(Inter)subjective uses of the Dutch progressive constructions

Linguistics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 1111-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Anthonissen ◽  
Astrid De Wit ◽  
Tanja Mortelmans
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Semantic Account ◽  
Subjective Meanings ◽  
General Association

AbstractThis paper addresses the (inter)subjective functions of progressive aspect in Dutch. While the aspectual profile of the various Dutch progressive constructions has received considerable attention in the last few years, much less attention has been paid to their non-aspectual uses. As we will demonstrate in this paper on the basis of a corpus study of spoken Dutch, complemented with native-speaker elicitations, the Dutch progressive constructions can be specifically recruited to express (inter)subjective meanings such as surprise, irritation and intensity, and they differ in this respect from their simplex counterparts. Our analysis of progressive aspect in terms of backgrounded boundaries provides an explanation for (i) the general association of progressive aspect with (inter)subjectivity and (ii) our observation that some Dutch progressive constructions are more prone to such (inter)subjective exploitation than others. This semantic account also underlies the last part of this contribution, in which we discuss cases of what we call “(inter)subjective reinforcement” in complex progressive constructions, that is, the embedding of progressive constructions in other constructions that are also semantically affiliated to (inter)subjectivity (e.g. the perfect,gaan/komen‘go/come’, modals and the bare infinitive construction), which has been largely neglected in the literature.

The relation between aspect and inversion in English

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASTRID DE WIT
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
Time Inversion ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Reference Time ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Locative Inversion ◽  
And Inversion

This article discusses the peculiar use of the simple present/past in full-verb inversion (i.e. locative inversion, directional inversion, quotative inversion, presentational there), and the corresponding scarcity of progressive aspect in these contexts. While it is normally ungrammatical in English to use the simplex tenses to report events that are ongoing at reference time, inversion seems to defy this restriction. Building on a combination of insights from analyses of aspect and of full-verb inversion in English, this study presents a cognitive-functional explanation for this exceptional characteristic of inversion that has gone largely unnoticed in previous accounts. I argue that there exists a canonical relationship between the preposed ground and the postposed figure in full-verb inversion and that this meaning of canonicity ties in perfectly with the perfective value that I deem constitutive of the English simple tenses. In addition, some cases of directional inversion involve a ‘deictic effect’ (Drubig 1988): in these instances, the conceptualizer's vantage point is anchored within the ground and the denoted (dis)appearance of the figure is construed as inevitable. On the basis of a large sample of corpus data and native-speaker elicitations, I demonstrate that the use of the progressive is disallowed in inverted contexts that involve a deictic effect, while its use is dispreferred but not excluded in other cases of inversion. This study thus brings together insights from the domains of information structure and aspect in English, and merges these into a comprehensive cognitive account.

Universals and transfer in the acquisition of the progressive aspect: Evidence from L1 Chinese, German, and Spanish learners’ use of the progressive -ing in spoken English

2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Zeng ◽  
Yasuhiro Shirai ◽  
Xiaoxiang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
First Language ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Learner Corpus

Abstract This study investigated the effects of learners’ first language (L1), lexical aspect of verbs, and proficiency levels on their use of the English progressive aspect. It analyzed spoken data from learners of three different L1s (Chinese, German, and Spanish) in an international learner corpus (LINSEI), in comparison with native speech in a comparable native speaker corpus (LOCNEC). The analysis reveals that regardless of learners’ L1 and proficiency levels, their use of progressive markings is predominantly associated with activity verbs (prototypes), supporting the association prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen, Roger W. & Yasuhiro Shirai. 1994. Discourse motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 16(2). 133–156). Contrary to the fourth prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis, both intermediate and advanced learners use stative progressives, and especially intermediate L1 Spanish learners overuse stative progressives, indicating a complex interaction between L1 and proficiency on non-prototypical form-meaning associations. The results suggest that L1 effect, lexical aspect of verbs, and proficiency levels jointly drive tense-aspect acquisition.

