Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:02:29.912Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

TRANSFER AND TRANSITION IN THE SLA OF ASPECT

A Bidirectional Study of Learners of English and Japanese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Alison Gabriele
Alison Gabriele*
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
*
*Address correspondence to: Alison Gabriele, Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, 1541 Lilac Lane, Blake Hall 427, Lawrence, KS 66044-3177; e-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that it is particularly difficult for second language (L2) learners to overcome the effects of transfer when they need to unlearn specific aspects of the native language in the absence of explicit input that indicates which properties of the first language (L1) are ruled out by the L2 grammar (Inagaki, 2001; Westergaard, 2003; White, 1991a, 1991b). The present study focuses on the effects of transfer in the domain of aspectual semantics through an investigation of the interpretation of the present progressive in L2 English and the imperfective marker te-iru in L2 Japanese and examines whether L2 learners can rule out interpretations available in the L1 but not in the L2. Japanese learners of English (n = 101), English native-speaker controls (n = 23), English learners of Japanese (n = 31), and Japanese native-speaker controls (n = 33) completed an interpretation task in English or Japanese. The results show that the L2 Japanese learners were more successful than the L2 English learners in both acquiring the semantics of the imperfective in the L2 and ruling out interpretations available only in the L1. It is proposed that successful unlearning depends on both the grammatical complexity of the semantic target in the L2 and the transparency of the input cues available to the learner.

