Cover not available
Article published In:
Current Visions of TAML2: Tense, Aspect and Modality in Second Languages
Edited by Paz González and Tim Diaubalick
[Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics 8:1] 2019
► pp. 67–83

Transfer in L3 acquisition

How does L2 aspectual knowledge in English influence the acquisition of perfective and imperfective aspect in L3 Spanish among German-speaking learners?

ORCID logo | University of Mannheim

The present study examines the influence of L2 English on the acquisition of perfective and imperfective aspect in L3 Spanish among German-speaking learners. We will argue that English will be activated as the default transfer source due to principles of acquisition, which are similar for both the L2 and the L3, and because of structural similarities between both languages. The analysis is based on data from 36 German-speaking learners with varying levels of knowledge of aspect in English, their L2, and learning Spanish. For data elicitation, two semantic interpretation tasks were used. The findings show that aspectual knowledge in L2 English affects the acquisition of L3 Spanish past tenses. However, the positive effect is not comprehensive, but rather, restricted to certain semantic contexts (e.g., past/perfective contexts). The discussion points to the possible effects of oversimplified one-to-one-mappings of form and meaning between L2 English and L3 Spanish.

Keywords: tense and aspect, German, English and Spanish language, third language acquisition, transfer, cross-linguistic influence
Article outline
  • 1.Overview
  • 2.Tense and aspect in German, English and Spanish
  • 3.Transfer in the acquisition of tense and aspect in Spanish as L2/L3
  • 4.The present study
    • 4.1Predictions
    • 4.2Instruments and data coding
    • 4.3Participants
  • 5.Results
  • 6.Discussion and concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 11 March 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.19003.eib
References
Andersen, R.
(2002) The dimension of “pastness”. In R. Salaberry, & Y. Shirai (Eds.), The L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology (pp. 79–105). Philadelphia: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Andersson, S.-G.
(2004) Gibt es Aspekt im Deutschen? In L. Gautier, & D. Haberkorn (Eds.), Aspekt und Aktionsarten im heutigen Deutsch (pp. 1–11). Tübingen: Stauffenburg/Narr.Google Scholar
Bardel, C., & Falk, Y.
(2012) The L2 status factor and the declarative/procedural distinction. In J. Cabrelli Amaro, S. Flynn, & J. Rothman (Eds.), Third language acquisition in adulthood (pp. 67–78). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bertinetto, P. M., & Lenci, A.
(2012) Habituality, plurifactionality, and imperfectivity. In R. Binnick (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of tense and aspect (pp. 852–880). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bertinetto, P. M., Ebert, K., & De Groot, C.
(2000) The progressive in Europe. In Ö. Dahl (Ed.), Tense and aspect in the languages of Europe (pp. 517–558). Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Comrie, B.
(1976) Aspect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
De Angelis, G., & Selinker, L.
(2001) Interlanguage transfer and competing systems in the multilingual mind. In J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen, & U. Jessner (Eds.), Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition (pp. 42–58). Clevedon/Buffalo/Toronto/Syndey: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, G.
(2007) Third or additional language acquisition. Great Britain: Cromwell Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Declerck, R.
(2006) The grammar of the English verb phrase. Volume 1: The grammar of the English tense system. A comprehensive analysis. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Diaubalick, T., & Guijarro-Fuentes, P.
(2019) The strength of L1 effects on tense and aspect: How German learners of L2 Spanish deal with acquisitional problems. Language Acquisition, 26(3), 282–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diaubalick, T., Eibensteiner, L., & Salaberry, R.
in preparation). Influence of L1/L2 linguistic knowledge on the acquisition of L3 Spanish past tense morphology among L1 German speakers. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Domínguez, L., Tracy-Ventura, N., Arche, M., Mitchell, R., & Myles, F.
(2013) The role of dynamic contrasts in the L2 acquisition of Spanish past tense morphology. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 16(3), 558–577. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eibensteiner, L., & Müller-Lancé, J.
in preparation). I am aprendiendo linguam hispanicam. Eine Untersuchung zum metasprachlichen Bewusstsein von Spanischlernenden. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Falk, Y., Lindqvist, Ch., & Bardel, C.
(2015) The role of L1 explicit metalinguistic knowledge in L3 oral production at the initial state. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(2), 227–235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Foote, R.
(2009) Transfer in L3 acquisition: The role of typology. In Y. I. Leung (Ed.), Third language acquisition and universal grammar (pp. 89–114). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kellerman, E.
(1983) Now you see it, now you don’t. In S. Gass, & L. Selinker (Eds.), Language transfer in language learning (pp. 112–134). Rowley: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Leisi, E., & Mair, Ch.
(2008) Das heutige Englisch: Wesenszüge und Probleme. Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar
Mair, Ch.
(2012) Progressive and imperfective Aspect. In R. Binnick (Ed.), Tense and aspect (pp. 803–827). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Slabakova, R.
(2002) The L2 acquisition of morphosyntactic and semantic properties of the aspectual tenses preterite and imperfect. In A. T. Pérez-Leroux, & J. Muñoz Liceras (Eds.), The acquisition of Spanish morphosyntax (pp. 115–151). Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Odlin, T.
(1989) Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ringbom, H.
(2007) Cross-linguistic similarity in foreign language learning. Clevedon/Buffalo/Toronto: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rothman, J.
(2015) Linguistic and cognitive motivations for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of third language (L3) transfer: Timing of acquisition and proficiency considered. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(2), 179–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Salaberry, R.
(2005) Evidence for transfer of knowledge of aspect from L2 Spanish to L3 Portuguese. In D. Ayoun, & R. Salaberry (Eds.), Tense and aspect in Romance languages: Theoretical and applied perspectives (pp. 179–210). Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Marking past tense in second language acquisition. A theoretical model. London/New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
(2011) Assessing the effect of lexical aspect and grounding on the acquisition of L2 Spanish past tense morphology among L1 English speaker. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14(2), 184–202. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
in preparation). The conceptualization of knowledge about aspect. From monolingual to multilingual representations. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Tagliamonte, S., & Lawrence, H.
(2000) “I used to dance, but I don’t dance now”. The habitual past in English. Journal of English Linguistics, 28(4), 324–353. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ullman, M.
(2001) The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: The declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(1), 105–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yllera, A.
(1999) Las perífrasis verbales de gerundio y participio. In V. Demonte, & I. Bosque (Eds.), Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española. Vol. 2. Las construcciones sintácticas fundamentales. Relaciones temporales, aspectuales y modales (pp. 3391–3442). Madrid: Espasa Calpe.Google Scholar
Zagona, K.
(2012) Tense and aspect. In J. I. Hualde, A. Olarrea, & E. O’Rourke (Eds.), The handbook of hispanic linguistics (pp. 355–372). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Diaubalick, Tim, Lukas Eibensteiner & M. Rafael Salaberry
2020. Influence of L1/L2 linguistic knowledge on the acquisition of L3 Spanish past tense morphology among L1 German speakers. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Vallerossa, Francesco
2021. The Role of Linguistic Typology, Target Language Proficiency and Prototypes in Learning Aspectual Contrasts in Italian as Additional Language. Languages 6:4 ► pp. 184 ff. DOI logo
Vallerossa, Francesco
2022. ‘I think mangiò might be passé simple’: exploring multilingual learners’ reflections on past tense verb morphology. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Vallerossa, Francesco, Anna Gudmundson, Anna Bergström & Camilla Bardel
2021. Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 0:0 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.