This article surveys the development of second language acquisition research in the area of
tense and aspect. Research in the area has grown from the incidental investigation of tense-aspect
morphology as part of the morpheme-order studies to investigations of the construction of
interlanguage temporal semantics. Going beyond verbal morphology, many studies investigate a
full range of temporal expression, including the use of pragmatic and lexical means. Much recent
research also draws on theories of inherent, or lexical, aspect. An emphasis on the relation of
form and meaning characterizes both the form-oriented approach and the semantic-oriented
approach, the competing research paradigms that currently guide our work. The increase in
scholarly activity in this domain of second language acquisition, as reflected not only in the
number of studies undertaken but in the number of target languages investigated, bodes well for
the understanding of temporality in second language.