Marking Past Tense in Second Language Acquisition: A Theoretical Model

(Hardback)

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Description

This book presents an analysis of the difficulties faced by native speakers of English in the learning of Romance languages and in so doing proposes a comprehensive model of the acquisition of tense-aspect marking. While L1 speakers of English may quickly learn to identify and, to some extent, use the Spanish perfective and imperfective verb endings, the L2 representation of tense-aspect distinctions among both beginning and advanced learners requires a comprehensive multidimensional analysis. Through a detailed examination of new and existing empirical data, this monograph proposes a new model for examining tense-aspect marking in second language acquisition, which reconciles competing, alternative hypotheses.
This comprehensive account will be of interest to academics researching second language acquisition and applied linguistics.

Reviews

"This ambitious volume systematically and thoroughly examines the theoretical and applied issues that the study of Spanish past tense raises. Itdoes so by questioning and refining well-known (but not always well-understood) theoretical constructs upon which second language acquisition studies are based." - Professor Dalila Ayoun, University of Arizona, USA
'The acquisition of tense and aspect continues to be a topic of research that receivesconsiderable attention in the field of SLA. Salaberry makes a timely and valuable contribution to this line of inquirywith the present book, which bridges the gaps between various lines of tense-aspect research in order to formulate a theoretical proposal that incorporates findings from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. Although the focus is the SLA of Spanish tense-aspect by native speakers of English, this book will be of interest to researchers who investigate the acquisition of tense-aspect in any second language (L2).' Studies in Second Language Acquisition
"...Salaberry's theoretical analysis of tense-aspect acquisition in L2 Spanish is well presented, with logical and convincing argumentation built on empirical evidence from a number of previous studies. His incorporation of data from strands of research not typically considered to be complementary represents a step forward in the quest to understand how learners acquire tense and aspect." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, November 2009

Author Bio

Rafael Salaberry isProfessor of Spanish Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Texas-Austin, USA