L2 learners’ processing of English articles: An eye-tracking study

Adult language learners’ difficulties with second language (L2) articles are well attested in the literature. Ionin et al. (2004, 2009) argued that L2 learners whose native language lacks articles have access to both possible semantic universals of the article system, namely, definiteness and specificity. The fluctuation between the two options may result in learners’ misuse of the articles. This study investigates their claim using both online and offline measures of learners’ linguistic knowledge. Twenty-two Korean learners and 22 native speakers of English read pairs of sentences that included (un)grammatical articles twice, first with a focus on meaning while their eye movements were recorded, and then to make grammaticality judgments. The learners’ performances are discussed in terms of the grammaticality of the article use and the semantic contexts in which the target articles were used in comparison to native English speakers’ performance on the same tasks. The online task produced mixed results for the L2 learners, while the offline task relied on the right option for English. (Gyeongin National University of Education)