Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.

org
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
Vol.7, No.3, 2016

Mother-Tongue Interference in the Acquisition of English Articles

Abstract
Native speakers of Arabic face a number of problems in their attempt to acquire the English language. One of
these problems is encountered in their attempt to use English articles. According to earlier studies, learning
English articles by students whose mother-tongue is Arabic is one of the most frequent and significant
difficulties Arab learners of English come across. This paper supports and highlights such findings. Arab
learners of English encounter difficulties in their use of the English articles because of the differences between
the article systems in both languages. The Arabic language has an article system that functions differently, the
notion of definiteness and indefiniteness are encoded differently than in that of the English language. Given the
fact that articles are one of the most frequent words used in the English language, this paper has aimed to pin
down such an important issue. The aim of this paper is to pinpoint previous researchers' findings regarding
English articles. This is done by illustrating how the differences between the Arabic and English languages in
concern to the article system cause Arab learners of English to make mistakes or even errors in their English
learning process.
Keywords: English expression, Mother-tongue, Arab learners

1. Introduction
Learners of English, despite their different backgrounds, face difficulties when it comes to learning English as a
second or foreign language. Nonetheless, it is found that native speakers of English encounter shared difficulties
when it comes to using English articles. This is found to be so because of the nature of the Arabic article systems
and its influence on Arabic English learners. It is found that the cause of such problematic issues is due to
mother-tongue interference. Mother-tongue interference means the effect of the learners' native language on
second/foreign language learning. Therefore, it is found that the Arabic language interferes with Arab learners of
the English language, especially when it comes to using English articles. Due to the differences between the
Arabic and English article system such problems arise. This paper, lists these problems, discusses, explains and
analyzes them.

2. Literature Review
Mother-tongue refers to one's native language or parent language. ("mother tongue," 2015). Mother-tongue
interference refers to the influence of the native language of the learner on her/his acquisition of the target
language. What we mean by the target language is the language the learner is aiming to learn (L2). ("Contrastive
analysis," 2015).
When teaching English as a second language, problems of mother-tongue interference arise. One of
these problems is mother-tongue interference in Arabic-native speakers' acquisition of the English articles.
Contrastive analysis is concerned with the study of a pair of languages with the aim of discovering their
structural similarities and differences. Contrastive Analysis is a method that was widely used in the 1960s and
early 1970s to explain why some features of a target language were more difficult to learn than others. (Mozlan,
2015)
Contrastive analysis is used to explain why certain features in second language acquisition are more
difficult to learn than others. This method is based on the idea that the more difference between the learners'
mother-tongue and the target language, the more difficulty the learner will face in acquiring these structures or
items. ("Contrastive analysis," 2015).
The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) is based on the claim that the difficulty of second language
acquisition could be discovered or foretold depending on the degree of difference between the learners first and
second language. However, there are certain problems with this hypothesis. One problem, for instance, is that
this hypothesis does not predict many of the errors the learner makes in second language acquisition. Another
problem is that this hypothesis predicts interference errors where none would arise. (Eric, 2008)
According to Lado's Linguistics across Cultures (1957) those items of a target language that are similar
to the learners first language will be easy for her/him to learn. And, those items of a target language that are
different than the learners first language will be difficult for the learner to acquire. This is what the Contrastive
Analysis Hypothesis suggests. (Mozlan, 2015)
The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) comes in two versions the strong version and the weak
version. The strong version suggests that the number of errors a learner of a target language will face could be

