Common errors in the use of english articles by vietnamese third year english major students at an giang university submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of te

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES   PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES BY VIETNAMESE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor Assoc Prof., PhD ĐINH ĐIỀN HO CHI MINH CITY, 2010 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES BY VIETNAMESE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY in terms of the statement of Requirements for theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, 2010 PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, 2010 PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to a number of people for helping to make this MA thesis possible First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Associate Professor Dr Dinh Dien for his insightful comments, invaluable suggestions and a great encouragement during the process I conducted the thesis I would also like to express my special thanks to Dr To Minh Thanh, my teacher at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, for her useful suggestions on my thesis proposal Next, my appreciation is also extended to the Vietnamese teachers and students who participated in my study Their help is highly appreciated I would also like to thank the English Department of An Giang University for providing the most favorable conditions which made my study possible Last but not least, I would like to thank my family and friends for their great support and willing assistance in completing this work ABSTRACT This study was intended to investigate common errors in the use of English articles made by the third-year English major students at An Giang University in order to enhance the effectiveness of EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam in general and teaching and learning English article system in particular The participants in the study consisted of 44 third-year English major students at An Giang University The data were collected via writing essays which aimed to identify common article errors, determine the frequency of the article errors in comparison with other types of errors A fill-in-the-blank test was also employed to get more information about the particular types of article errors made and explain the reasons which the students finally arrived at their choices of articles In addition, a pretest-posttest comparison group design was conducted to confirm the effectiveness of using corpus-based analysis in helping students overcome their problems of acquiring the English articles Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to answer three research questions concerning three areas: (1) common article errors in the writing essays made by the Vietnamese thirdyear English-major students at AGU, (2) difficulties of acquiring the semantic notions of the English articles, and (3) the effectiveness of applying corpus-based analysis in helping students overcome their problems The findings showed that the English majors made different types of errors and among them the English articles were found their most concerning problems The students tended to make more errors relating contextual choices such as unique types, maximal instances, and actual instances, non-definite actual instances, and specificity with definite and count with non-count nouns The study also found out the effectiveness of teaching and learning the English articles with the use of corpus-based analysis The results showed that the treatment group did better the control group after the experiment, especially in using zero and zero in maximal set environments These findings suggested that Vietnamese EFL learners, especially learners at high proficiency level, needed to be equipped with grammatical competence, particularly the English articles in order to be confident and become professional writers LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 COBUILD list of the ten most frequent words in English Table 1.2 Percentage of occurrence of the articles in the five genres Table 2.1 Quirk et al.’s classification of nouns 11 Table 4.1 Types and descriptions of errors 34 Table 4.2 Frequency of different categories of errors in essays 35 Table 4.3 Environments for the occurrence of the articles 36 Table 4.6 Group statistics 42 Table 4.7 Group performance at six NP environments in Post Test 43 Table 4.8 Group performance at six NP environments in Post Test 44 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Main entries for agree from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CD-ROM 2003) 20 Figure Sample of concordance lines for agree from the PolyU Language Bank Concordancer 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv List of tables vi List of figures vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study 1.2 Statement of Purpose 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6 Methodology 1.6.1 The participants of the Study 1.6.2 Data collection instruments 1.6.3 Procedures of the Study 1.7 Assumptions 1.8 Overview of the Study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Articles 2.1.1 Definition of articles 2.1.