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This study deals with the process of lexical development by Japanese learners of English in instructional settings. A test was designed to measure their inter-lexical competence (i.e. the ability to use semantically related words differently) about the English basic verbs of sensory perception (e.g. see, listen, smell), which constitutes a conceptual lexical network. Three hundred nineteen university students of different levels of English proficiency participated in this study. The overall results showed that Japanese university students had difficulty in the selective use of basic verbs of perception, and we identified some specific problematic areas. The performance of the participants was discussed in terms of a learning strategy - i.e. the search-translation-equivalent strategy. Pedagogical implications were discussed with reference to core schemas and lexical networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although cross-linguistic research on second language tense-aspect acquisition has uncovered universal tendencies concerning the association between verbal semantics and tense-aspect markers, it is still unclear what mechanisms underlie this link. This study investigates the acquisition of two imperfective aspect markers (- ko iss- and - a iss-) in Korean by Japanese learners to determine how cognitive universals, first language (L1) transfer, and input frequency interact. The current findings are compared with the results of Lee and Kim (2007), who studied the acquisition of the same aspect markers by L1 English learners. Both groups of learners acquired the progressive - ko iss- earlier than the resultative - a iss-/- ko iss-, while L1 Japanese learners acquired the resultative use of - ko iss- earlier than L1 English learners. Japanese learners' early acquisition of the resultative - ko iss- is likely due to L1 transfer, because Japanese has a similar imperfective marker (- te i-). We argue that cognitive universals (one-to-one principle), L1 transfer, and input frequency all contribute to the acquisition patterns of temporal morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an experimental study addressing the second language acquisition of Mandarin temporality. Mandarin Chinese does not mark past, present, or future with dedicated morphemes; the native English of the learners does. It was hypothesized that, in their comprehension, learners would utilize the deictic pattern of expressing temporality, which postulates that bounded events tend to be interpreted as past and unbounded events as present. Twenty-eight bilingual native speakers, 25 intermediate learners, and 23 advanced learners of Mandarin with English as their native language took 3 different interpretation tests. Learners' temporal interpretation choices were highly accurate even at intermediate levels of proficiency, suggesting that obeying the deictic pattern in second language comprehension is not hard. Pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing evidence suggests that children, when they first pass standard theory-of-mind tasks, still fail to understand the essential aspectuality of beliefs and other propositional attitudes: such attitudes refer to objects only under specific aspects. Oedipus, for example, believes Yocaste (his mother) is beautiful, but this does not imply that he believes his mother is beautiful. In three experiments, 3- to 6-year-olds' ( N = 119) understanding of aspectuality was tested with a novel, radically simplified task. In contrast to all previous findings, this task was as difficult as and highly correlated with a standard false belief task. This suggests that a conceptual capacity more unified than previously assumed emerges around ages 4-5, a full-fledged metarepresentational scheme of propositional attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study is to investigate motion event cognition in second language learners in a higher education context. Based on recent findings that speakers of grammatical aspect languages like English attend less to the endpoint (goal) of events than do speakers of nonaspect languages like Swedish in a nonverbal categorization task involving working memory (Athanasopoulos & Bylund, 2013; Bylund & Athanasopoulos, 2015), the current study asks whether native speakers of an aspect language start paying more attention to event endpoints when learning a nonaspect language. Native English and German (a nonaspect language) speakers, and English learners of L2 German, who were pursuing studies in German language and literature at an English university, were asked to match a target scene with intermediate degree of endpoint orientation with two alternate scenes with low and high degree of endpoint orientation, respectively. Results showed that, compared to the native English speakers, the learners of German were more prone to base their similarity judgements on endpoint saliency, rather than ongoingness, primarily as a function of increasing L2 proficiency and year of university study. Further analyses revealed a nonlinear relationship between length of L2 exposure and categorization patterns, subserved by a progressive strengthening of the relationship between L2 proficiency and categorization as length of exposure increased. These findings present evidence that cognitive restructuring may occur through increasing experience with an L2, but also suggest that this relationship may be complex and unfold over a long period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encoding of goal-oriented motion events varies across different languages. Speakers of languages without grammatical aspect (e.g., Swedish) tend to mention motion endpoints when describing events (e.g., "two nuns walk to a house") and attach importance to event endpoints when matching scenes from memory. Speakers of aspect languages (e.g., English), on the other hand, are more prone to direct attention to the ongoingness of motion events, which is reflected both in their event descriptions (e.g., "two nuns are walking") and in their nonverbal similarity judgements. This study examines to what extent native speakers (L1) of Swedish (n=82) with English as a foreign language (FL) restructure their categorisation of goal-oriented motion as a function of their proficiency and experience with the English language (e.g., exposure, learning history, etc.). Seventeen monolingual native English speakers from the United Kingdom (UK) were recruited for comparison purposes. Data on motion event cognition were collected through a memory-based triads matching task in which a target scene with an intermediate degree of endpoint orientation was matched with two alternative scenes with low and high degrees of endpoint orientation. Results showed that the preference among the Swedish speakers of FL English to base their similarity judgements on ongoingness rather than event endpoints was correlated with exposure to English in everyday life, such that those who often watched television in English approximated the ongoingness preference of the English native speakers. These findings suggest that event cognition patterns may be restructured through exposure to FL audiovisual media. The results add to the emerging picture that learning a new language entails learning new ways of observing and reasoning about reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The verb láta 'let/make' in Icelandic provides a unique opportunity to understand the behavior of symmetric versus asymmetric dat-nom constructions, as well as the nature of nominative-accusative case alternations. In this paper, we take a close look at láta and examine a set of cases where dat-nom verbs are embedded under láta, resulting in the otherwise nominative object becoming accusative in some cases and remaining nominative in others. We propose that phase extension of an Appl head underlies both the availability of accusative in an embedded dat-nom verb and the possibility of A-moving a nominative object past the dative to the subject position. We further hypothesize that the base-generated position of the verbal root in the syntax underlies the lexical difference between symmetric and asymmetric dat-nom verbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extension