In this study, I examine the errors of the English articles frequently made by Korean high school students and the process in which the proper uses of English articles are learned. On the basis of the analysis, I emphasize the necessity of article ed...
In this study, I examine the errors of the English articles frequently made by Korean high school students and the process in which the proper uses of English articles are learned. On the basis of the analysis, I emphasize the necessity of article education and of creating an effective article learning method. In the previous study, the usage of the English articles was investigated and compared to the Korean language, which does not have an article system. In addition, we examined the article errors and article acquisition patterns commonly made by speakers whose native language lacked an article in their mother tongue. For the purpose of this study I had 14 high school students in Gwangju participated in the experiment in which it was investigated whether the participants' English grades, English interest, and English learning period had an effect on the acquisition of articles, and whether there was a difference in acquisition for each article type. Moreover, in this study, the usage of articles was classified into 3 for the indefinite articles and into 4 for the definite articles to find out which area of the article usage was more difficult for the participants. The statistical data was analyzed by a logistic regression in a mixed effect model, using R. The acquisition of articles was positively related to grades. Not only the grades but also the learning period and interest in English had significant effects on the acquisition of English articles. However, the difference in the proficiency of the types of article did not show a significant interaction with English grades, English interest, and English learning period. The only exception was for English learners with a short learning period of less than 3 years. Their correction rate in the indefinite article was slightly higher than that of the definite article. This is due to the fact that learn the indefinite article first in the premature and intermediate states of their language learning. The type of usage that students understood well was to describe a class of things or people, which is also accounted for by the fact that it is the most basic and first usage. This study suggests that it is necessary to devise a teaching-learning method for articles that matches the interests and English levels of high school students.