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 Types of articles 10 Classes of Nouns 11 2.2.1 Classification of nouns proposed by Quirk at al (1985) 11 2.2.2 Classification of nouns proposed by Langacker (1991) 12 2.2.3 The suggested classification of the article environments 13 Acquisition of the English articles by Vietnamese learners 14 2.3.1 Definite articles 14 2.3.2 Indefinite articles 15 Corpora and the application of corpus-based analyses in language teaching and learning 17 2.4.1 What is a corpus? 17 2.4.1.1 A corpus is a principled collection of texts 18 2.4.1.2 A corpus is a collection of electronic texts 18 2.4.1.3 A corpus is available for qualitative and quantitative analysis 19 2.4.1.4 Which corpus, what for and what size? 19 2.4.2 Overview of existing corpora 21 2.4.3 Types of corpora 22 2.4.4 Corpus use in Vietnam 23 2.4.5 Applying corpus-based analyses to teaching 24 2.4.5.1 Syllabus design 24 2.4.5.2 Materials development 24 66 24 You’ll find _ information you need at _ top of _ page 15 25 Peru is _ country in South Africa _ capital is Lima 26 When he was younger, Ted hated _ school 27 In your country, many people go to _ university? 28 Paris is the capital of _ France 29 The earth is made up of _ minerals 30 Vietnam has a rich legacy of _ orally transmitted folk tales 31 Do you have _ penny? 32 _ water in the North Sea is usually quite cold 33 I didn’t have much _ luggage – just two bags 34 We had _ very good weather while we were on holiday 35 This is _ only remaining copy 36 Visitors can take _ boat ride along the Hau river and observe the changing landscapes and life on the river 37 We went to _ mountains on vacation 38 ‘ _ Mr Wilson wanted to see you this morning I don’t think he is your friend since I haven’t met him.’ 39 _ origins of that fairy tale is unknown 40 _ most valuable minerals are found in common rocks everywhere 41 Upon hearing the first bars of the well-loved sad tune, _ audience reacts with gasps of recognition and applause 42 _ koala bear is becoming almost extinct 43 Judy goes to _ work by bus 44 Yesterday we went for a long walk and enjoyed _ sights EXERCISE 2: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) What is “Tết”? "Tết" is (45) _ word of Chinese origin and (46) _ phonetic transcription of "Tiết", (47) _ Sino-Vietnamese term which means "(48) _ joint of (49) _ bamboo stem" and, in (50) _ wider sense, (51) _ "beginning of (52) _ meteorological period of (53) _ year." 67 (54) _ passage from one period to (55) _ next may cause climatic disturbances (heat, rain, mist) that must be exorcised by (56) _ ritual sacrifices and festivities Thus, there are many (57) _ Tếts throughout (58) _ year (Mid-Autumn Tết, Cold Food Tết, etc.) (59) _ most important of all is (60) _ "Tết Cả" ("Big Tết" or simply "Tết"), which marks (61) _ Lunar New Year Tết occurs somewhere in (62) _ last ten days of January or (63) _ first twenty days of (64) _ February, nearly halfway between (65) _ winter solstice and spring equinox Although (66) _ Lunar New Year is observed throughout (67) _ East Asia, each country celebrates Tết in its own way in conformity with its own national psyche and cultural conditions For (68) _ Vietnamese people, Tết is like (69) _ combination of (70) _ Christmas, Western New Year's Day, Easter, American Thanksgiving, and everyone's birthday It is festival of (71) communion, purity, renewal, and universal peace 68 APPENDIX PRETEST on the English Articles Full name: _ Class: _ EXERCISE 1: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) If you wait _ second I’ll get my coat and come too I want to see the river _ last time before I leave The Queen is visiting the city _ day in November It was announced that the plane would be approximately _ hour late I could hear the sound of _ helicopter in the distance I’d like to say _ thing before I go Paul came over _ evening last week I’ve painted _ wall already and I’ll the other tomorrow I’d like to make _ point here, Ken, if I may 10 A special award was given to _ novelist Ian McMurphy 11 I’ve been offered the position of _ Director of Personnel 12 I’ve always wanted to meet _ Michael Owen 13 _dangers of white water rafting are underestimated 14 I really ought to eat _ dinner 15 She is _ only student who handed in her work on time 16 Cantho is a thriving commercial center, with _ busy shipping industry 17 “Shall we go out walking on _ Sunday?” – “No, I’m busy this weekend.” 