An Analysis of Students’ Proficiency in Using English Articles (A Case Study of 50 students at the University of Khartoum)

Abstract

This paper sets out to examine the English proficiency of 50 Sudanese students at the School of Management Studies at the University of Khartoum when using the English articles. The students were enrolled in a low intermediate English course for two semesters. Written and oral samples were taken at the end of the first and second semesters. Omission, substitution and redundancy errors were identified, and analysed in terms of performance mistakes, interference of mother tongue, over-learning and overgeneralization. The results provide useful information to teachers of Arabic speakers studying English and to researchers investigating the phenomenon of second language acquisition in general.