EFL Learners’ Acquisition of the English Article System

This book addresses several issues that have been controversial in the literature surrounding second language (L2) acquisition, including the role that the first language (L1) plays in development, the ability of L2 learners to acquire properties of functional categories not realised in their L1, the nature of L2 development itself, and the extent to which such development is constrained by innate linguistic capacities (universal grammar). These issues are considered by investigating the acquisition of the English articles by speakers of an L1 that has an article system encoding definiteness (Arabic), and an L1 that lacks articles (Japanese), at different proficiency levels in English. Those who will find this book useful include policy makers in language education as well as students and their teachers. Researchers in the field of second language acquisition can benefit from reading this book to keep abreast of the latest developments in this area in the hope of stimulating further research.