Learner hypothesis and past tense marking in Vietnamese English

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A number of recent studies on tense in L2 have claimed that the past tense is acquired in developmental stages: verbs, such as ‘build’ and ‘work,’ which are lexico‐aspectually more event‐like (less state‐like) are claimed to be marked for past tense earlier in the developmental process than those, such as ‘be’ and ‘want,’ which are less event‐like (more state‐like). In this paper, I will closely examine seven samples of writing by L1 speakers of Vietnamese to show that grounding, rather than lexical aspect, properly accounts for the selective marking of past tense. I will suggest that the learner‐hypothesis that governs this use of English past tense derives from the transference of a grounding‐marking principle from a tense‐free language, and I will briefly address the pedagogical implications of this finding.