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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

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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 with link | University of Mannheim
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 11 March 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.19003.eib
Abstract
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.
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
References (30)
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