scholarly journals L2 acquisition of Mandarin zai and -le

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiner Tong ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Aspect Marker

AbstractAlthough the Aspect Hypothesis has been tested in many European languages, it has not been investigated extensively in Chinese. The present study tested the Aspect Hypothesis in relation to two predictions: the Association Prediction, which predicts that perfective aspect (in Chinese, –le) will be associated with telic verbs and progressive aspect (zai) with activity verbs, and the Developmental Prediction, which predicts that such associations will be stronger at early stages of development. The study employed a controlled experiment, which elicited learners’ judgments on perfective –le and progressive zai in obligatory, incorrect, and optional contexts. The results show that the Association Prediction is only partially supported and that the Developmental Prediction is not supported, in that higher-level learners associate lexical aspect more strongly with the grammatical aspect marker. The results are more consistent with the Default Past Tense Hypothesis (Salaberry 1999. The development of past tense verbal morphology in classroom L2 Spanish. Applied Linguistics 20. 151–178), which we propose to be extended to the Lexical Insensitivity Hypothesis.

scholarly journals Lexical and Grammatical Aspect in On-line Processing of English Past Tense and Progressive Aspect by Mandarin Speakers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Zeng ◽  
Xiaoxiang Chen ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Chinese Learners

Previous studies have shown that the grammatical aspect of verb predicates has an effect on tense-aspect sentence processing. However, it remains unclear as to whether the interaction of lexical aspect and grammatical aspect can influence the form-meaning association in the second language (L2) tense-aspect sentence processing, especially for the learners whose native language is grammatically marked differently from their L2. This study conducts a psycholinguistic investigation to highlight how the prototypical and non-prototypical associations predicted in the Aspect Hypothesis and L2 proficiency level influence the processing of English past tense and progressive morphology by Mandarin Chinese learners at two proficiency levels and native English speakers. The results show that the prototypical associations of English tense-aspect categories predicted in the Aspect Hypothesis, such as achievement verbs with past tense and activity verbs with the progressive aspect, can engender shorter reading time than non-prototypical associations for both native speakers and second language learners. There is no significant difference between native speakers and Chinese learners of English in their processing of prototypical items, while significant differences exist in the processing of non-prototypical items. The L2 proficiency level does not have an effect on the processing of prototypes but on the processing of non-prototypes in the L2 tense-aspect marking. This study extends previous research, showing the interaction effect of lexical aspect and grammatical aspect in the form-meaning association in L2 tense-aspect sentence processing.

Effects of corrective feedback on L2 acquisition of tense-aspect verbal morphology

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Mifka-Profozic
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Control Group ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Improving Accuracy ◽  
Passe Compose

In this study, the effectiveness of implicit corrective feedback was examined with a group of 30 sixteen-year-old English native speakers learning French, who received either recasts or clarification requests on errors they made with the passé composé and the imparfait. The control group did not receive any feedback. Overall, the results indicate that recasts were more effective in improving accuracy of form and use for both the passé composé and the imparfait. However, an examination of language development with reference to the Aspect Hypothesis and the inherent lexical aspect of verbs showed that no change occurred between the pretest and the posttests. The passé composé was associated exclusively with achievement verbs, whereas the imparfait was limited to several frequent irregular stative verbs and a few activity verbs.

scholarly journals The role of dynamic contrasts in the L2 acquisition of Spanish past tense morphology

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA DOMÍNGUEZ ◽  
NICOLE TRACY-VENTURA ◽  
MARÍA J. ARCHE ◽  
ROSAMOND MITCHELL ◽  
FLORENCE MYLES
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Single Class ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
New Evidence

This study examines the second language acquisition of Spanish past tense morphology by three groups of English speakers (beginners, intermediates and advanced). We adopt a novel methodological approach – combining oral corpus data with controlled experimental data – in order to provide new evidence on the validity of the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (LAH) in L2 Spanish. Data elicited through one comprehension and three oral tasks with varying degrees of experimental control show that the emergence of temporal markings is determined mainly by the dynamic/non-dynamic contrast (whether a verb is a state or an event) as beginner and intermediate speakers use Preterit with event verbs but Imperfect mainly with state verbs. One crucial finding is that although advanced learners use typical Preterit–telic associations in the least controlled oral tasks, as predicted by the LAH, this pattern is often reversed in tasks designed to include non-prototypical (and infrequent) form–meaning contexts. The results of the comprehension task also show that the Preterit-event and Imperfect-state associations observed in the production data determine the interpretation that learners assign to the Preterit and the Imperfect as well. These results show that beginner and intermediate learners treat event verbs (achievements, accomplishments and activities) in Spanish as a single class that they associate with Preterit morphology. We argue that dynamicity contrasts, and not telicity, affect learners’ use of past tense forms during early stages of acquisition.

scholarly journals A ‘mixed methods’ approach for investigating aspect in a second language

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
Laura Domínguez
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Oral Production

Abstract A leading hypothesis in the study of the L2 acquisition of aspect-related verbal morphemes is the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (LAH) (Andersen, 1989, 1991; Andersen & Shirai, 1994) which claims that learners’ use of these forms is determined by the lexical properties of events. Reviews of major studies reveal that data from one single task, usually an open-ended oral task, have often been used to support this hypothesis. I discuss copious evidence from the acquisition of Spanish to argue that when studies use a ‘mixed methods’ approach (e.g. combining oral production and experimentally elicited data) they are able to test existing hypotheses such as the LAH more reliably and can offer more valuable insights. Existing evidence from the SPLLOC project (Domínguez, Tracy-Ventura, Arche, Mitchell, & Myles, 2013; Mitchell, Domínguez, Arche, Myles, & Marsden, 2008) is used as supporting evidence for this approach and to raise questions about the appropriateness of some research methods widely used in our field.

Arabic learners’ acquisition of English past tense morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Zhao ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Learner Corpus

Abstract The current study investigates the roles of lexical aspect and phonological saliency in second language acquisition of English past tense morphology. It also explores whether the effects of these factors are affected by data elicitation tasks and learners’ L2 proficiency. We created a learner corpus consisting of data from oral personal narratives from twenty Arabic EFL learners from two proficiency groups (low vs. intermediate/advanced), which were transcribed in CHAT format, tagged, and included in the TalkBank corpora. We also administered a written cloze task. Despite task variations, we find strong evidence that supported the influence of lexical semantics in Arabic learners’ acquisition of past tense marking, confirming the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis.

scholarly journals Lexical Aspect and the Use of Simple Past Tense by Thai Learners of English

MANUSYA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-77
Author(s):  
Suriya Sriphrom ◽  
Theeraporn Ratitamkul
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Tense Form ◽  
Cloze Test

This cross-sectional study investigated the use of the simple past tense form by twenty Thai learners of English at two levels of proficiency. A cloze test developed by Ayoun and Salaberry (2008) was adopted. The findings showed that the learners in the high proficiency group used the past tense form more accurately than the learners in the low proficiency group. When verbs were categorized according to lexical aspect, both groups of learners were found to use the simple past tense form most often with telic events as well as with states. This did not correspond to the prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis, which asserts that low-level learners tend to use the simple past tense form with telic events first. The distributional bias in the input could account for the pattern found in this study.

Universals and transfer in the acquisition of the progressive aspect: Evidence from L1 Chinese, German, and Spanish learners’ use of the progressive -ing in spoken English

2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Zeng ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai ◽  
Xiaoxiang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
First Language ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Learner Corpus

Abstract This study investigated the effects of learners’ first language (L1), lexical aspect of verbs, and proficiency levels on their use of the English progressive aspect. It analyzed spoken data from learners of three different L1s (Chinese, German, and Spanish) in an international learner corpus (LINSEI), in comparison with native speech in a comparable native speaker corpus (LOCNEC). The analysis reveals that regardless of learners’ L1 and proficiency levels, their use of progressive markings is predominantly associated with activity verbs (prototypes), supporting the association prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen, Roger W. & Yasuhiro Shirai. 1994. Discourse motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 16(2). 133–156). Contrary to the fourth prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis, both intermediate and advanced learners use stative progressives, and especially intermediate L1 Spanish learners overuse stative progressives, indicating a complex interaction between L1 and proficiency on non-prototypical form-meaning associations. The results suggest that L1 effect, lexical aspect of verbs, and proficiency levels jointly drive tense-aspect acquisition.

Expanding the Definition of Aspect in L2 Acquisition: Assessing Advanced Levels of Competence to Understand Aspectual Knowledge

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
M. Rafael Salaberry
Keyword(s):  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Viewpoint Aspect ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Ultimate Attainment

In part due to the significant influence of Andersen's Lexical Aspect Hypothesis, research on the L2 acquisition of tense and aspect has focused primarily on the construct of aspect representative of the beginning and intermediate stages of acquisition. In the present article, I review the significance of two recent developments in the study of aspectual knowledge: the expansive view of recent research proposals (e.g., shifted effect of lexical aspect toward intermediate and advanced stages), and the focus on specific sub-constructs that provide a more precise target to assess ultimate attainment (e.g., iterativity versus habituality). I argue that the relevance of advanced stages of development of aspect is central to the analysis of L2 aspectual knowledge. To that effect, the objective of future studies needs to incorporate the explicit description of the connection between lexical aspect and viewpoint aspect

Initial acquisition of tense-aspect morphology in an artificial language

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles M Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Initial Acquisition ◽  
Early Acquisition

Various explanations have been put forth for the asymmetrical acquisition of tense and aspect morphology across categories of lexical aspect. This experiment tested the adequacy of a subset of such accounts by examining English native speakers’ ( n = 40) use of progressive and past tense morphology within activity and accomplishment verb frames during their early acquisition of a miniature artificial language. Participants completed a lesson in which types and tokens of lexical aspect and past and present morphology were balanced. Although significant effects at p < .05 were found for lexical aspect and morphological marking, the interaction between these factors, expected by the aspect hypothesis, was non-significant. The experiment suggests that the effects of lexical aspect may be absent during the earliest phases of second language acquisition or may be due to factors methodologically excluded in this study such as distributional biases in second language input.

scholarly journals The Aspect Hypothesis, the comparative fallacy and the validity of obligatory context analysis: a reply to Lardiere, 2003

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Shirai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Methods Of Analysis

Lardiere (2003), in her reply to Lakshmanan and Selinker (2001), justifies the use of suppliance in obligatory contexts as a method of analysis in the investigation of the second language (L2) acquisition of past tense, and claims that such a method is characteristic of previous studies that have proposed the Aspect Hypothesis. It is argued here that this is a misrepresentation of research on the Aspect Hypothesis which, contra Lardiere, takes seriously the problem of the ‘comparative fallacy’ and the autonomous nature of interlanguage. Lardiere also argues that the Aspect Hypothesis studies suffer from a different kind of comparative fallacy, to which I reply by discussing the importance of refining methods of analysis in verb aspectual classification of learner data.

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