Representations of non-prototypical aspectual associations in L2 Spanish among advanced proficiency levels

Numerous studies on the acquisition of tense-aspect systems in second languages (L2) have tested the validity of the Aspectual Hypothesis (AH) in learning the perfective/imperfective opposition in Spanish. Results from recent studies identify some conditions that complement the predictions of the AH: cross-linguistic influence, frequency differences in input, and aspectual coercion. The production of perfective and imperfective verb forms in L2 Spanish shows a predominance of prototypical combinations of lexical and grammatical aspect: atelic verbs with imperfective morphemes and telic verbs with perfective morphemes. Although the handling of non-prototypical aspectual associations stabilizes at advanced levels of L2, some experimental studies show that certain combinations of aspectual coercion still present difficulties. This work analyzes what interpretations advanced L2 Spanish learners have regarding different aspectual coercion scenarios and what effect the frequency of these verbal forms has on the acquisition of non-prototypical aspectual associations. The study includes 68 advanced-level Spanish learners (L1 Russian) and 25 native speakers, who completed a preference judgment task. The stimuli present contexts favoring prototypical and non-prototypical associations between stative verbs, activities, accomplishments, achievements, and imperfect and preterite forms. The results indicate that some preferences for non-prototypical combinations emerge in L2 before others; the semantic feature of duration, rather than telicity, seems to guide the preference order, indicating a possible L1 effect. A slight lexical frequency effect is also observed, especially with stative verbs.