Acquisition of EFL Grammar: evidence from language production

One of the most difficult aspects of English grammar for L2 learners is the acquisition of the article system. English article system expresses a semantic notion of definiteness/indefiniteness. Accordingly, there are the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an. However, some other semantic notions influence the acquisition of English articles by L2 learners. There are also evident fluctuations of article use in interlanguages. The acquisition of the article system is also influenced by the L1 of English L2 learners. Thus, there are differences between learners whose L1s have articles and those learners whose L1s lack articles. In Croatian, which is a language without articles, the notion of definiteness/indefiniteness is expressed with some other linguistic means, so the linguistic concept of articles has often been creating difficulties for Croatian L1 learners of the English as a second language. The acquisition of English article system by Croatian L1 learners represents, therefore, an interesting topic for SLA research. This paper inspects an appropriate and inappropriate use of English articles in language production of four Croatian L1 learners from a qualitative point of view