Exploring The Mastery Of English Articles Among Mongolian EFL Students

Abstract

Mastering the English article system is particularly challenging for students whose native languages do not include articles. This study examines the progression of article acquisition among Mongolian university students, highlighting their developing understanding of the English article system during interlanguage development. Twenty-five participants with different levels of English proficiency participated in an extensive evaluation, consisting of a fill-in-the-article cloze test and structured interviews. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study explores participants' comprehension of essential factors such as hearer's knowledge, specific reference, uniqueness, and countability, which affect article errors across various proficiency levels. The results provide valuable insights into the step-by-step acquisition of the English article system and deepen the understanding of interlanguage phenomena. This research adds to the broader discussion on second language acquisition and informs teaching strategies aimed at enhancing learners' proficiency with English articles of Form