Investigating the acquisition of articles by Kiswahili learners of EFL

This study investigates the acquisition of English articles by Kiswahili learners of EFL. In particular it investigates the order of acquiring a/an, the, and 0. Also it examines semantic areas of difficulty for (1983 se the learners. It is grounded on Huebner's ) mantic model for Noun Phrase reference. The model suggests that articles can semantically be used in generic, referential definite, first mention, and non-referential contexts. In addition, the present study has employed idiomatic uses of articles as a fifth context. The participants in the study were 92 0-level students, native speakers of Kiswahili, who were introduced to English in standard three in Tanzanian public primary schools. The data for the study were collected using a fill-in-the-blank test which had 75 relevant tokens. In particular, each semantic context had 15 tokens, so the total of 75 tokens. The theoretical framework shows each of the five semantic contexts. The results indicated that the students demonstrated earlier mastery of a/an than of the, and they all underused 0. Besides, in relation to the acquisition of English articles, the data revealed the interplay of the following processes: Transfer, Fluctuation, U-shaped learning, Flooding, and Underuse of 0. Also the generic and idiomatic contexts challenged the students. As a consequence, the study recommends that teachers of English in Tanzania take account of English cultural aspects while teaching the language. This may help Kiswahili learners of EFL in the acquisition of English articles.