No time like the present: Examining transfer at the interfaces in second language acquisition

We examine whether or not L1 Spanish and L1 Japanese learners can acquire the extended range of meanings associated with the simple present and present progressive in L2 English in order to test whether properties that require the integration of pragmatic knowledge can be acquired and to investigate to what extent similarity in these properties between the L1 and L2 facilitates acquisition. The first experiment examines the simple present and present progressive with activities and targets the core meanings of the aspectual forms (Sara writes/is writing poetry). The second experiment examines progressive habituals (Sarah is writing poetry this week). The third experiment tests the simple present and present progressive with achievements (Clara returns/is returning home at 5:00). The fourth experiment focuses on simple present and present progressive futurates (Sarah is leaving/leaves next week). The results of a grammaticality judgment task and an interpretation task suggest that the acquisition of these extended meanings is not facilitated by similarity in the L1. Nevertheless, the results also suggest that learners successfully integrate contextual information in the interpretation of aspectual forms, demonstrating sensitivity to pragmatic constraints.