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In:Recent Developments in Hispanic Linguistics: Studies in structure, variation, and bilingualism
Edited by Michael Gradoville and Sean McKinnon
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 41] 2024
► pp. 222–244

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Chapter 9
The influence of temporal adverbials and lexical aspect on variable preterite and imperfect selection in native and second language Spanish

A variationist account

ORCiD logo with link | Indiana University
Published online: 4 October 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.41.09bla
Abstract
This study adopts a variationist approach to SLA to investigate the influence of temporal adverbials and lexical aspect on variable preterite and imperfect selection. A total of 110 L2 Spanish learners at varying proficiency levels and 15 native speakers of Spanish completed a contextualized preference task that examined the influence of both independent linguistic variables on the selection of preterite, imperfect and both. Results for frequency of selection showed that learners overselected the imperfect and both in contexts where NSs categorically selected the preterite. Mixed-effects logistic regressions indicated that both factors influenced NSs’ selections, but not always for learners. NS variation with states and frequency adverbials is discussed and avenues for additional research are presented.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1The variationist approach to SLA
    • 2.2Tense, aspect and temporal adverbials in Spanish
      • 2.2.1Grammatical and lexical aspect
      • 2.2.2Temporal adverbials
    • 2.3The acquisition of the preterite and imperfect in L2 Spanish
      • 2.3.1The influence of temporal adverbials on the acquisition of the preterite and imperfect in L2 Spanish
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Data elicitation task
    • 3.3Data coding and analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Frequency of selection
      • 4.1.1Native speaker categorical and variable contexts
    • 4.2Mixed-effects logistic regressions
      • 4.2.1Results for preterite allowed models
      • 4.2.2Results for imperfect allowed models
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Blaker, Nicholas M. & Thomas Goebel-Mahrle
2025. Revisiting the acquisition of the variable perfective past in L2 Spanish during short-term study abroad. In Research at the Intersection of Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 43], ► pp. 89 ff. DOI logo

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