Tense and aspect in Second Language Acquisition and learner corpus research

Fuchs, Robert; Werner, Valentin

doi:10.1075/bct.108.ijlcr.00004.int

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Aktionsart/verb semantics and transitivity have only been found significant in research on learner varieties of English (e.g. Collins 2002 and contributions in Fuchs & Werner 2020). More specifically, Davydova (2011: 155) argues that these factors are mostly relevant for varieties where the present perfect is not fully grammaticalized.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The most stable it'severbeen: the preterit/present perfect alternation in spoken Ontario English

Franco

Tagliamonte²

2022

English Language and Linguistics

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English tense/aspect-marking is an area where variation abounds and where many theories have been formulated. Diachronic studies of the preterit/present perfect alternation indicate that the present perfect (e.g. I have eaten already) has been losing ground to the preterit (e.g. I ate already) (e.g. Elsness 1997, but see Hundt & Smith 2009, Werner 2014). However, few studies have examined this alternation in vernacular speech. This article fills this lacuna by analyzing spoken data from Ontario, Canada, from an apparent-time perspective. Using a large archive of multiple communities and people of different generations, we focus on linguistic contexts known to be variable, viz. with adverbs of indefinite time. Results indicate that, in contrast with previous studies, the alternation is mostly stable. We find evidence of change only with the adverb ever. Where there is evidence of change, this change is different from the predictions in the literature, with the preterit increasing in frequency. We suggest that a minor constructionalization process operates in tandem with ongoing specialization of the preterit/present perfect contrast. Taken together, these results provide another example of the importance of including speech in research on language variation and change and of the unique contribution certain constructions make to more general systems of grammar.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%