Type
Research Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 371 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1998). Narrative structure and lexical aspect: Conspiring factors in second language acquisition of tense-aspect morphology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 471–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2000). Tense and aspect in second language acquisition: Form, meaning and use. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Reynolds, D. W. (1995). The role of lexical aspect in the acquisition of tense and aspect. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 107–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, J., & Pylkkänen, L. (2008). Processing events: Behavioral and neuromagnetic correlates of aspectual coercion. Brain and Language, 106, 132–143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, S. (2001). Input and evidence: The raw material of second language acquisition. Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, L. (2004). The particulars on universals: A comparison of the acquisition of tense-aspect morphology among Japanese- and French-speaking learners of English. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61, 251–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comrie, B. (1976). Aspect. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
de Swart, H. (1998). Aspect shift and coercion. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 16, 347–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowty, D. (1979). Word meaning and Montague grammar. Dordrecht: Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, S., Flynn, S., & Martohardjono, G. (1996). Second language acquisition: Theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 19, 677–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabriele, A. (2005). The acquisition of aspect in a second language: A bidirectional study of learners of English and Japanese. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, City University of New York Graduate Center.Google Scholar
Gabriele, A., & Maekawa, J. (2008). Interpreting tense in a second language. EUROSLA Yearbook, 8, 79–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabriele, A., Maekawa, J., & Alemán-Bañón, J. (2009). Can we predict when dying will be difficult: Progressive achievements in L2 English. In Chandlee, J., Franchini, M., Lord, S., & Rheiner, G. M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 175–186). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Gabriele, A., Martohardjono, G., & McClure, W. (2003). Why swimming is just as difficult as dying for Japanese learners of English. ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 29, 85–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Ard, J. (1984). Second language acquisition and the ontology of language universals. In Rutherford, W. E. (Ed.), Language universals and second language acquisition (pp. 33–67). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, K. (1996). The logical and developmental problems of second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. & Bhatia, T. (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 49–81). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hawkins, R. (2001). The theoretical significance of Universal Grammar in SLA. Second Language Research, 17, 345–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirakawa, M. (2001). L2 acquisition of Japanese unaccusative verbs. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23, 221–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inagaki, S. (2001). Motion verbs with goal PPs in the L2 acquisition of English and Japanese. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23, 153–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishida, M. (2004). Effects of recasts on the acquisition of the aspectual form -te i-(ru) by learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Language Learning, 54, 311–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsen, W. (1992). The transitive structure of events in Japanese. Tokyo: Kurosio.Google Scholar
Juffs, A. (1996). Learnability and the lexicon: Theories and second language acquisition research. Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kindaichi, H. (1950). Kokugo dooshi no ichibunrui [Classification of Japanese verbs]. Gengo Kenkyuu, 15, 48–63.Google Scholar
Klein, E., & Martohardjono, G. (1999). Investigating second language grammars: Some conceptual and methodological issues in generative SLA research. In Klein, E. & Martohardjono, G. (Eds.), The development of second language grammars: A generative approach (pp. 3–34). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landman, F. (1992). The progressive. Natural Language Semantics, 1, 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, P., & Shirai, Y. (2000). The acquisition of lexical and grammatical aspect. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longobardi, G. (2001). How comparative is semantics? A unified parametric theory of bare nouns and proper names. Natural Language Semantics, 9, 335–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazurkewich, I. (1984). Dative questions and markedness. In Eckman, F. R., Nelson, D., & Bell, L. H. (Eds.), Universals of second language acquisition (pp. 119–131). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
McClure, W. (1995). Syntactic projections of the semantics of aspect. Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo.Google Scholar
Michaelis, L. (2006). Tense and time. In Aarts, B. & MacMahon, A. (Eds.), The handbook of English linguistics (pp. 220–243). Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moens, M., & Steedman, M. (1988). Temporal ontology and temporal reference. Computational Linguistics, 14, 15–28.Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Slabakova, R. (2002). Acquiring morphosyntactic and semantic properties of aspectual tenses in L2 Spanish. In Péréz-Lerouz, A. T. & Liceras, J. (Eds.), The acquisition of Spanish morphosyntax: The L1-L2 connection (pp. 113–149). Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Slabakova, R. (2003). Competence similarities between native and near-native speakers: An investigation of the preterite-imperfect contrast in Spanish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 351–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishi, Y. (2003). Verb learning and the acquisition of aspect: The influence of crosslinguistic variation in inherent lexical aspect. Unpublished manuscript, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Nishi, Y., & Shirai, Y. (2007). Where L1 semantic transfer occurs: The significance of cross-linguistic variation in lexical aspect in the L2 acquisition of aspect. In Matsumoto, Y., Oshima, D. Y., Robinson, O., & Sells, P. (Eds.), Diversity in language: Perspectives and implications (pp. 219–241). Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Ogihara, T. (1998). The ambiguity of the -te iru form in Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 7, 87–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, T. (1990). Events in the semantics of English: A study in subatomic semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Piñango, M., Zurif, E. B., & Jackendoff, R. (1999). Real-time processing implications of enriched composition and the syntax-semantics interface. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 28, 395–414.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reichenbach, H. (1947). Elements of symbolic logic. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, D., & Sorace, A. (1999). Losing the V2 constraint. In Klein, E. & Martohardjono, G. (Eds.), The development of second language grammars: A generative approach (pp. 317–361). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robison, R. (1995). The aspect hypothesis revisited: A cross-sectional study of tense and aspect marking in interlanguage. Applied Linguistics, 16, 344–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rocca, S. (2002). Lexical aspect in child second language acquisition of temporal morphology: A bidirectional study. In Salaberry, R. & Shirai, Y. (Eds.), The L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology (pp. 249–284). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, S. (2004). Structuring events: A study in the semantics of aspect. Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salaberry, R., & Shirai, Y. (2002). L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology. In Salaberry, R. & Shirai, Y. (Eds.), The L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology (pp. 1–20). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B. D., & Sprouse, R. A. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the full transfer/full access model. Second Language Research, 12, 40–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shibata, M. (1999). The use of Japanese tense-aspect morphology in L2 discourse narratives. Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language, 2, 68–102.Google Scholar
Shirai, Y. (2000). The semantics of the Japanese imperfective -teiru: An integrative approach. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 327–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirai, Y. (2002). The aspect hypothesis in SLA and the acquisition of Japanese. Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language, 5, 42–61.Google Scholar
Shirai, Y., & Kurono, A. (1998). The acquisition of tense/aspect marking in Japanese as a second language. Language Learning, 48, 245–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2001). Telicity in the second language. Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2002a). The compounding parameter in second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24, 507–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2002b). Recent research on the acquisition of aspect: An embarrassment of riches? Second Language Research 18, 172–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2003). Semantic evidence for functional categories in interlanguage grammars. Second Language Research, 19, 42–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2006). Learnability in the second language acquisition of semantics: A bidirectional study of a semantic parameter. Second Language Research, 22, 498–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. (1991/1997). The parameter of aspect. Dordrecht: KluwerCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A. (1993). Incomplete and divergent representations of unaccusativity in non-native grammars of Italian. Second Language Research, 9, 22–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugaya, N., & Shirai, Y. (2007). The acquisition of progressive and resultative meanings of the imperfective aspect marker by L2 learners of Japanese. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29, 1–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trahey, M., & White, L. (1993). Positive evidence and preemption in the second language classroom. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 181–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truscott, J. (2006). Optionality in second language acquisition: A generative, processing oriented account. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 44, 311–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valian, V. (1990). Null subjects: A problem for parameter-setting models of language acquisition. Cognition, 35, 105–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vendler, Z. (1967). Verbs and times. In Vendler, Z. (Ed.), Linguistics in philosophy (pp. 97–121). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verkuyl, H. (1972). On the compositional nature of the aspects. Dordrecht: Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verkuyl, H. (1989). Aspectual classes and aspectual composition. Linguistics and Philosophy, 12, 39–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verkuyl, H. (1993). A theory of aspectuality: The interaction between temporal and atemporal structure. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westergaard, M. (2003). Unlearning V2: Transfer, markedness and the importance of input cues in the acquisition of word order in English by Norwegian children. EUROSLA Yearbook, 3, 73–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (1987). Markedness and second language acquisition: The question of transfer. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 9, 261–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (1991a). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: Some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research, 7, 133–161.Google Scholar
White, L. (1991b). The verb-movement parameter in second language acquisition. Language Acquisition, 1, 337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (2003). Second language acquisition and Universal Grammar. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whong-Barr, M. (2006). What transfers? In Unsworth, S., Parodi, T., Sorace, A., & Young-Scholten, M. (Eds.), Paths of development in L1 and L2 acquisition (pp. 187–200). Amsterdam: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuan, B. (2001). The status of thematic verbs in second language acquisition of Chinese: Against the inevitability of thematic verb-raising in L2 acquisition. Second Language Research, 17, 248–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuan, B. (2004). Negation in French-Chinese, German-Chinese and English-Chinese interlanguages. Transactions of the Philological Society, 102, 169–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar