The Aspect Hypothesis, the comparative fallacy and the validity of obligatory context analysis: a reply to Lardiere, 2003

Abstract

Lardiere (2003), in her reply to Lakshmanan and Selinker (2001), justifies the use of suppliance in obligatory contexts as a method of analysis in the investigation of the second language (L2) acquisition of past tense, and claims that such a method is characteristic of previous studies that have proposed the Aspect Hypothesis. It is argued here that this is a misrepresentation of research on the Aspect Hypothesis which, contra Lardiere, takes seriously the problem of the ‘comparative fallacy’ and the autonomous nature of interlanguage. Lardiere also argues that the Aspect Hypothesis studies suffer from a different kind of comparative fallacy, to which I reply by discussing the importance of refining methods of analysis in verb aspectual classification of learner data.

Chapter 12. Integrating the analyses of tense and aspect across research and methodological frameworks

“…The divergence of voices is also evident in the study of L2 tense-aspect, as witnessed in the di¤erent theoretical frameworks and methodologies described in the current volume. As mentioned earlier, di¤erences in how studies are designed (operational tests, task design, and so on) do arise and discussions related to how the subdiscipline of L2 tense-aspect acquisition develops are present as well (e.g., Lardiere 2003;Shirai 2007;Slabakova 2002). In this respect, we would like to suggest a way out of some of the discussions regarding methodology by advocating for a methodology that in other academic disciplines has proven fruitful, namely mixed methods (Denzin 2010; see a review in Tashakkori and Teddlie 2006).…”

PhD revisited: INGlish English

“…As first-language users, we automatically choose to express meaning in a way that matches the grammar we have at our disposal in our first language. This is what Slobin (1996) calls thinking for speaking; a form of habitual thought patterns. Such habitual patterns are difficult to change.…”

The Present Progressive: A Difficult Aspect to Learn, Evidence from the Moroccan EFL Classroom

“…Various are the studies in literature that have exhaustively tackled the tense-aspect system of English: Bardovi-Harlig, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2000Salaberry, 1999Salaberry, , 2000aSalaberry, , and 2000bAndersen & Shirai, 1995;Shirai, 1991 and2007;Robison, 1990 and1995;Ayon & Salaberry, 2008;and Collins, 2002.Those studies have drawn a clear distinction between tense and aspect as two confusing but related concepts in the study of temporal structure. They also shed light on the lexical aspect hypothesis developed by the functionalist school.…”