Libyan EFL Learners' Difficulties in Acquisition of Third Persons - Research Proposal Example

Libyan EFL Learners’ Difficulties in Acquisition of third person (s) Focus of the project This study will investigate how Libyan EFL learners acquire and use English third person (s) and various stages of English morpheme acquisition and the difficulties they experience in the process of acquiring the same. According to Bernal, Lidz, Milotte & Christophe (2007, p. 326) most EFL learners find it challenging to acquire English third person (s) as compared to other English morphemes. The English third person (s) acquisition has been studied from a number of perspectives including context, grammar and even usage (Chan, 2007, p. 57). The English third person (s) has also been analysed in the case of Japanese and Chinese EFL learners (Sundara, Demuth, & Kuhl, 2009, p. 73). Additionally, there is lack of research on Libyan EFL learners on the acquisition of the English third person (s).The aforementioned therefore provides an efficient justification for this particular study which will investigate how Libyan EFL learners acquire and use English third person (s) and various stages of English morpheme acquisition. Therefore this study will focus on the problems faced by Libyan EFL learners in the use of third person-s. Purpose of the study According to Rvachew, Gaines, Blanchet & Cloutier, (2008, p. 87) it is evident that EFL learners in most cases fail to mark the third person –s regardless of their proficiency level. The aforementioned deficiency is evident in both spoken and written language. However, no study has been conducted on the topic Libyan EFL student’s difficulties in acquisition of third person (s). However, according to Lightbown, P, M., & Nina, S. (2008, p. 56) just like any other EFL learner, Libyan EFL learners too experience difficulty in acquisition and correct usage of the third person-s. Therefore, there is need to come up with effective strategies that will successfully address the problem. This research will conduct the study and come up with recommendations for addressing the problem. This study is purposed to investigate Libyan EFL student’s difficulties in acquisition of third person (s) in reference to EFL learners from Tripoli High Centre. Aim of the research The aim of this study is to find reasons why Libyan EFL learners experience difficulty in acquiring and using English third person-s. Outline of the literature review This section will highlight the importance of previous literature on this particular research. The previous studies will set the foundation for the study on difficulties experienced by Libyan EFL learners in the acquisition of third person-s. The identified literature reviews will further identify the gaps that need to be filled by the current study. Some of the previous literature reviews will be used to form the questions as well as the methodology to be adopted for this particular study. The milestone will be to relate the existing previous studies with the current study. This exercise will take a period of one month to complete. According to Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 145) there is a contrast in the manner in which an individual acquires first and second language. However after the critical period it is more challenging for one to acquire second language easily (Rvachew, Gaines, Blanchet & Cloutier, 2008, p. 86). This reason can be linked to why Libyan EFL learners find it hard to acquire English third person (s). Hence, providing an explanation between the first and second language acquisition process are essential in understanding the ability of human beings to acquire and use language and more specifically English morphemes which have proven to be a problem to EFL learners (Hsieh, 2010, p. 46). Researches have indicated that different studies mainly analyze the elements, characteristics and issues of the second language acquisition through distinct demographics and contexts (Munson, 2007, p. 59). The focus in some circumstances is on language, level of learning, age and even country of origin. The mentioned provides the focus of the current study which English third person (s) is one of the morphemes in English. The order of acquiring English morphemes is also different. According to Hyams (2009, p. 235) morphemes are easy to acquire than others. Additionally, difficulty in acquisition of English third person (s) can be associated with intralingua errors while others are inter-lingual. Lightbown & Nina (2008, p. 135) add that EFL learners whose first language lacks the third person (s) tend to follow the accuracy order: zero omitting the third person (s) where it should be. A high percentage of EFL learners claim that acquisition and usage of English third person (s) is one of the most difficult English morphemes to learn while studying English as a second/foreign language. The question is does Libyan EFL learners experience difficulty in acquiring other forms of English morphemes of just third person-s. Munson (2007, p. 62) in his study involving Japanese EFL learners in his findings indicated that difficulty in the use of third person-s is because English language has so many rule exceptions apart from the general rule such as the use in negative and question forms. Additionally, the influence of national language and mother tongue which does not need marking of number or person making it challenging for EFL learners to have difficulty in acquiring the third person-s. the findings in Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 172) study support Munson (2007, p. 62) who pointed out that the inflection –s in the third person singular gives both EFL learners and teachers difficulty especially in situations