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Discourse Motivations for Some Cognitive Acquisition Principles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Roger W. Andersen  and
Yasuhiro Shirai
Roger W. Andersen
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Yasuhiro Shirai
Affiliation:
Daito Bunka University
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Extract

This paper offers an alternative interpretation for what has been called the defective tense hypothesis, the primacy of aspect hypothesis, or simply the aspect hypothesis in the literature on first and second language acquisition of tense and aspect. The aspect hypothesis states that first and second language learners will initially be influenced by the inherent semantic aspect of verbs or predicates in the acquisition of tense and aspect markers associated with or affixed to these verbs. Our account focuses on the observation that adult native speakers also appear to adhere to this primacy of inherent semantic aspect in the relative quantitative distribution of tense-aspect markers in their speech. We argue that a small set of cognitive operating principles and the notion of prototypicality account for this behavior in learners. Moreover, we argue that these principles are a consequence of how learners and native speakers alike organize information and their perspectives on it in ongoing discourse.

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Articles
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Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 133 - 156
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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