Libyan English as aForeign LanguageLearners Difficulties in Acquiring and Using the Third Persons - Literature review Example

LIBYAN EFL LEARNERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN THE ACQUISITION OF THIRD PERSON-S {Insert university’s name} {Insert instructor’s name} {Insert student’s name} August 29, 2012. LIBYAN EFL LEARNERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN THE ACQUISITION OF THIRD PERSON-S Literature review plan The topic of choice: Libyan EFL learners’ difficulties in acquiring and using the third person-s. Search history: I will use reliable academic databases and libraries such as PROQUEST and EMERALD to get reliable and current books and journals that are related to my topic of study. I found a number of sources which I have used as my reference. Search words: Some of the words that were used in the search included: EFL learners and the use of third person-s, acquisition of third person-s, EFL learners and the acquisition of the third person-s, difficulties experienced by EFL learners in the use of third person-s, acquisition of English morphemes by EFL learners and EFL learners and third person-s. Articles/journals/books to date: In order to ensure that the literature review is relevant to the research topic, I will retrieve more that 20 academic research articles in my area of study. The journals/articles will have to be current. Even though the journals/articles/books were mainly on quantitative research, there were few on qualitative research too. Headings: the main headings that will appear from the literature review section will be: Introduction Complexity of English morphemes Natural order of morpheme acquisition Rule application Effect of cross linguistic experience The impact of the first language Paragraph The literature review section will focus one particular aspect and critically discuss and relate it to the current study and at least two relevant sources included in the paragraph. Presentation of the literature review (total word count 2500) Introduction This section will introduce the topic of the study with reference to previous literature and it will further state if the research have been widely researched or not. The purpose of the literature will be stated in this part. The main body of the literature review (Total word count 2500) The literature will be critically reviewed under each theme identified and related to the current study. Conclusion will be finally drawn from the reviewed themes and a relation given why the previous studies are essential to the current study. THE LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Teaching experience have indicated that EFL learners in most cases fail to indicate the third person singular verb suffixes : -ies,-s and –es regardless of the proficiency level. The aforementioned is evident in both non-communicative and communicative language activities. This section will provide a review of literature related to difficulties experienced by EFL in using the third person-s. Researchers have pointed out various reasons why EFL learners experience difficulty in the acquisition of third person-s. The following section will critically examine each of the reasons as highlighted by the scholars and relating them to the present study. Complexity of English morphemes In English language, it is an important rule that verb need to agree with the subject. It is a rule that a verb takes a singular subject. On the other hand, a singular verb takes a singular subject and plural verb takes a plural subject. For instance, the third person singular like it, he or she takes the singular verb with the inflection –s at the end. According to Bernal, Lidz, Milotte, & Christophe (2007, p. 326) the condition for using the third person singular –es/s/ies are complicated due to the fact that learners need to correctly identify relevant contexts for the purpose of number distinction as well as manipulate all the elements that influence number agreement relationship. This could be similar reason why Libyan EFL learners find it difficult to use the third person-s correctly. In English language, it is essential that the subject to be in a certain number and person and the predicament in a particular tense and mood. The fact that it is not easy to explain this rule makes it challenging for the EFL learners to apply it correctly. For the EFL teachers can simply tell the learners that –es/ies/s inflection is applied in the verb immediately after the third person singular, an explanation that may be misleading to the learners. Chan (2007, p. 61) in his study points out that the mentioned is not usually the case. For instance, in the use of questions that starts with ‘does’ it is the inflection-es/-s that precedes the subject while the stem forms follow the relevant subjects, for instance ‘does he play?’ on the other hand, for the third person singular present tense that exhibits itself after modal auxiliary is used, the infinitive form is also applied, for example ‘he can draw’. If the instructor gives an explanation that is wrong or makes statements that are contradictory, the EFL learners are likely to be more confused thus resulting into errors in the use of third person-s. Chan (2007, p. 62) in his study involving Japanese EFL learners in his findings indicated that difficulty in the use of third