Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-7qhmt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T02:26:45.226Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Eventive and stative passives in Spanish L2 acquisition: A matter of aspect*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

JOYCE BRUHN DE GARAVITO*
Affiliation:
The University of Western Ontario
ELENA VALENZUELA
Affiliation:
The University of Western Ontario
*
Address for correspondence: Joyce Bruhn de Garavito, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, The University of Western Ontario, University College, London, ON, CanadaN6A 3K7joycebg@uwo.ca

Abstract

This paper reports on an empirical study that examined knowledge of eventive and stative passives in the L2 Spanish grammar of L1 speakers of English. Although the two types of passive exist in English, the difference between them is not signaled in any specific way. In Spanish, in contrast, the distinction is marked by the choice of copula: ser is used to form eventive passives, estar for statives. Researchers agree that the two copulas, both of which translate as English “to be”, differ in relation to aspect: estar is perfective while ser is not marked for aspect (Schmitt, 1992). The question was whether L2 learners would be able to acquire the aspectual difference of the copulas and apply it to the formation of the passives. Two main tests were used, a Grammaticality Judgment Task and a Sentence Selection Task. The Grammaticality Judgment Task examined properties of the passives related, among other things, to aspect and agentivity. The Sentence Selection Task focused on the interpretation of the subject: only the subject of ser can be interpreted as generic. Although the learners in general distinguished between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences, they had not acquired the restriction on subject interpretation. These results are explained in terms of interfaces.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This study was made possible by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the first author. We would like to acknowledge the help of our research assistants, Mónica Nicté-ha Codina, Alma Ramírez Trujillo and Ana M. Faure.

