Semantic evidence for functional categories in interlanguage grammars

Abstract

This study investigates how semantic properties of functional categories are acquired by second language (L2) learners in an instructional setting. The following properties of the functional category (FC) of AspectP are under investigation: 1) English simple present tense cannot denote an ongoing event; 2) progressive morphology is needed for an ongoing interpretation; and 3) English bare verbal forms denote closed, or completed, events. All three properties are not instantiated in Bulgarian. Only the first two properties are explicitly taught in English classrooms in Bulgaria, while the third is not. A Truth Value Judgement Task, a guided composition task and a proficiency test were administered to 112 Bulgarian learners of English and 24 native speaker controls. Results indicate that L2 learners at all proficiency levels are aware of the English aspectual contrasts.These findings suggest that L2 learners are able to acquire interpretable formal features not transferable from their native language. Furthermore, they are able to acquire properties of the grammar that are not explicitly taught in language classrooms.