of the progressive form to stative verbs is a widely discussed feature of Outer Circle varieties of English. This paper examines the semantics of the stative progressive in three corpora, representing spoken and written Indian (IndE), Kenyan (KenE) and Black South African English (BSAfE). The results reveal that the progressive form is used more frequently in spoken than written data, and most frequently in BSAfE, followed by KenE, and then IndE. All three Outer Circle varieties use the progressive form proportionally more often with stative verbs than British English. The main use of the progressive form is to convey a sense of extended duration. This Outer Circle prototype is termed an on-going state, and clearly differs from the sense of a temporary state, which is prototypical for Inner Circle varieties. There are nevertheless a substantial minority of limited duration (temporary state) uses, especially in the written data, but at the same time, a number of examples where the progressive conveys the sense of states with unlimited duration, especially in BSAfE and the spoken data. The main conclusion is that the progressive is not simply extended to stative verbs, as is argued by many previous researchers, but rather that of a different prototype, of extended duration, sanctions a wider range of uses of the progressive form with dynamic verbs and stative verbs alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeing aspects is a dominant theme in Wittgenstein's 1940s writings on philosophy of psychology. Interpreters disagree about what Wittgenstein was trying to do in these discussions. I argue that interpreting Wittgenstein's observations about the interrelations between 'noticing an aspect' and other psychological concepts as a systematic theory of aspect-seeing diminishes key lessons of Wittgenstein's explorations: these interrelations are enormously complicated and 'noticing an aspect' resists neat classification. Further, Wittgenstein invites us to engage in his 'placing activity,' and by doing so we are building a skill that is valuable for enabling us to help ourselves when we encounter conceptual difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the potential of combining learner corpus research with experimental studies in order to fine-tune the understanding of learner language development. It illustrates the complementarity of the two methodological approaches with data from an ongoing study of the acquisition of the English tense and aspect system by French learners. The first research question relates to the development of accuracy of tense and aspect usage in written production over time; longitudinal learner corpus data is used to answer this question. Its results are then incorporated into an experimental study that addresses the second research question, which seeks to uncover reasons why some tense and aspect features remain difficult to master even for advanced L2 learners. The first part of the article reviews the status of longitudinal research in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and describes the Longitudinal Database of Learner English (Longdale) used for the study. The second half of the article presents the results of the learner corpus analysis. These reveal that over a period of 3 years, learners' tense and aspect errors decrease. However, the English progressive continues to present considerable learning difficulties. Two follow-up experiments investigated which elaborations of the progressive epistemic schema L2 learners continue to find difficult. They showed that advanced learners master the most salient elaboration of the present progressive (i.e., ongoingness, including extended ongoingness). By contrast, their understanding of less core uses (i.e., planned events) is much less precise. The article concludes with suggestions for the teaching of tense and aspect to advanced EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study suggests that Intermediate High and Advanced speakers produce aspectually valid constructions in Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) in large part because they are doing more than assigning aspect to lexical categories (Lexical aspect hypothesis), but because they are assigning lexicalized meaning to discrete verbs, for example govorit' (imperfective)-'to talk,' but skazat' (perfective)-'to say.' Analysis of the data from 55 OPIs conducted with second language (L2) Russian speakers ranging from Intermediate High to Superior confirms three hypotheses: (a) the proportion of aspectual utterances that owe their correctness to lexicalization decreases as proficiency increases; (b) aspectual competence as demonstrated by the greater number of aspectually non-lexicalized verbs in the speech of L2 Russian speakers rises with proficiency level; (c) a decrease in the proportion of lexicalized verbs in an examinee's speech correlates positively with an increase in the variety of verbs used. Other findings include a relative paucity of unprefixed verbs of motion in the corpus and a high ratio of lexicalized forms of skazat''to say,' and their distribution did not correlate with proficiency levels in either direction. The high ratio of aspectually lexicalized items in the corpus and the aspectual inaccuracies to which they lead have implications for teaching students who are approaching Intermediate High and Advanced levels of proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aspect hypothesis ( Andersen & Shirai, 1994 ) proposes that language learners are initially influenced by the inherent semantic aspect in the acquisition of tense and aspect (TA) morphology. Perfective past emerges earlier with accomplishments and achievements and progressive with activities. Although this hypothesis has been extensively studied, there have been no analyses of the frequency, form, and function of relevant types and tokens in the input. This article reports the results of 2 corpus-based studies investigating how various features of the input—frequency distributions, reliabilities of form–function mapping, and prototypicality of lexical aspect—affect TA morphology. Study I determined the relative frequency profiles of exemplars of English TA and employed various statistics to determine the associations between particular verb–aspect combinations. Study II expanded the aspect hypothesis, examining whether native speakers judge the most frequent forms in isolation to be more prototypical in lexical aspect. Analyses were then matched against acquisition data for different TA patterns by adult learners of English ( Bardovi-Harlig, 2000 ) to determine whether the verbs' acquisition order is determined by their frequency, form, and function in the input. Rather than testifying to the effect of 1 factor alone, the results suggest that frequency, distinctiveness, and prototypicality jointly drive acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the acquisition of Korean imperfective markers, the progressive - ko iss- and the resultative - a iss-, with a view to understanding how tense/aspect morphology expands beyond prototype associations with inherent aspects of the verbs. We hypothesized that - a iss- will develop later than - ko iss-, but that the development of -a iss- will precede or coincide with the expansion of - ko iss- marking for result state meaning. Cross-sectional data were collected from 120 learners of second language Korean using a sentence interpretation task and a guided picture description task. The results support our hypothesized acquisition route of imperfective markers, establishing dynamic durativity as the prototypical meaning of the Korean imperfective - ko iss- and suggesting individual variation in expanding the prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapter 6 of the second volume of the "Language Learning" monograph series is presented. It explores how input and form-focused instruction affects the development of interlanguage tense-aspect systems. It determines whether targeted instruction affects learners' development of temporal expression. It provides an observational study of the impact of instruction on the interlanguage of tutored and untutored learners. It also explains how the instructional variable relates to other variables.

