scholarly journals More evidence concerning the Aspect Hypothesis: The acquisition of English progressive aspect by Catalan-Spanish instructed learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Muñoz ◽  
Roger Gilabert
Keyword(s):  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis

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.

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.

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.

Exploring the upper limits of the Aspect Hypothesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Vraciu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Verb Morphology ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Distributional Patterns ◽  
L2 Development

This paper explores coalitions between tense-aspect morphology and the aspectual class of predicates in second language acquisition (the Aspect Hypothesis) on the basis of 36 oral narratives elicited with a picture book from French L1 adult learners of English. The observed distributional patterns are analysed in relation to the prototypical inflection/predicate coalitions observed both at early stages of L2 development and in English L1. While advanced learners are expected to make a productive use of tense-aspect morphology within all predicate classes, our data indicate that the prototypical coalition between the progressive form and activity predicates remains strong until very proficient stages of English L2, when the distribution of verb morphology within this class eventually becomes more flexible and activities as a class are predominantly encoded in the non-progressive present or past form. Non-grammaticalisation of the progressive in the learners’ L1 may interfere with the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis for this form in English L2.

Recent research on the acquisition of aspect: an embarrassment of riches?

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roumyana Slabakova
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Future Aspect

This review article surveys recent research on the first and second language acquisition of temporal and aspectual properties of natural languages.Three recently published books are discussed in the context of the primacy or aspect hypothesis and the prototype, the connectionist and the discourse explanations for the attested acquisition sequences. A potentially misleading terminological issue is highlighted: Deictic tense, grammatical and lexical aspect are often conflated in acquisition studies. Recent research from the (innatist) generative perspective (e.g., Olsen and Weinberg, 1999) is also examined. An alternative explanation of the skewed acquisition sequences in terms of processing costs is proposed. Some important topics for future aspect research are identified.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document