The aim of this volume, which consists of 7 chapters plus appendices, is to look at present, future and past temporality in French in order to obtain a better understanding of the acquisition by second language (L2) learners of temporal, aspectual and mood systems as a whole. The framework adopted is that of generative grammar.
Chapter 1 highlights the complexity and subtleties of some of the similarities and differences between English and French as far as the concepts of time and temporality are concerned. The main aspectual distinction in French is between perfective and imperfective, while in English it is between perfective and progressive. Both languages also partially differ with respect to tense agreement in hypothetical structures involving if clauses.
Chapter 2 recalls that most languages appear to have either a modal system (e.g. English) or a mood system (e.g. the various Romance languages). However, mood and modality are not limited to modal auxiliaries and verbs, but also impact on temporality, which complicates any attempts to clearly distinguish between tense and modality.
In Chapter 3, Ayoun points out how tense, aspect and mood/modality are viewed in Minimalist terms. Minimalist Grammar construes them as semantic features. SLA researchers have embraced the concept of (un)interpretable features and use it to make learnability predictions. However, inconsistent performance of L2 learners in various relevant elicitation tasks makes it difficult for researchers to explain how the features really operate.
Chapter 4 presents a literature review of empirical studies conducted with L2 French learners both from a non-generative and a generative perspective. Ayoun shows that, in studies adopting a non-generative perspective, one of the main findings is that the passé composé emerges earlier and is more robust than the imparfait. In studies adopting a generative perspective, the focus is more on tense and aspect than on mood/modality; they present a more complete picture of the developmental route of L2 tense, aspect, mood/modality acquisition. However, Ayoun stresses that mood/modality needs more investigation.
Chapter 5 is divided into 3 sections: methodology, findings for cloze tests and sentence completion tasks. The chapter reports on a study carried out by the author “to gain a better and more complete perspective on the tense, aspect, mood/modality system that second language (L2) learners build as they progress along the continuum from the L2 initial state to the L2 end state, that is, ideally, successful ultimate attainment” (101). Ayoun studied Anglophone learners of L2 French in a formal classroom setting at a large North American university. Production and elicitation tasks were used to establish levels of competence based on participants’ performance. In the cloze tests, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced learners’ performance improved with their proficiency level, and they all performed better with future temporality than with past temporality. The study shows that there was a lexical class effect. Performance clearly improved according to proficiency level, suggesting that learners might eventually achieve a more even mastery across lexical classes and elicitation tasks. The findings of this study support the claim that adult L2 learners can acquire functional categories which are not present in their L1 and that they can set feature values to the appropriate target language strength. The study also reveals that participants performed poorly in forms that exhibit low input frequency such as futur antérieur or subjonctif.
Chapter 6 contains a selective literature review of classroom-based studies in tense, aspect and mood/modality, as well as of current instructional approaches and hypotheses. After reviewing basic elements both of L2 acquisition and of the evolution of computer-based technologies, Ayoun makes a few practical suggestions for language teachers faced with the difficult task of introducing their students to the main concepts related to tense, aspect and mood/modality, concepts which are often challenging for foreign language learners.
The final chapter summarizes the aims of the volume and its different sections. It ends with directions for future research on the expression of present and future temporality, on the one hand, and on the acquisition of mood/modality and of modals and modal expressions, on the other hand.
Ayoun's monograph is very comprehensive and will appeal to students, language teachers, university lecturers as well as theoretical linguists and SLA researchers or anybody interested in gaining a better understanding of the complexities of French and English. It clearly shows that a past tense form does not necessarily imply a past reference, in the same way that a present tense form does not always imply a present reference. The concepts and definitions are well supported by concrete examples and tables.
This volume has clearly fulfilled its mission (a) to contribute to the already impressive body of research on the L2 acquisition of tense, aspect and mood/modality from a generative perspective, and in so doing, to present a more complete picture of the processes of L2 acquisition in general; (b) to bridge the gap between linguistic theory and L2 acquisition; and (c) to make empirical findings more accessible to language instructors by proposing concrete pedagogical applications.