18 I know the meeting will be on _ Sunday in June, but I don’t know the exact date yet 19 It’s raining so I think I’ll take _ car 20 He lives on _ Princess street 21 We took a long walk through _ woods 22 _school starts at eight o’clock 69 23 My favourite sport is _ tennis 24 _tiger is becoming almost extinct 25 We walked bare footed through the field _grass wet 26 Yesterday I bought a new car, but _ radio did not work 27 We saw _ president on TV 28 _Vietnamese eat a great deal of rice 29 I listened to _ wind blowing through the trees 30 Cai luong, or “Renovated Opera”, is a form of drama, modeled after _ French comedy 31 To make bread you need wheat flour _ flour needs to be ground fine 32 In addition to _ formally penned literature, Vietnam has a rich legacy of orally transmitted folk tales 33 Experts say that _ earth’s surface is changing EXERCISE 2: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) Why is “Tết” a festival of communion? For (34) _ peasant people attached to earth since the distant past, Tết has been and remains first of all (35) _festival of communion with nature In the rhythm of seasons, it marks (36) _ interlude for farmers and rice fields to rest after twelve months of (37) _ labour Tết is not to be missed Tết is a festival of communion for members of (38) _ same family and village In (39) _ former times, villagers hardly went outside their bamboo fences; those who could not return to their families for the first three days of (40) _ year felt deeply homesick, more than at any other time of the year All members of the family - grandparents, father, mother, brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts gather together to "eat Tết" (ăn Tết) under the same roof Friends and relatives visit one another and exchange (41) _ greetings and good wishes Tết is also a festival of communion of all citizens of Việt Nam at home and abroad The Revolution of August 1945 put an end to eighty years of (42) _ French domination; Tết of 1946 was dubbed (43) _ "Tết of Independence" During his time as (44) _ president, Hồ Chí Minh wrote his Tết greetings each year in (45) _ poem, which he himself read for broadcast at (46) _ midnight on (47) _ eve of Tết These poems reflected (48) _ current problems and prospects of (49) _ nation 70 Tết is also a festival of communion of (50) _ living with (51) _ dead (52) _ephemeral world of (53) _ living celebrates under (54) _ benevolent gaze of (55) _ ancestors, who are invited back from (56) _ Other World during the course of a ceremony to mark (57) _ transition from (58) _ old year to the new 71 APPENDIX POST-TEST on the English Articles Full name: _ Class: _ EXERCISE 1: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) Cai luong, or “Renovated Opera”, is a form of _drama, modeled after French comedy _tiger is becoming almost extinct My favourite sport is _ soccer I feel we have to take care of _ environment Mary is _ third person on the left _Japanese make a lot of cars In 1910, farmers represented 33 percent of the U.S and it took more than an hour of _ work to produce a bushel of corn Alice bought a TV and a video recorder, but she returned _ video recorder because it was defective _black market is the illegal sale of products 10 Cantho is a thriving commercial center, with _ busy shipping industry 11 He died in _war 12 _boy living next door to me is 15 years old 13 Many minerals near the earth’s surface exist in _ small amounts 14 _Vietnamese eat a great deal of rice 15 Visitors can take boat ride along _ Hau river and observe the changing landscapes and life on the river 16 Vietnam has a rich legacy of _ orally transmitted folk tales 17 He comes from _ South of Vietnam 18 We went to _mountains on vacation 72 19 The organization’s aim is to educate _public about the dangers of smoking 20 Upon hearing _first bars of the well-loved sad tune, the vong co, audience reacts with gasps of recognition and applause 21 Yesterday I bought _new computer, but the screen did not work 22 In the restaurant, all of _tables were set with white table cloths 23 Mary went to the park to take _dog for a walk 24 A composer can choose among many variations to express _sadness 25 We were at _sea for three weeks 26 