person-s is because English language has so many rule exceptions apart from the general rule such as the use in negative and question forms. Additionally, the influence of national language and mother tongue which does not need marking of number or person making it challenging for EFL learners to have difficulty in acquiring the third person-s. The findings in Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 112) study support Bernal, Lidz, Milotte, & Christophe (2007, p. 328) who pointed out that the inflection –s in the third person singular gives both EFL learners and teachers difficulty especially in situations whereby the first language does not have any form of verb inflection. Even though EFL learners experience/are aware of its occurrence and the teachers drill them in excess to acquire the same, lack of importance makes it hard for the learners to accept and store them permanently in their memory. This study is of significance to the study on Libyan EFL learners on difficulty they experience in the use of third person-s as lack of the inflection –s in the learners first language may be one of the contributing factors. Hyams (2009, p. 233) in his study on agreement rules, pointed out that difficulty in the use of third person-s can be attributed to misunderstanding of the English agreement rules by EFL learners. Agreement rules in grammar specify that essential forms of grammar cannot be grammatically correct unless other important forms are also present within a sentence. In other words, agreement rules dictate that a form must change to conform to the other. However, Lightbown & Nina (2008, p. 67) indicates that concord in English is not well mastered by EFL learners. This is due to the fact that the manner of establish verbs and subjects are usually confusing for the learners. It is important to point out that the learners may not have full mastery of the mentioned uses unless their familiarity with semantic and syntax rules are improved. The mentioned aspect can be one of the reasons why Libyan EFL learners find difficulty in the use of third person-s. In studying the asymmetry between the past tense and third person singular among the Arab EFL learners, Munson (2007, p. 58) argued that the mentioned could be related tense and morpho-phonological in English. Hyams (2009, p. 236) on the other hand argued that third person is overtly marked making it to be morpho-phonologically poor. Consequently whether –s is morpho-syntactically marked using zero O forms on al other numbers and persons being the unmarked elements as well as indicating lack of agreement with a particular personal subject, whereas the zero signal indicates the opposite. In respect to the aforementioned, Prévost & White (2009, p. 106) argues that EFL learners find the English agreement which is impoverished problematic, but not due to the fact that they find it challenging to establish the agreement relation between the verb and subject. Natural order of morpheme acquisition According to Rvachew, Gaines, Blanchet, & Cloutier (2008, p. 84 ) on the natural order of morpheme acquisition, the third person –s is acquired second last by the learners. Similarly, Sundara, Demuth & Kuhl (2009, p. 76) the order of morpheme acquisition takes into consideration the list of 8 English morphemes; the third person-s is acquired after six other forms of forms have been acquired. The difficulty in the acquisition of the third person-s morpheme therefore lies on fact that it is at far distance from the source of the pronoun or the noun phrase (NP) instead of immediately just after the source. Hence, high percentage of EFL learners produces utterances such as ‘he go or they wants’. While previous studies have been essential in highlighting reasons why EFL learners experiences difficulty in the acquisition of third person-s, there is less regarding the mechanisms involved in the mind of the learners on the same. Effect of cross linguistic experience According to Behjat (2011, p. 10) EFL learners follow the same order in the development of English grammatical morphemes and the third person-s is not an exception. On the other hand, Weist (2002, p. 45) in his study argued that learner’s age, native language and learning background and conditions has no effects on the acquisition of English third person-s. Examining the production of English third person-s by Iranian EFL learners, Behjat (2011, p. 12) points out that English nominal and verbal morphology constructing is a representation of a sequence that is predetermined. A total of 70 Iranian EFL learners were used at different conditions and ages that is university, junior high school and high schools. The selected participants were to select grammatical correct and incorrect sentences. The main aim of the test was to find out whether the English third person-s was used correctly. From the study, it was evident that the Iranian learners experienced difficulties in using the English third person-s correctly. On the study Behjat (2011, p. 35) concluded that the errors made by Iranian EFL learners in the use of third person-s was as a result of cross linguistic experience in acquiring second language as it occurs in the development of other English morphemes. However, Makino (2000, p. 56) argued that errors in the use of third person-s is as a result of natural acquisition