本研究通过对一般过去时标记习得过程中的两个主要语言影响因素即语音凸显度和动词情状体的研究，探讨了低水平的中国大陆英语学习者习得英语时间表达体系的过程。本研究提供了了解英语时体习得过程的两个视角：一般过去时标记的词形曲折变化特点和动词本身具有的内在时间含义对习得一般过去时标记的影响。希望能从外部特征和内在意义两方面较全面地反映学习者面临的问题并探讨问题形成的原因及解决问题的对策。本研究提出四个研究假设，用来检测语音凸显度和情状体对一般过去时标记的影响程度和发展规律。

本书通过对一般过去时标记习得过程中的两个主要语言影响因素即语音凸显度和动词情状体的研究，探讨了低水平的中国大陆英语学习者习得英语时间表达体系的过程。对全部语料的描述性研究和对分组语料的横向对比研究显示，两种因素的影响显著，但随着学习者语言能力的发展，两者的影响在程度上发生差异。研究结果表明学习者对内在意义的敏感大于外在形式。

List of Abbreviations

List of Tables

List of Figures

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

 1.1 Significance of the Study of Temporality

 1.2 Significance of the Present Study

 1.3 Outline of the Book

CHAPTER TWO THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

 2.1 Temporal Semantics and the Tense-aspect System

2.1.1 Time Specification and Expressions of Temporal Relations

2.1.2 The Tense-Aspect Morphology of Past in English

 2.2 Lexical Aspect: The Inherent Temporal Properties

2.2.1 Lexical Aspect versus Grammatical Aspect

2.2.2 Inherent Aspectual Classification of Verbs on Time Schemata

2.2.3 Inherent Semantic Aspectual Properties of Verbs

2.2.4 Distinctions of Lexical Aspects by Semantic Properties

2.2.5 Diagnostic Tests of Lexical Aspectual Categories

 2.3 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER THREE PREVIOUS STUDIES ON ACQUISITION OF TEMPORALITY

 3.1 Studies on Acquisition Stages of Temporality

3.1.1 Developmental Stages of Temporal System in L1

3.1.2 Developmental Stages of Temporal Acquisition

 3.2 Studies on Acquisition Order of Past Morphology: A Formal Perspective

3.2.1 Acquisition of Irregular and Regular Past Morphology

3.2.2 The Principle of Saliency

 3.3 Studies on Lexical Aspect: A Semantic Perspective

3.3.1 The Defective Tense Hypothesis

3.3.2 The Primacy of Aspect Hypothesis

3.3.3 The Aspect Hypothesis

3.3.4 Principles Underlying Tense-Aspect Acquisition

 3.4 Review of Research Methodologyin Temporal Studies

3.4.1 Longitudinal versus Cross-sectional Studies

3.4.2 Individual versus Group Data

3.4.3 Data Elicitation Tasks

 3.5 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER FOUR METHODOLOGY

 4.1 Research Hypotheses

 4.2 Participants

 4.3 Data Elicitation

4.3.1 The Task

4.3.2 Elicitation Procedure

 4.4 Data Coding

4.4.1 Identification of Obligatory Simple Past Contexts

4.4.2 Coding for Features of Phonetic Saliency

4.4.3 Coding for Lexical Aspectual Categories

4.4.4 Coding for Verb Type

 4.5 Data Analysis

4.5.1 Selection of Data for Analysis

4.5.2 Tests for Bias of the Selected Data

4.5.3 Division of Participants for the Cross-sectional Study

4.5.4 Data Processing

 4.6 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER FIVE RESULTS AND FINDINGS

 5.1 Results from Analyses of Phonetic Saliency

5.1.1 Results from the Overall Descriptive Study: Evidence for Hypothesis 1

5.1.2 Results from the Cross-sectional Study Across the Five Proficiency Groups: Evidence for Hypothesis 2

 5.2 Results from Analyses of Lexical Aspect

5.2.1 Results from the Overall Descriptive Study:Evidence for Hypothesis 3

5.2.2 Results from the Cross-sectional Study: Evidence for Hypothesis 4

 5.3 Chapter SUmmary

CHAPTER SIX DISCUSSION

 6.1 The Effect of Phonetic Saliency

6.1.1 The Irregular versus Regular Constraint

6.1.2 The Constraint of Saliency on Irregular Variants

6.1.3 The Constraint of Saliency on Regular Variants

 6.2 The Effect of Lexical Aspect

 6.3 A General Discussion

 6.4 Chapter Summary

CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION

 7.1 Major Findings

 7.2 Pedagogical Implications

 7.3 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX Data Collection Task

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS