Grammaticalization Processes in the Area of Temporal and Modal Relations

Ramat, Anna Giacalone

doi:10.1017/s027226310001113x

Cited by 63 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The latter form mostly expresses a temporal/aspectual meaning of pastness and perfectivity. In all the learners observed (Giacalone Ramat 1992Ramat , 2003, the functional opposition between the perfective aspect expressed by the passato prossimo and the imperfective aspect represented by the imperfect was acquired later than the present-passato prossimo opposition. Even later, the means were acquired for the morphological expression of the future.…”

Section: Some Results From the Acquisition Of Tense And Aspect In L2 mentioning

confidence: 94%

Chapter 11. Data analysis: The qualitative analysis of actionality in learner language

Giacalone-Ramat¹,

Rastelli²

2013

Research Design and Methodology in Studies on L2 Tense and Aspect

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The qualitative analysis of actionality in learner languageQualitative research in second language (L2) acquisition is based on descriptive data that do not make use of statistical procedures (Mackey and Gass 2005: 163). According to Mackey and Gass, qualitative research is an open-ended process: research questions are inductive and -rather than being defined before data collection -they emerge and are fine-tuned as data are examined. By qualitative analysis in this study we mean a corpus-driven research that attempts to describe the actional content 1 of the verbs used by L2 learners in the light of the independent nature of the interlanguage (IL) and of its development. The analysis presented in this article is qualitative because its conclusions (a) are inductive, (b) are based on the observation of a few subjects, and (c) are not falsifiable (i.e., the conditions of learners' productions are not controlled and replicable).1.1. Actionality in a second language and the comparative fallacy Despite its evident flaws, a qualitative analysis of L2 actionality is not only necessary, but also it is a pre-requisite for quantitative analysis in order to avoid the comparative fallacy. Our point stems from a question formulated in the title of Lakshmanan and Selinker (2001): How do we know what learners know? This question gave rise to a lively point-counterpoint debate in the following years (see first Lardiere 2003 and then Shirai 2007). In their article, Lakshmanan and Selinker provided some reasons why the suppliance rate of a given form in an expected (mandatory) context alone should not be considered a valid criterion for evaluating L2 acquisition. They pointed out that the relationship between the emergence 1. By actional content of a predicate we mean the lexical aspect features matrix of that predicate; that is, its specification for being [edurative] and [etelic] in learners' representations.

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Section: Some Results From the Acquisition Of Tense And Aspect In L2 mentioning

confidence: 94%

Chapter 11. Data analysis: The qualitative analysis of actionality in learner language

Giacalone-Ramat¹,

Rastelli²

2013

Research Design and Methodology in Studies on L2 Tense and Aspect

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“…Although the relatively simple form of English modals can generally be learnt easily, there is evidence that mastering the complexity of modal semantics and pragmatic inferences willnecessitateaninvestmentofconsiderablymoreeffortandtimeonthepart of the learner (Dittmar and Terborg 1991;Giacalone Ramat 1992). In the Pavia Project Giacalone Ramat and her colleagues longitudinally studied the acquisition of L2 Italian by learners coming from different L1 backgrounds (Chinese, Tigrinya, Persian, German andEnglish).Itwasobservedthatatearly stages of acquisition only deontic modality was used in grammaticalised, inflected verb forms, whereas a limited range of epistemic meaning was achieved by the use of epistemic adverbs (in Italian forse and magari, meaning 'perhaps' or 'maybe') and some basic formulaic expressions with modal verbs, such as non (lo) so,me aning'Idon'tknow'.…”

Section: L2 Acquisition Of English Modal Verbsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, studies on conceptual transfer have been predominantly concerned with productive use of language, and likewise, studies in L2 acquisition of modality have so far mostly been interested in the production of modal verbs. Important longitudinal studies that investigated the development from deontic/dynamic to epistemic use of modal auxiliaries in both L1 and L2 production (e. g. Dittmar and Terborg 1991;Giacalone Ramat 1992;Stephany 1986) were not matched by research concerned with comprehension issues. Therefore, studies focusing on L2 comprehension of epistemic modality are clearly needed.…”

Section: Cross-linguistic Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an increase is not present in the L2 group, who read segment 4 in unacceptable (context-mismatching) condition as fast as the same segment in the acceptable, context-matching condition (501 ms vs. 522 ms). Such a result is not surprising when considering that: (a) studies in English L1 acquisition find children acquiring the epistemic use of modals later than non-epistemic (Noveck 2001;Ozturk and Papafragou 2015;Papafragou 1998), (b) studies in L2 acquisition also show that epistemic meaning of modal verbs is acquired later than non-epistemic (Dittmar and Terborg 1991;Giacalone Ramat 1992;Klein 1986), and (c) the Croatian language uses lexical means rather than syntactic means to express epistemic possibility and…”

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confidence: 98%

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Processing epistemic modality in a second language: a self-paced reading study

Mifka-Profozic

2017

International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching

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Article:Mifka-Profozic, Nadia orcid.org/0000-0002-5616-8895 (2017) Processing epistemic modality in a second language : a self-paced reading study. ReuseItems deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request.Nadia Mifka-Profozic* Processing epistemic modality in a second language: a self-paced reading study https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2017-0107Abstract: The current study brings together two novel perspectives: one is concerned with second language acquisition of complex modal semantics by learners of a Slavic (Croatian) language, and the other relates to online processing of modal auxiliary verbs in L2 English. The study sought to examine how English L2 learners process modal verbs can and may in their epistemic, deontic, and dynamic meaning, referring to epistemic possibility (e. g. He may come to the party), to giving or asking permission (You may/can come in), or to the expression of ability (He can speak four languages). Participants were a group of Croatian university students majoring in English (N = 12) and a group of English L1speakers studying at a UK university (N = 8). They all completed a self-paced reading task which is thought to be tapping into implicit linguistic knowledge. Results suggest that Croatian speakers acquire the dynamic and deontic modal meaning up to the native level, but they differ from English native speakers as far as epistemic modal semantics is concerned. The results are in line with previous studies in L1 and L2 research which demonstrated delayed acquisition of epistemic modality in comparison with non-epistemic modality. However, the findings also contribute to research on cross-linguistic influences and L1 concept transfer, suggesting that features and their related concepts which are not instantiated in one's L1 may not be fully acquired even at more advanced levels.

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“…Another important series of studies known as the Pavia Project focused on the L2 acquisition of Italian, a Romance language with a passato prossimo-imperfetto distinction corresponding to the perfective-imperfective, by adult learners of various L1 backgrounds (e.g., Giacalone Ramat, 1992Giacalone Ramat & Banfi, 1990). It was observed that verbal morphology developed late, with a progressive move from a reliance on lexical means to the acquisition of the target language morphological endings.…”

Section: Select Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of Written Recasts in the Second Language Acquisition of Aspectual Distinctions in French: A Follow‐Up Study

Ayoun

2004

The Modern Language Journal

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This follow-up study on the acquisition of the aspectual distinction between the passé composé (PC) and the imparfait (IMP) investigates the differential outcomes of the results presented in an earlier study, Ayoun (2001), by pursuing two lines of research: the effectiveness of written recasts versus models and traditional grammar instruction, and the development of temporality in the interlanguage of French college students as second language learners (i.e., the Aspect Hypothesis). The earlier study found that all learners improved in their use of the PC but not the IMP. The R(recast)-group out-performed the M(model)-group and the G(grammar)-group, with a significant difference over the latter but not the former, which supported the hypothesis that recasts are the most effective form of treatment. The qualitative results of the present study weaken this finding because it was more difficult to distinguish among the three different treatments: (a) The G-group outperformed the R-and M-groups in accuracy and frequency in the PC; (b) all three groups decreased in their accuracy and frequency in the IMP but the G-group outperformed the other two groups; (c) the three groups were practically identical in the production of various predicate types in the PC and IMP on the preand posttests; and (d) overall, it was the G-group's performance that showed a greater aspectual use of predicate frequency and type in the IMP. These new results partially support a prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis, according to which the use of past tense morphology is influenced by lexical class, but they offer only tentative support for the Imparfait Spreading hypothesis. A few preliminary suggestions regarding pedagogical applications are offered.

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Grammaticalization Processes in the Area of Temporal and Modal Relations

Cited by 63 publications

References 18 publications

Chapter 11. Data analysis: The qualitative analysis of actionality in learner language

Chapter 11. Data analysis: The qualitative analysis of actionality in learner language

Processing epistemic modality in a second language: a self-paced reading study

The Effectiveness of Written Recasts in the Second Language Acquisition of Aspectual Distinctions in French: A Follow‐Up Study

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