L2 ENGLISH ARTICLE SUPPLIANCE AMONG TERTIARY LEVEL STUDENTS: THE IMPACT OF SPECIFICITY

The aim of this paper was to determine the role of specificity in the English article suppliance of L1 Serbian speakers. Its impact on the suppliance of the definite article (the), the indefinite article (a/an), and the zero article (Ɵ) was determined based on a 40-item questionnaire. The items were classified into four groups defined by the combinations of two semantic features: [±specific] and [±definite]. Differences in article suppliance were studied between a group of English and non-English language majors in order to take into account the level of L2 proficiency. The population of L1 Serbian/L2 English speakers was chosen since Serbian is an articleless language and is, unlike English, considered to code specificity. The results indicated statistically significant differences between the participants in terms of correct article suppliance and L2 proficiency in favor of the English language majors. However, no impact of specificity on article suppliance was noted for either group of participants.