Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 21:2 (1998) ► pp.21–42
Past time reference in learner English
Published online: 1 January 1998
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.21.2.02pet
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.21.2.02pet
Abstract
A “concept-oriented” analysis of past time reference in the English of two French learners provides insight into the communicative strategies employed by advanced language learners. Although these learners have a limited command of past tense morphology, they nevertheless manage to establish past time reference in conversational discourse, utilising alternatives to morphological marking such as the use of adverbial phrases, implicit framing established by prior discourse, or “nil” framing, relying on assumed shared knowledge or the interlocutor’s interpretive skills. The two varieties of “learner English” differ significantly: one features a substantially higher number of morphologically marked verbs, with increasing explicitness in temporal framing; the other makes much greater use of implicit framing, with a substantial and unexpected increase in reliance on discourse-based frames. Neither learner shows evidence of linear or stage-wise development which would correspond to “rule-governed” acquisition of new knowledge.
References (22)
Clark, E. (1971) On the acquisition of the meaning of ‘before’ and ‘after’. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 101:266–275.
Corder, S. Pit. (1974) Error analysis. In J. Allen and S.P. Corder (eds) The Edinburgh course in Applied Linguistics, Vol. 31. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Dietrich, R., W. Klein and C. Noyau (1995) The acquisition of temporality in a second language. Amsterdam, John Benjamins.
Huddleston, R. (1995) The English perfect as a secondary past tense. In B. Aarts and C. Meyer (eds) The verb in contemporary English: theory and description. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Huebner, T. and C. Ferguson (eds) (1991) Crosscurrents in SLA and linguistic theories. Amsterdam, John Benjamins.
(1983b) Strategies of second language acquisition: more than one kind of simplification. In R. Andersen (ed.) Pidginization and creolization as language acquisition. Rowley, Mass., Newbury House.
(1987) Reference to past events and actions in the development of natural second language acquisition. In C. Pfaff (ed.).
Noyau, C. 1989. The development of means for temporality in the unguided acquisition of L2: cross-linguistic perspectives. In H. Dechert (ed.) Current trends in European second language acquisition research. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.
Rohde, A. (1996) The aspect hypothesis and the emergence of tense distinctions in naturalistic L2 acquisition. Linguistics 341:1115–37.
Schegloff, E.A. (1971) Notes on a conversational practice: formulating place. In P. Giglioli (ed.) Language and social context. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Schumann, J. (1987) The expression of temporality in Basilang. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 91:21–41.
Shirai, Y. and R. Andersen (1995) The acquisition of tense-aspect morphology: a prototype account. Language 711:743–762.
Slobin, D. (1973) Cognitive prerequisites for the development of grammar. In C. Ferguson and D. Slobin (eds) Studies of child language development. New York, Holt Rinehart and Winston.
Trévise, A. (1987) Towards an analysis of the (inter)language activity of referring to time in narratives. In C. Pfaff (ed.).
Véronique, D. (1987) Reference to past events and actions in narratives in L2: insights from North African workers’ French. In C. Pfaff (ed.).
Von Stutterheim, C. (1991) Narrative and description. In T. Huebner and C. Ferguson (eds.).
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Dyson, Bronwyn
2002. Focus on learnable form in a communicative context. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 25:1 ► pp. 53 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 14 november 2025. 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.