CONSTRUAL AND L1 TRANSFER IN TURKISH EFL LEARNERS’ USE OF ENGLISH PROGRESSIVE ASPECT

Authors : Fatih Ünal Bozdağ

Pages : 1-30

Doi:10.33690/dilder.1678837

View : 64 | Download : 92

Publication Date : 2025-12-26

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study examines how Turkish L1 construal shapes Turkish EFL learners’ use of the English progressive and identifies where L1 transfer surfaces in learner production. Using the Turkish subcorpus of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE), we analyzed 594 progressive constructions drawn from 276 learner essays (214 essays contained at least one progressive). Candidates were retrieved with rule-based patterns and explicit exclusion rules for nominal/attributive -ing, then manually screened by a single coder. Tokens were coded for five construal operations—temporal bounding, force dynamics, boundedness shift, viewing arrangement, and scalar adjustment—and summarized descriptively; the headline proportion is reported with a two-sided 95% Wilson confidence interval. Learners predominantly use the present progressive (510/594; 85.9%). Two operations dominate—temporal bounding and force dynamics (57 tokens each; 9.6% apiece)—followed by boundedness shift (20; 3.4%), viewing arrangement (17; 2.9%), and scalar adjustment (9; 1.5%). Overall, 160/594 = 26.9% of tokens are –(I)yor-consistent (95% CI: 23.5–30.6), concentrated in long-span for/since contexts, progressive uses with stative/achievement verbs, habitual frames with frequency adverbs, and aspectual substitution in past or generic statements. Target-like progressives (e.g., live-process uses with try/struggle) were separated from transfer-consistent cases. Findings frame progressive-aspect acquisition as conceptual recalibration rather than only morphological learning. Pedagogically, instruction should make the relevant construal choices explicit at the point of use, especially in duration frames (present vs perfect/progressive), stative/achievement contrasts, and the habitual–stance distinction with frequency adverbs.
Keywords : Bilişsel Dilbilim, Kavramsal Yapılandırma, Anadil Aktarımı, Sürerlilik Görünüşü, Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce

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