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A Corpus‐Based Analysis of the Discourse Functions of Ser/Estar + Adjective in Three Levels of Spanish as FL Learners
Author(s) -
Collentine Joe,
AsenciónDelaney Yuly
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00563.x
Subject(s) - adjective , linguistics , psychology , pragmatics , copula (linguistics) , syntax , semantics (computer science) , vocabulary , noun , computer science , philosophy , programming language
Research on the acquisition of Spanish's two copulas, ser and estar , provides an understanding of the interaction among syntax, semantics, pragmatics, morphology, and vocabulary during development (e.g., Geeslin, 2003a, 2003b; Gunterman, 1992; Ryan & Lafford, 1992). Recent research suggests that linguistic features in the surrounding discourse influence learners’ copula choice. We present a corpus‐based analysis of the lexico‐grammatical features co‐occurring with copula + adjective usage among foreign‐language learners of Spanish at three levels of instruction. Findings revealed the following: (a) both ser + adjective and estar + adjective occur at all levels where little linguistic complexity typically occurs; (b) ser + adjective appears in descriptive and evaluative discourse; and (c) estar + adjective is present in narrations, descriptions, and hypothetical discourse.