ABSTRACT

One of the most intriguing questions in the investigation of second-language acquisition concerns the role of learners’ first language (L1). Comparing learners of different backgrounds (L1 German vs. L1 Romance languages), we aim to explore the acquisition of tense and aspect features in Spanish as a second language (L2). Findings show that the L1 indeed has an undeniable effect also visible in language interpretation. These results are discussed in the light of the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis and a version of the microparametric approach to cross-linguistic differences. Different from the participants with a Romance language who can rely on the great similarities between Spanish and their L1, the German learners show a learning strategy clearly based on their L1. In German, aspect is not expressed by verbal morphology but by lexical means such as adverbs. This fact leads to an adverb-based learning strategy that (different from what has been found among learners of L2 Spanish in previous studies) not only blurs an underlying competence but prevents the complete acquisition of the underlying features. Other external variables, such as immersion, do not change the outcome considerably.

摘要

在研究第二语言习得中，最有趣的问题之一是学习者的第一语言（L1）的作用。比较不同背景的学习者（L1德语与L1浪漫语言），我们旨在探索西班牙语作为第二语言（L2）的时态和方面特征的习得。结果表明，L1确实具有不可否认的效果，在语言解释中也很明显。这些结果将根据“特征重组假说”和针对跨语言差异的微参数方法的版本进行讨论。与学习浪漫语言的参与者可以依靠西班牙语和母语（L1）的巨大相似之处不同，德国学习者清楚地根据他们的母语（L1）展示了学习策略。在德国，方面不是通过语言形态来表达，而是通过诸如副词之类的词汇手段来表达。这一事实导致了基于副词的学习策略（与先前研究中的L2西班牙语学习者发现的策略不同）不仅模糊了基础能力，而且妨碍了对基础特征的完全掌握。其他外部变量（例如浸入）不会显着改变结果。