Abstract
Contrasted with the more typical English bare noun forms of mass and proper nouns, bare singular count nouns comprise a problematic set for many descriptive grammars and thus for many second language learners. Although article usage is one of the trickiest areas of English as a Second Language (ESL) to master, bare noun phrases, and bare singulars in particular, are less emphasized in the English language classroom, where much of the focus is placed on learning to produce articles, not learning to exclude them. To investigate L2 sensitivity to bare singular forms, the distribution of bare and articulated NPs in corpus data is contrasted, nouns appearing most often without articles are tracked, and a survey of L2 grammaticality judgments by adult learners is gathered. Lastly, the combined results of the corpus and survey data are integrated into a lesson on the syntax and pragmatics of bare singular count nouns that is designed for the ESL classroom.
Highlights
Introduction to bare singular count nounsA perennial problem for learners of English is choosing the correct article form
This paper examines instances where the use of institutional bare singular count nouns (BSCNs) forms can create additional pragmatic implicatures that contrast with the meaning created by articulated forms, an area that we suggest is in need of better mastery for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners
The current paper draws on these traditions to point out a type of article-less noun form that falls through the gaps of many descriptions of English article use, and to show how understanding its functions may contribute to the mastery of the English article system
Summary
A perennial problem for learners of English is choosing the correct article form. Learners must first identify whether a noun is mass or count and decide whether the context requires a definite or indefinite article for the count nouns. Example (1) illustrates the expected use of English count nouns based on traditional prescriptive grammars, where, by definition, English count nouns cannot be used in singular form unless they occur with an article: 1). This paper examines instances where the use of institutional BSCN forms can create additional pragmatic implicatures that contrast with the meaning created by articulated forms, an area that we suggest is in need of better mastery for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. To show that more than just a handful of BSCNs exist, Table 1 lists examples from American English that make up one of the larger semantic subsets—social and geographical places—accounted for by Stvan (2007) These bare-form word types represent the complete attested set of location count nouns collected from naturally occurring English from the 19th to 21st centuries. The current paper draws on these traditions to point out a type of article-less noun form that falls through the gaps of many descriptions of English article use, and to show how understanding its functions may contribute to the mastery of the English article system
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