Task Design in L2 Tense and Aspect Research: What matters? Nicole Tracy-Ventura Laura Dominguez University of Southampton Contact email: N.Tracy- [email protected]
Mar 28, 2015
Task Design in L2 Tense and Aspect Research: What matters?
Nicole Tracy-VenturaLaura Dominguez
University of Southampton
Contact email: [email protected]
Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpus Project
Collaboration between the Universities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Greenwich.
Additional Team Members: Rosamond Mitchell, Florence Myles, and María Arche Tim Boardman, web design and IT support
Previous Projects: SPLLOC 1 (www.splloc.soton.ac.uk) FLLOC (www.flloc.soton.ac.uk)
SPLLOC 2
Main Goal: to test the validity of the Aspect and the Discourse Hypotheses with reference to the acquisition of perfective and imperfective forms in L2 Spanish.
Relevant features:
1. Cross-sectional design with native speaker controls
2. A combination of different task types
3. Data available online for use by other researchersAudio files (mp3 & .wav)
Transcripts (CHILDES)
Tagged files (MOR)
Perfective and Imperfective forms in Spanish Perfective (preterit): bounded
Llegué tarde. (I arrived late.) Preparaste el almuerzo. (You prepared lunch.) Ella pintó. (She painted).
Imperfective (imperfect): unbounded Llegaba tarde. (I would arrive late/was arriving late) Ella preparaba el almuerzo cuando … (She was
preparing lunch when…) Estaban cansados. (They were tired)
SPLLOC 2 Research Questions:
1. Emergence: What is the pattern of Tense-Aspect development of English L2 learners of Spanish?
2. AH VS DH: Can the observed pattern be accounted for by the Aspect Hypothesis, the Discourse Hypothesis, or both?
3. Acquisition of Imperfective Semantic meanings: Which reading is the imperfect associated with in the first place (habitual, continuous, progressive)?
L2 Tense and Aspect Research
Various hypotheses proposed to explain the L2 acquisition of tense-aspect morphology. For example: Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen & Shirai, 1994,1996) Discourse Hypothesis (Bardovi-Harlig, 1998) Default Past Tense Hypothesis (Salaberry, 1999, 2008) Distributional Bias Hypothesis (Andersen, 1994) Minimalist Hypothesis (Montrul & Slabakova, 2002)
Despite a large body of research, still several issues to be resolved: Inconclusive results when comparing competing hypotheses
(AH vs. DH). Acquisition of the imperfective has not been adequately
addressed (Bardovi-Harlig, 2005).
Aspect Hypothesis(Andersen & Shirai, 1994, 1996)
Perfective and Imperfective morphology emerge in a sequence determined by the inherent semantic properties of the verbal predicate
Achievements (recognize, wake up) Accomplishments (build a house, write a
letter) Activities (swim, walk, sing) States (be, want, love)
Telic
Atelic
Aspect Hypothesis predictions for Spanish
PERFECTIVE: ACH – ACC – ACT – STA
telic atelic
IMPERFECTIVE: STA – ACT – ACC – ACH
atelic telic
Prototypical Pairings: acquired first
PERFECTIVE: ACH – ACC – ACT – STA
telic atelic
IMPERFECTIVE: STA – ACT – ACC – ACH
atelic telic
Non-Prototypical Pairings: acquired later
PERFECTIVE: ACH – ACC – ACT – STA
telic atelic
IMPERFECTIVE: STA – ACT – ACC – ACH
atelic telic
Discourse Hypothesis(Bardovi-Harlig 1998)
L2 learners’ use of temporal-aspectual forms is guided by narrative structure
FOREGROUND moves time along chronologically PERFECTIVE
BACKGROUND supporting information, description, evaluation,
prediction IMPERFECTIVE
Studies testing the DH vs. AH
For example: Bardovi-Harlig (1998) Liskin-Gasparro (2000) López-Ortega (2000) Comajoan & Pérez Saldanya (2005) Salaberry (2009)
Results complicated because the cases where the hypotheses make opposite predictions have been difficult to elicit using more free and open-ended tasks Non-Prototypical Pairings
What about the ‘elusive imperfect’?(Bardovi-Harlig, 2005)
The imperfect has multiple semantic interpretations but research has rarely taken this into consideration. (e.g., habitual, progressive, continuous)
Are there meanings of the imperfect acquired before others?
