The Impact of L1 Transfer on Korean EFL Learners’ Use of English Articles Depending on Proficiency Level, Task Type, and Article Type

The Impact of L1 Transfer on Korean EFL Learners’ Use of English Articles Depending on Proficiency Level, Task Type, and Article Type

  The present study was conducted to examine how L1 transfer influences Korean EFL subjects’ use of English articles depending on proficiency level, task type, and article type. A total of 30 Korean university students, assigned to low, intermediate, and advanced proficiency groups, were asked to perform oral production and writing tasks. The findings of the study show that L1 transfer had less influence on the higher proficiency groups than on the lower proficiency groups, which resulted in the higher mean percentages of correct use of articles. Regarding task type, the three proficiency groups’ mean percentages of correct use of articles were lower in the oral production task than in the writing task where they monitored their use of articles more rigorously and reduced the impact of L1 transfer. Concerning article type, the definite article was used more frequently and more correctly than the indefinite article in both tasks not due to L1 transfer but to the task requirements. Further, use of zero article in place of the, the most common error type across proficiency level, was attributed to L1 transfer. In terms of pedagogical implications, the study suggests that the correct use of English articles should be explicitly taught to learners depending on proficiency level and task type.