Verb usage in a Turkish/English interlanguage

Abstract

This paper is a second language acquisition study of verb usage in the Turkish/English interlanguage of an advanced learner of English as a second language. The subject produced an oral narrative retelling the plot of a film, the transcript of which was later corrected by the subject. Tense use in the narrative was evaluated according to correctness of forms and the occurrence of present and past in background and foreground passages. The analysis showed that (1) the subject's Ll appeared to interfere with the formation of subordinate clauses in English, (2) the subject was unable to apply his knowledge of English grammar rules consistently in unrehearsed speech but could apply them in editing the transcript, (3) tense was used to distinguish foreground from background with a tendency to use past tense in the foreground and present in the background, although present and base forms also occured in the foreground, and (4) the use of the Turkish copula appeared to interfere with correct use of the English copula.