Enhancing the competence in using articles for English majors through reading BBC news

 TNU Journal of Science and Technology 225(11): 70 - 76 
  Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
 ENHANCING THE COMPETENCE IN USING ARTICLES 
 FOR ENGLISH MAJORS THROUGH READING BBC NEWS 
 * 
 Tran Thi Yen , Tran Nhat Le 
 TNU - University of Education 
ABSTRACT 
 The study aims to enhance the competence in using English articles for English majors at Thai 
 Nguyen University of Education through reading English news. Forty students were chosen 
 randomly; 20 of them were assigned to the experimental group and the others were put into the 
 control group. The authors studied and analyzed sixty essays written by 60 forth-year English 
 majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education in the first semester of the academic year 2019- 
 2020 in order to identify and categorize article errors. Besides, the experimental group were asked 
 to read one piece of news a day and at the same time identify the articles used in the texts, and then 
 they had to decide the use of each article in its contexts. After that, the experimental group had to 
 make their own e-mindmaps about the article usage and give 5 specific examples extracted from 
 the news and their own examples for each usage. The findings of the research indicated that the 
 number of article errors made by the experimental group decreased significantly while in the 
 control group, the number of article errors decreased unremarkably. This demonstrates that reading 
 BBC news has a positive impact on improving English majors‟ competence in using articles. 
 Keywords: English grammar; article; article errors; competence; BBC news 
 Received: 06/5/2020; Revised: 11/8/2020; Published: 12/8/2020
NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG SỬ DỤNG MẠO TỪ CHO SINH VIÊN 
CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH THÔNG QUA ĐỌC BẢN TIN BBC 
Trần Thị Yến*, Trần Nhật Lệ 
Trường Đại học Sư phạm – ĐH Thái Nguyên 
TÓM TẮT 
Mục tiêu của nghiên cứu là nâng cao khả năng sử dụng mạo từ tiếng Anh của sinh viên chuyên 
ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ tư tại trường Đại học Sư phạm – Đại học Thái Nguyên thông qua việc 
đọc tin tức tiếng Anh. Bốn mươi sinh viên được chọn ngẫu nhiên, 20 trong số đó được đặt vào 
nhóm thực nghiệm và 20 sinh viên nằm trong nhóm đối chứng. Nhà nghiên cứu phân tích sáu 
mươi bài luận được viết bởi 60 sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trong học kỳ 1 năm học 2019-
2020 để xác định và phân loại các lỗi mạo từ. Ngoài ra, nhóm thực nghiệm được yêu cầu đọc một 
mẩu tin mỗi ngày, xác định các mạo từ được sử dụng trong bản tin, và sau đó xác định cách sử 
dụng của mạo từ trong ngữ cảnh. Sau đó, nhóm thực nghiệm tạo ra một sơ đồ tư duy điện tử về 
mạo từ và đưa ra 5 ví dụ được trích xuất từ tin tức và ví dụ do sinh viên tự viết cho mỗi cách sử 
dụng. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy số lượng lỗi mạo từ của nhóm thực nghiệm giảm đáng kể trong 
khi ở nhóm đối chứng, số lỗi giảm không đáng kể. Điều này chứng minh rằng việc đọc tin tức 
tiếng Anh có tác động tích cực đến khả năng sử dụng mạo từ của sinh viên. 
Từ khóa: ngữ pháp tiếng Anh; mạo từ; lỗi mạo từ; năng lực; tin tức BBC 
Ngày nhận bài: 06/5/2020; Ngày hoàn thiện: 11/8/2020; Ngày đăng: 12/8/2020 
 * Corresponding author. Email: yentran@dhsptn.edu.vn
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34238/tnu-jst.3077 
70 
Tran Thi Yen et al. TNU Journal of Science and Technology 225(11): 70 - 76 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 71 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The importance of learning English articles 
Nowadays, learning English has become more 
and more popular for many people because 
English is an international language spoken in 
many countries in the world. According to 
Subasini and Kokilavani [1], English is the 
overly most common language all over the 
world; it is the language of higher 
administration, superior judiciary, advanced 
education, and diplomacy. However, learning 
English presents a series of challenges, 
especially in learning English grammar. 
Students often face many difficulties in many 
aspects of English grammar, including article 
usage. An article is a word used before 
a noun that indicates if the reference is to a 
specific entity or entities or an unspecific 
one. There are four articles in the English 
language, which are a, an, the and zero 
article, but the rules and the exceptions to the 
rules that define correct article usage are 
numerous and complex. Therefore, many 
students make mistakes when using articles. 
