"Doctoral Dissertation Research: Verb Learning and the Acquisition of Aspect: Rethinking Universality of Aspect and the Significance of L1 Transfer"

是什么决定了第二语言（L2）中语体习得的顺序？以往对二语体习得的研究揭示了普遍的发展模式（体假说），其特征是语法方面（即由体标记表达的时间意义，如英语进行式be +动词）和固有的词汇方面（即动词固有的时间意义）具有很强的关联性。然而，到目前为止，这种发展模式还没有得到一个完整的理论解释。此外，与在语法方面观察到的跨语言差异不同，词汇方面的差异及其对二语方面习得的影响在以往的文献中经常被忽视。在词汇方面有多大程度的跨语言差异？L1-L2词汇方面的差异会给L2学习者带来困难吗？在白井康弘博士的指导下，西由美子女士将在她的博士论文中讨论这些问题。通过将日语、汉语、韩语和英语中使用频率最高的100个动词分为四类（状态、活动、成就和成就），并比较它们在不同语言中的分布，我们将研究词汇方面的跨语言差异。第二项研究通过比较三个熟练程度的多个L1群体（汉语、韩语和英语）对日语不完全aspect teiru的L2习得情况，探讨了L1-L2词汇aspect差异对L2 aspect习得的影响程度。我们将在美国、台湾和韩国分别为L1英语、汉语和韩语组进行一系列的实验，包括口译匹配任务和图片描述任务。据预测，日语第二语言学习者在词汇方面的跨语言差异比在语法方面的跨语言不匹配更难以确定句子的方面意义。本课题的研究成果将有助于对语向的理论研究，以及二语习得中的理论问题，特别是语向假说和母语迁移的理论研究。研究结果将有助于第二语言教学法。

What determines the order of acquisition of aspect in a second language (L2)? Previous studies on the L2 acquisition of aspect have revealed universal patterns of development (the Aspect Hypothesis) characterized by the strong association of grammatical aspect (i.e., temporal meaning expressed by aspectual markers, such as English progressive be + Verb-ing) and inherent lexical aspect (i.e., temporal meaning intrinsic to verbs). However, to date, such developmental patterns have not received a full theoretical explanation. Furthermore, unlike cross-linguistic differences observed in grammatical aspect, differences on the part of lexical aspect, and accordingly their influence on the L2 acquisition of aspect, have often been disregarded in previous literature. To what extent is there cross-linguistic variation in lexical aspect? Do L1-L2 discrepancies in lexical aspect cause difficulty for L2 learners? Under the direction of Dr. Yasuhiro Shirai, Ms.Yumiko Nishi will address these issues for her doctoral dissertation. The cross-linguistic differences in lexical aspect will be investigated by classifying the 100 most frequent verbs in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English into four lexical aspect classes (state, activity, accomplishment, and achievement) and then comparing their distribution across languages. A second study investigates the extent to which L1-L2 discrepancy in lexical aspect affects the L2 acquisition of aspect by comparing the L2 acquisition of imperfective aspect teiru in Japanese by multiple L1 groups (Chinese, Korean, and English) with three proficiency levels. A series of experiments involving an interpretation matching task and a picture description task will be carried out in the U.S.A., Taiwan, and Korea, for L1 English, Chinese, and Korean groups, respectively. It is predicted that L2 learners of Japanese will find it more difficult to determine the aspectual meaning of a sentence that involves cross-linguistic discrepancy in lexical aspect than when there is L1-L2 mismatch only in grammatical aspect. The results of this research project will contribute to theoretical studies on aspect, as well as to theoretical issues in second language acquisition, in particular the Aspect Hypothesis and L1 transfer. The findings will contribute to L2 pedagogy.