Theory and Applications of Grammatical Aspect in Spanish

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Theory and Applications of Grammatical Aspect in Spanish Aspects on Aspect Theory and Applications of Grammatical Aspect in Spanish Published by LOT phone: +31 30 253 6006 Trans 10 fax: +31 30 253 6000 3512 JK Utrecht e-mail: [email protected] The Netherlands http://wwwlot.let.uu.nl/ Cover illustration: Casa Batlló, Gaudí, Barcelona ISBN 90-76864-32-2 NUR 632 Copyright © 2003 by Paz González. All rights reserved. Aspects on Aspect: Theory and Applications of Grammatical Aspect in Spanish Aspecten over Aspect: Theorie en Toepassingen van Grammaticale Aspect in het Spaans (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, Prof. Dr. W. H. Gispen, ingevolge het besluit van het College voor Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag, 7 februari 2003, des middags te 4.15 uur door Paz González González geboren op 26 mei 1973, te Barcelona Promotor: Prof. dr. H. J. Verkuyl UiL-OTS/Instituut Nederlands, Universiteit Utrecht Co-promotor: Dr. H. van den Bergh UiL-OTS/Instituut Nederlands/Nederlands/Taalbeheersing, Universiteit Utrecht A Toya “La corba tancada és el sentit de limitació, així com la recta és l’expressió de l’infinit” Pensament de Gaudí Table of Contents Dankwoord XIII Chapter 0 Introduction 1 0.1. The rationale 1 0.2. The organization 2 Chapter 1 Cross-linguistic analysis of tense and aspect systems in Dutch and Spanish 5 1.1. Surveying the domain of interpretation 5 1.1.1. The requirement of a description of tense and aspect systems 5 1.1.2. The interdependency of tense and aspect 7 1.1.3. Two sorts of aspect 7 1.2. The tense system of Dutch and Spanish (Indicative conjugation) 10 1.2.1. Reichenbach’s temporal model 11 1.2.2. The binary approach 12 1.2.3. The Spanish temporal system 17 1.2.4. Perfective versus Perfect 22 1.2.4.1. Differences in function 22 1.2.4.2. Present Perfect versus Past Perfective 25 1.2.4.3. Dutch Present Perfect: a Perfective? 26 1.2.4.4. Past Perfective versus Past Perfect 28 1.3. Aspect 30 1.3.1. Atemporal aspectual information 30 1.3.1.1. Predicational aspect 31 1.3.2. Grammatical aspect in Spanish 35 1.3.2.1. Imperfective forms 36 1.3.3. Aspectual incongruences: incompatibilities? 38 1.4. Summary and Discussion 41 1.5. Application of this analysis to L2 44 Chapter 2 Contrast between aspectual systems in L2 learning and its repercussions 47 2.1. Introduction 47 X 2.2. Aspectual theory 48 2.2.1. Lexical aspect vs. predicational aspect 49 2.2.3. Compositionality and the Plus-Principle 51 2.2.4. Aspectual classes 52 2.2.5. Grammatical aspect in Spanish 54 2.3. Acquisition of aspect in L2 57 2.3.1. The Aspect Hypothesis 57 2.3.2. The Aspect Hypothesis rephrased 59 2.4. Methodology 62 2.4.1. Participants 62 2.4.2. Materials and procedure 62 2.5. Results 64 2.6. Discussion 67 2.7. Conclusion 70 Chapter 3 Distribution of grammatical aspect morphemes in interlanguage 73 3.1. Interpretation of distribution of interlanguage past tenses 73 3.1.1. Two aspectual levels 74 3.2. Theory on aspect 76 3.2.1. Comparing aspectual systems 76 3.2.2. Inherent semantic level 77 3.2.2.1. Vendler 77 3.2.2.2. Verkuyl 78 3.2.3. Grammatical aspect 79 3.3. Approaches to use of interlanguage past morphology 80 3.3.1. Lexical Aspect Hypothesis 81 3.3.2. The Prototype Theory 83 3.3.3. Salaberry 83 3.3.4. Binary categories 84 3.3.5. Predication-effect Hypothesis: a new approach 85 3.4. Methodology 88 3.4.1. Participants 88 3.4.2. Materials and procedure 89 3.5. Results 90 3.5.1. Use of past tense morphology 91 3.5.1.1. According to the Aspect Hypothesis 91 3.5.1.2. According to the Prototype Theory 93 3.5.1.3. According to Salaberry 94 3.5.1.4. According to the Predication-effect Hypothesis 95 XI 3.5.2. Accuracy in the use of past tense morphology 97 3.5.2.1. According to the Aspect Hypothesis 97 3.5.2.2. According to the Predication-effect Hypothesis 99 3.6. Discussion 101 3.7. Conclusion 105 Chapter 4 Towards an effective instruction on aspect 107 4.1. Introduction 107 4.2. Instruction on grammatical items 108 4.3. Theory on aspect 111 4.4. Method 113 4.4.1. Two studies 113 4.4.2. Course 113 4.4.3. Data collection and design of the study 117 4.4.4. Instruments 118 4.4.4.1. Standardised tests 118 4.4.4.2. Compositions 119 4.5 Results 120 4.5.1. Standardised tests 120 4.5.1.1. Intermediate 120 4.5.1.2. Beginners’ group 122 4.5.2. Compositions 124 4.5.2.1. Intermediate group 124 4.5.2.2. Beginners’ group 126 4.6. Discussion 128 Chapter 5 