Yesterday we went to the theatre, but _play was disappointing 27 To make dough you need flour and water _water needs to be lukewarm 28 We walked for an hour on the beach _sand got into our shoes 29 Many Vietnamese folktales explain _natural phenomena 30 _adventures of Moby Dick are well known 31 While I was in _hospital, they gave me an X-ray 32 There are only two examples of the dramatic changes that have occurred in agriculture Through the advances in science and technology _modern agriculture has become one of the greatest success stories of this century 33 She has _ French name but in fact she’s English, not French EXERCISE 2: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) What is the role of bamboo in Asian culture? The wet-rice cultures of Southest Asia present (34) _trio of familiar images: rice, water buffaloes, and bamboo Bamboo is (35) _ common name for any of the tall, treelike grasses comprising the subfamily Bambusoideae of the family Poaceae Although botanists have identified more than seventy-five genera and a thousand species of (36) _bamboo, many names are synonymous The plants range from stiff reeds about a meter tall to giants reaching fifty meters in height (37) _most bamboo grows erect, but some varieties appear as vines, producing impenetrable thickets Bamboo can live as long as a hundred years (38) _ trees flower only once and die after they bear fruit Asian Culture, a Japanese magazine, has identified bamboo as (39) _ symbol of Asian dynamism However, bamboo is also (40) _ symbol of Asia's cultural diversity 73 In China, trúc (Dendrocalamus asper) is (41) _ type of small, slender bamboo that represents (42) _ character of a gentleman Confucian and Taoist followers tried to absorb (43) _ spirit of the bamboo embodied by the plant's erect stance During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), (44) _ Chinese identified bamboo with snakes and saw it as a sign of good luck, whereas during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), artists especially Zen followers - used bamboo as (45) _ main theme for painting (46) _Chinese have drawn on the closeness between the male and female bamboo to signify good relations and mutual love between husband and wife In Japan, (47) _ trio of bamboo, pines, and plum trees represents good luck Japanese soil, which was formed from lava, grows bamboo species that are hard, shiny, and excellent for manufacturing handicrafts American inventor and scientist Thomas Edison once used bamboo from Kyoto to make (48) _filaments in electric light bulbs Some Japanese, who believe (49) _ plant personifies gods, worship bamboo at Shinto temples At some religious ceremonies, (50) _local residents plant four green bamboo trees at the four corners of a square and link them with a rope to keep out evil spirits Farmers organizing (51) _agricultural ceremonies use bamboo and sasa grass to clean the soil Bamboo gardens are common outside many Japanese houses, even in big cities In (52) _ Philippines, people build a bamboo gate to welcome (53) _ special guest On Christmas Eve, they hang lanterns made of bamboo They also make (54) _musical instruments from bamboo Quezon City has a student ensemble with a hundred bamboo instruments Filipinos are proud of (55) _ all-bamboo organ a Spanish priest crafted 160 years ago In Malaysia, bamboo is also (56) _ popular material for musical instruments, which may incorporate a gourd or coconut shell Bamboo rafts are common for (57) _river transport Bamboo appears in popular sayings For example, "Like bamboo before the winds" refers to (58) _ good diplomat, that is, someone who may appear friendly but in fact is very rough We can thank (59) _ Malays for the English word "bamboo", which comes from their word, "bambu" Bamboo in Vietnamese culture Bamboo is so central to (60) _Vietnamese culture that it literally ‘carries’ (61) _ most common village for the country Vietnamese believe our country is shaped like two rice baskets by strings from (62) _ shoulder pole The ‘rice baskets’ are (63) _ Red River Delta in (64) _ north and (65) _ Mekong Delta in (66) _ south The ‘carrying pole’ is the spine of mountains, (67) _ Trường Sơn Range (68) _baskets, strings, and shoulder pole that ‘carry’ this image are all made from bamboo Traditionally, bamboo was omnipresent for (69) _Vietnamese from (70) _ cradle to (71) _ grave (72) _newborn in the countryside slept in a bamboo cradle If all 74 went well, many decades later, his fellow villagers would rhythmically beat pieces of bamboo together as other villagers used bamboo poles to lower the elder’s coffin slowly into (73) _ grave