Encoding complex events in advanced English L2 productionsthe role of aspect in the expression of simultaneity

Resumen

This study explores the use of the progressive form to encode simultaneous events in oral narratives by advanced and very advanced Catalan and French learners of English as a foreign language. On the basis 84 narratives, we analyse the progressive/non-progressive aspectual contrast and the array of semantic, discourse and cross-linguistic factors which shape the use of verb morphology in simultaneity scenes in L2 English. The results indicate that learners tend to encode abundant viewpoint information, whereas English native speakers provide less viewpoint information and rely instead on other semantic and syntactic devices to encode simultaneity. Only the very advanced learners have grasped the optionality of the progressive form in the expression of simultaneity in English. This seems to indicate that the ultimate challenge for proficient learners remains to uncover the implications the choice of a given verb form can have on the overall construction of meaning.