Grammatical Aspect and Endpoint Encoding in Motion Event Descriptions by Dutch Learners of English

Abstract

Previous studies on motion event descriptions have indicated that speakers of languages without grammatical aspect make less use of progressive constructions and mention more endpoints than speakers of languages that grammatically mark aspect when describing motion events (e.g. Schmiedtová, Von Stutterheim, & Carroll, 2011). These differences are generally found to be only partially acquired by second language learners (e.g. Schmiedtová et al., 2011). Dutch has been observed to behave differently from other non-aspect languages, as more progressive forms seem to be used in nonlocomotion events (e.g. ‘A woman is playing the piano’) than in locomotion events, i.e. events that involve an entity moving towards a goal (e.g. Hilberink-Schulpen, Nederstigt, & Starren, 2012). The present study aimed to find out how Dutch learners of English’ use of progressives and mentioning of endpoints relates to those of native speakers of English. A production task was performed by Dutch university students, in which learners provided written descriptions of short videoclips depicting motion events. Results indicated no significant differences between the number of endpoints mentioned by native speakers of English and second language learners of English. The learners, however, used significantly fewer progressive forms than native speakers of English when the videoclip did not display someone reaching the endpoint. When the videoclip did display that an endpoint was reached, no significant differences were found between the use of progressives by native English speakers and learners. These findings are in line with previous research, as learners seem to have acquired the different structures for a large part, although they did not display native-like patterns in all respects.