Abstract
This study examined Japanese university students' knowledge of English articles. Specifically, the study investigated (a) Japanese university students' knowledge (i.e., accuracy) in their usage of English articles, (b) their meta-cognitive knowledge (i.e., confidence) in their usage of English articles, (c) the relationships between accuracy and confidence, and (d) the relationships between English proficiency and accuracy. Results showed that Japanese university students' knowledge varied in accuracy among the three types of articles: definite, indefinite, and no articles. Definite-articles were most properly used, while the accuracy in the usage of no articles was the lowest. It was also found that accuracy in the use of English articles was correlated with English proficiency and confidence. These results appear to suggest that (a) Japanese university students with higher English proficiency had more accurate knowledge in their usage of English articles, and (b) they used English articles with accurate meta-cognitive knowledge to a certain extent.
