Article Usage: A Common Error of Japanese Learners of English ‘A’ and ‘the’ are among the top 5 most frequently used words in the English language. The zero article occurs even more frequently (Master 2002). The single highest occurring error among Japanese learners of English is article errors with incorrect omission of the definite and indefinite article being the most common (Bryant 1984; Izumi et al. 2003). Other article errors include incorrect article selection of the indefinite or definite article and over-inclusion. Over-inclusion is a situation where the zero article is the appropriate choice, sometimes referred to as “error of commission” (Liu and Gleason 2002, 4). The definite article: the Traditionally the usage of ‘the’ can be broken into 4 subcategories: (1) unique referent e.g., the Pope (2) referent physically present e.g., pass me the pepper please (3) referent previously mentioned in the discourse (4) specific referent assumed to be known to the hearer e.g., the man in standing behind you (adapted from Lui and Gleason 2002, 2-3) Robert Dykes University of Fukui RobertD.JP@gmail.com The indefinite article: a/an Usually ‘a/an’ is used with singular (countable) nouns exclusively as seen in these 4 groupings: (1) generic determiner e.g., a whale is a mammal (2) specific indefinite determiner of subjects of non-generic sentences e.g., a whale struck the ship a. determiner of objects in non-generic, non-copulative sentences e.g., the whale struck a ship (3) attributive indefinite determiner of complement NPs in predicates e.g., John is a scientist (4) non-specific indefinite determiner e.g., I'm going to marry a millionaire (adapted from Burton-Roberts 1976, 427) NP = noun phrase The zero article Zero article usage can be better understood through the following six contrasting NPs: (1) non-count (Ø cake) vs. count (a cake) (2) general (Ø stone) vs. particular (a stone) (3) abstract (Ø prison) vs. concrete (a prison) (4) ‘‘adjective’’ (Ø Fool that he was [=He was foolish]) vs. noun (He was a fool) (5) name (Ø director of the program, Ø Dr. Smith) vs. description (the director of the program, the doctor) (6) familiar (Ø next week) vs. unfamiliar (the next week) (adapted from Master 2002, 337) Ø is used to represent the zero article The problem: Articles’ sheer frequency is in itself problematic, but choosing the correct article is incredibly complex due to the nature of multiple heterogeneous factors and rules (Han et al. 2006; Palmer 1947). Complicating things even further, “almost every rule for articles has many exceptions or subrules” (Han et al. 2006, 117). Unfamiliar terms such as institution names (e.g., “University College, London and The University College, London) and colloquial factors (e.g., “can I get a water?”) also create an additional set of exceptions. The solution: While a familiarity of the basic rules governing articles will indeed help, to the dismay of many English learners, scholars such as Palmer (1947) believe the best solution is to memorize examples as they arise because “continuous conscious rule application [is] difficult over an extended stretch of discourse” (Master 2002, 332).