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Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 170:1 (2019) ► pp.79–110

The development of dynamicity in the acquisition of Spanish by Chinese learners

| University of Barcelona
| Pompeu Fabra University
| University of Barcelona

The acquisition of aspect in L2 is influenced by the properties of the lexical-aspectual class, coercion at the syntactic-pragmatic interface and grounding information (foreground and background) in discourse. This paper addresses how these linguistic functions influence the acquisition of Spanish aspectual past tenses (pretérito indefinido and pretérito imperfecto) by Mandarin Chinese learners. The results show that activities and accomplishments are more problematic for learners to acquire and that dynamicity, rather than telicity, plays a determinant role for Chinese learners. Moreover, factors concerning coercion – a pragmatic and discourse mechanismremain difficult to master at C1. Our results also support the Discourse Hypothesis, though showing different patterns of association (lexical and grammatical aspect) across levels. We conclude that an integrative perspective gives a better account of the acquisition process of Spanish aspectual tenses

Keywords: L2/L3 acquisition of aspect, aspectual class, coercion, discourse, grounding
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Aspect, coercion and grounding information
    • 2.1Grammatical aspect and lexical aspect
    • 2.2Coercion and pragmatics
    • 2.3Grounding information
  • 3.Related work
  • 4.Hypothesis of the present study
  • 5.Methodology
    • 5.1Instrument
    • 5.2Participants
  • 6.Data analysis
    • 6.1Analysis of experimental groups
    • 6.2Analysis according to lexical aspectual class
    • 6.3Analysis of items with coercion
    • 6.4Analysis of the grounding information in the discourse
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.18001.sun
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