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The NP in academic Maltese English

An error analysis based on data from Maltese university students’ commerce texts

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Abstract

Despite recent advances, Maltese English remains under-researched as a regional variety of English. This study employs an error analysis approach to identify its nominal characteristics based on the assumption that fossilized learner competences shared by a speech community eventually develop into new dialects and that transfer phenomena play a pivotal role. The study analyses article usage, singular and plural forms and noncount nouns and finds that overuse of the definite article is a likely candidate as a feature of Maltese English.

Abbreviations

L1

first language

L2

second language

NP

noun phrase

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Published Online: 2018-6-6
Published in Print: 2018-6-26

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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