Kim and Lakshmanan [2] have indicated that 
in the process of acquiring English, it usually 
takes learners longer time to acquire articles 
than other forms of English grammar. The 
misuse of articles may not affect the 
sentence‟s meaning; however, the omission of 
an article or the use of the wrong article may 
cause some ambiguity for the reader, 
especially when the writer wants to identify a 
noun anaphorically/cataphorically or assume 
reader/writer familiarity. 
1.2. Benefits of learning English through 
English news 
Recently, English news has been regarded as 
a new method for learners to improve not 
only vocabulary, reading, listening but also 
grammatical features. English news can be in 
different forms like written, oral, video and 
live TV news both online and offline. English 
news is worth being integrated in students‟ 
learning plans because it uses standard 
English. English news can be easier for 
learners to understand as it has a clear context 
and presentation. In addition, when learning 
English through the news, learners have the 
chance to discover what is happening all 
around the world, which may enhance their 
motivation to learn English. 
1.3. Related studies 
Analysing grammatical errors in general and 
article errors, in particular, is a familiar issue 
for many researchers. Some recent studies [3, 
4] have identified common article errors 
committed by students and their implications 
for instruction. Specifically, several studies 
focused on article errors made in writing. For 
example, Nopjirapong [5] analysed and 
described article errors in Thai University 
students' English composition. The results 
revealed the need for the development of 
teaching techniques and materials to reduce 
common errors related to article usage. 
Crompton [6] also studied the article errors 
committed in writing by Arabic learners as 
well as the causes of the errors. 
Regarding the use of BBC news in learning 
English, many researchers chose news or 
newspapers as materials for students to 
improve their vocabulary, listening, and 
reading. For instance, Teng [7] investigated 
the impact of reading BBC news on students‟ 
vocabulary development while Ahmmed [8] 
investigated how reading English newspapers 
improves vocabulary and reading skills of the 
students at Dhaka University. 
Although research on article errors and 
English news is abundant, there seem to be 
few research works on using English news to 
improve students‟ competence in English 
grammar in general and using English 
articles in particular. For this reason, we 
conducted this study which aimed at 
enhancing the competence in using English 
articles for English majors at Thai Nguyen 
Tran Thi Yen et al. TNU Journal of Science and Technology
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 72 
University of Education through reading 
English news. The study attempts to answer 
the following questions: 
i. What is the current situation of using articles 
among fourth-year English majors at Thai 
Nguyen University of Education? 
ii. To what extent does reading BBC news have 
impacts on the competence in using articles of 
fourth-year English majors at TNUE? 
2. Methodology 
2.1. Research design 
The experimental research design was 
employed to examine the impacts of reading 
BBC News on the competence in using 
articles of fourth-year English majors at 
TNUE. The experiment was conducted during 
the first semester of the academic year 2019-
2010. In the treatment process, the researchers 
chose several interesting pieces of BBC news 
on different topics and posted them on 
Edmodo and then asked the students in the 
experimental group to read the news. These 
students read seven pieces of news a week to 
identify the articles used in the texts at the 
same time, and then they had to explore the 
use of each article in its contexts. The 
researchers also designed some exercises 
based on the BBC news and posted them on 
Edmodo and asked the participants to do 
these exercises. 
After that, the experimental group had to make 
e-mindmaps about the article usage and gave 5 
specific examples extracted from the news and 
their own examples for each usage. The 
researchers guided the students in the 
experimental group to design their e-mind maps 
using MindMaster application which is free and 
easy for them to draw their mind maps. 
2.2. The participants 
Forty fourth-year English majors at TUE were 
randomly asked to take part in the research. The 
researchers put 20 students into the 
experimental group and 20 in the control group. 
 225(11): 70 - 76 
2.3. Data collection instruments 
2.3.1. Pre-test and post-test 
Tests were used to help the researchers assess 
the improvement of the participants in the 
experimental group after taking part in the 
experiment. There were two tests that 
students have to take: one was pre-test and the 
other was post-test. All the tests were 
designed based on the IELTS writing task 1, 
which is describing charts and taken from 
Cambridge IELTS with standard academic 
writing tests. The reason for choosing a 
writing test was that assessing the competence 
in using articles through grammar exercises 
can just evaluate the students‟ capability of 
recognizing articles; however, through a 
writing test, the researchers can judge the 
competence in using articles of the students. 