Chapter 3 of the second volume of the "Language Learning" monograph series is presented. It focuses on the morphological stage of the acquisition of temporal expression in second language (L2). It surveys literature on acquisition sequences in the acquisition of tense-aspect morphology in six different languages, each of which receives a brief grammatical sketch. It provides a longitudinal investigation of the development of morphology related to how the past is expressed in English.

Chapter 1 of the second volume of the "Language Learning" monograph series is presented. It introduces a study of how time talk is acquired in second language (L2) research. It takes into account the ground-breaking research on tense-aspect morphology, which considers the occurrence of the grammatical morphemes in interlanguage. It also covers succeeding investigations on form-meaning associations within the developing system of temporal expression.

Chapter 5 of the second volume of the "Language Learning" monograph series is presented. It focuses on the interlanguage discourse hypothesis in second language (L2) learning. It takes into account the interlanguage narrative structure and its impact on how tense-aspect morphology is distributed. It surveys studies of L2 narrative, and how its influence along with lexical aspect produces observed patterns of development.

Chapter 4 of the second volume of the "Language Learning" monograph series is presented. It presents a theory-driven exploration of how tense-aspect morphology is acquired. It discusses how the aspect hypothesis for first and second language (L2) acquisition is formed. It outlines scope of research methodology used in L2 studies. It explains the categories of lexical aspect and reviews the verbal morphology associated with grammatical aspect of the target languages.

The articles focuses on the frequent use of stative verbs in progressive forms. Even though the students who learn English as second language (ESL) find it difficult to adjust the usage with what is found in grammar books, the use of stative verbs in progressive forms is acceptable. There are discourse contexts which necessitate the use of stative verbs like resemble, feel, and many others, in progressive forms. The problem for the ESL teachers and learners arises from the perception about the usage of English progressive. The author offers a principled explanation of the usage of progressive form of verbs in discourse. The generalization about the progressive is that progressive form focuses on a change or changes of state. So, when the speaker wishes to focus on a change of state, he uses progressive forms of verbs whether or not the verb is grammatically stative. It is the demands of discourse which justifies the use of stative verbs in progressive forms.

Tense-Aspect Morphology in European Languages, p.96. Tense-Aspect Morphology Related to Past in English, p.104. The Acquisition of Tense-Aspect Morphology, p.111. Longitudinal Studies of the Acquisition of Tense-Aspect Morphology, p.114. Cross-Sectional Studies of the Acquisition of Tense-Aspect Morphology, p.120. A Study of the Emergence of Tense-Aspect Morphology Related to Past in English, p.126. Method, p.127. Analysis and Results, p.138. Comparing Meaning-Oriented and Form-Oriented Approaches, p.184. Chapter Summary, p.186 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aspect Hypothesis, p.192. In Primary Language Acquisition, p.193. In Second Language Acquisition, p.195. Grammatical and Lexical Aspect, p.205. Investigations of the Aspect Hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition, p.227. The Spread of Perfective Past, p.228. The Spread of Imperfective Past, p.234. The Spread of Progressive, p.237. Overgeneralization of Progressive in States, p.238. Sample Study: The Distribution of Verbal Morphology in Learner Narratives, p.239. Assessing the Influence of Lexical Aspect, p.251. Challenges to the Aspect Hypothesis, p.265. Chapter Summary, p.272 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]