The epistemic import of aspectual constructions: the case of performatives

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASTRID DE WIT ◽  
FRANK BRISARD ◽  
MICHAEL MEEUWIS
Keyword(s):  
Multidimensional Scaling ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
The Other ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Situation Type ◽  
Other Hand

abstractIn this study we chart the aspectual characteristics of performative utterances in a cross-linguistic sample of sixteen languages on the basis of native-speaker elicitations. We conclude that there is not one single aspectual type (e.g., perfectives) that is systematically reserved for performative contexts. Instead, the aspectual form of performative utterances in a given language is epistemically motivated, in the sense that the language will turn to that aspectual construction which it generally selects to refer to situations that are fully and instantly identifiable as an instance of a given situation type at the time of speaking. We use the method of Multidimensional Scaling to demonstrate this: whatever the exact value of a given aspectual marker, if it is used to mark performatives, then it also commonly features in the expression of states and habits, which have the subinterval property (they can be fully verified based on a random segment), demonstrations, and other special contexts featuring more or less predictable and therefore instantly identifiable events. On the other hand, our study shows that performative contexts do not normally feature progressive aspect, which is dedicated to the expression of events that are not fully and instantly identifiable.

scholarly journals Semantic and Cognitive Structure of Emotion States Love, Lust, Infatuation, Passion

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataliya Lavrova
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Classroom Setting ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Individual Consciousness ◽  
Emotion Concepts ◽  
Insight Into

Conceptualization of emotions, especially those which are neither universal nor elementary, is a contested area of cognitive linguistic research. The present paper investigated the semantic and conceptual structure of four emotion states of the thematic field ‘romantic relationship’: love, lust, infatuation, and passion. The specific questions asked in the paper are as follows. First, what are the similarities and dissimilarities between these emotion states? Second, in what way does the conceptualization presented in dictionaries depart from conceptualization that emerges through corpus investigation? Finally, which of the conceptual metaphors posited for emotion concepts by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson are most entrenched in the collective and individual consciousness of speakers of English? To answer these questions, the advantages of four methods were tapped into: introspection, definitional analysis, a native speaker survey and corpus study. Findings reveal that dictionary definitions of love, lust, infatuation, and passion offer an impoverished, if credible, insight into the conceptual structure of these emotions. Results are suggestive of some specific conceptual elements which should be taken account of in a classroom setting by language instructors and L2 learners and indicate which appropriate collocations are to be taken heed of by dictionary compilers.  

Perfects, Resultatives, and Auxiliaries in Earlier English

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas McFadden ◽  
Artemis Alexiadou
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Auxiliary Selection

In this article, we investigate the peculiar distribution of the auxiliaries have and be in Earlier English and its consequences for theories of the perfect and auxiliary selection. We argue on the basis of a large-scale corpus study that the periphrastic construction with be was restricted to a stative resultative interpretation, whereas that with have developed a wider range of uses, crucially including the experiential perfect in addition to resultatives. Support comes from comparing the Earlier English patterns with related ones in Norwegian and German for which native-speaker judgments are available. On the basis of this insight, we propose distinct formal analyses for the two constructions and show how they account for the attested patterns and changes in Middle and Early Modern English. Of particular theoretical relevance is the premise that what has been called the “perfect” is not a homogeneous, monolithic category, and that certain kinds of variation can only be understood by teasing apart the pieces involved. Earlier English and German auxiliaries have distinct distributions because their “perfects” have disinct syntactic and semantic makeups.

Native-speakerism and ‘hidden curricula’ in ELT training

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Lowe ◽  
Luke Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Hidden Curriculum ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Individual Training

Issues surrounding native-speakerism in ELT have been investigated from a diverse range of research perspectives over the last decade. This study uses a duoethnographic approach in order to explore the concept of a 'hidden curriculum' that instils and perpetuates Western 'native speaker' norms and values in the formal and informal training of English language teachers. We found that, despite differences in our own individual training experiences, a form of 'hidden curriculum' was apparent that had a powerful effect on our initial beliefs and practices as teachers and continues to influence our day-to-day teaching.

The Involvement of Native Speakers in Teaching and Learning Japanese Language at UiTM

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Choong Pow Yean ◽  
Sarinah Bt Sharif ◽  
Normah Bt Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Density

The Nihongo Partner Program or “Japanese Language Partner” is a program that sends native speakers to support the teaching and learning of Japanese overseas. The program is fully sponsored by The Japan Foundation. The aim of this program is to create an environment that motivates the students to learn Japanese. This study is based on a survey of the Nihongo Partner Program conducted on students and language lecturers at UiTM, Shah Alam. This study aims to investigate if there is a necessity for native speakers to be involved in the teaching and learning of Japanese among foreign language learners. Analysis of the results showed that both students and lecturers are in dire need of the Nihongo Partner Program to navigate the learning of the Japanese language through a variety of language learning activities. The involvement of native speaker increases students’ confidence and motivation to converse in Japanese. The program also provides opportunities for students to increase their Japanese language proficiency and lexical density. In addition, with the opportunity to interact with the native speakers, students and lecturers will have a better understanding of Japanese culture as they are able to observe and ask the native speakers. Involvement of native speakers is essential in teaching and learning of Japanese in UiTM.

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