於1970年代以來，外語學習者在時態(貌)詞素上的發展與習得一直是研究與教學者所著重的重點。語言學習者實際使用時態(貌)的狀況，無論正確與否，對於教學方法的設置與其是否有效是很重要的因素。因此本研究的目的在於調查動詞字尾詞素-ed與-ing的分佈是否符合時貌假設理論的預測，因為此可作為學生發展中第二語言時態系統的指標。此外，本研究的另一個目的則是調查學生的母語對於學習英文時態系統的角色與影響。 參與研究的人員共有105位主修英語的大學生。學生共參與五項測驗，分別是：寫作、克漏字、翻譯、翻譯選擇與時態(貌)選擇。測驗分兩階段實施，前三項測驗於第一階段發給受試者，相隔三週後復給與後兩項選擇測驗，所得資料藉由統計方式t檢定(t-test)、變異數分析(ANOVA)與時貌組內及跨組統計方式加以分析。 分析結果顯示受試者在使用動詞字尾詞素-ed與-ing時，的確符合時貌假設理論的預測。至於受試者母語對於發展中的英文時態系統的影響，本研究發現，在學習英文時，語言的形與意的發展並不同步。此外，時貌的發展較早或較優於時態，更發現受試者在英文現在完成式、過去完成式與動詞字尾詞素-ing的使用上，反映出母語的影響與限制。根據上述的發現研究者提出教學建議，本研究受限之處與未來研究的方向。 Since the morpheme studies of the 1970s, the investigation into how L2 learners acquire the tense and aspect morphology has been the focus of many descriptive and pedagogical accounts of languages. It is suggested that knowledge of how learners actually use the tense-aspect forms (both appropriately and inappropriately) would be a contributing factor to the implementation and effectiveness of certain pedagogical methodologies. Hence, the purpose of the study is to investigate whether the distributions of verbal inflections -ed and -ing were in accord with the predictions of Aspect Hypothesis since they are an indicator of the developing temporal system. In addition, the present study also concerns how temporal notions and structures of learners’ L1 affect their learning of English tense and aspect system. Participants were 105 English majors from two universities and one institute of technology in northern Taiwan. They were asked to carry out a number of tasks including a narrative writing task, a cloze test, a translation test, a multiple choice test containing tense and aspect questions and a multiple choice translation test. Data were collected in two separate phases with an interval of three weeks and analyzed by means of across and within category analyses and SPSS. Specifically, the statistical procedures include descriptive analyses, t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs. The results indicate that learners’ use of verbal inflections -ed and -ing were in line with the predictions of aspect hypothesis in that the progressive -ing were mostly attached to activity verbs and the past -ed were often attached to accomplishment and achievement verbs. As to the role of L1 temporal notions in the development of English tense and aspect system, it is found that a) form and meaning did not develop to the same degree, b) aspect is developed prior to tense, and c) learners’ uses of English present perfect, past perfect and inflection -ing were under the constraint of their mother tongue. On the basis of the findings, pedagogical implications, the limitations of the present study and recommendations for further study are provided.
