The Development of Complex Syntax and Mood-Selection Abilities by Intermediate-Level
Learners of Spanish
Author(s): Joseph Collentine
Source: Hispania, Vol. 78, No. 1 (Mar., 1995), pp. 122-135
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
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122 HISPANIA 78 MARCH 1995
The Development of Complex Syntax and MoodSelection Abilities by Intermediate-Level Learners
of Spanish
Joseph Collentine
East CarolinaUniversity
Abstract: Foreignlanguagelearnersof Spanishseemingly cannotmastermood selection-the indicative/
subjunctivedistinction-by the end of the intermediatelevel of instruction(withinfoursemesters).Yet their
courses ordinarilyreserve a considerableamountof time for the studyof mood selection.An analysisof two
tasks suggests that, by the end of the intermediatelevel, learnersare not likely to reach a
oral-production
to fullybenefitfrominstructionin mood-selection.
stage at whichthey havethe essential linguisticfouwndation
These learnersstill struggleto generatecomplexsyntax,such as subordinateclauses.The strainof processing complex syntaxprobablyleaves learnerswith an insufficientamountof energy to process morphology,
thus resultingin poormood-selectionaccuracy.Resultsof the investigationimplythat,in additionto assisting
learnerswith the morphologicalaspects of mood selection, instructorsshould seek ways to assist learners
with the syntacticaspects,namely,withthe productionof complexsyntax.
Key Words: complexstructures,Givon,grammar,morphology,secondlanguagelearning,Spanish,subjunctive mood,syntax
Introduction
It is rare in speech that foreign language
(FL) learners of Spanish properly select
mood even afterthe considerableamount
of time that courses customarilydevote to
its study (Terrell, Baycroft,and Perrone
1987). This predicamenthas been a constant source of "frustration"(VanPatten,
Dvorak,and Lee 1987:6) for instructors,
perhapsresultingfromfaultyexpectations:
Spanisheducatorsapparentlyassume that
most aspects of mood selection are learnable within the time frame during which
many universitystudents satisfy their FL
requirement(i.e., by the end of the sophomore year, or the so-called intermediate
level).1 VanPatten(1987) notes, however,
thatourexpectationsandthe realitiesof FL
acquisitionare oftenincompatible:
Many foreign language teachers still believe that if they
could explain a certain syntactic or morphological phenomenon in just the right way and then practice the
structuresufficiently with their class, the studentswould
somehow acquirethe form. Second language acquisition
researchhas shown us repeatedlythat this is not the case
... [There]is quite a bit of evidence that there are certain
stages thatlearnersmust pass throughin theiracquisition
of grammatical structures regardless of method, text,
teacher, errorcorrection,or even first language. (61)
Is it thenreasonableto anticipatethat,by
the end of the intermediatelevel, ourlearners will reach a developmental stage at
which mood-selection instruction can be
effective? How might we modify our approachto mood-selectioninstructionto reflect a greaterawarenessof the morphosyntactic stages throughwhich learners pass
before the end of the intermediatelevel?
Since an adequate treatment of both of
these questionswouldrequiremore space
than is allowedhere, this article will consider the first question.The results of two
data-collectiontasks suggest that intermediate-levellearners do not reach a pointin
their development at which they would
have the appropriateiinguisticfondation
withwhichto fullybenefitfrommood-selection instruction.In particular,these learners still seem to struggle with the production of complex syntacticstructures,such
as subordinateclauses. Such processing
difficultiesprobablyleavelearnerswithless
APPLIEDLINGUISTICS
123
energy for the productionof morphology, explanationis warranted.
which wouldlargelyaccountfor theirpoor
An investigationof the developmentof
mood-selectionabilitiesmust considertwo
accuracyin the selection of mood.
aspectsoflearners'performance.Naturally,
Research on Mood Selection and the
one mustexaminelearners'morphological
abilities, or the accuracywith which they
Spanish Curriculum
producethe indicativeandthe subjunctive
Giventhe substantialamountof timethat in obligatorycontexts.It is also essentialto
FLcurriculahavetraditionallydedicatedto consider learners' syntactic capabilities.
mood selection, there is surprisinglylittle Althoughthe indicativesurfaces in all synFL research addressingquestions related tacticenvironments,the subjunctivetends
directlyto the subjunctive.Lee (1987),one to surface only in subordinate clauses
of the fewto followthis line of investigation, (Terrelland Hooper1974,Takagaki1984).
has challengedthe assumptionthat learn- Accordingly,the present investigationwill
ers must studythe subjunctiveto be ableto measurethe extentof the morphologicalas
comprehenddiscoursein whichit appears. well as the syntacticdevelopmentof learnHe presenteda readingpassagecontaining ers completingthe intermediatelevel.
several subjunctiveforms to two groups of
students: one group had studied the sub- The Spanish Subjunctive: Focus of
junctiveand the other had not. There was, the Inquiry and Assumptions on
however,no significantdifferencebetween Mood Selection
the amountandthe typeof information
from
the passagethatthe twogroupsrecalled.
A completestudy of the developmentof
Anothercommonlyheld assumptionhas mood-selectionabilities would consider a
been disputed by Terrell, Baycroft, and myriadof syntacticstructuresand semanPerrone (1987):if learners do not use the tic fields. Through the intermediatelevel,
subjunctive where it is needed, native learners study the subjunctivein imperaspeakers will have difficultiesunderstand- tives (e.g.,Nohagaseso!), adjectivalclauses
ing them. Terrellet al. showed that native (e.g., Bascauna casa quesea peauenk), adspeakers actuallyhave few problemscom- verbial clauses (e.g., Volverecuando me
prehending learners who do not use the sienta mefou),and nominal clauses (e.g.,
subjunctiveappropriately.
Quieroque me hagasunfavoi), the last of
Terrellet al. (1987)is also the only avail- which are often referred to as NP (i.e.,
able studyattemptingto determinethe rea- noun-phrase)clauses. This study focuses
son for which learners seem to benefit so on learners'abilitiesto select mood in NP
littlefrommood-selectioninstructionwhen clauses.
they participatein speaking tasks. Using
Palmer (1986) notes that mood is only
Krashen'sMonitorModel (1982),Terrellet one ofthe variouswaysbywhicha language
al. arguethatstudentsof Spanishin Ameri- conveys modality.Modalityis a semantic
can universities "learn,"rather than "ac- notion, manifestedin all parts-of-speech.2
quire,"the subjunctive(1987:27). Yet,the Sentences (1-3) illustratethatthe modality
principal theoretical assumptions upon known as "inference"(Palmer 1986: 64)
whichTerrellet al. madetheirconclusions surfaces in adverbsand adjectives,as well
havebeen widelydisputed,diminishingthe as in verbs.
predictivepowerof their conclusions.Specifically,somebelievethatit is methodologi- (1) Aparentemente
esta enferma.
callyimpossibleto determinewhethersub- (2) Es aparenteque esta enferma.
jects of an experiment draw on "learned (3) Parecequeesta enferma.
knowledge" or "acquired knowledge"
when they form utterances (Ellis 1985, Mood,on the otherhand,is a grammatical
McLaughlin 1978). Thus, an alternative category of verbs-hence, the indicative
124 HISPANIA78 MARCH1995
and subjunctivemoods.
Palmer (1986: 136-53) provides a descriptionof the modalitiesthat most commonly appear in the main-or independent-clause of sentences that have a NP
clause.3Most teacherswouldexpect learners to use the indicative in a NP clause
wheneverone of the followingfive modalities appearedin a main clause:belief, evidence, inference,knowledge,or reportsof
statements.
(4a) Belief:
Creen que vienes con nosotros.
(4b) Evidence:
Ven que vienes connosotros.
(4c) Inference:
Es evidentequevienescon nosotros.
(4d) Knowledge:
Saben que vienes con nosotros.
(4e) Reportof a Statement:
Dicen que vienes con nosotros.
Most wouldalso agree thatlearnersshould
use the subjunctivein a NP clause whenever one of the following five modalities
were to surface in a main clause: doubt/
denial, evaluations, reactions, reports of
commands,or volition.
(5a) Doubt/Denial:
Dudan que vengas con nosotros.
(5b) Evaluation:
Es bueno que vengas con nosotros.
Reaction:
(5c)
Les sorprende que vengas con
nosotros.
(5d) Reportof a Command:
Dicen que vengas con nosotros.
Volition:
(5e)
Quierenque vengas con nosotros.
A sentence with the syntacticstructureof
the examples in (4) and (5)-containing
anindependent and a dependent NP
clause-will be referredto as a NPSherein.
The Assessment of Learners' Mood
Selection Abilities
There are several issues to consider in
studying and accountingfor the mood-selectionabilitiesof FLlearners.The firstconsiderationis methodological:what type of
data best represents the extent of a
learner's developmentat a given point in
time? The second is theoretical:by what
measure,or modelof acquisition,does one
determinethe extentof a learner'smorphosyntactic developmentat a given point in
time?
Methodological Considerations in
Assessing Learner Development
Tarone (1988) notes that FL learners
varybetweenpidginandnative-likespeech,
due to shifts in style, or speech patterns.
These two extremesare calledthe uernacular style and the carefl style, respectively.
Learnersemploythe vernacularstylewhen
they must reserve their energies for the
semanticcontentof theirutterances.Learners use the carefulstyle when their attention centers on form,or grammaticalaccuracy.The vernacularusuallyappearsin conversationalspeech.In such situations,there
is littletimeto planboththe contentandthe
form of utterances,andso contenttends to
prevail.The carefulstyle surfaces in grammarexercises; regardlessof the amountof
time that one has for planning, attention
here centers on form. Naturally,greater
time for planning(e.g., when one writes a
composition) allows students to concentrateon both contentand form.
During the production of utterances,
learnershaveattheirdisposal(atleast) two
linguistic systems, whose utilization depends on the degree to which one focuses
on contentor form (Tarone1988).The system knownas the interlanguage(IL)is the
learner's knowledge of the FL language
(Selinker1972).The ILis a distinctsource
of knowledgefromthe nativelanguage,or
LI (Ellis 1985, Flynn 1986, Rivers 1990).
When subjects use the vernacular style,
they almost exclusively draw on the IL
(Tarone 1988). The careful style results
fromdrawingon variouslinguisticsystems
almostsimultaneously,such as both the IL
and the LI.
APPLIED LINGUISTICS125
In summary,to best measure developmentat anyjunctureof a student'straining,
researchers must induce productionthat
draws primarilyon the IL.To isolate productionto the IL,subjectsmustuse the vernacularstyle, which they will most likely
employif they focus on content,andif they
have relativelylittletimeforplanningutterances.
A Model for Measuring Learner
Development
makingsubject-verbagreement,but rather
becausetheyhaveconcatenatedtwomemorized 'chunks,' /jo + kjero/. Thus, it would
not be surprisingfor one to say something
like nosotros *quiero,a concatenation of
/nosotros + kjero/.
At a pointbetween the presyntacticand
syntacticstages (i.e., aroundthe midpoint
of this developmentalcontinuum),learners
begin to connect clauses and to make limited use of morphology.4
To depictthe relationship between two or more events/
states, students here tend to use either
Givon (1979, 1990)proposes a model of parataxis (e.g., Car/os es comico ... me
language development that is especially gusta)or coordination(e.g.,MegustaCar/os
helpful in determining the extent of a porque es co6mizo).5Moreover, during this
learner's morphosyntacticdevelopment. period,manyverbshaveboth a subjectand
Givon describes two extreme stages on a an object,yielding a higher ratioof nounsdevelopmental continuum along which over-verbs.Learners begin to use infleclearnerspresumablyprogress if they man- tionsintentionally,
althoughwithoutsophisage to acquire native-likecompetence: a tication.For instance,studentsmay attend
presyntactic
stageanda syntacticstage.Table to person,number,andaspect;buttheymay
1 describesthe behaviorsthatcharacterize disregardtense or mood (e.g.,Ayer $Yuegan
these two extremes.
en e/parque).
Three of these behaviorsareparticularly
Learnersreachthe syntacticstage once
to
the
of
and
germane
study complexsyntax
they can produce syntactically sophistimood selection.It is essentialto determine cated utterances, and once they can mawhether learners'utterancestend only to nipulatethe targetlanguage'smorphologicontaina "looseconjunction"of clauses, or cal system.Oneis nowableto producecomwhether utterances can also have "tight plex syntax,such as subordinatestructures
mood selectionis largelya (e.g., Megustaque Carlossea tan comico),
subordination;"
of
phenomenon dependent clauses. The and the typical clause has several nouns
"ratioof nouns-to-verbs"in utterances is (e.g., Juana le dio un relol a Papa). Moreanotherimportantconsideration;it seems over,learnersat this stage possess refined
reasonableto assumethat,beforesubstitut- morphologicalabilities;for instance, they
ing whole clauses for nouns (e.g., Quiero regularly show a sensitivity to temporal
agKa/qke me hagas un favo), one must nuances(e.g.,Antesdeayer,nuncahabiamos
have the abilityto produce several nouns visitadoSanAntonio).
This model does not proposethat, once
perclause.The extentto whichlearnerscan
use or attendto "grammatical
morphology" learnersreach the syntacticstage, they no
is anothercrucialconsiderationin a study longer exhibit behaviorscharacteristicof
of mood-selectiondevelopment.
the presyntacticstage. Infact,Givon(1979)
In the presyntactic stage, learners ex- observesthatproficientspeakersof anylanhibit pidgin-likespeech. Delivery is slow, guage employ syntacticas well as presynandutterancestendto comprisea topicand tactic stage operations.They demonstrate
a comment(e.g., Yotraba.o,*Venirluanfor presyntactic-stage
behaviorwhenthey have
El que viene es fuan). In morphologically littletimeto planutterances,such as in facerich languagessuch as Spanish,presyntac- to-faceconversations.Speakersuse syntactic-stage learners rarely use grammatical tic-stageoperationswhen they have more
suffixespurposely.To illustrate,they might time to plan utterances, as well as when
correctlysayyo quieronotbecausethey are cohesionis imperative,such as in extended
126 HISPANIA78 MARCH1995
discourse (e.g., narratives,descriptions).
What stage in Givon's developmental
continuummust learners reach to be able
to appropriatelyselect mood in unplanned
discourse?The indicative/subjunctivedistinction is largely one of subordinate
clauses.Additionally,to select mood,learners need to have masteredthe basics of verbal inflection(i.e.,the conceptof 'conjugating' a verb), and they must also be able to
choose from various morphologicalparadigms (i.e., from various'sets' of conjugations; for example, the present indicative
andsubjunctive,as well as the preteriteand
the imperfect).Clearly,then,learnersmust
have reachedthe syntacticstage.
Research Questions
Using oral-productiontasks, this investigationwill attemptto determinewhether
FL learners of Spanishcompletingthe intermediatelevel operatecloser to the presyntactic or to the syntactic stage of the
developmentalcontinuum.To thatend, this
study addresses the following research
questions:
1. Are intermediate-levellearnersof Spanish generallylimitedto producingsimplistic syntax,such as single-clauseutterances
andcoordinatestructures;or,can they also
readily produce complex syntax, such as
subordinatestructures?
2. Whatis the ratioof nouns-to-verbsin the
speech of intermediate-levellearners?
3. Can intermediate-level learners use
grammaticalmorphology elaborately, as
evidencedby their abilityto select mood in
NP clauses?
Furthermore,since learnersof Spanish
study mood selection in various semantic
contexts, a fourth questionis of particular
interestto Spanisheducators:
Methodology
As mentionedabove, the best measure
of the extent of a learner'soverallILdevelopmentelicits the vernacularstyle, forcing
subjects to focus on content while giving
them little time for planning utterances.
However,greater time for planningis requiredeven by nativespeakersto produce
the complex syntax and morphologycharacteristicof the syntacticstage (Givon1979,
1990).This predicamentmakesthe studyof
mood selection problematic:on the one
hand,learnerswill demonstratethe extent
of their morphosyntacticIL development
while being spontaneous; on the other
hand, learners need generous amountsof
time to produce the syntactic structures
that requirelearners to attendcarefullyto
mood, namely,subordinateclauses.
Thus, the results of two tasks are reportedbelow.The firsttask, involvingconversationalinteraction,gathereddataon the
vernacular style. It is predicted that this
experiment will provide limited insights
into the extent to which intermediate-level
learnerscanselect mood.Still,this firsttask
willprovidea tentativeindicationof the ability of these learners to produce complex
syntax spontaneously.It will be most beneficial,however,in the determinationof the
average ratio of nouns-to-verbs in the
speech of learners at this level.
The second task-a controlledoral-productiontask-specifically attemptedto induce utteranceswithNP clauses.Although
the subjects in this task had more time to
produce utterances than they normally
wouldin face-to-faceconversations,the experimentdidmeet one of the requirements
forinvokingthe vernacular:it was designed
to focus the subjects'attentionon the content (ratherthan the form) of their utterances. Thus, this second task will be consideredthe primarysourcefromwhichconclusions will be made with respect to the
research questionsposed above.
4. Does the modality(e.g., volition,doubt/
denial,belieO)of an utteranceaffectthe aclearn- Task 1: Conversational Task
curacywithwhichintermediate-level
ers select mood?
Task 1 consisted of individual, ten-
APPLIED LINGUISTICS127
minute conversations between the researcherandFLstudentsof Spanish(N=40)
who were completingthe intermediatelevel
at ArizonaStateUniversityin the Springof
1987.In the conversations,the researcher
promptedthe subjectsto answerquestions
of a factualnature.The researcheralso attempted to lead the subjects to produce
narrationsand descriptions.Questionsrelatedto the contentareasstudiedduringthe
semester,whichrangedfromeverydaysurvival themes (e.g., transportation,money
matters,and numbers) to factual/current
events (e.g., press, media, cultural, and
moralissues).6 Furthermore,since the indistinctionwas the sindicative/subjunctive
gularlymost emphasizedgrammaticalaspect of the course,the researcherintentionally elicited the relevant syntactic structures (e.g., e Que quieres que haga el
presidenteparalagente sin vivienda.P).
Task 2: Controlled Oral-Production
Task
strainedthe morphosyntacticcharacteristics of the participants'output.
The subjects were instructed that any
response must relateto the drawingandto
its captions.They were also told that their
answers must make explicit reference to
the glossed people or objects accompanying a given drawing.For instance,for Figure 1, anappropriate
responseto a question
such as Que' esta'n haciendo los dos
be a simple,single-clause
empleados?might
utterance:Marziaesta'd
hablandocon Carlos.
An appropriateresponseto a questionsuch
as Que'qui'ereMarz'a?would be a NPS:
que CarlostrabaAe
mds.
Marziaquizere
Based on the forty-fourdrawings,fifty
questionswereposed,ofwhichtwentywere
fordiversionarypurposes.Thirtyquestions
specificallyelicited NPSs:three questions
testedthe subjects'abilitiesto appropriately
select mood for each of the ten modalities
describedabove (i.e., five requiringthe indicative,andfive the subjunctive).The participantshad ten seconds to provideeach
utterance;allresponsesweretaperecorded
and transcribedfor analysis.
To verifythe task'sreliabilityforeliciting
NPSs, as well as its reliabilityfor inducing
the indicativeand subjunctive,it was presented to native/advanced speakers of
Spanish (N=10). All were instructors of
Spanish as a FL. The native/advanced
group providedNPSs in every targetedinstance, and they selected NP-clausemood
with 100%accuracy, paralleling the prescriptsoutlinedabove.
Task 2 elicited oral responses from students of Spanish(N=38)whowere completing the intermediatelevel at the University
ofTexasatAustinin the Springof 1992.The
task had three purposes:(1) to elicitNPSs,
or sentences with a NP clause; (2) to elicit
utterancescharacterizedby the modalities
described above (e.g., belief, inference,
doubt/denial, etc.); (3) to direct the subjects' attentionto the contentof theirutterances.
The taskconsistedof a series of 44 drawings, each containingtwo 'contextualizers:' Results: Task 1
a short caption,and two glossed people or
The syntactic structure of the particiobjects, which Figure 1 illustrates. After
hearingquestionsrelatingto a given draw- pants'utteranceswas decidedly simple.A
ing (andto its contextualizers),the subjects totalof 64%(517/804) of all utterancesconsisted of a single clause (e.g., Yo trabafo,
providedspoken answers.
The primaryfunction of the drawings Juan come).These sentences were, neverwas to give the subjectsa wayto determine theless, frequentlyjuxtaposedin a paratacthe context of questionsquickly;this tends tic fashion,givingthe effect of complexutto lead learners to focus their attentionon terances (e.g., *Juanquiere ...yo voyfor Si
contentratherthanon form.7The drawings' Juanquiere,yovoytambieni)
.8Thefollowing
contextualizersserved as controls on the exemplifiesthese two behaviors.
type of informationthatresponses were to
include; these controls ultimately con- (7) In a discussionon the rightsof the press
128 HISPANIA78 MARCH1995
to invade the privacy of public officials: plies presyntactic-stageoperations.Giv6n
would argue that the prevalenceof single(// signifiespause)
clause utterances and parataxisimplies a
al
No
es
//
pero
justo
pienso
dependency on presyntactic-stageoperaSubject:
mismo tiempo la gente tiene // necesita tions. "Shortturns-thus shifting,choppy
saber // pero es muy dificil// no es negro coherence-is indeed the early childhood
norm"(Givon1990:951).The participants'
o blanco// es gris.
dependence on coordinate structures to
relate clauses also implies presyntacticLaterin the same interview:
stage operations.
Interviewer:<Porque estudiasespanol?
Secondly,the participants'use of verbal
which was neitherpidginnor
en
el
estudiaba
//
colegio
morphology,
Subject:Porque
muchas personas hablan espaniolen los native-like,suggests thatintermediate-level
learners have the abilityto operate someEEUU// es muy // 'common.'
where between the presyntactic and the
The remaining36%(287/804) of the ut- syntacticstages. Thirdly,one aspect of the
terances were biclausal, summarized in subjects'performanceimpliesthatintermeTable 2. A significantmajorityof these ut- diate-levellearnerscan use syntactic-stage
terances involved coordinate structures operations:the participantsclearlyshowed
(X2(2)=202.4;
p<.0001),whileonlya small that they could spontaneously produce
NP clauses (i.e., they were clauses with a larger ratio of nouns-overhad
percentage
The
NPSs).
only other type of subordinate verbs.
structureswere adverbialclauses,of which
Results: Task 2
there were few instances.
Mostclausescontainedmorenounsthan
Table3 describesthe types of responses
verbs, suggesting that, within clauses, instead of producing pidgin-likeutterances thatthe participantsprovidedin the second
with one verb and one noun (e.g., Car/os task, which specificallyaimed at eliciting
come, Yo estudjo),the subjects could de- utteranceswith NP clauses.
Concerningsyntax,64%of all responses
scribe individual events/states in detail
(e.g., Car/oscomeuna ensalada,Yoestudio were NPSs.However,viewingthe datafrom
en la biblioteca).Of the combined nouns the pointofviewof 'acuphalfempty'reveals
and verbs, 54%(N=1898)were nouns, and that a substantialportionof the responses
46%(N=1601)were verbs, yielding a ratio -about one third (36%)-involved what
of 1.2:1(X2(l)=25.2;p<.0001).If one in- appearedto be simplifications(e.g.,missing
cludesin the tallyof nounsallpronounsand que subordinators,coordinatestructures,
subjectomissions, the differencebetween and single-clausesentences). To questions
the percentagesincreasesto 62%(N=2584) elicitingthe indicative,26%of the subjects'
however,to
nouns and 38%(N=1601)verbs, yielding a responseswere simplifications;
questions eliciting the subjunctive, 47%
ratioof 1.6:1(x2(i)=39.7;p<.0001).
Concerning morphology,whereas the were simplifications.This difference was
subjectsprovidedthe indicativein allobliga- significant (t (74)=3.83; p=.0023). There
tory contexts,they suppliedthe subjunctive seem to be at least two possible explanain only 13%of contextswhereit was needed. tions for the greaterinclinationto simplify
Thatis, the subjectsseem to knowwhen to in subjunctivecontexts.
On the one hand,the learnersmayhave
provide the indicative (e.g., Creoque es
importante),but not the subjunctive(e.g., preferredsyntacticsimplificationto avoid
the productionof subjunctiveforms.When
Dudo que $es importante).
Task 1, then, paintsthree differentpic- the subjectsneeded to producereports of
tures. Firstof all, an analysisof the syntac- a command, which require subjunctive
tic structureof the subjects'utterancesim- forms, most of their responses (71%;81/
APPLIED LINGUISTICS129
114)involvedparataxis(e.g., Carladice.: en
aqui); however, to questions eliciting reports of statements,which requireindicativeforms,avast majority(89%;
102/114) of
the responses contained subordinate
clauses (e.g., Carla dice queJuan es simpdtico).Additionally,a significantmajority
of the coordinate structures were responses to questionselicitingthe subjunctive. To questionssuch as cDe quese enola
Juan?,the participantswere more likelyto
respondwithJuanse enojaporqueMariano
lo escucha,than withJuan se enoja de que
Mariano lo escuche.
On the otherhand,the tendencyto simplify may reflect that these learners depended on principlesof English syntax to
helpthemproducecomplexutterances,signifyingthat,for this sort of task,theirSpanish syntacticdevelopmentwas inadequate.
Englishprimarilyuses three phrasestructures to relatesententialNP complements:
clausal complements, e.g., Wedoubtthat
theyunderstand,gerundive complements,
e.g., Weinsistedon theirarrivingearly,and
infinitivalcomplements, e.g., Weneed for
you to do more.According to Terrell and
Salgues (1979),doubt/denialis relatedwith
clausal complementsalmost to the exclusion of infinitivaland gerundive complements. English relates modalitiessuch as
reportsof commands,volition,evaluations,
and reactions with all three sentential
complementtypes, however.9These principles of Englishcomplementationseem to
be predictorsof learners'simplificationin
Spanish.Clausalcomplementsappearedin
88%(100/114) of the subjects'responses to
questions eliciting sentences of doubt/denial. In contrast,clausalcomplementssurfacedin only41%(188/456) of responses to
questions eliciting the subjunctiveunder
other modalities. Thus, it is conceivable
that, when the participantswere configuring the syntactic structure of utterances
involving reports of commands, volition,
evaluations, and reactions, they wasted
valuableprocessingenergyby even considering infinitivalor gerundivecomplements
as viable syntacticoptions;in which case,
they may have found it necessary to use
syntax requiring less processing effort
(e.g., coordinatestructures,parataxis).
Which of these interpretationsis more
plausible?If the principaldifficultythatthe
learnersexperiencedwas withthe production of the subjunctivemorphology,then
simplificationshouldemerge in the corpus
of data regardless of the modalitytype requiring this inflection. This was not the
case, however.Table 4 shows that, under
modalities such as reports of commands
and reactions, the participantssimplified
regularly;yet, they rarelysimplifiedunder
modalitiessuch as doubt/denial and volition.The differencesamongthe fivecategorieswere significant(x2(4)= 45.64;p<.0001).
Is thereindependentevidencethatthe subjects used their LI knowledge to produce
complement clauses? Most erroneous
subordinators(63%;
12/19) involvedthe use
of para in contexts of volition,suggesting
that some participantsattemptedto use infinitivalcomplements (e.g., *QuieroPara
Juan sale for I want forJohn to leave). It
seems, therefore,thatthe best predictorof
simplificationfor intermediate-levellearners is notthe morphologicalcomplexitythat
utterances could have, but rather the degree to which they can rely on English in
the subordinationof clauses.
Regardingmorphology,Table 5 shows
that,althoughmood-selectionaccuracywas
high when the indicative(90%)was needed,
it was significantlylowerwhenthe subjunctive (34%)was needed (x2(l)=241.29;
p<.0001).10Furthermore, the extent to
which the subjects appropriatelyprovided
the subjunctivedependedon the modality
(e.g., doubt/denial,volition)governingits
employment (X2(4)ll.OO;p=.0262).A regroupingof the data in Table 6 according
to the 'subjunctivecontexts'to which textbooks commonly refer (i.e., influence,
doubt/denial,and emotion)elucidatesthis
relationship.The subjects produced subjunctiveforms most reliablyin contexts of
influence, secondly in contexts of doubt/
denial,andleast reliablyin contextsof emotion; the differencebetween the accuracy
scores was significant(x2(3)=7.9;p=.0188).
In summary,Task 2 suggests thatlearn-
130 HISPANIA 78 MARCH 1995
ers completingthe intermediatelevel are
approaching,buthavenot entirelyreached,
the syntactic stage. To produce syntactic
complexity,the subjectsappearedto relyon
principles of English syntax, suggesting
that their Spanish syntactic abilities required further development. In addition,
the participantsseemed to favorthe indicative as a defaultverbform,or regardlessof
the mood that a context required;this implies that the morphological abilities of
these learners also needed to developfurther beforebeing ableto emulatesyntacticstage operations.
learnersmayonly be
Intermediate-level
ableto attendto some aspectsof grammatical morphology.Both sets of subjectsparticipating in this study were able to use
Spanish's verbal suffixes in a systematic
fashion:when a conjugatedverb formwas
necessary, they regularly utilized the
(present) indicative.This alone is an indicationthatthey were not limitedto presyntactic-stageoperations.Yet,the controlled
task suggested that intermediate-level
learnerswillrarelyproducethe subjunctive
whereit is required,evenwithconsiderable
timeforplanningutterances.Thus, as in the
case of syntax,intermediate-levellearners
seem not to be able to generate the verbal
Summary
morphology that would imply syntacticintermediate
of
the
the
stage operations.
Upon completion
level of study, do learners operate at the
presyntactic or the syntactic stage? The Conclusions and Considerations for
data from this study suggest that such Future Research
learners operateat a point on the developThis studyhas attemptedto helpelemenmental continuum that is between the
presyntacticand the syntacticstages. The tary and intermediate-levelinstructors,as
conversationaltask (Task 1) suggests that well as their students, to understand the
intermediate-levellearners can spontane- source of their frustrationsrelatingto the
ously generate a greaternumberof nouns- subjunctive.Givon(1979,1990)claimsthat
over-verbs,whichis indeedcharacteristicof learnersexhibittwogeneralstages of acquisyntactic-stageoperations.The rest of the sition:a presyntacticand a syntacticstage.
data, however, implies that intermediate- Learnersarenotreadyto producecomplex
level learners are at a pointthat is well be- syntax spontaneouslyand to make subtle
morphological distinctions, such as before the syntacticstage.
the indicativeand the subjunctive,
tween
results
the
imply
syntax,
Concerning
that intermediate-level learners are not until they reach the syntactic stage. This
comfortable using their IL knowledge to study indicates that learners of Spanish
generate complex phrase structure. The completingthe intermediatelevel probably
participantsin the conversationaltask fa- operate at a stage that is beyond the
vored rudimentaryphrase structure (i.e., presyntacticstage, yet priorto the syntacparataxis,single-clauseutterances,and co- tic stage.
To be morespecific,althoughat a glance
ordinatestructures). Moreover,although
the subjectsin the controlledtask (Task2) the 'subjunctiveproblem'would seem to
produceda largenumberof utteranceswith have its origins in morphology,the most
a subordinatestructure,to do so they seem- importantbarrier to learners' benefiting
inglyreliedon principlesof Englishsyntax, from mood-selectioninstructionrelates to
whichwouldindicatethattheirSpanishsyn- their abilitiesto generate complex syntax.
tactic abilities were somehow inadequate If, in speech, the productionof subordinate
forthe generationof complexsyntax.Thus, structuresis too burdensomefor intermeit wouldbe prematureto concludethatthe diate-levellearners,it shouldnotbe surprissyntactic development of learners at the ing that they show few signs of 'selecting'
end of the intermediatelevel parallelsthe mood at all (i.e., they use the indicativeas
a default verb form)-they may put so
syntacticstage.
APPLIED LINGUISTICS131
much energy into processing syntax that
they havelittleleftforprocessingmorphology. Still,Terrell et al. (1987) have shown
thateven elementary-levellearnerscan select mood with a high degree of accuracy
in writingtasks (e.g., those that are common to Spanish exams). Hence, the combinedtaskof producingcomplexsyntaxand
selecting mood is probablytoo difficultfor
intermediate-level
learnersin mostspeaking
tasks.
Be that as it may,to my knowledge,no
mechanismexists in any Spanishcurriculum or textbook-which tend to focus on
verbal morphology-intending to foment
syntacticabilities.Wouldthe development
of mood-selection abilities be enhanced
and/or hastened with materialsfor fostering learners'syntacticabilities(i.e., to produce subordinatestructures)?And, if the
addition of a syntactic component to the
curriculumbenefitedmood-selectionabilities, would it have other desirableeffects?
Perhaps syntactic intervention (either
through some deductive approachto instruction, or through an input approach)
wouldenhancelearners'abilitiesto manipulate word orderwithinclauses (e.g., object
pronoun placement);learners might also
learn to parse complex utterancesearlier
than they normallydo.
Of course, once an element is added to
the lower-levelcurriculum,something-or
things-may need to be postponed (e.g.,
pluperfectsubjunctive).Nevertheless, by
doing so, we mightfinallyabandonexhaustive approachesto mood-selectioninstruction for a curriculumwhose expectations
reflect a greater awareness of the limitations, the potential,and the needs of students in a typical two-year Spanish pro-
to have broughtsubstantivemodificationsto the elementarylevel, Whitleyclaims that more advanced
levels of the FL curriculum-such as the intermediate level-still largelyoperateunderthe assumptions
of pastapproaches(e.g.,the cognitivemethod).Thus,
as concernsthe intermediatelevel, thereis no reason
to suspect that the situation described by both
VanPattenet al. and Terrell et al. in 1987 is significantlydifferentfromthatof today.
2Afull reviewof this topicgoes beyondthe scope
of this inquiry.Palmer(1986)providesa comprehensive introductionto the differencebetweenmoodand
modality.
one exception,the ten modalitycategories
3'With
referredto hereinfallunderone of twomacromodalities describedby Palmer.Palmerclassifies seven of
the modalities-belief, doubt/denial,evidence,inference, knowledge,as wellas reportsof a statementand
reportsof a command-as "epistemic"
(1986:18);they
are indicationsof the degree to whichone is committed to the truthvalueof a proposition(e.g.,DPdoque
Juanse vayasuggests that 'I'am not very committed
to the truthvalueof the proposition'Juanis leaving').
Palmerclassifies two of the modalities-evaluations
andvolition-as "deontic"(1986:18);these are indications of the effects of an event/state on the world
(e.g., Es buenoqueJuanse vayameansthatthe prospect that 'Juanis leaving' has resulted in 'my approval'). Concerningthe exception,Palmerappearsto
conflateanimportantdistinctionrecognizedbyTerrell
andSalgues (1979).Palmerrefersto sentences such
as Es buenoqueJuan se vayaand Me sorprendeque
Juanse vayaas evaluations.Althoughbothareclearly
deontic (e.g., in the latter sentence, 'Juan'sleaving'
has causeda 'sensationof surprisein me'),Terrelland
Salgueswouldrecognizethatthe first sentence is an
evaluation,but they would classify the second sentence as a (subjective)reaction.
4Sato(1988) gives a detailed descriptionof this
medialstage of development,referredto as the onset
of syntacticization.
'Parataxis,in this instance,is the placementof one
single-clauseutteranceafteranotherto give the effect
of a complexutterance.Withparataxis,subordinate
conjunctions(e.g., que, si) and coordinateconjunctions (e.g.,y, o) are omitted,andso the interpretation
of the relationshipbetweentwo clausesis highlycontext dependent.
6Theinstructortooka proficiencyapproachto the
gram.1'
managementof classroomactivities(e.g.,in the types
anduse of supplementalmaterials,group-workactivi. Thus,throughoutthe semestereveryeffortwas
ties)
* NOTES
made to promote the developmentof the students'
commurnicativecompetence
(CanaleandSwain1980).
'Terrellet al. (1987)estimatethatSpanishcourses
to O'MalleyandChamot(1990),when
7According
devote about40%of class time to the indicative/sub- learnerscan readilydeterminethe contextof a statejunctive distinction.It is, nevertheless, possible to mentor question,theytendto use cognitivestrategies
claim that such assertions do not apply to today's knownas top-downprocesses,whichopposeanother
classroomsince the communicativeagendahas sig- type of strategyknownas bottom-upprocesses.Topnificantlydiminishedthe role of grammarstudy.Al- downprocesses involveattendingto concepts (or in
though this "revolution"
(Whitley1993:137)appears this case, content),ratherthan attendingto linguis-
132 HISPANIA78 MARCH1995
O'Malley,MichaelJ., and Anna Uhl Chamot.1990.
LearningStrategiesin SecondLanguageAcquisition.Cambridge:CambridgeUP.
Palmer,F. R 1986.Moodand Modality.Cambridge:
CambridgeUP.
Rivers,WilgaM. 1990."MentalRepresentationsand
Languagein Action."Linguistics,LanguageTeaching, and LanguageAcquisition:The Interdependency of Theory, Practice, and Research.
GeorgetownUniversityRoundtableon Language
and Linguistics,1990.Ed.JamesE. Alatis.Washington,D.C.:GeorgetownUP. 49-64.
Sato, Charlene.1988. 'The Originsof ComplexSyntaxin InterlanguageDevelopment."Studiesin Sec10:371-95.
ondLanguageAcquisititon
International
Selinker,Larry.1972."Interlanguage."
10:209-30.
ReviewofAppliedLinguistics
as a Marker
Takagaki,Toshihiro.1984."Subjunctive
of Subordination."
Hispania67:248-56.
LonTarone,Elaine.1988.Variationin Interlanguage.
don:EdwardArnold.
Terrell, Tracy, Bernard Baycroft, and Charles
Perrone.1987.'The Subjunctivein SpanishInterForlanguage:AccuracyandComprehensibility."
eign LanguageLearning:A ResearchPerspective.
* WORKS CITED
Eds. BillVanPatten,TrishaR. Dvorak,andJames
F. Lee. Cambridge:CambridgeUP. 19-32.
Canale,Michael,and MerrillSwain.1980.'Theoretical Bases of CommunicativeApproachesto Sec- Terrell,Tracy,andJoan Hooper. 1974. "ASemantiLincally Based Analysis of Mood in Spanish."
ondLanguageTeachingandTesting."Applied
Hispania57:484-94.
guistics1:1-47.
Ellis, Rod.1985. UnderstandingSecondLanguageAc-Terrell,Tracy,and MaruxaSalgues de Cargill.1979.
Linguisticaaplicadaa la ensenanzadel espanola
quisition.Oxford:OxfordUP.
New York:JohnWiley.
anglohablantes.
Flynn, Suzanne. 1986. "Productionvs. Comprehension: Differencesin UnderlyingCompetencies." VanPatten,Bill. 1987."ClassroomLearners'Acquisition of serand estar Accountingfor Developmen135-64.
Studiesin SecondLanguageAcquisition8:
tal Patterns."ForeignLanguageLearning:A ReGivon, Talmy. 1979. On UnderstandingGrammar.
searchPerspective.Eds. Bill VanPatten,TrishaR.
New York:Academic.
Dvorak,andJamesF. Lee.Cambridge:Cambridge
. 1990. Syntax.A Functional-Typological
UP. 61-75.
Introduction: Volume 2. Philadelphia: John
VanPatten,Bill,TrishaR. Dvorak,andJames F. Lee.
Benjamins.
1987.Introduction.ForeignLanguageLearning:A
Krashen,Steve. 1982.Principlesand Practicein SecResearchPerspective.Eds. Bill VanPatten,Trisha
Oxford:Pergamon.
ondLanguageAcquisition.
R. Dvorak,and James F. Lee. Cambridge:CamLee, James F. 1987. "Comprehendingthe Spanish
bridgeUP. 1-16.
Subjunctive:An InformationProcessingPerspecLanguage
Whitley,StanleyM. 1993."Communicative
71: 50-57.
tive."ModernLanguageJournal
Teaching: An Incomplete Revolution."Foreign
McLaughlin,Barry.1978.'The MonitorModel:Some
LanguageAnnals26:137-54.
LanguageLearnMethodologicalConsiderations."
ing28: 309-32.
tic structure(or in this case, form).
8Interms of clause structure,Sato (1988)argues
that the paratacticconcatenationof single-clauseutterancesis the initial-and so the mostrudimentarymeans by which learnersproducecomplexsyntax.
9Tomy knowledge,no statementexists on the premoferred English syntaxfor the indicative-causing
dalitiesof belief,evidence,knowledge,inference,and
reportof a statement.They seem, however,to require
clausal complements:I think/see/know/suppose/say
thattheylivehere.They appearto be ratherincompatible witheitherinfinitival,*Ithink/see/know/suppose/
say themto lzivehere,or gerundivecomplements, $I
theirliving here.
think/see/know/suppose/say
l0Thischi-squaretest measured the difference
betweenthe proportionof correctto incorrectuses of
the indicative-365 to 40, respectively-and the proportionof correct to incorrectuses of the subjunctive-97 to 191,respectively.
nI would like to thank KarinaCollentine, Dale
Knickerbocker,BarbaraLafford,PeterStandish,and
FranSweeneyfortheirvaluablecommentson earlier
draftsof this paper.
APPLIEDLINGUISTICS
133
Table 1. ILDevelopmentalStages (Givon1979:223)
Presyntactic
Syntactic
a. Topic-commentstructure.
structure.
Subject-predicate
b. Loose conjunction.
Tight subordination.
c. Slowrate of delivery.
Fast rate of delivery.
d. Wordorderis governed mostlyby one
pragmaticprinciple;old informationgoes
first,new informationfollows.
Wordorderis used to signalsemantic
case functions.
e. Roughlyone-to-oneratioof nouns-to-verbs
in discourse,with verbs being semantically
simple.
A largerratioof nouns-over-verbs
in
verbs in discourse,with verbs being
semanticallycomplex.*
f. No use of grammaticalmorphology.
Elaborateuse of grammatical
morphology.
g. Prominentintonation-stressmarksthe
focus of new information;topic intonation
is less prominent.
Verymuch the same, but perhaps
not exhibitingas high a functional
load, andat least in some languages
totallyabsent.
*Giv6nuses the noun-to-verbratioas a measurementof propositionalcomplexity.A
proposition'scomplexitygenerallyincreases with more argumentsor individualNPs per
clause.
Figure1. SampleDrawingfromTask 2 Materials.
Meria: "Carlos, no vendiste casi nade el mes pasado."
Carlos: Entiendo, trabajadre mas hores este mes.
134 HISPANIA78 MARCH1995
Table 2. Types of BiclausalUtterancesProducedin Conversation.
SENTENCETYPE
CoordinateStructures
NPSs
Others
EXAMPLE
Ellatiene trabajoy me gusta eso.
Creoque es interesante.
Comomucho si tengo hambre.
N
202
77
3
%
72
27
1
287
Task.
Table 3. SyntacticPropertiesof Responsesin the Controlled-Production
TARGETEDMOODOF RESPONSE'S
SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE**
SENTENCE
TYPE
EXAMPLE
-NPS
-NPS,less q#e
-NPS,wrong
subordinator
-Coordinate
structure
Tiene trabajoy me gusta
eso.
15
3
81
15
96
9
-SingleClause
Juan sale.
83
15
126
23
209
19
INDICATIVE
N
%
74
405
Creo que es bueno.
7
39
*Creoes bueno.
1
5
*QuieroparaJuan sale.
SUBTOTALS
-No Answer
TOTALS
SUBJUNCTIVE TOTALS
N
%
N
%
64
693
53
288
68
6
29
5
2
19
24
3
547
543
1090
23
27
50
570
570
1140
**Thesetotals representthe questionsthat specificallyelicitedNPSs.The responses are categorized accordingto the mood that the question aimed to induce in a response's NP clause (e.g.,
Indicative:Creoque es bueno,Subjunctive:No creoquesea bueno).
Task.
Table 4. Simplificationsaccordingto ModalityContextin the Controlled-Production
MODALITY
CONTEXT
OF
FREQUENCY
SIMPLIFICATIONS
Report of a Command
Reaction
Evaluation
Volition
Doubt/Denial
QUESTIONSELICITING
MODALITY
CONTEXT
OF
PERCENTAGE
SIMPLIFICATIONS
76
67
52
45
10
114
114
114
114
114
67
59
46
39
9
250
570
44
APPLIEDLINGUISTICS
135
Table 5. Mood SelectionAccuracyaccordingto MainClauseModalityand NP ClauseMoodin
the Controlled-Production
Task.
MODALITY
CONTEXT
OF
FREQUENCY
CORRECT
MOOD
SELECTION
INDICATIVE
CONTEXTS:
Knowledge
Reportof a Statement
Belief
Inference
Evidence
CONTEXTS:
SUBJUNCTIVE
Reportof a Command
Volition
Doubt/Denial
Evaluation
Reaction
OF
FREQUENCY
MODALITY
CONTEXT
MOOD
ELECTION
ACCURACY
72
93
79
72
49
77
102
87
82
57
94
91
91
88
86
365
405
90
16
25
36
15
5
33
66
100
53
36
48
38
36
28
14
97
288
34
Table 6. SubjunctiveAccuracyaccordingto the TraditionallyStudiedCategoriesin the
Controlled-Production
Task.
MODALITY
CONTEXT
MOODSELECTION
ACCURACY
%
Influence*
Doubt/Denial
Emotion**
41
36
23
* This categorycomprisesthe mood-selectionaccuracyfigures of Reports
and Voaiof/Commands
tion,presentedin Table 5.
** This category comprises the mood-selectionaccuracyfigures of Eva/gationsand Reactions,
presentedin Table 5.