Comparing L1 and L2 Transfer Effects in Definite Article Usage by Heritage and Second Language Learners of Standard Arabic

Authors

  • Abdulkafi Albirini Utah State University

Abstract

This study examined the influence of Colloquial Arabic (CA) and English on the use of the definite article by heritage and L2 learners of Standard Arabic (SA). It also investigated the role of typological proximity in language transfer and whether transfer effects change over time. The study involved 149 participants: 73 L2 learners of SA, 61 heritage learners of SA, and 15 native-speaker controls. The participants were from elementary, intermediate and advanced SA courses. The participants completed a fill-in-the-blank task and a translation task. The results indicate that CA plays a facilitative role in heritage learners’ use of the definite article. However, English plays both a facilitative and a non-facilitative role for both heritage and L2 learners of SA. In general, typological proximity seems to play a positive role in the use of the definite article in SA. Negative transfer, irrespective of typological proximity, becomes less visible as heritage and L2 learners advance in their study of SA.

Author Biography

Abdulkafi Albirini, Utah State University

Abdulkafi Albirini is a Professor of Linguistics and Arabic Language Acquisition at Utah State University, where he teaches Linguistics, oversees the Arabic program, and serves as co-director of the MSLT program. Dr. Albirini received two doctoral degrees, one in Linguistics (University of Illinois, 2010) and another in Technologies of Instruction and Media (The Ohio State University, 2004). His research interests are in first, second, and heritage language acquisition, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics. He is author of Modern Language Sociolinguistics (Routledge, 2016), Teachers' attitudes to ICT implementation in schools (Verlag publishing, 2009), and many articles on language acquisition, bilingualism, language and cognition, and Arabic sociolinguistics.

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Additional Files

Published

12/31/2022

How to Cite

Albirini, A. (2022). Comparing L1 and L2 Transfer Effects in Definite Article Usage by Heritage and Second Language Learners of Standard Arabic. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 96–141. Retrieved from https://arjals.com/ajal/article/view/365

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): Mainstreaming Arabic Second Language Acquisition Research

Section

New Articles

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