Acquisition of perfect in English in an immersion context by Spanish speakers from Puerto Rico

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2358-3428.2023v27n60p348-376

Keywords:

Perfect aspect, Bilingualism, L2 acquisiton, Puerto Rico

Abstract

This work sought to investigate the acquisition of the realizations of universal perfect and existential perfect associated with the present tense by Puerto Rican Spanish speakers acquiring English as L2 in an immersion context. The perfect aspect, when associated with the present tense, refers to a situation that began or occurred in the past and continues or has relevance in the present. Puerto Rican speakers can have Spanish and English as L1, being considered bilingual. However, they can also acquire English as L2 after this period in an immersion context and, depending on the domain and context of exposure, be considered functional bilinguals. The hypothesis adopted was that functional bilingual speakers who have the most uninterrupted contact time with the English language perform in that language closer to that presented by native Puerto Rican speakers of English and Spanish, according to mapping by Rebouças, Martins and Nespoli (2022). To achieve the goals, a case study was carried out with 4 speakers from the application of decision and elicited production tests in English. The results revealed the use of present perfect continuous, present perfect, simple present, and present continuous in conveying universal perfect, and simple past and present perfect (with or without auxiliary) in conveying existential perfect. The hypothesis was refuted because the bilinguals studied with more time of contact with English did not select/produce to be (present) + predicative in conveying existential perfect - a form verified in Rebouças, Martins and Nespoli (2022).

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Author Biographies

Adriana Leitão Martins, UFRJ

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Professora Associada de Linguística do Departamento de Linguística e Filologia, do Programa de Pós-graduação em Linguística e do Mestrado Profissional em Letras da UFRJ.

Juliana Barros Nespoli, UFF

Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). Professora Adjunta de Língua Portuguesa no Departamento de Letras Clássicas e Vernáculas da UFF e professora de Língua Portuguesa e Linguística do UGB/FERP. 

References

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Published

2023-12-21

How to Cite

REBOUÇAS, Érica Silva; MARTINS, Adriana Leitão; NESPOLI, Juliana Barros. Acquisition of perfect in English in an immersion context by Spanish speakers from Puerto Rico. Scripta, Belo Horizonte, v. 27, n. 60, p. 348–376, 2023. DOI: 10.5752/P.2358-3428.2023v27n60p348-376. Disponível em: https://periodicos.pucminas.br/scripta/article/view/30482. Acesso em: 20 oct. 2025.

Issue

Section

Eixo III. Descrição de aspectos linguísticos na interação entre línguas