Conclusions 131 5.1. Introduction 131 5.2. Tense and aspect systems in Dutch and Spanish 132 5.3. Implications L1-L2 134 5.4. Distribution of grammatical aspect morphemes in interlanguage 136 5.5. Towards an effective instruction on aspect 139 5.6. Aspectual disciplines interrelated 140 5.7. Future directions 141 Appendix I Questionnaire natives 143 Appendix II Instruction 145 XII Appendix III Extra instruction for beginners 149 Appendix IV Standardised tests (1) 151 Appendix V Standardised tests (2) 153 Appendix VI Titles of compositions 155 References 157 Samenvatting in het Nederlands 163 Resumen en castellano 167 Curriculum Vitae 171 Dankwoord Ik ben blij dat ik nu de gelegenheid krijg om al die mensen te noemen die er op één of andere manier voor hebben gezorgd dat de laatste vier jaar leuk en interessant voor mij waren. Eerst wil ik mijn begeleiders bedanken. Huub van den Bergh bedank ik voor al zijn tijd en energie die hij in dit proefschrift heeft gestoken. Onder het genot van een kopje koffie, of meer in de meeste gevallen, hebben we in wekelijkse bijeenkomsten elke stap, in de richting van het voltooien van dit proefschrift, besproken. Week na week waren onze gesprekken inspirerend en gezellig. Zijn begeleiding was niet alleen uitstekend op het methodologische-statistische vlak, hij heeft me ook geholpen om sommige van mijn redeneringen, die ik vanzelfsprekend vond, begrijpelijk te maken voor anderen. Henk Verkuyl bedank ik voor het meedenken over de theoretische analyse en voor zijn commentaar over mijn eigen ideeën over hoe aspect in het Spaans werkt. De theorie ontwikkeld in Hoofdstuk 1 is een combinatie van mijn denkwerk en zijn vasthoudendheid over hoe over aspect gedacht en geschreven moet worden. Henk en Huub zijn beide goede vrienden van mij geworden, en daar ben ik heel dankbaar voor. I would also like to thank the members of the reading committee: Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig, Aafke Hulk, Peter Jordens, Peter Slagter en Henriëtte de Swart, for the time and energy they spent while reading the manuscript. Er zijn een aantal mensen die mij op academisch vlak tijdens het schrijven van dit proefschrift de laatste vier jaar op verschillende manieren hebben gesteund. Zonder Hans Bennis, Geert Booij en Peter Jordens was ik hier nooit aan begonnen. Ik bedank hen voor hun steun en in het bijzonder, voor hun geloof in mij. Later in mijn onderzoeksjaren ben ik ook een aantal mensen tegengekomen die op hun eigen manier het mogelijk hebben gemaakt dat dit boek bestaat. Eerst wil ik Jan Don bedanken voor zijn effectiviteit in het regelen van zaken tijdens zijn tijd als AIO-coördinator in Utrecht. Rob le Pair bedank ik voor zijn studenten in Nijmegen die ik heb mogen gebruiken voor een pilot in 1999. A Peter Slagter y David Sanz les agradezco de todo corazón su fantástica colaboración durante la recogida de datos para los Capítulos 3 y 4. Ik bedank ook de studenten van cursus 190 voorjaar 2000 en cursus 090 voorjaar 2001 voor hun inzet en motivatie tijdens het experiment. I would like to thank Roumyana Slabakova, for sharing with me her ideas on the acquisition of aspect in L2, in Iowa City, in the summer of 2000. Aafke Hulk en Henriëtte de Swart bedank ik voor hun constructieve commentaar op eerdere versies van delen van mijn proefschrift. Probably the person who has contributed most to the creation of this thesis is Rachel Slater: “my dear native”. Most chapters have been written with her always present online comments and support; I would not have made it without her daily help, enthusiasm and efficiency during the writing period. I thank also Sharon Jaffe for checking my English XIV DANKWOORD on Chapter 3 and lending me her gorgeous camera with which the front page photo of the book was taken. Er zijn ook een aantal AIO’s die ik wil bedanken; Olga Borik, I thank her for all those brainstorming sessions we have had together on aspectual issues, for sharing her ideas and commenting on my first chapter several times. All those coffee breaks made my long days in Trans easier to cope with. Silke Hamann, for becoming the best house mate and friend in Santa Barbara, and for all those tea breaks that have allowed me to relax in moments of need. Rick Nouwen, hij is een geweldige kamergenoot geweest, altijd bereid om te helpen met alles. Met name was hij heel handig als er Nederlandse teksten geschreven moesten worden. Speciaal bedank ik hem voor het nakijken van de Nederlandse samenvatting.
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