University of Groningen Vietnamese
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Groningen Vietnamese learners mastering english articles Thu, Huong Nguyen; Huong, N.T. IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2005 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Thu, H. N., & Huong, N. T. (2005). Vietnamese learners mastering english articles. s.n. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 24-09-2021 VIETNAMESE LEARNERS MASTERING ENGLISH ARTICLES Huong Nguyen Thu (c) 2005. GION, Gronings Instituut voor onderzoek van onderwijs, opvoeding en ontwikkeling No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without written permission of the Director of the Institute. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd en/of openbaar gemaakt door middel van druk, fotokopie, microfilm of op welke andere wijze dan ook zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de Directeur van het Instituut. RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN VIETNAMESE LEARNERS MASTERING ENGLISH ARTICLES Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Psychologische, Pedagogische en Sociologische Wetenschappen aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr. F. Zwarts in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 23 mei 2005 om 14.45 uur door Huong Nguyen Thu geboren op 30 augustus 1957 te Phnom-Penh Promotor : Prof. Dr. B.P.M. Creemers Copromotores : Dr. M. H. Verspoor Dr. H. Guldemond Beoordelingscommissie: Prof. Dr. C.L.J. de Bot Prof. Dr. M.P.C. van der Werf Prof. Dr. A. Verhagen ISBN: 90-6690-602-2 Table of contents Acknowledgements v 1 Introduction 1 2 English Articles: A Problem for Vietnamese Learners? 7 Data collection 8 Data analysis and results 9 Discussion 18 Implications 20 3 The Meaning of Articles 23 Defining definiteness 24 Notions to define definiteness 25 Uniqueness and existentiality 25 Familiarity 29 Identifiability and locability 32 Inclusiveness 37 Specificity and referentiality 39 Definiteness in cognitive grammar 45 Concluding definiteness 48 Genericity 48 Generic a 51 Generic the 54 Generic zero 57 Concluding genericity 62 Contents Conclusion definiteness and genericity 63 4 Using articles 65 Types of articles 65 Classes of nouns 69 Usage contexts 75 Quirk et al’s classification 76 Langacker’s classification 80 Classification of the article environments 84 5 Article interlanguage in Vietnamese students of English as a foreign language 91 Acquisition of the English articles by L2 learners 91 The determiners in Vietnamese 98 Một 101 Zero article and Null article 102 Những / Các 105 Cái 107 Demonstratives 108 An error analysis 113 Method 113 Hypotheses, Results and Discussion 117 Conclusion 132 6 Approaches to teaching the English article 135 Pedagogical suggestions on teaching English articles 136 Student textbooks and the English articles 142 Usage content and organization 143 Contents Patterns of article usage presentation 144 Sequencing 145 Rule descriptions and presentation 145 English article usage: a cognitive grammar approach 149 General principles 150 Elements of the approach 159 7 Comparing cognitive grammar and traditional grammar in the acquisition of the English article system in 163 Vietnamese students: some results Method 164 Subjects 164 Materials 164 Design and procedures 169 Analyses 171 Results 173 Conclusion 177 8 Conclusion 179 Summary of the findings 179 Limitations 185 Implications and additional research 186 Appendices 189 Bibliography 279 Dutch summary 285 Contents Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge those people who created favourable conditions for my PhD research. My thanks first goes to Prof. Dr. Le Quang Minh, Prof. Dr. Tran Phuoc Duong, Prof. Dr. Tran Thuong Tuan, Prof. Dr. Le Phuoc Loc, Mr. Chau Van Luc at Cantho University, who supported me in the application for the PhD research at the University of Groningen. Similarly, my deep appreciation goes to Madeleine Gardeur, Head of the International Bureau at the University of Groningen (RUG), for her invaluable advice and spiritual support throughout the application process and stages of my research. Besides, I would like to thank the Erik Bleumink Fund Committee of the University of Groningen for awarding me a fellowship to complete the research. I also appreciate the assistance from Gonny Lakerveld, Wiebe Zijlstra, Erik Haarbrink, Anita Veltmaat, Hans Schoenmakers, Hans Biemans, Gert Gritter at the International Bureau, University of Groningen, for all things related to ‘practicalities.’ I would like to express my thanks to the people at the Administration and Personnel Department at Cantho University for their support in the process of my research. I also would like to acknowledge my supervisors for their invaluable feedback and support. My thanks goes to Prof. Dr. Bert Creemers, Dean of the Faculty of Education, Psychology, and Social Sciences, who gave me insight into “seeing the house instead of focusing on a tree in front of the Acknowledgments v house.” In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Marjolijn Verspoor at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, for her daily feedback on my thesis and for her patience on my process of reaching ‘enlightenment.’ My thanks also goes to Dr. Henk Guldemond, Educational Research Institute (GION), University of Groningen who assisted me in designing the matrix for collecting data in the exploratory study and who shared my daily turbulences. My colleagues in Vietnam are also those that I would like to acknowledge. First, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, Nguyen Hong Dao, Lam My Tien, To Nguyen Phuong Loan, Tran Anh Thong, at University of An giang for their support in assisting me collecting data in An giang. I also gratefully acknowledge Dr. Tran Thanh Ai, Truong Vo Dung, Nguyen Hoang Vinh, Truong Kim Ngan, Nguyen Thi Thuy, Dinh Xuan Mai, Huynh Trong Nghia, Tran Mai Hien, Diep Phi Yen, Pham Thu Nga, Duong thi Duyen, Luong Le Thuc Trinh, Le Cong Tuan, Tran Van Minh, Le Ngoc Thuy, and Truong Kim Phuong, at Cantho University, for helping me in collecting and processing the data in Cantho. I especially thank Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Prof. Dr. Le Phuoc Loc, Dr. Huynh Cong Tin, and Le Lam, at Cantho University, for their helpful feedback on my survey of Vietnamese determiners. I cannot forget my colleague Huynh Trung Tin for providing me with invaluable documents regarding Vietnamese linguistics. In addition, I offer a special vote of thanks to my colleagues, who are too numerous to name, at the English Department of Cantho University, for their encouragement and assistance in taking care of my teaching load while I was away. Acknowledgments vi I also would like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends in Groningen who directly or indirectly contributed to my thesis. These people include Angeliek van Hout, Hans Jansen, Wander Lowie, Geart van de Meer, Sybrine Bultena, Nynke Borst, Pieter de Boele van Hensbroek, Ingrid van der Werff, Jantje van der Ploeg, Le Thi Nguyet Chau, Vo Thi Thanh Loc, Pham Van Beo, Nguwen Thi Hien, Pham Thi Thu Tra, Truong Dong Loc, Luu Thanh Duc Hai, Doan Nhu Bich, Ji Bin, and David Gardeur. My two ‘paranimfen’1 are those I would like to say thanks, too. They are Hillie Veneman and Miranda Lubbers. My deep gratitude also goes to Geert Joosten, University Council President, RUG, for his invaluable support for my ‘vision of life.’ I also owe my thanks to Nguyen Ngoc Lan, Plantation Community College in Florida, who introduced me to some American friends, who in turn provided me with native judgments on the tests used in the research. My special thanks will go to Le Huu Nghiem, my blood brother, who helped to design the cover of this book. I sincerely appreciate the helpful comments from the senior researchers and my fellow PhD-students at the Educational Research Institute (GION), Faculty of Education, Psychology, and Social Sciences (PPSW), RUG. My special thanks goes to Prof. Dr. Roel Bosker, Director of GION, for his generous assistance throughout the different stages of my research. Finally, I want to warmly acknowledge my mother and mother-in- law, my wife, Nguyen Truong Thi Tuan Anh, and my daughters, Nguyen 1 These are those who accompanied and assisted me in my PhD-dissertation defence. Acknowledgments vii Thu Nha Trang and Nguyen Thu Quynh Trang, for their patience while I was away from home. Without their loving support, the whole thesis would have been impossible. Acknowledgments viii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The research presented in this book attempts to find a solution for improving Vietnamese learners’ performance in using English articles. English articles are ‘little words’ and within current teaching approaches that rely heavily on communication, they receive relatively little attention. However, English articles occur very frequently and incorrect use may affect communication negatively. Also an L2 writer may prefer to be accurate, especially if s/he is to write professionally. The English articles, the, a, and zero, are the most commonly used words in English. In the COBUILD (Collins Birmingham University International Language Database) list of the ten most frequent words in English (Sinclair, 1991), the ranks first in the corpus of 20 million words and a the fifth (Table 1).