Causes of article use problems by Saudi postgraduate elcos students at Bangor University

Transfer theory proposes that errors made by English Foreign Language students are often due to interference from their first language. Consequently, if there are distinctions in the systems governing the use of articles, the first language form tends to be used when students are translating into English. In terms of the Arabic language, no indefinite article is used, in contrast to English; thus, errors due to replacement, overuse, or omission may appear. To assess these effects, 20 Saudi postgraduate ELOCS students at Bangor University were invited to participate in a quantitative study. This involved the use of ten sentences with differing article usage;some required the zero article and definite or indefinite articles, while others required diverse and multiple usage. Statistical analysis using SPSS software, including correlations and ANOVA, illustrated that omission of the article was the most noticeable error, particularly with respect to indefinite articles. This was typically followed by replacing the indefinite article with the definite one. In the case of requirements for indefinite and definite articles in the same sentence, error rates increased. The paper’s findings lead to the importance of evaluating potential findings related to learning and teaching strategies but moreover recognises the demand for additional research.