Aspectual distinctions in Spanish as a foreign language: The early stages of oral production

Abstract

This study investigated the early stages of development in the use of preterit and imperfect forms in the oral production of 15 first-year learners of Spanish as a foreign language. The data was analyzed according to the semantic categorization of verbs typically used in studies designed to test the aspect hypothesis. Each participant produced five oral monologues whose topics were chosen to elicit a variety of personal and impersonal narratives dealing with recent and habitual past events. The results generally support the claims of the aspect hypothesis regarding the gradual spread of perfective and imperfective forms according to the semantic category of the verbs involved. The type of narrative elicited appears to be an important factor in the frequency and accuracy of use of preterit and imperfect forms by the learners.