Việt Nam has many species of (74) _bamboo, including: Tre gai (Bambusa spinosa, thorny bamboo); tre mỡ (Bambusa vulgaris, common bamboo); tre ngà (Bambusa blumeana, large bamboo); trúc (Bambusa tuldoides, Buddha-belly bamboo); giang (Dendrocalamus patellaris), nứa (Dendrocalamus patellaris Gamble); mai (Dendrocalamus giganteus); and luồng (Dendrocalamus membranaceus) Each has (75) _ different color and size, and each is used for different purposes Taken together, the various types of Vietnamese bamboo cover about 1.3 million hectares 75 APPENDIX POST-TEST on the English Articles Full name: _ Class: _ EXERCISE 1: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) He comes from _ South of Vietnam _origins of that fairy tale are unknown Upon hearing _first bars of the well-loved sad tune, the vong co, audience reacts with gasps of recognition and applause The organization’s aim is to educate _public about the dangers of smoking Many Vietnamese folktales explain _natural phenomena Where’s John? – He’s on _bus Yesterday I bought a new car, but _radio did not work He is in _class now He went to _town yesterday 10 To make dough you need flour and water _water needs to be lukewarm 11 tiger is becoming almost extinct 12 The organization’s aim is to educate _public about the dangers of smoking 13 These are only two examples of the dramatic changes that have occurred in agriculture Through the advances in science and technology _modern agriculture has become one of the greatest success stories of this century 14 We were at _sea for three weeks 15 We saw _Prime Minister on TV 16 Cantho is a thriving commercial center, with _ busy shipping industry 17 _tiger is becoming almost extinct 18 In the restaurant, all of _tables were set with white table cloths 19 Yesterday we went to the theatre, but _play was disappointing 20 The train to Paris leaves from _ Waterloo Station 76 21 When I answered the phone, _ Mrs Wilson said she wanted to talk to you 22 _town is very old 23 _class works hard 24 There were several cars in the parking lot _cars all looked rather old 25 A camera lets in light from an image in front of it and directs _light onto photographic film 26 Population growth is not the only problem that we face in terms of the world food supply _changes in eating habits are also causing problems 27 My favourite sport is _ tennis 28 We went swimming in the river _ water was very clear 29 Cai luong, or “Renovated Opera”, is a form of _ drama, modeled after French comedy 30 _Vietnamese eat a great deal of rice 31 A composer can choose among many variations to express _sadness 32 The GNP is the total value of goods and services produced in _country during a specified period of time (usually a year) 33 In addition to _ formally penned literature, Vietnam has a rich legacy of orally transmitted folk tales EXERCISE 2: Fill in the blanks with the, a/an, or x (zero articles) What is the role of bamboo in Asian culture? The wet-rice cultures of Southest Asia present (34) _trio of familiar images: rice, water buffaloes, and bamboo Bamboo is (35) _ common name for any of the tall, treelike grasses comprising the subfamily Bambusoideae of the family Poaceae Although botanists have identified more than seventy-five genera and a thousand species of (36) _bamboo, many names are synonymous The plants range from stiff reeds about a meter tall to giants reaching fifty meters in height (37) _most bamboo grows erect, but some varieties appear as vines, producing impenetrable thickets Bamboo can live as long as a hundred years (38) _ trees flower only once and die after they bear fruit Asian Culture, a Japanese magazine, has identified bamboo as (39) _ symbol of Asian dynamism However, bamboo is also (40) _ symbol of Asia's cultural diversity 77 In China, trúc (Dendrocalamus asper) is (41) _ type of small, slender bamboo that represents (42) _ character of a gentleman Confucian and Taoist followers tried to absorb (43) _ spirit of the bamboo embodied by the plant's erect stance During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), (44) _ Chinese identified bamboo with snakes and saw it as a sign of good luck, whereas during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), artists especially Zen followers - used bamboo as (45) _ main theme for painting (46) _Chinese have drawn on the closeness between the male and female bamboo to signify good relations and mutual love between husband and wife In Japan, (47) _ trio of bamboo, pines, and plum trees represents good luck Japanese soil, which was formed from lava, grows bamboo species that are hard, shiny, and excellent for manufacturing