The imperfective paradox in a second language: A dynamic completion-entailment test

Abstract

The imperfective paradox (IP) refers to the fact that the imperfective-progressive yields completion entailment with atelic predicates (e.g., Livia was pushing the chair → Livia pushed the chair=true) but not with telic predicates (Livia was peeling the tangerine → Livia peeled the tangerine=not necessarily true). The paper questions whether L2 learners too – like adult native speakers – are sensitive to the IP. Ninety-nine adult L2 Italian learners with different L1s and proficiency levels underwent a novel version of the completion judgment task based on event sub-intervals. In this task, learners did not assess if imperfective and perfective events in a video clip was completed but when. Analysis of reaction times and of interruptive-clicks showed that beginner and intermediate L2 learners – unlike native speakers – did not differentiate the patterns of completion between perfective and imperfective predicates and between telic and atelic predicates. It is possible that – at initial stages of acquisition – such aspectual oppositions are still underspecified. These results challenge the predictions of the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis.