EFL students’ chronic deficiency of semantic genericity and specificity of bare plurals and indefinite articles: The quantifying way as a contemporary solution

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to address the persistent challenges non-native English learners face with article systems by introducing and evaluating a novel pedagogical method for teaching indefinite articles. The study developed a "quantifying method," grounded in the semantic premise of noun phrase (NP) countability and the interaction of quantifying elements within English articles. This method was applied to teach indefinite articles ('a/an' and 'zero/null') to 15 EFL students over two weeks. Pre-test and post-test performance scores were analyzed using paired sample t-tests to measure the method's impact. Findings revealed that the quantifying method significantly improved students’ overall acquisition of indefinite articles, with higher performance noted for 'a/an' compared to 'zero/null'. The results highlight the effectiveness of the quantifying method as a targeted instructional tool for overcoming the difficulties of teaching English indefinite articles. The implications of the study recommend a validated, innovative approach to EFL grammar instruction that can be integrated into language teaching practices to enhance learner outcomes.