The pre-test was used to exploit the common 
article errors made by fourth-year English 
majors and the post-test helped assess the 
progress of the experimental group after 
taking part in the experiment of using BBC 
news regarding their competence in using 
articles. The pre-test and post-test had the 
same level of difficulty so that the researchers 
could obtain an exact result. 
After the treatment, the researchers asked the 20 
participants in the experimental group to do the 
post-test. The other 20 participants in the 
control group did the test, too. Then, the 
researchers collected, analysed students‟ essays 
and compared the results of the pre-test with the 
post-test. The results of the experimental group 
were also compared with those of the control 
group to check their progress. 
2.3.2. Feedback questionnaire 
The researchers constructed the feedback 
questionnaire for the experimental group to 
collect their feedback on the new method of 
learning English articles. Ten questions were 
designed for the feedback questionnaire. This 
questionnaire was used to collect the 
experimental group‟s opinions and feelings 
Tran Thi Yen et al. TNU Journal of Science and Technology
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 73 
after reading BBC news. In the design of the 
questions, the researchers combined two types 
of question items: open-ended questions and 
close-ended questions to exploit more 
information from the respondents. 
The questionnaire was then posted on the 
online class on EDMODO for the students 
who took part in the experiment. The 
researchers asked them to respond to the 
questionnaire with their exact information. 
3. Results and discussion 
3.1. The current situation of using articles 
among fourth-year English majors at TNUE 
To investigate the common article errors made 
by fourth-year English majors at TNUE, the 
researchers asked the participants to write an 
essay of IELTS writing task 1 which is 
describing charts. After the students finished 
their essays, the researchers collected and 
analysed these essays to study the common 
article errors made by these students 
Table 1. Students’ common article errors 
Common errors No. % 
Omission of „the‟ before the decades 15 21 
Omission of „the‟ before superlatives 5 5 
„the‟ used in stead of ∅ before plural 
nouns 
13 18 
Omission of „the‟ before a defining 
relative clause 
6 7 
Omission of „the‟ before nouns made 
particular in context 
9 15 
Table 1 presents the students‟ common article 
errors. It can be seen that fourth-year English 
majors at TNUE have some misunderstanding 
while using articles. The table shows two 
kinds of article errors: omissions and 
substitutions of articles. The data indicates 
that the omission of articles was the most 
frequent error. Eleven students omitted article 
„the‟ before the decades and this error was 
repeated 21 times in their essays. The number 
of students omitting „the‟ before superlatives 
comparison is eight. In addition, the omission 
of „the‟ before nouns made particular in 
 225(11): 70 - 76 
context was made by six students and the 
frequency of the error is 9 times in students‟ 
essays. Five students forgot using „the‟ before 
a defining relative clause. For the substitution 
of articles, the article error made by the 
biggest number of the students is that they use 
„the‟ instead of „∅‟ before plural nouns. The 
frequency of this error is 25 times. 
3.2. The impacts of reading BBC News on the 
competence in using articles of fourth-year 
English majors at TNUE 
To assess the impact of reading BBC news on 
enhancing the competence in using articles, the 
researchers analyzed the students‟ essays to 
identify the number of article errors made by 
the experiental group and control group in the 
pre-test and post-test, and compared the results 
as well as the progress of these students. 
Table 2 presents the number of article errors 
made by the students in the experimental and 
control group in the pre-test and post-test. As 
can be seen in the table, in the pre-test, it is 
clear that all the students in the experimental 
and control group made article errors in their 
essays. Moreover, seven students in the control 
group and seven students in the experimental 
group made more than 2 article errors in their 
essays. The total number of article errors made 
by the experimental group and the control 
group is 46 and 45, respectively. 
In the post-test, it can be seen that most of the 
students in the experimental group made 
under 2 article errors in their essays. 
Furthermore, four of them did not make any 
article errors in their writing test. There was 
only one student making 3 article errors in the 
essay. The total number of errors made by the 
experimental group is 24. Meanwhile, in the 
control group, it is clear that all the students 
made article errors in their essays. Moreover, 
the number of student making more than 2 
article errors in their essays is 6. The total 
number of article errors is 41.
Tran Thi Yen et al. TNU Journal of Science and Technology
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 74 
Table 2. The number of article errors made by 
the students in the experimental and control group 
in the pre-test and post-test 
Pre-test results Post-test results 
P No. P No. P No. P No. 