In sum
Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the acquisition of past tense morphology. How do we make sense of all the results?
Ayoun & Salaberry (2005) suggest that it’s not that one hypothesis is right and another is wrong. Each hypothesis might explain a different stage of development.
However, What if our elicitation tasks are to blame? Most studies have not designed tasks considering
prototypical and nonprototypical forms and discourse role.
Elicitation Tasks in Tense-Aspect Research
Oral: Personal narratives Impersonal narratives
(e.g., Modern Times) Role-plays Interviews and semi-
structured interviews Free conversation
Written: Personal narratives Impersonal narratives Essays/compositions Multiple choice Fill-in-the-blank Appropriateness
judgments Sentence conjunction
*Most studies use one or two task types, not a range.
Issues with Tasks
Problems eliciting past tense morphology with prompts such as “What happened in the story”: Learners and NS use historical present Learners and NS focus on main events, i.e.,
foreground and not as much on background.
Few nonprototypical pairings occur naturally Lafford (1996) no nonprototypical imperfect
pairings
Task type can affect:
1. amount of lexical diversity Film retells – much higher percentage of achievement verbs than
the three other lexical aspect classes (Bardovi-Harlig, 2000)
2. amount of foreground and background Impersonal narratives – more examples of foreground than
background (Liskin-Gasparro, 2000). personal narratives – usually less constrained and often include
more background (Bardovi-Harlig, 2005).
3. rates of appropriate use Learners most accurate with cloze tests, then written retells, then
spoken retells (Bardovi-Harlig, 1998; Camps, 2002)
Conclusions
Need tasks that accomplish the following: naturally elicit the past tense elicit a variety of verb types in both prototypical and
nonprototypical pairings. are rich in background (vs. foreground). elicit the imperfect with different meanings (habitual,
progressive, continuous).
Need to have the same learners (across proficiency levels) do a variety of text and task types: Narratives, description, biographical controlled vs. less controlled production and comprehension
SPLLOC 2 Participants
Group Number Age Hours of instruction
Year 10 20 14-15 c200 hours
Year 13 18
(target:20) 17-18 c500 hours
Undergraduates 20 21-23 Final Year
Native Speakers 15 14-28 N/A
Post Year Abroad
SPLLOC 2 Tasks
Task Type Research Questions Format
1. Impersonal Controlled Narrative
RQ 1: EmergenceRQ 2: AH vs. DH
Las Hermanas: picture-based story
2. Impersonal NarrativeRQ 1: EmergenceRQ 2: AH vs. DH
Cat Story: picture-based story
3. Semi-structured InterviewRQ 1: EmergenceRQ 2: AH vs. DH
Personal interview based on learners’ past experiences
Task Type Research Questions Format
4. Comprehension taskRQ 3: Semantic meanings of the imperfect
On-line context dependant preference task
5. Production taskRQ 1: EmergenceRQ 3: Progressive meaning of the imperfect
Simultaneous Actions: Picture-based production task
Las Hermanas: controlled impersonal narrative Main task design issues:
How to prompt learners to tell the story in the past
How to demonstrate habituality with a picture-based narrative
How to find pictures to demonstrate prototypical and nonprototypical pairings
Las Hermanas: controlled impersonal narrative Written by the research team Drawn by a hired artist – ©SPLLOC 2009 Verb phrases provided (infinitive form) Targeted nonprototypical pairings (where AH &
DH make opposite predictions)
ACH ACC ACT STA Total
FORE 2 1 6 4 13
BACK 3 7 1 1 12
Total 5 8 7 5 25
Las vacaciones de Sarah y Gwen en España
Verano del 2006
Sarah
Gwen
Prompt to push use of past
(visitar) la ciudad
(comer) tapas (beber) vino
Foreground:
En MADRID
(coger) el tren
(hablar) sobre su niñez
Después decidieron ir a Barcelona
Prompt to push use of past
1996
De pequeñas, (ser) muy diferentes
Background begins:
Prompts to push use of past
Gwen de niña…cada fin de semana
(leer) un libro
(pintar) un cuadro
(escribir) un cuento
Prompt to push use of habitual
past
Cat Story: Impersonal narrative
Story adapted from "Missing" by Jonathan Langley ©Francais Lincoln 2000
Rich in background information, both habitual actions and progressive.
Learners were given time to preview the story before starting.
Task Design Issues: same as other narrative
Prompt: Start of Background
Todas las mañanas eran iguales…
(Every morning was the same…)
Prompt to push use of past and to be habitual
Prompt: Start of Foreground
Hasta que un día …
(Until one day…)
Interview
Task Design Issues: How to elicit personal narratives (vs.
impersonal) How to elicit nonprototypical pairings of
activities and states in the preterit How to engage learners in the task (especially
youngest group)
Interview: warm-up, biographical information
John Lennon Diana, Princesa de Gales
Adolf Hitler
¿Qué sabes de estas personas? ¿Por qué eran famosos?
Interview, autobiographical information
Mi primer recuerdo
3-6 años
7-11 años
12 años - ahora
El fin de semana pasado
Cuéntame cosas de tu vida…
Simultaneous Actions
Task Design Issues: How to make sure we had opportunities for learners to
use the imperfect for past progressive actions How to demonstrate progressivity with pictures
How to prompt learners to describe the pictures in the past
How to find pictures to demonstrate prototypical and nonprototypical pairings
All pictures drawn by a hired artist, ©SPLLOC 2009
Javier and Silvia are cousins who travelled together to Mexico for holiday. They just arrived today and have
already done a couple of things:
But…all day yesterday they were very busy getting ready for their trip. What were they doing?
BILLETES
Prompt: Mientras Javier…, Silvia…
leer una carta
levantarse preparar café
escuchar música
9.00 9.00
10.0010.00
Comprehension Task
Task Design Issues: Need to include all lexical aspect classes in
both preterit and imperfect contexts. Need to include items testing the various
imperfect interpretations Need to include a context that adequately
settings the scene.
Comprehension Task
Learners were given the prompt
in English
Data Analysis – Oral Tasks
All audio recordings transcribed according to CHAT conventions (CHILDES)
Transcriptions checked and anonymised Transcriptions morpho-syntactically tagged
(MOR) Transcriptions coded with specific aspectual
and discursive features (VCX)
Participant’s Utterance
*H26: de pequeñas eran muy diferentes .%mor: prep|de=of adj|pequeño-FEM-PL=small vpas|se-3P&PAS=be adv|muy=very adj|diferente-PL=different . %vcx: verb_STA|se-3P&PAS=be IMPF CORR TARGET 6| BACK continuous
*H26: Gwen de niña leía un libro .%mor: n:prop|Gwen prep|de=of n|niño-FEM=child vpas|lee- 13S&PAS=read det:art|un&MASC=one n|libro&MASC=book .%vcx: verb_ACC|lee-13S&PAS=read IMPF CORR TARGET 7| BACK habitual
*H26: pintaba un cuadro .%mor: vpas|pinta-13S&PAS=paint det:art|un&MASC=one n|cuadro&MASC=square . %vcx: verb_ACC|pinta-13S&PAS=paint IMPF CORR TARGET 8| BACK habitual
MOR tagged line
*H26: de pequeñas eran muy diferentes .
%vcx: verb_STA|se-3P&PAS=be IMPF CORR TARGET 6| BACK continuous
*H26: Gwen de niña leía un libro .
%vcx: verb_ACC|lee-13S&PAS=read IMPF CORR TARGET 7| BACK habitual
*H26: pintaba un cuadro .
