A questionnaire was administered to a selected group of students of Spanish at The University of Texas. The responses to this questionnaire were studied to determine the students’ motivations, attitudes, and cognitive strategies concerning the Spanish preterit and imperfect verb forms. It was found that the students felt that these Spanish verb forms are important in Spanish study and that they are a difficult portion of Spanish study. Also, most of the students surveyed used rule-based cognitive strategies concerning the study of these verb forms, in that a large percentage of the students’ strategies are to study their textbook and to memorize grammar rules. Generally, the students felt that the Spanish preterit is less difficult than the Spanish imperfect and that more drills, work sheets, and instructor-supplied examples would be beneficial to their learning processes. Those students with lower self-reported grades concerning the Spanish preterit and imperfect are more likely to have been informed that the Spanish preterit and imperfect are difficult areas of Spanish study. / text

Orientador(a): Rosane de Andrade Berlinck / Banca: Fátima Aparecida Teves Cabral Bruno / Banca: Maria Mercedes Riveiro Quintans Sebold / Banca: Sandra Denise Gasparini Bastos / Banca: Angélica T. Carmo Rodrigues / Resumo: Este trabalho visa à descrição da expressão do antepresente (AP - Este año se han tirado trescientos millones de litros de agroquímicos) e do passado absoluto (PA - El Ministerio de Seguridad difundió ayer la identidad de las víctimas) em Madri, Buenos Aires e San Miguel de Tucumán. O interesse decorre da variação observada entre as formas do pretérito perfecto compuesto (PPC - han tirado) e simple (PPS - difundió) na expressão desses sentidos e das descrições ainda limitadas, que proporcionam um conhecimento incipiente sobre o uso do PPC e do PPS expressando tais valores nas regiões noroeste e bonaerense da Argentina e na região denominada castelhana da Península. Em complemento, o estudo diacrônico dessas formas indica a existência de um processo de mudança que opera sobre a forma composta - originalmente marcada por valores aspectuais (resultado/continuidade) -, transformando-a em uma construção temporal que expressa valor de anterioridade à fala, isto é, antepresente e, mais adiante, passado absoluto. Consequentemente, a mudança no PPC ocasionou um rearranjo no uso do PPS. A fim de proceder ao estudo desse comportamento heterogêneo do pretérito perfecto, valemo-nos do referencial teórico-metodológico da Sociolinguística Variacionista e da Gramaticalização, isso para identificar o encaixamento dessa variação nas três variedades diatópicas e avaliar se os estados descritos em cada uma delas correspondem a diferentes estágios de mudança. Nossa análise de dados pautou-se em u... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Resumen: Este trabajo tiene como objetivo la descripción de la expresión del antepresente (AP - "Este año se han tirado trescientos millones de litros de agroquímicos") y del pasado absoluto (PA - "El Ministerio de Seguridad difundió ayer la identidad de las víctimas") en Madrid, Buenos Aires y San Miguel de Tucumán. El interés se debe a la variación observada entre las formas del pretérito perfecto compuesto (PPC - "han tirado") y simple (PPS - "difundió") en la expresión de dichos valores y a las descripciones todavía limitadas que proporcionan un conocimiento incipiente sobre el uso del PPC/PPS expresando tales valores en las regiones bonaerenses y noroeste de Argentina y en la región llamada castellana de la Península. Además, se ha apuntado, con los estudios diacrónicos sobre esas formas, la existencia de un proceso de cambio que sufre la forma compuesta - inicialmente marcada por valores aspectuales (resultado/continuidad) -, convirtiéndola en una construcción temporal que expresa valor de anterioridad al habla, es decir, antepresente y, más tarde, pasado absoluto. Por consiguiente, el cambio en el PPC ha causado un reordenamiento en el uso de PPS. Con el fin de realizar el estudio de ese comportamiento heterogéneo del "pretérito perfecto", hemos hecho uso del marco teórico y metodológico de la Sociolingüística Variacionista y de la Gramaticalización, ello para identificar la incorporación de esa variación a las tres variedades diatópicas y evaluar si los estados descritos en ca... (Resumen completo clicar acceso eletrônico abajo) / Abstract: This thesis aims to describe the expression of the ante-present (ANT - Este año se han tirado trescientos millones de litros de agroquímicos) and the absolute past (ABS - El Ministerio de Seguridad difundió ayer la identidad de las víctimas) in Madrid, Buenos Aires and San Miguel de Tucumán. The interest comes from the variation observed between the forms of the pretérito perfecto compuesto (PPC - han tirado) and pretérito perfecto simple (PPS - difundió) in the expression of these meanings and still limited descriptions, which provide an incipient knowledge about the use of PPC and PPS expressing such values in Buenos Aires and northwest of Argentina and in the Peninsula's region called Castilian. In addition, the diachronic study of these forms indicates the existence of a process of change that operates on the compound form - originally marked by aspectual values (result/continuity) -, transforming it into a temporal construction expressing anteriority to speech, that is, ante-present and, later, absolute past. Consequently, the change in the PPC caused a rearrangement in the use of the PPS. In order to study this heterogeneous behavior of the pretérito perfecto, we used the theoretical-methodological framework of Variationist Sociolinguistics and Grammaticalization. Thus, we identified the "embedding" of this variation in the three diatopic varieties and evaluated if the states described in each of them correspond to different stages of change. The data analysis was based... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Language change is constant due to varied linguistic and sociolinguistic factors. Specifically, prolonged situations of language in contact have been observed to have a direct influence on language change and variation. Previous studies have documented several changes that may occur within bilingual speech communities in sustained circumstances of language in contact. This study examines the possibility of attrition of the simple present form of Spanish in bilingual speakers of Spanish and English due to prolonged interaction between the two languages. Specifically, it attempts to determine whether the value of the Spanish simple present tense diminishes, and the present progressive form gains prominence as a result of language transfer occurring where there is intensive contact between Spanish and English. In order to determine that this linguistic phenomenon has occurred in bilingual speech communities, data were collected and analyzed from bilingual Spanish and English speakers living in the United States. To demonstrate bilingual speakers' use of the simple and progressive present forms, participants were instructed to complete two tasks: 1) a background questionnaire designed to gather information regarding each participants' relationship with the Spanish language, and 2) a picture-narration task designed to reveal each bilingual's preference for the simple present or progressive form. The study intended to show that in prolonged situations of language in contact between Spanish and English the bilingual speaker without little or no formal education in Spanish would transfer features from the dominant language (English) to the minority language (Spanish) in an attempt to cope with the task of working in two different linguistic systems. The results of the written-narrative task show that bilingual participants did demonstrate support for the use of the progressive rather than the simple-present form of the present tense when referring to actions perceived as ongoing or continuous among all three groups of participants. Therefore, the results of the study seem to support the hypothesis that the selection for one present-tense form over the other is a result of language change due to intensive, long-term language contact between Spanish and English.