The influence of native language on the use of the English copula be

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether Armenian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) have difficulties regarding the acquisition of the English copula be, and to find out why those difficulties occur if both Armenian and English have copula be. Besides, the study particularly aimed to explore how the Armenian language affects the Armenian EFL learners’ acquisition of the English copula be. The current study was a mixed methods cross-sectional exploratory research, and employed cluster, random and critical case sampling strategies for the data collection. The participants were 181 secondary school children who were asked to translate a passage from Armenian into English and write a short composition about their daily routine. Two types of copula be errors were identified in the papers: overuse and omission. As a result of the contrastive analysis and the analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the participants, it was assumed that the overuse errors were the result of negative transfer, while the omission errors were developmental, which were to some extent negatively influenced by the native language too. Based on the findings, the study highlighted some pedagogical implications, and made suggestions for further research.