THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS OF THE PROGRESSIVE MORPHEME IN ENGLISH: A STUDY OF THE (NON-)SEMANTIC TRANSFER FROM L1 TO L2

Abstract

This dissertation explores how Thai learners of English acquire the progressive aspect morpheme -ing, with a focus on the interaction between grammatical and lexical aspects. Framed within the Aspect Hypothesis and the Full Transfer/Full Access (FT/FA) hypothesis, the study examines whether learners transfer semantic representations from their L1 (Thai) to their L2 (English), and how these affect the interpretation of five progressive readings: ongoing, iterative, habitual, future, and stative. Data were collected from 100 participants across five proficiency levels (beginner, upper beginner, intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced) using three tasks: a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT), an Elicited Production Task (EPT), and an Acceptability Judgment Task (AJT). Findings show that the ongoing reading is acquired even at beginner levels, facilitated by semantic transparency and congruence with Thai aspectual markers. Ongoing readings with activity and accomplishment verbs demonstrate clear evidence of Full Transfer and Full Access, with early and gradual acquisition. In contrast, iterative and stative progressive readings show No Transfer but Full Access; although absent in Thai, these readings develop gradually through UG-constrained restructuring. By comparison, habitual and future readings consistently fall below acquisition thresholds, even at advanced levels, reflecting No Transfer and No Access. Learners persistently misinterpret these readings across verb types, indicating the absence of both L1 facilitation and UG-driven acquisition. These differentiated patterns challenge the assumptions of the FT/FA model and highlight the selective nature of semantic transfer in the acquisition of L2 aspect.

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