Tense and agreement markers in the interlanguage of Spanish learners of English

Authors

  • Jose Medina Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria/ Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Keywords:

L2 English, written production, tense, agreement

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the learning process of the features of tense and agreement in the interlanguage system of L1 Spanish speakers learning L2 English. This study uses a statistically significant sample of the student population in year 6 of primary education (11-12 years old), year 4 of secondary education (15-16 years old) and upper sixth form (17-18 years old), in the Autonomous Region of the Canary Islands. The research instrument was their written production. The analysis conducted includes the bound morphemes -ed and -s and the free morpheme be (with both copular and auxiliary function). The results show a predominant omission for the agreement morpheme -s in the three groups in which the corpus has been divided. On the other hand, the bound morpheme -ed and the free morpheme be present the highest percentage of correct use. These results confirm the capacity of the subjects to learn the verb features of tense and agreement, thus supporting the arguments of the Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (Prévost and White, 2000). As the results for the bound morphemes are not in agreement, the influence of other factors on the good results of the bound morpheme –ed, such as the verb aspect or the absence of phonological realizations, is suggested.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Jose Medina, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria/ Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Jose Medina, Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). His main research was focused on the learning process of EFL by Spanish speakers. Currently, he works as a lecturer in the Teacher Training Faculty at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and as a researcher at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. His main research interests revolve around the study of the foreign language learning process, as well as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), particularly through his participation as a researcher in the European project playingCLIL.

DOI: 10.20420/rlfe.2015.0001

References

Albright, A., and Hayes, B. (2003). Rules vs. analogy in English past tenses: a computational/experimental study. Cognition, 90, 119-161.

Andersen, R. W. (1978). An implicational model for second language research. Language Learning, 28, 221-282.

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1998). Narrative structure and lexical aspect. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 471-508.

Clahsen, H. (1988). Parameterized grammatical theory and language acquisition: A study of the acquisition of verb placement and inflection by children and adults. In S. Flynn and W. O’Neil (Eds.), Linguistic theory in second language acquisition (pp. 47–75). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Ellis, N. C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing: a review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24, 143-188.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

García Ferrando, M. (1985). Introducción a la estadística en sociología. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Goldschneider, J.-M., and DeKeyser, R.M. (2001). Explaining the natural order of L2 morpheme acquisition in English: a meta-analysis of multiple determinants. Language Learning, 51, 1-50.

Hawkins, R., and Casillas, G. (2008). Explaining frequency of verb morphology in early L2 speech. Lingua, 118, 595-612.

Haznedar, B. (2003). Missing surface inflection in adult and child L2 acquisition. In J. Liceras, H., Zobl, and H., Goodluck, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2002) (pp. 140-149). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Hsieh, F. T. (2009). The acquisition of English agreement/tense morphology and copula be by L1-Chinese-speaking learners. In S., Disney, B., Forchtner, W., Ibrahim and N., Millar (Eds.), Papers from the Lancaster University Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (pp. 45-59). <http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/pgconference/v03.htm> [15/01/2015]

Ionin, T., and Wexler, K. (2002). Why is ̒ is ̓ easier than ̒-s ̓?: acquisition of tense/agreement morphology by child second language learners of English. Second Language Research, 18, 95-136.

Kim, K. (2011). Overgenerated be from topic marker to verbal inflection. In L., Plonsky and M., Schierloh (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 2009 second language research forum (pp. 70-81). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Liceras, J. M. (2007). A "linguistic approach" to the idiosyncratic nature of second language acquisition: Monosyllabic place-holders and morpheme orders. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10, 39-41.

Liceras, J. M. (2009). On parameters, functional categories and features ... and why the trees shouldn't prevent us from seeing the forest ... Second Language Research, 25(2), 279-289.

Meisel, J. (1991). Principles of Universal Grammar and strategies of language learning: some similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition. In L., Eubank (Ed.), Point counterpoint: Universal Grammar in the second language (pp. 231-276). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Meisel, J. (1997). The acquisition of the syntax of negation in French and German: contrasting first and second language development. Second Language Research, 13, 227–263.

Muftah, M. Y. A., and Eng, W. B. (2011). The acquisition of English be auxiliary and thematic verb constructions by adult arab ESL learners. International Journal of English Linguistics, 1(2), 91-105.

Neuber, K. A. (1980). Needs Assessment. A model for community planning. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications.

O’Grady, W. (2006). The problem of verbal inflection in second language acquisition. <http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/faculty/ogrady/Verbal_inflection_in_SLA.pdf> [20/01/2015]

Paradis, J. (2008). Tense as a clinical marker in English L2 acquisition with language delay/impairment. In E., Gavruseva and B., Haznedar, (Eds.), Current Trends in Child Second Language Acquisition: A Generative Perspective (pp. 337-356). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Paradis, J. (2010). Bilingual children’s acquisition of English verb morphology: Effects of language exposure, structure complexity, and task type. Language Learning, 60(3), 651-680.

Paradis, J., Rice, M., Crago, M., and Marquis, J. (2008). The acquisition of tense in English: Distinguishing child second language from first language and specific language impairment. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 689-722.

Paradis, M. (2004). A neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Prévost, P., and White, L. (2000). Missing surface inflection or impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement. Second Language Research, 16, 103-133.

Salaberry, M. R. (2000). The acquisition of English past tense in an instructional setting. System, 28, 135-152.

Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10, 209-231.

Stauble, (1984). A comparison of a Spanish-English and a Japanese-English second language continuum: Negation and verb Morphology. In R. W. Andersen (Ed.), Second Languages: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 323-353). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Ullman, M. (2001). The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: The declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4, 105–122.

Ullman, M. (2005). A cognitive neuroscience perspective on second language acquisition: The declarative/procedural model. In C. Sanz (Ed.), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition (pp. 141–178). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Vendler, Z. (1967). Linguistics in philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

White, L. (2003). Fossilization in steady state L2 grammars: Persistent problems with inflectional morphology. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 6(2), 129-141.

Zobl, H., and Liceras, J. (1994). Functional categories and acquisition orders. Language Learning, 44, 159–180.

Downloads

Published

2015-07-27

How to Cite

Medina, J. (2015). Tense and agreement markers in the interlanguage of Spanish learners of English. Revista De Lenguas Para Fines Específicos, 21(1), 109–131. Retrieved from https://ojsspdc.ulpgc.es/ojs/index.php/LFE/article/view/242

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2015): Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos

Section

Sección Monográfica/Special Issue

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
    2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Licencia de Creative Commons
Revista de Lenguas para fines específicos is licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional License.