handicrafts American inventor and scientist Thomas Edison once used bamboo from Kyoto to make (48) _filaments in electric light bulbs Some Japanese, who believe (49) _ plant personifies gods, worship bamboo at Shinto temples At some religious ceremonies, (50) _local residents plant four green bamboo trees at the four corners of a square and link them with a rope to keep out evil spirits Farmers organizing (51) _agricultural ceremonies use bamboo and sasa grass to clean the soil Bamboo gardens are common outside many Japanese houses, even in big cities In (52) _ Philippines, people build a bamboo gate to welcome (53) _ special guest On Christmas Eve, they hang lanterns made of bamboo They also make (54) _musical instruments from bamboo Quezon City has a student ensemble with a hundred bamboo instruments Filipinos are proud of (55) _ all-bamboo organ a Spanish priest crafted 160 years ago In Malaysia, bamboo is also (56) _ popular material for musical instruments, which may incorporate a gourd or coconut shell Bamboo rafts are common for (57) _river transport Bamboo appears in popular sayings For example, "Like bamboo before the winds" refers to (58) _ good diplomat, that is, someone who may appear friendly but in fact is very rough We can thank (59) _ Malays for the English word "bamboo", which comes from their word, "bambu" Bamboo in Vietnamese culture Bamboo is so central to (60) _Vietnamese culture that it literally ‘carries’ (61) _ most common village for the country Vietnamese believe our country is shaped like two rice baskets by strings from (62) _ shoulder pole The ‘rice baskets’ are (63) _ Red River Delta in (64) _ north and (65) _ Mekong Delta in (66) _ south The ‘carrying pole’ is the spine of mountains, (67) _ Trường Sơn Range (68) _baskets, strings, and shoulder pole that ‘carry’ this image are all made from bamboo Traditionally, bamboo was omnipresent for (69) _Vietnamese from (70) _ cradle to (71) _ grave (72) _newborn in the countryside slept in a bamboo cradle If all 78 went well, many decades later, his fellow villagers would rhythmically beat pieces of bamboo together as other villagers used bamboo poles to lower the elder’s coffin slowly into (73) _ grave Việt Nam has many species of (74) _bamboo, including: Tre gai (Bambusa spinosa, thorny bamboo); tre mỡ (Bambusa vulgaris, common bamboo); tre ngà (Bambusa blumeana, large bamboo); trúc (Bambusa tuldoides, Buddha-belly bamboo); giang (Dendrocalamus patellaris), nứa (Dendrocalamus patellaris Gamble); mai (Dendrocalamus giganteus); and luồng (Dendrocalamus membranaceus) Each has (75) _ different color and size, and each is used for different purposes Taken together, the various types of Vietnamese bamboo cover about 1.3 million hectares APPENDIX Taxonomy of the use of English articles based on insights by Quirk et al and Langacker Noun form Proper Names Names Pseudonames (as a type) Persons; Time; Geography Institutions; Transport; Day’s tine; Seasons; Meals; Illnesses; Sports; Role Singular proper nouns Geographical names; Public institutions; Ships/Planes; Newspapers Singular noun with(out) modification Nationalities; Islands; Adjectives as Nouns Plural proper nouns A type as one instance THE Unique instance Member of a type hierarchy Global/Local role Direct awareness Indirect awareness Normal content Physical context-based Immediate situation awareness Example Smith; Easter; France NULL Definite Groups Article form Singular noun THE Common noun THE (by) bus/radio; (at) sunrise; (in) winter; lunch; influenza; tennis; (be) captain (of a team) the British Museum the Huong river; the Titanic; the Observer; the Bible the Philippines; the Finns; the old the lion; the computer the pope; the supermarket a book – the book a book – the author the water in this glass the roses (in a garden) Nonunique instance Actual instance(s) Singular N Mass N Plural N An arbitrary member (predicate nominal; Singular N Indefinite Arbitrary generic a) instance An arbitrary set of sets Plural Reference Maximal set mass Mass Plural A/an ZERO: unstressed some A/an ZERO ZERO I bought a book I bought cheese I’ve been writing letters this morning A beaver is a mammal Wombats are mammals The formula of water is H20 Insects have six legs ... other institution Ho Chi Minh City, 2010 PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL),...CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES BY VIETNAMESE THIRD- YEAR ENGLISH- MAJOR STUDENTS AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY. .. accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master? ??s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited