Lexical and Grammatical Aspect in On-line Processing of English Past Tense and Progressive Aspect by Mandarin Speakers.

Xiaoyan Zeng,Xiaoxiang Chen,Yasuhiro Shirai

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661923

Xiaoyan Zeng, Xiaoxiang Chen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661923

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the grammatical aspect of verb predicates has an effect on tense-aspect sentence processing. However, it remains unclear as to whether the interaction of lexical aspect and grammatical aspect can influence the form-meaning association in the second language (L2) tense-aspect sentence processing, especially for the learners whose native language is grammatically marked differently from their L2. This study conducts a psycholinguistic investigation to highlight how the prototypical and non-prototypical associations predicted in the Aspect Hypothesis and L2 proficiency level influence the processing of English past tense and progressive morphology by Mandarin Chinese learners at two proficiency levels and native English speakers. The results show that the prototypical associations of English tense-aspect categories predicted in the Aspect Hypothesis, such as achievement verbs with past tense and activity verbs with the progressive aspect, can engender shorter reading time than non-prototypical associations for both native speakers and second language learners. There is no significant difference between native speakers and Chinese learners of English in their processing of prototypical items, while significant differences exist in the processing of non-prototypical items. The L2 proficiency level does not have an effect on the processing of prototypes but on the processing of non-prototypes in the L2 tense-aspect marking. This study extends previous research, showing the interaction effect of lexical aspect and grammatical aspect in the form-meaning association in L2 tense-aspect sentence processing.

Highlights

In the studies of L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology, the prototypical associations, such as achievement verbs, with past tense and activity verbs with the progressive aspect, have been observed and summarized in the Aspect Hypothesis (Shirai, 1991; Andersen and Shirai, 1994; Bardovi-Harlig, 2000; Bardovi-Harlig and Comajoan-Colomé, 2020)
The current study focuses on how the prototypical and non-prototypical associations predicted in the Aspect Hypothesis and the L2 proficiency level influence the processing of English past tense and progressive morphology by investigating two proficiency levels of Mandarin Chinese EFL learners and native English speakers as a control group
The results focus on the tests on the effects of the lexical aspect of verb predicates and learner’s L2 proficiency level in the past tense and the progressive processing

Summary

Introduction

In the studies of L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology, the prototypical associations, such as achievement verbs, with past tense and activity verbs with the progressive aspect, have been observed and summarized in the Aspect Hypothesis (Shirai, 1991; Andersen and Shirai, 1994; Bardovi-Harlig, 2000; Bardovi-Harlig and Comajoan-Colomé, 2020). Tense-Aspect Processing in L2 and grammatical aspect. The combinations of telic verbs with the perfective aspect, and activities with progressive marking are more compatible, natural, prototypical, and frequent in language use. The frequency distribution effect has not been well-recognized in the area of language processing of tense-aspect markers. Most previous processing studies have focused on the effect of grammatical aspect. The interactive effect of lexical aspect and grammatical aspect has been under-explored in the L2 learners’ tenseaspect processing. This study investigated the effects of lexical aspect and the L2 proficiency level on the processing of English past tense and progressive morphology by exploring the Chinese learners at two L2 proficiency levels of the native English speakers

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