References

Allen, S. E. M. (1996). Aspects of argument structure acquisition in Inuktitut. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Baker, M. C., Johnson, K. & Roberts, I. (1989). Passive arguments raised. Linguistic Inquiry, 20 (2), 219251.Google Scholar
Bever, T. G. (1970). The cognitive bases for linguistic structures. In Hayes, J. R. (ed.), Cognition and the development of language, pp. 279362. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Borer, H. & Wexler, K. (1992). Bi-unique relations and the maturation of grammatical principles. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 10, 147189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borgonovo, C., Bruhn de Garavito, J., Guijarro-Fuentes, P., Prévost, P. & Valenzuela, E. (2006). Specificity in Spanish: The syntax/semantics interface in SLA. In Foster-Cohen, S. H., Medved Krajnovic, M. & Djigunovic, J. Mihaljevic (eds.), Eurosla Yearbook 6, pp. 5778. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Borgonovo, C., Bruhn de Garavito, J. & Prévost, P. (2005). Acquisition of mood distinctions in L2 Spanish. In Burgos, A., Clark-Cotton, M. R. & Ha, S. (eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), pp.97108. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Borgonovo, C. & Prévost, P. (2003). Knowledge of polarity subjunctive in L2 Spanish. In Beachley, B., Brown, A. & Conlin, F. (eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Boston University Conference on Language Development, pp.150161. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Bosque, I. (1990). Sobre el aspecto en los adjetivos y en los participios. In Bosque, I. (ed.), Tiempo y aspecto en español, pp. 177211. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra.Google Scholar
Briscoe, G. G. (1995). The acquisition of ser and estar by non-native speakers of Spanish. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Bruhn de Garavito, J. (2000). The syntax of Spanish multifunctional clitics and near-native competence. Ph.D. dissertation, McGill University.Google Scholar
Bruhn de Garavito, J. & Valenzuela, E. (2005). Exploring the relationship between transfer and input in the acquisition of the Spanish passives. In Dekydtspotter, L., Sprouse, R. & Liljestrand, A. (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA), pp.1323. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Burzio, L. (1986). Italian syntax: A government binding approach. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Carroll, S. E. (1999). Putting “input” in its proper place. Second Language Research, 15 (4), 337388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, S. E. (2000). Input and evidence: The raw material of second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Clahsen, H. & Felser, C. (2006). Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27 (1), 342.Google Scholar
Clements, J. C. (1988). The semantics and pragmatics of the Spanish <copula + adjective> construction. Linguistics, 26, 779822.Google Scholar
De Villiers, J. G. & De Villiers, P. A. (1973). Development of the use of word order in comprehension. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 2, 331341.Google Scholar
Dekydtspotter, L., Sprouse, R. & Thyre, R. (2000). The interpretation of quantification at a distance in English-French interlanguage: Domain specificity and second language acquisition. Language Acquisition, 8, 265320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delbecque, N. (1997). The Spanish copulas ser and estar. In Verspoor, M., Lee, K. D. & Sweetser, E. (eds.), Lexical and syntactical construction and the construction of meaning, pp. 247270. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Demuth, K. (1990). Subject, topic and the Sesotho passive. Journal of Child Language, 17, 6784.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duffield, N. (2006). How do you like your doughnuts? Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 5659.Google Scholar
Duffield, N. & White, L. (1999). Assessing L2 knowledge of Spanish clitic placement: Convergent methodologies. Second Language Research, 15 (2), 133160.Google Scholar
Falk, J. (1979). Ser y estar con atributos adjetivales. Uppsala: Alqvist and Wiksell.Google Scholar
Fernández Leborans, M. J. (1995). Las construcciones con el verbo estar: Aspectos sintácticos y semánticos. Verba, 22, 253284.Google Scholar
Fernández Leborans, M. J. (1999). La predicación: Las oraciones copulativas. In Bosque, I. & Demonte, V. (eds.), Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española, pp. 23542460. Madrid: Espasa.Google Scholar
Filiaci, F. (2003). The acquisition of null and overt subjects by English near-native speakers of Italian. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Franceschina, F. (2001). Morphological or syntactic deficits in near-native speakers? An assessment of some current proposals. Second Language Research, 17, 213247.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. (2000). A new approach to the second language acquisition of copula choice in Spanish. In Leow, R. P. & Sanz, C. (eds.), Spanish applied linguistics at the turn of the millenium: Papers from the 1999 Conference on the L1 & L2 Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese, pp. 5066. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. (2001). Changing norms, moving targets and the SLA of copula choice. Spanish Applied Linguistics, 5, 2955.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. (2002a). Semantic transparency as a predictor of copula choice in second language acquisition. Linguistics, 40 (2), 439468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. (2002b). The second language acquisition of Spanish copula choice and its relationship to language change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24 (3), 419451.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. (2003). A comparison of copula choice in advanced and native Spanish. Language Learning 53 (4), 703764.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. & Guijarro-Fuentes, P. (2004). Estudio longitudinal de ser y estar en el español como L2. Porta Linguarum, 2, 93110.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. L. & Guijarro-Fuentes, P. (2006). Second language acquisition of variable structures in Spanish by Portuguese speakers. Language Learning, 56 (1), 53107.Google Scholar
Hawkins, R. & Franceschina, F. (2004). Explaining the acquisition and nonacquisition of determiner–noun gender concord in French and Spanish. In Paradis, J. & Prévost, P. (eds.), The acquisition of French in different contexts, pp. 175205. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Hulk, A. & Müller, N. (2000). Bilingual first language acquisition at the interface between syntax and pragmatics. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3 (3), 227244.Google Scholar
Jaeggli, O. (1986). Passive. Linguistic Inquiry, 17, 587622.Google Scholar
Lema, J. (1992). Distinguishing copular and aspectual auxiliaries: Spanish ser and estar. In Amastae, J., Goodall, G., Montalbetti, M. & Phinney, M. (eds.), Contemporary research in Romance linguistics, pp. 257274. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Leonetti, M. (1994). Ser y estar: Estado de la cuestión. Barataria (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares), 1, 182205.Google Scholar
Levin, B. & Rappaport, M. (1986). The formation of adjectival passives. Linguistic Inquiry, 17 (4), 623661.Google Scholar
