Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages

Abstract

The study examines the role played by English and Romance languages (L2s) when learning grammatical aspect in Italian as additional language (Ln). Swedish university students of Italian (n = 34), divided according to knowledge of a Romance L2 and English aspectual knowledge, completed an interpretation task of aspectual contrast in Italian. Eight native speakers served as a control group. The findings showed that knowledge of a Romance language as L2 and high English aspectual knowledge exerted a differential influence on learning aspect in Italian. This outcome is discussed in the light of a consistent form-meaning relationship between the L2s and Italian. Yet, with a mismatch between grammatical and lexical aspect, the learners’ judgments differed from the native speakers’ judgments. Thus, our findings also support the idea of the existence of differential learning paths sustained by the L2s when learning complex aspectual configurations.

Always trust your gut?

“…Structures that are similar across languages are most likely to be transferred, both from a Romance L2 language into a Romance L3 (Comajoan-Colomé, 2019;Eibensteiner, 2021Eibensteiner, , 2022Eibensteiner, , 2023Vallerossa, 2021Vallerossa, , 2022 and from L2 English to a Romance L3 (Eibensteiner, 2019). Transfer of meanings originating in L2 English has also been found in a study by Vallerossa et al (2021), where learners with high aspectual knowledge in English (operationalized as knowledge of the contrast perfective/progressive) outperformed learners with low aspectual knowledge in English when it came to the progressive meaning expressed by the Italian Imperfect. These results were interpreted as positive L2 influence supporting a correct form-meaning remapping into the target language.…”

“…In that study, the non-prototypical combination of perfective past tense and states was negatively constrained by the L1 English, despite generally positive L2 transfer effects. Salaberry's (2005) research paved the way for other studies which corroborated the difficulty of overcoming L1 representational constraints in the case of nonprototypical associations (Diaubalick et al, 2020;Eibensteiner, 2019Eibensteiner, , 2022Foote, 2009;Vallerossa, 2021;Vallerossa et al, 2021).…”

“…Recently, several studies have attested to influences from other learned languages (e.g. Diaubalick et al, 2020;Eibensteiner, 2019Eibensteiner, , 2022Vallerossa, 2021Vallerossa, , 2022Vallerossa et al, 2021), but the field still lacks a comprehensive account of how different languages (L1s and L2s) and different types of transfer (linguistic or conceptual) are applicable to tense-aspect research. It is beyond the scope of this article to provide such a complex account, theoretically and empirically.…”

“…functional transfer). In the case of transfer of verb morphology, however, these two types of transfer are difficult to separate, as a transfer of forms also entails a transfer of their assumed associated meanings (Vallerossa, 2023). For example, having a Romance language as L1 fosters the transfer of the perfective/imperfective contrast into another Romance language (e.g.…”

Research on foreign language learning, teaching, and assessment in Sweden 2012–2021

“…While tense and aspect constitute a well-researched area in traditional L2 acquisition research, it is in fact fairly under-researched in the L3. However, an article-based thesis of Italian (see Vallerossa et al, 2021) exploring the acquisition of tense and aspect by Swedish university students shows that learners draw on previously acquired languages, both L1 and L2. Data gathered through several tests indicate an intricate interplay of linguistic typology, language proficiency, and prototypicality, when learning aspectual contrasts.…”