Abstract
This study examined the value of giving specific input on the use of articles on an undergraduate English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. This topic was chosen as previous cohorts had generated a noticeable amount of errors in their use of articles, and developing written grammatical accuracy was one of the course’s aims. Participants were provided with input on the definite, indefinite and zero articles. This involved providing images of authentic article errors, and catering for the interpersonal learner, with emphasis on student: student interaction. Also, a newspaper article was incorporated to illustrate how grammar works at a textual level, and because research has shown that accuracy in the use of the definite article increases during contextualized tasks exploiting authentic materials learners can relate to. However, the lack of effectiveness of highlighting this grammatical feature is illustrated by the students’ post-input writing, which generated more errors than the pre-input task, pro rata. In the post-input essay, there was one error for every 25 of the noun phrases, the equivalent of an error every 131 words. In comparison, the rate of errors in the pre-input work was one in every 28 of the noun phrases, or an error every 153 words. Therefore, due to the 16.7% increase in post-input errors, in future, I will not focus on this grammatical feature when attempting to improve written accuracy.
Highlights
Research on the effectiveness of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses on students’ language skills has resulted in some academics coming to the conclusion that such courses are effective in improving the accuracy of the participants
This is relevant as accuracy is a requisite of academic writing and correct article usage indicates mastery of the language, and exactness in thought and expression (Miller, 2005), with Master (1997, p.216) claiming that making errors can “suggest imperfect knowledge”, resulting in a belief that the writer has an inadequate grasp of their subject
The aim of this research was to determine whether the provision of input on a salient grammar point, namely articles, as recommended by Ferris (2004), Master (1997) and Pica (2007), resulted in an improvement in written accuracy due to there being fewer errors made post-input, compared to the number of errors made pre-input, and comparing the data with the number of errors made by students on the same course who had not been provided with input on article usage
Summary
Research on the effectiveness of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses on students’ language skills has resulted in some academics coming to the conclusion that such courses are effective in improving the accuracy of the participants. This theory is supported by Thomas’ findings on the zero article’s overgeneralization, or equivalently, the failure to use any article, as being the most common source of errors for learners at all three levels of proficiency; low, mid, and high (1989) They can be so predominant that in the research conducted by Han, et al (2006) on 668 TOEFL essays of native Chinese, Japanese, and Russian speakers, errors were made in one in eight noun phrases, while 12% of 4550 email sentences contained at least one article error (Chodorow, Gamon & Tetreault, 2010). The aim of this research was to determine whether the provision of input on a salient grammar point, namely articles, as recommended by Ferris (2004), Master (1997) and Pica (2007), resulted in an improvement in written accuracy due to there being fewer errors made post-input, compared to the number of errors made pre-input, and comparing the data with the number of errors made by students on the same course who had not been provided with input on article usage
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