E1 2 C1 2 E1 1 C1 2 
E2 2 C2 3 E2 1 C2 1 
E3 3 C3 1 E3 2 C3 2 
E4 2 C4 3 E4 0 C4 1 
E5 3 C5 2 E5 2 C5 2 
E6 3 C6 2 E6 3 C6 1 
E7 1 C7 3 E7 1 C7 3 
E8 2 C8 2 E8 2 C8 2 
E9 2 C9 4 E9 1 C9 3 
E10 1 C10 3 E10 2 C10 2 
E11 3 C11 1 E11 0 C11 3 
E12 1 C12 4 E12 1 C12 2 
E13 2 C13 2 E13 2 C13 1 
E14 3 C14 2 E14 1 C14 3 
E15 3 C15 1 E15 2 C15 2 
E16 2 C16 2 E16 0 C16 2 
E17 4 C17 2 E17 1 C17 1 
E18 2 C18 1 E18 2 C18 2 
E19 3 C19 3 E19 0 C19 3 
E20 2 C20 2 E20 2 C20 3 
Total 46 45 24 41 
P: Participants in the research 
E: Student in the experimental group 
C: Student in the control group 
No.: Number of articles errors 
To conclude, it can be seen that both the 
experimental group and control group have 
made remarkable progress during the semester 
since there are noticeable differences between 
the pre-test and the post-test results. However, 
the statistics related to the test results of the 
two groups are noticeably different in many 
aspects. Specifically: 
- In the pre-test, all of the students in the 
experimental and control group made at least 
one article error in their essays, and the total 
number of article errors made by the 
experimental group is almost the same as the 
control group (45 and 46 errors, respectively). 
It means that the competence in using articles 
of both groups was quite similar. 
- In the post-test, the total number of article 
errors made by the students in the 
experimental group is 24; however, the figure 
 225(11): 70 - 76 
for the control group is 41 although the 
competence in using articles of the students in 
both groups is almost similar in the pre-test. 
To sum up, there is a significant difference 
between the pre-test and post-test results of 
the participants in the experimental group (46 
compared with 24 errors) while there is an 
unremarkable gap between pre-test and post- 
test results of 20 students in the control group
(45 compared with 41 errors). The number of 
article errors made by the experimental group 
has decreased significantly after experiencing 
the new method. In the control group, the 
improvement in the ways they use articles 
seems not to be remarkable. This 
demonstrates that reading BBC news and 
analyzing the articles used in the news has a 
positive impact on the learners‟ competence 
in using articles. 
3.3. Students’ feedback on reading BBC news 
to improve the competence in using articles 
In the feedback questionnaire, the researchers 
asked the participants in the experimental 
group for their feedback on using BBC news 
to improve their competence in using articles. 
All of the students indicated that they find 
their competence in using articles improved. 
None of the participants claimed that they 
have no development after the experiment. 
This means that reading BBC news has a 
positive effect on students‟ competence in 
using articles. 
Regarding the advantages of reading BBC 
news, seven students claimed that reading 
BBC news is a fun method for learners to 
practice using articles. The next advantage of 
reading BBC news stated by 55% of the 
students was that the new method is also 
useful for learners to improve their reading 
skills. In addition, 70% of the students 
indicated that reading BBC news not only 
helps learners improve their competence in 
using articles but also helps them broaden 
their vocabulary.
Tran Thi Yen et al. TNU Journal of Science and Technology
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 
Additionally, after experiencing using e-
mind maps to learn and memorize article 
usages, the researchers asked the students 
about the advantages of using e-mind maps. 
According to the data attained from the 
questionnaire, most of the students (80%) 
indicated that e-mind maps help them 
remember the use of articles more easily and 
longer. Besides, eleven students answered 
that using e-mind maps helped them increase 
their creativity when generating ideas for 
writing. 45% of the students claimed that 
they can improve their memory and retention 
by using e-mind maps. In addition, 30% of 
the students responded that using e-mind 
maps helped increase their interest because 
of its numerous models and colors. 
4. Pedagogical implications 
4.1. Pedagogical implications for students 
The findings from the present study imply that 
reading BBC news and analysing the articles 
used in the news at the same time has a 
positive impact on the learners‟ competence in 
using articles. To make the most of BBC news 
in enhancing the competence in using articles 
for students, the researchers would like to 
suggest the process o