Interaction of narrative functions and state verbs in L2 Spanish

Abstract

This paper is based on research conducted to analyze the selection of preterit and imperfect combined with stative verbs in narrative written texts, administrated as cloze exercises to two representative groups of Spanish as L1 and LE. The results, analyzed according to the characteristics of the temporal-aspectual system of Spanish and its realization in the narrative discourse, show that the students, like the native speakers, selected the prototypical combination of imperfect with stative verbs to express the background of the narration, and the preterit with dynamic verbs to mark the foreground. Nevertheless, a detailed analysis shows notable differences in the use of non prototypical combinations of preterit with stative verbs, in specific narrative contexts.