%vcx: verb_ACC|pinta-13S&PAS=paint IMPF CORR TARGET 8| BACK habitual
%mor: prep|de=of adj|pequeño-FEM-PL=small vpas|se-3P&PAS=be adv|muy=very adj|diferente-PL=different .
%mor: n:prop|Gwen prep|de=of n|niño-FEM=child vpas|lee- 13S&PAS=read det:art|un&MASC=one n|libro&MASC=book
%mor: vpas|pinta-13S&PAS=paint det:art|un&MASC=one n|cuadro&MASC=square .
VCX tagged line
*H26: de pequeñas eran muy diferentes .%mor: prep|de=of adj|pequeño-FEM-PL=small vpas|se-3P&PAS=be adv|muy=very adj|diferente-PL=different .
*H26: Gwen de niña leía un libro .%mor: n:prop|Gwen prep|de=of n|niño-FEM=child vpas|lee- 13S&PAS=read det:art|un&MASC=one n|libro&MASC=book .
*H26: pintaba un cuadro .%mor: vpas|pinta-13S&PAS=paint det:art|un&MASC=one n|cuadro&MASC=square .
%vcx: verb_STA|se-3P&PAS=be IMPF CORR TARGET 6| BACK continuous
%vcx: verb_ACC|lee-13S&PAS=read IMPF CORR TARGET 7| BACK habitual
%vcx: verb_ACC|pinta-13S&PAS=paint IMPF CORR TARGET 8| BACK habitual
Preliminary Results
Tasks were successful at eliciting past. Pictures worked well for eliciting different
lexical aspect classes and habitual/progressive events.
More equal amounts of foreground/background elicited in the narratives.
Controlled Impersonal Narrative:Las Hermanas 2220 predicates were
coded:
Y10 = 497
Y13 = 516
UG = 587
NS = 620
Foreground = 47% Background = 53%
Achievements = 20%,
Accomplishments = 26%
Activities = 25%,
States = 29%
Percentage of production within lexical aspect classes, Controlled narrative
ACH ACC ACT STA
FORE 46.40% 23.30% 72.34% 46.26%
BACK 53.60% 76.70% 27.66% 53.74%
Cat Story – Native Speakers only
818 predicates coded
35% preterit
48% imperfect
7% past progressive
5% present
40% Foreground
60% Background
Achievements = 36%
Accomplishments = 15%
Activities = 27%
States = 22%
Within Lexical Aspect Class Analysis, Cat Story – NS
ACH ACC ACT STA
FORE 64.97% 44.44% 25.79% 11.30%
BACK 35.03% 55.56% 74.21% 88.70%
Next steps in analysis
Finish coding all tasks Consider across-group and within-group
results for evidence of developmental stages Compare learners’ use of imperfect
morphology on production tasks with the results of the comprehension task
Compare learners’ performance across production tasks
TBLT Implications
Past tense morphology is a developmental feature.
When designing tasks: pay attention to the verb phrases used
Are there both prototypical and nonprototypical pairings?
consider the amount of foreground and background.
Try to include equal amounts think about how useful prompts are use various text and task types
Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpus (SPLLOC)
Thank you!
www.splloc.soton.ac.uk
Funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (award
RES-062-23-1075)
References
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Andersen, R. & Shirai, Y. (1994). Discourse motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16, 133-156
Andersen, R. W., & Shirai, Y. (1996). Primacy of aspect in first and second language acquisition: The pidgin/Creole connection. In W.C. Ritchie & T.K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 527-570). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Ayoun, D. & Salaberry, R. (2005). Towards a comprehensive model of the acquisition of L2 tense-aspect in the Romance languages. In Ayoun, D. & R. Salaberry (Eds.), Tense and aspect in Romance languages (pp.253-281). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
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Salaberry, R. (forthcoming). Assessing the effect of lexical aspect and grounding on the acquisition of L2 Spanish past tense morphology among L1 English speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.