Lozano, C. (2006). Focus and split-intransitivity: The acquisition of word order alternations in non-native Spanish. Second Language Research, 22 (2), 145187.Google Scholar
Luján, M. (1981). The Spanish copulas as aspectual indicators. Lingua, 54, 165210.Google Scholar
Maratsos, M. P. (1974). Children who get worse at understanding the passive: A replication of Bever. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 3, 6574.Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2002). Incomplete acquisition and attrition of Spanish tense/aspect distinctions in adult bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5 (1), 3968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S. (2004). Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers: A case of morpho-syntactic convergence. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7 (2), 125142.Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2005). On knowledge and development of unaccusativity in Spanish L2 acquisition. Linguistics, 43 (6), 11531190.Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2006). Incomplete acquisition in bilingualism as an instance of language change. In Lefebvre, C., White, L. & Jourdan, C. (eds.), L2 acquisition and Creole genesis: Dialogues, pp. 379400. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Müller, N. & Hulk, A. (2001). Crosslinguistic influence in bilingual language acquisition: Italian and French as recipient languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4, 121.Google Scholar
Otero, C. (1986). Arbitrary subjects in finite clauses. In Bordelois, I., Contreras, H. & Zagona, K. (eds.), Generative studies in Spanish syntax, pp. 81109. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Perlmutter, D. (1978). Impersonal passives and the unaccusative hypothesis. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, pp. 157189. Berkeley Linguistics Society, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Pierce, A. E. (1992). The acquistion of passives in Spanish and the question of A-chain maturation. Language Acquisition, 2 (1), 5581.Google Scholar
Ramírez-Gelpi, A. (1995). The acquisition of ser and estar among adult native English speakers learning Spanish as a second language. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Robertson, D. & Sorace, A. (1999). Losing the V2 constraint. In Klein, E. & Martohardjono, G. (eds.), The development of second language grammars: A generative approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Ryan, J. & Lafford, B. (1992). The acquisition of lexical meaning in a study abroad environment. Hispania, 75, 714722.Google Scholar
Schmitt, C. (1992). Ser and estar: A matter of aspect. NELS, 22, 411425.Google Scholar
Schwartz, B. & Sprouse, R. (1994). Word order and nominative case in nonnative language acquisition: A longitudinal study of L1 Turkish German interlanguage. In Hoekstra, T. & Schwartz, B. (eds.), Language acquisition studies in generative grammar, pp. 317368. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, B. & Sprouse, R. (1996). L2 cognitive states and the Full Transfer/Full Access model. Second Language Research, 12, 4072.Google Scholar
Serratrice, L., Sorace, A. & Paoli, S. (2004). Transfer at the syntax–pragmatics interface: Subjects and objects in Italian–English bilingual and monolingual acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7 (3), 183205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva-Corvalán, C. (1986). Bilingualism and language change: The extension of estar in Los Angeles Spanish. Language, 62, 587608.Google Scholar
Slabakova, R. & Montrul, S. (2003). Genericity and aspect in L2 acquisition. Language Acquisition 11 (3), 165196.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (1993a). Incomplete and divergent representations of unaccusativity in non-native grammars of Italian. Second Language Research, 9, 2248.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (1993b). Unaccusativity and auxiliary choice in non-native grammars of Italian and French: Asymmetries and predictable indeterminacy. French Language Studies, 3, 7193.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (2000). Syntactic optionality in non-native grammars. Second Language Research, 16, 93102.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (2004). Native language attrition and developmental instability at the syntax-discourse interface: Data, interpretations and methods. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7 (2), 143145.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (2005). Selective optionality in language development. In Cornips, L. & Corrigan, K. P. (eds.), Syntax and variation: Reconciling the biological and the social, pp. 5580. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A. (2006). Possible manifestations of shallow processing in advanced second language speakers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27 (1), 8891.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (to appear). Gradedness and optionality in mature and developing grammars. In Fanselow, G. & Féry, C. (eds.), Gradedness in grammars. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sorace, A. & Keller, F. (2005). Gradience in linguistic data. Lingua, 115, 14971524.Google Scholar
Tsimpli, I.-M., Sorace, A., Heycock, C. & Filiaci, F. (2005). First language attrition and syntactic subjects: A study of Greek and Italian near-native speakers of English. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8 3, 257277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valenzuela, E. (2005). L2 ultimate attainment and the syntax—discourse interface: The acquisition of topic constructions in non-native Spanish and English. Ph.D. dissertation, McGill University.Google Scholar
Vañó-Cerdá, A. (1982). Ser y estar + adjetivos: Un estudio sincrónico y diacrónico. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1985). The acquisition of ser and estar in adult second language learners: A preliminary investigation of transitional stages of competence. Hispania, 68, 399406.Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1987). The acquisition of ser and estar: Accounting for developmental patterns. In VanPatten, B., Dvorak, T. & Lee, J. (eds.), Foreign language learning: A research perspective, pp. 6175. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Varela, S. (1992). Verbal and adjectival participles in Spanish. In Laeufer, C. & Morgan, T. A. (eds.), Theoretical analyses in Romance linguistics, pp. 219234. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.Google Scholar
Varela, S. (2002). Active or “subjective” adjectival-participles in Spanish. In Lee, J. F., Geeslin, K. L. & Clements, J. C. (eds.), Structure, meaning, and acquisition in Spanish: Papers from the 4th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, pp. 304316. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Wasow, T. (1977). Transformations and the lexicon. In Culicover, P., Wasow, T. & Akmajian, A. (eds.), Formal syntax, pp. 327360. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
White, L. (1987). Against comprehensible input: The input hypothesis and the development of second language competence. Applied Linguistics, 8 (2), 95110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (2003). Second language acquisition and universal grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
White, L. (to appear). Grammatical Theory: Interfaces and L2 knowledge. In Ritchie, W. C. & Bhatia, T. K. (eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar