One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

Question

Please correct the given text:One of many problems faced by learners of English language is their own misconceptions. They think that English words have very specific meanings. But English words, like words of almost every other language, have many different figurative meanings in addition to their literal meanings. While learning any foreign language they forget that their own native tongue has so many similar peculiarities as the language they intend to learn. During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.The second problem lies in the fact that many grammatically correct sentences can be quite cumbersome to native English speakers. Not all seemingly correct sentences are idiomatic. They should always keep in mind that idiomaticness matters as much as grammatic correctness.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."

<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."

This is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.

"tongue has so as many - - - as"

<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems inigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.

In the second paragraph, at first blush the antecedent of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."

Have you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce word"?

Best wishes, - A.

Jackson6612 · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Avangieither "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."

Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays''.

Avangi<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."

Yes, there should be number agreement between verb and object. If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read: One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions. Is that what you suggested?

AvangiThis is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.

Is choosing used as a present participle in the above context?

Avangi<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems enigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of (=as means of, as a type of) explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.

How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up?

AvangiIn the second paragraph, at first blush (=when first thought of or considered) the antecedent (=a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to) of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."

Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.

AvangiHave you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce (=occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion) word"?

It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Avangi · Answer

Jackson6612
Avangieither "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."
Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays. The article is required in all of these. I honestly have no idea why. My guess is that "language" is the object of the verb "to learn," and would require an article if it were used without "English" as a modifier. To qualify for standing without the article, a "subject of study" must be one of a few very well-established courses. "I'm majoring in Romance Languages at university." Here, Romance Languages is the recognized name of a well-established course of study, as is Chinese. In the case of a dialect, the indefinite article would be used if there were more than one. Avangi<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."
Yes, there should be number agreement between verb and object. If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read: One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions. Is that what you suggested? That would be fine. I was considering "that they are" to be optional, as the gerund "dealing" may serve by itself as predicate nominative following the being verb "is." AvangiThis is about "learners." You refer back five times with "they." At some point you might remind the reader who "they" are. Eg, "these learners," "the students," something else of your choosing.
Is choosing'' used as a present participle in the above context? I'd say functionally it's a gerund, serving as object of the preposition "of." The other option, "choice," would of course be a noun.
Avangi<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> As the final sentence of the first paragraph, this seems enigmatic. It's very well phrased, but the meaning is less than obvious (to me.) I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of (=as means of, as a type of) explanation, or clarification. Optionally, you could make your "machinery" image a little easier to connect up.
How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up? How did I know you were going to ask me that danged question?? During the learning process they should remind themselves that the machinery of their native tongue was a long time in [the] building and fine-tuning, and they must be willing to devote an equal effort to the new language. (I'm not sure I have your intention right.)
AvangiIn the second paragraph, at first blush (=when first thought of or considered) the antecedent (=a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to) of "They" would seem to be "English speakers."
Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.
AvangiHave you verified that "idiomaticness" is a word? Or is it a "nonce (=occurring, used, or made only once or for a special occasion) word"?
It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Congratulations on your hard work. - A.

Edit. "Why is the article "the" essential here?"

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Jackson6612
Avangieither "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."
Why is article the essential here? There is only one English language. e.g. I'm learning Chinese language these days. Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the? The use of the is justified in sentences as in ''I'm learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays.

Avangi, Jackson:
The rule is that articles (definite, indefinite) are omitted in the case of mass nouns (non-count), and required for count nouns.

"Language" is a count noun. Thus, I can say: I speak two languages - Spanish and Greek.
I am studying the language of the tribal peoples of Tanzania.
When English, Chinese, Polish, Russian, etc. are adjectives modifying "language", you say:

I am studying the Russian language.
In contrast, English (as well as Polish, Russian, Chinese) is a mass (non-count ) noun.
So then you can omit the definite article (the):
I am studying English, Chinese and Russian.
I am a native speaker of English.
There are exceptions: Fowler wrote a book on grammar titled: The King's English
But this is distinguishing the King's English from other Englishes (American, the Queen's, Old English, Middle English etc.)

Anonymous · Answer

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One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

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