1
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
Vol.7, No.3, 2016

equated to the degree of difference between the learners L1 and L2. The weak version suggests that errors a
leaner of a target language faces depends on the degree of interference a learner faces. ("Contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis,", 2015)
Arab learners of English tend to make errors when they try to use the article system in ESL/EFL. These
errors, as mentioned before, are attributed to the difference between the two article systems in both Arabic
language and the English language. I.e., these errors are made due to the interference of the learners' mother-
tongue (Arabic) on the learners target language (English). Interference of the mother-tongue is also known as
"Transfer". Transfer is defined as the effect of the learners first language upon the learners target language. It is
important to mention, though, that there are two types of transfer, in language learning. According to Sabbah
(2015, p. 271) "Transfer can be of two types: positive transfer and negative transfer. The positive transfer refers to
the process of using rules from L1 which facilitates or has a positive influence on learning L2. This transfer is
mostly due to similarities between L1 and L2. In contrast, negative transfer is the transfer of rules from L1 which
impedes or has harmful influence on the command of rules of L2. This is due to differences between L1 and L2".
The cause of errors can be explained by referring to language theories and learning theories. Among
these theories are the Contrastive Analysis Theory and the Error Analysis Theory. As declared earlier, the
Contrastive Analysis Theory is used to explain learners' errors. Contrastive Analysis studies the similarities and
differences between two languages or more. It asserts the claim that learners will tend to depend on and refer
back to their native language when they encounter target language items that greatly differ with their mother-
tongue. The other theory that is used to explain learners errors is "Error Analysis", which studies learners errors
in the target language with the aim of recognizing the reasons behind such errors and their causes.

3. Results
According to previous research, learning English articles by students whose mother-tongue is Arabic is asserted
to the significance of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. This paper supports and highlights such findings.
Due to the difference between the Arabic article system and the English article system, many Arab learners of
English encounter difficulties while trying to learn the correct use of articles in English language. The difficulty
in learning English articles if faced by L2 English learners whose native language has no article system or whose
native language has an article system that functions differently. According to the Arabic language, the notion of
definiteness and indefiniteness are encoded differently than English. The English language system uses the
definite article "the", the indefinite articles "a"/ "an", and the zero article "Ø". While the Arabic language uses
the definite article "al" which is used in a superficially similar way to the English definite article. That is because
the Arabic language encodes the notions of definiteness and indefiniteness in a different way than that of the
English language. In the Arabic language, the definite article is "al"/ " ‫" ال‬. Whereas, the definite article has no
equivalence in the Arabic language. I.e., there is no indefinite article in Arabic. Furthermore, because of the
uniqueness of the English article system, Arabic L1 learners of the English language face significant difficulties
in learning the English article system all over the world. Given the fact that articles are one of the most frequent
words used in the English language, this paper has aimed to discuss such an important matter. (Hassan, 2011, p.
3)
The aim of this paper is to pinpoint previous researchers' findings regarding English articles clarifying
how the differences between the Arabic and English languages in concern to the article system cause Arab
learners of English to make mistakes or even errors in their English learning process. These mistakes or errors
are unconsciously or involuntarily made by Arab learners of English due to the differences between the article
system in the two languages.
It should be recalled, here, that mistakes and errors are unalike according to Ellis, Corder and Brown
among others (as cited in Sabbah, 2015, p.270). Mistakes are considered slips of the tongue and can be self
corrected. Mistakes are made due to lapses in the learners performance. Whereas, errors are deeper. They are
made because of ignorance of the correct rule or structure, are made repeatedly and cannot be recognized by the
learner of the target language. I.e., errors cannot be self-corrected, as in the case of mistakes. Errors are problems
in the learners knowledge of the target language and only teachers can recognize them, not the learner
herself/himself. Mistakes are lapses in the learners performance. As for errors, they are gaps in the learners
competence or knowledge. (Sabbah, 2015, p. 270)

4. Discussion
Arab learners of English tend to make noticeable errors when encountering articles in English. Arab EFL/ESL
learners tend to misuse articles in English. According to Diab (as cited by Sabbah, 2015, p. 273) Arabic speaking
learners of English tend to make three types of errors when using the English articles. The first error is the
omission of the definite article. For example, "School library is open" instead of "The school library is open" due
to the interference of the Arabic language "DEFGHI DJ‫ر‬LMN‫ ا‬DPGQI " , where there is no use of the definite article.
Instead zero article is used. In the previous sentence, the definite article should have been used but is not because

2
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
Vol.7, No.3, 2016

it is not used in Arabic. The second error Arab learners make when facing English articles is the Omission of the
indefinite article "a". For example, the Arab learner of English would say "My sister works in hospital" instead
of "my sister works in a hospital". In such a sentence, the learner would drop the indefinite article "a" and not
use it maybe because such an article does not exist in the learners mother-tongue (Arabic). Wherein, the Arabic
translation of such a sentence is " RHSGTI UV UGW‫ أ‬YMZ[" . The third error Arab learners make when using English
articles is the wrong insertion of the definite article "the" in front of nouns, which are not usually preceded by
"the".
Such an error is made because in the Arabic language such a noun would be preceded by the definite
article "the". For instance, the definite article "the" in Arabic would be used in nouns referring to names of
diseases, names of places, names of days and also in many idiomatic expressions. For example, "I live in the
Bahrain" instead of "I live in Bahrain". In this sentence, the definite article "the " is incorrectly inserted before
the noun "Bahrain" because the equivalent sentence in Arabic does so. As in the translated sentence UV \QJ‫"أ^] أ‬
"\_`aPN‫ا‬. Another example is the sentence "My friend studies the Arabic", where the definite article "the" is
inserted before the noun "Arabic" because it is done so in the Arabic translation of the sentence, as in ‫رس‬L["
"Dcd`ZN‫ ا‬UGe_Lf. (Sabbah, 2015, p.273)
Making mistakes and errors when learning a new language is something inevitable. However, teachers
should not discourage students by correcting every single error. It is also needed that teachers highlight common
errors learners of a target language make in their learning process. It is suggested, here, that teachers correct
frequent errors made by students and not frustrate students by correcting every single error. Mistakes and errors
should lead to improvement, progress and not lead to frustration. As well, teachers should learn how and when to
correct these errors. Also, the suggestion, here, to teachers of second and foreign language classrooms is to show
respect to students' native language. It is also needed that teachers highlight to Arab learners of English the areas
where the native language would be a source of error, if the teacher was knowledgeable of the learners native
language. If not, teachers could ask their Arabic L1 speaking students how a rule is used in their native language.
(Sabbah, 2015, p. 273).

5. Methods
A qualitative approach is being followed in this paper. Through the study of previous case studies, accomplished
researches, and pre-existing tests and questionnaires, a thorough analysis of data is reached. As such, this paper
depends on the study and analysis of pre-existing data. Through the comparison between Arabic and English
article systems certain cases are observed also.

6. Conclusions
This paper concludes that learning English articles by students whose mother-tongue is Arabic emphasizes the
importance of Contrastive Analysis. This is due to the fact that Arabic L1 speakers encounter huge difficulty
while attempting to use English articles. The source of such difficulty is based on the degree of difference
between the Arabic article system and the English article system.
The difficulty in learning English articles by Arabic L1 speakers is because their native language has
an article system that functions differently. Thus, it is concluded here that teachers of English to L1 Arabic
speakers should take such matters into consideration and attempt to clarify areas of expected difficulty with
regard to the learners first language.
This, in turn should help learners overcome such problems and lead to better target language acquisition.

References
Al-Lami, M. (2006) "Assessing EFL Students' Cultural Awareness of the English Language,'' Dissertation Univ.
of Baghdad, 1-25.
Contrastive Analysis. (June 17, 2015). Wikipedia. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrastive_analysis
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH). Retrieved from csuni.edu website
https://www.csun.edu/~ghagopian/Documents/CAHContrastiveAnalysisHypotheses.pdf
Eric. (April 23, 2008). Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://embruner.blogspot.com/2008/04/contrastive-analysis-hypothesis.html.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyms, N. (2003). An Introduction to Language. United States: Heinle Thomson
Corporation.
Hassan, M. (2011). Acquisition of English Articles by L1 Arabic Speakers. Universiti Putra Malaysia, 1-214
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/20076/1/FBMK_2011_24_ir.pdf
Hudson, R.A. (1556). Sociolinguistics. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press.
Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics Across Cultures. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Mazlan, A. (2015). Contrastive Analysis Theory. Sribd.com. Retrieved from

3
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
Vol.7, No.3, 2016

http://ar.scribd.com/doc/129396815/Contrastive-Analysis-Theory#
Mother Tongue. (2015). The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mother+tongue
Sabbah, S. (2015). Negative Transfer: Arabic Language Interference to English Learning. Arab World English
Journal, 4, 269-288
http://www.academia.edu/12680728/Negative_Transfer_Arabic_Language_Interference_to_Learning_English
Yule, G. (2006). The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.