whereby the first language does not have any form of verb inflection. Even though EFL learners experience/are aware of its occurrence and the teachers drill them in excess to acquire the same, lack of importance makes it hard for the learners to accept and store them permanently in their memory. This study is of significance to the study on Libyan EFL learners on difficulty they experience in the use of third person-s as lack of the inflection –s in the learners first language may be one of the contributing factors. Hence, the mentioned study will be helpful in discovering whether Arabic language is a contributing factor in the difficulty experienced by Libyan EFL learners in acquiring and using the English third person-s. According to Hyams (2009, p. 240) on the natural order of morpheme acquisition, the third person –s is acquired second last by the learners. Similarly, Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 148) the order of morpheme acquisition takes into consideration the list of 8 English morphemes; the third person-s is acquired after six other forms of forms have been acquired. The difficulty in the acquisition of the third person-s morpheme therefore lies on fact that it is at far distance from the source of the pronoun or the noun phrase (NP) instead of immediately just after the source. Hence, high percentage of EFL learners produces utterances such as ‘he go or they wants’. This study will be helpful in discovering whether Libyan EFL learners also follow the same order in acquiring English morphemes and whether While previous studies have been essential in highlighting reasons why EFL learners experiences difficulty in the acquisition of third person-s, there is less regarding the mechanisms involved in the mind of the learners on the same. This sets the background for the study on difficulties experienced by Libyan EFL learners in the acquisition of third person-s. According to Hsieh (2010, p. 114) Taiwanese EFL learners follow the same order in the development of English grammatical morphemes and the third person-s is not an exception. Hyams (2009, p. 246) in his study argued that learner’s age, native language and learning background and conditions has no effects on the acquisition of English third person-s. Examining the production of English third person-s by Iranian EFL learners, Sundara, Demuth & Kuhl (2009, p. 90) point out that English nominal and verbal morphology constructing is a representation of a sequence that is predetermined. A total of 70 Iranian EFL learners were used at different conditions and ages that is university, junior high school and high schools. The selected participants were to select grammatical correct and incorrect sentences. The main aim of the test was to find out whether the English third person-s was used correctly. From the study, it was evident that the Iranian learners experienced difficulties in using the English third person-s correctly. The methodology used in the aforementioned study can be used in the previous study to investigate reasons why Libyan EFL learners experience difficulty in acquiring third person-s. On the study Chan (2007, p. 67) concluded that the errors made by Iranian EFL learners in the use of third person-s was as a result of cross linguistic experience in acquiring second language as it occurs in the development of other English morphemes. However, Ellis & Gary (2008, p. 46). argued that errors in the use of third person-s is as a result of natural acquisition and not influence of the first language. The current study will establish whether Libyan EFL learners’ difficulty is as a result of natural acquisition and not influence of Arabic language. The outcome of the research The expected outcome is that Libyan EFL learners experience difficulty in the use of third person-s as a result of numerous factors which include: The influence of the first language Complexity of English morphemes The natural order of acquisition In conclusion, the mentioned previous studies will not only be essential in setting background for the current study but also assisting in coming up with the research questions and statement problem for the study. References Bernal, S., Lidz, J., Milotte, S., & Christophe, A. (2007). Syntax constrains the acquisition of verb meaning. Language Learning and Development, 3, 325–341. Chan, Y. W. (2007). ‘Syntactic transfer: Evidence from the inter-language of Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners’. The Modern language Journal, 88, 56-74. Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ellis, R. & Gary, B. (2008). Analyzing Learner Language. New York: Oxford University Press. Hsieh, F. T. (2010). L1 Effects in Taiwanese L2 Learners of English. MA thesis, University of Essex, UK. Hyams, N. (2009). Aspectual effects on interpretation in early grammar. Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 4, 231–268. Lightbown, P, M., & Nina, S. (2008).How Languages are Learned. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Munson, B. (2007). Variability in /s/ production in children and adults: evidence from dynamic measures of spectral mean. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47, 58–69. Prévost, P. & White, L. (2009). ‘Missing surface inflection or impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement’. Second Language Research, 16, 103- 133. Rvachew, S., Gaines, B. R., Blanchet, N., & Cloutier, G. (2008). Productive morphology skills of children with speech delay. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 29, 83–89. Sundara, M., Demuth, K., & Kuhl, P. K. (2009). Sentence position effects on children’s perception and production of third person singular –s. Manuscript submitted for publication. 30, 72-90 Read More