and not influence of the first language. Rule application Makino (2000, p. 40) in his study for Japanese EFL learners concluded that the learners made errors by omitting the third person-s in their sentence constructions. He attributed the error to the aspect that the learners simply forget the rule even though they know how to use it. According to Pawlak (2008, p. 78) the students failed to pay attention to –s in the third person. Testing on the addition and selection of the third person-s, Ellis (2005, p. 109) in his study argued that problem related to the same was less problematic as compared to omission of the third person-s. Nonetheless, the errors as a result of selection and addition are produced for the same reason as omission. Due to the fact that the learners failed to pay attention to s in the third person singular, the learners made errors in their sentence constructions. Hence, it can be concluded that learners’ awareness in the correct use of third person-s plays an important role in the production of correct verb in circumstances where simple present tense is used and in particular in situation whereby the third person s is essential. In studying morpheme agreement, Behjat (2011, p. 40) pointed out that morpheme agreement particularly third person-s has little effect on the utterance has they are usually learned late. In using Brazilian Portuguese EFL learners, Sundara, Demuth & Kuhl (2009. P. 78). indicated that the learners in most cases use the third-person morpheme agreement morpheme. Lightbown & Nina (2008, p. 40) however argued that third person-s agreement is an inflected form of English morphemes so that double third person-s marking takes place for polish and Brazilian Portuguese EFL learners. In a study of the use of third person-s, the element of redundancy does not deter learners from using the third person –s marker as some scholars has previously argued. However, pronounce presence that needs the third person marker-s makes EFL learners to correctly use the third person-s as compared to the presence of zero anaphor. Over-generalization of rules In studying Chinese EFL learners in the use of third person-s, Chan (2007, p. 58) noted that concord errors are more common. This is because they are inclined to generalize as well as simplify with an aim of reducing involved linguistic burden. The process of omitting third person-s by Chinese EFL learners is an over-generalization due to the fact that it eliminates the concord necessity, an element that relieves the EFL learners the effort of using the third person-s. due to the fact that in English language all the grammatical person take similar zero verbal ending except the third person-s, the incorrect use of the third person-s is marked by absence of –s at the ending of the verb. Hence, based on this particular study, it can be argued that the omission of the third person –s is as a result of the manner at which Chinese EFL learners store linguistic items and retrieve them later. This can be attributed to the fact that the learners Hyams (2009, p. 255) in his study of the use of third person-s by EFL learners, concluded that learners practice for the use of third person-s for a period of one and half years and this is irrespective of the differences made between learning and acquisition. Just like other researchers, Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 60) concluded that that the morpheme –s in the third person singular is a formal feature that is learnt by EFL learners as well as native speakers of English language. Besides, errors or mistakes the mentioned property is evident through omission of the morpheme-s while writing or speaking. Bernal, Lidz, Milotte & Christophe (2007, p. 70) add that the third person singular is one of the key errors made by Arab EFL learners, hence this current study is of significant based on the aforementioned. Hsieh (2010, p. 178) in his study involving Taiwanese EFL learners on the use of third person-s the findings indicated that EFL learners fail to use the third person-s correctly as a result of overgeneralization. The mentioned can be the reason why Libyan EFL learners find it challenging to use the third person morpheme as compared to other English morphemes. Chan (2007, p. 56) in his study involving Hong Kong EFL learners pointed out that, the learners commit errors in the use of English third person-s as a result of overgeneralization. Using the Richard’s non-contrastive contrastive analysis and error analysis approach, with an aim of finding out why the learners had difficulty with the use of English third person-s, Chan (2007, p.178) concluded that the errors were as a result of influence of the first language. A high percentage of errors involving the use of third person-s were mis-formation errors while mis-ordering errors were less. This means that the EFL learners fail to correctly master the rule involving the use of third person-s. Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 62) concluded that errors involving the use of third person-s are as a result of intra-lingual errors and not inter-lingual ones. Rules complexities in the target language impede EFL learners’ good mastery of particular linguistic forms of the English language. Hence, Chan (2007, p. 56) in his study recommends that EFL teachers and learners should pay great attention to English grammatical rules regarding the use of third person-s. The impact of the first language In the case of EFL learners, scholars have argued whether the third person-s is acquired or learnt in the same natural order as the native speakers do. Researchers such as Hyams (2009, p.240) claim that first language does not impact of the acquisition of English morphemes by EFL learners.EFL learners acquire and learn the English morphemes in the same order as their native counterparts. Munson (2007, p. 59) on his study involving Malaysia EFL learners in the use of third person-s, argued that the learners had difficulty due to the fact that Malay and English language had differences in their verb systems. In Malay language the verbs are affix-ruled while in English language they are tense ruled. Hyams (2009, p. 258) supports Munson (2007) conclusion that English third person-s is the most difficult morpheme for EFL learners to acquire. In another study Weist (2002, p. 79) made an attempt to observe the frequency and nature of the error in the use of third person-s Spanish EFL learners. By using data from different oral texts and using ten subjects, the results indicated that the learners had difficulty in using the pronominal system that had the third person-s and the errors consisted the use of feminine form for masculine ones and vice versa and this was attributed to the impact of the first language. Conclusion From the above literature review, it is evident that EFL learners experience difficulty in acquisition and correct usage of the third person-s. Some of the contributing factors are overgeneralization of the rule that guides the use of the third person-s. EFL learners’ first language is also pointed as one of the reasons that make it challenging for EFL learners to use the third person-s correctly. Complexity of English morphemes and natural order of morpheme acquisition have been pointed as some of the factors that make it difficult for EFL learners to acquire third person s. Even though learners follow the same order in the development of English grammatical morphemes and the third person-s is not an exception, cross linguistic experience impact of the acquisition of the third person-s by EFL learners. Finally rule application in the use of third person-s is pointed out as another contributing factor. In line with the aforementioned reasons by various scholars on the acquisition of third person –s by EFL learners, the current study will investigate if Libyan EFL learners’ difficulty in the acquisition of the morpheme is as result of the mentioned reasons. References Behjat, F. (2011). The acquisition of English grammatical morphemes: a case study of EFL Iranian learners. Islamic Azad University, Abadeh Branch, Iran. Bernal, S., Lidz, J., Milotte, S., & Christophe, A. (2007). Syntax constrains the acquisition of verb meaning. Language Learning and Development, 3, 325–341. Chan, Y. W. (2007). ‘Syntactic transfer: Evidence from the inter-language of Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners’. The Modern language Journal, 88, 56-74. Ellis, R. & Gary, B. (2008). Analyzing Learner Language. New York: Oxford University Press. Ellis, N. C. (2005). At the interface: dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. In Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker (2008) Second language acquisition: an introductory course(3rd ed). New York: Routledge. Hsieh, F. T. (2010). L1 Effects in Taiwanese L2 Learners of English. MA thesis, University of Essex, UK. Hyams, N. (2009). Aspectual effects on interpretation in early grammar. Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 4, 231–268. Lightbown, P, M., & Nina, S. (2008).How Languages are Learned. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Makino, T. (2000). Acquisition order of English morphemes by Japanese secondary school students. In Roger Hawkins (2001). Second language syntax: a generative introduction. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Munson, B. (2007). Variability in /s/ production in children and adults: evidence from dynamic measures of spectral mean. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47, 58–69. Pawlak, M. (2008). The Effect of Corrective Feedback on the Acquisition of the English Third Person -s Ending. In Gabrys-Barker, D. (ed) (2008). Morphosyntactic issues in second language acquisition. Toronto: Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from www.gigapedia.com on 29 August 29, 2012. Prévost, P. & White, L. (2009). ‘Missing surface inflection or impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement’. Second Language Research, 16, 103- 133. Rvachew, S., Gaines, B. R., Blanchet, N., & Cloutier, G. (2008). Productive morphology skills of children with speech delay. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 29, 83–89. Sundara, M., Demuth, K., & Kuhl, P. K. (2009). Sentence position effects on children’s perception and production of third person singular –s. Manuscript submitted for publication. 30, 72-90 Weist. R. M. (2002). Space and time in first and second language acquisition: a tribute to Henning Wode. In Gabrys-Barker, D. (ed) (2008). Morphosyntactic issues in second language acquisition. Toronto: Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from www.gigapedia.com on 28 August 2012. Read More