The Present State of the Aspect Hypothesis: A Critical Perspective

Year 2018, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 261 - 273, 26.09.2018

Patrick D. Thane

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.464173

Abstract

Early research on the Aspect
Hypothesis yielded a rigid developmental sequence for the acquisition of
grammatical aspect, in which developing L2 learners applied morphemes to mark
aspect in accordance with the inherent lexical aspect of verbal prototypes.  While studies from a variety of L2
backgrounds have amassed evidence for this hypothesis, some recent research has
questioned its generalizability (i.e. Comajoan, 2005; Izquierdo & Collins,
2008; Liskin-Gasparro, 2000; López-Ortega, McManus, 2013; Salaberry,
2011).  The present analysis of
literature reviews the key tenets of the Aspect Hypothesis in order to examine
how subsequent studies have demonstrated that L1 influence, syntactic
similarities between L1 and L2, the role of inherent lexical aspect, and the
use of pedagogical materials in classroom-based instruction may have
implications for its accuracy in predicting learners’ use of temporal
morphology.  Such implications may affect
the degree of accuracy with which this model predicts the acquisition of
aspectual morphology in L2 learners, principally at early and advanced stages
of proficiency.  Lastly, this critical
analysis identifies potential directions for future research that would
strengthen or modify the recent claims that question the predictive accuracy of
the Aspect Hypothesis.

Keywords

Aspect Hypothesis, tense-aspect acquisition, second language acquisition, inherent lexical aspect, grammatical aspect

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