Challenges faced by South Asian Students in Using English Definite Article “the”
Keywords:
Definite article, Omission, L1 (First Language), L2 (second language), MT (Mother Tongue), TL (target Language)Abstract
This study provides a detailed account of errors of definite article committed by South Asian students studying at Dalarna University Sweden in their writing. This research deliberates on how the students from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh omit or unnecessarily use the definite article ‘the’ in their writing due to interference of their mother tongue as languages such as Urdu, Hindi and Bangla do not have any article system in their structure. Data was collected from the class assignment of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi students studying at graduate level. The results indicate that omission or unnecessary use of definite article ‘the’ in their writing is due to their mother tongue interference, analogy from their previous experience and lack of grasp on foreign language grammar at their early age.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Zia ul Haq Anwar, Dr. Shamim Ara Shams, Dr. Ubaidullah Khan (Author)
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