The Role of Semantic Features in the Acquisition of English Articles by Russian and Korean Speakers

This chapter is concerned with the two semantic features that determine the choice of definite article the or indefinite article a in the English DP, namely, [+/definite] and [±specific]. It investigates how these two features are acquired by adult Russian and Korean speakers, two articleless languages. The chapter shows that English operates on a [±definite] basis rather than on a [±specific] basis. It hypothesizes that the will be overused in wide-scope indefinite contexts and a in narrow-scope definite contexts. It also hypothesizes that article omission will occur mainly in singular [-definite] contexts because the indefinite article is less informative. Both of these hypotheses are supported by the data. The reported results suggest that some learners do not permanently settle on the English option (where contrast is organized around Definiteness) but rather shift back and forth between it and a system organized around Specificity.