner?

The related research questions included the following:

1. What is the acquisition sequence of English articles as shown in the performance data of a Chinese ESL learner?

2. What are the acquisition stages for the definite article the?

3. What are the acquisition stages for the indefinite article a?

4. What are the acquisition stages for the indefinite article an?

5. What are the acquisition stages for the zero article?