EL APRENDIZAJE DEL ASPECTO VERBAL EN LOS TIEMPOS DEL PASADO ESPAÑOL. El pretérito perfecto simple y el imperfecto en estudiantes de ELE en Suecia.

Abstract

The acquisition of the verbal aspect in Spanish as a second language is one of the most frequent and complex issues in SLA literature. Over the last forty years, scholars have developed different hypotheses and theories to account for the acquisition process and to explain the difficulties students face when trying to learn the verbal aspect in L2 Spanish. This study evaluates the four main theories on a wide corpus of learners of Spanish as a second language in Sweden. It further exposes and analyzes how this acquisition process is carried out from its early stages until reaching a level of competence similar to that of the natives. The results of this research indicate that the factors that regulate and explain the learning process are several and of different kinds. Firstly, the semantic nature of the verb – supporting so the mayor role of the lexical aspect theory LAH –. Secondly, the comprehension of the perfective and imperfective values of the tenses of the Spanish imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) and simple past (pretérito perfecto simple). Finally, the consideration of other syntactic elements that modify the semantic nature of the verb and activate the alternation of these past tenses according to the verbal aspect that the speaker wants to express. In addition to this, the thesis argues that the criterion of the prototypicity of both past tenses is the most valid tool to measure the progress of the students’ learning process.