Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in
L2 Italian Classes in  Czechia

k 2025

Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia

NAHÁLKOVÁ, Magdaléna

Základní údaje

Originální název

Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia

Autoři

NAHÁLKOVÁ, Magdaléna

Vydání

The Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium (Olinco), 2025

Další údaje

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Klíčová slova česky

pohybová slovesa, výběr pomocného slovesa, kognitivní gramatika, osvojování druhého jazyka, Italština L2

Klíčová slova anglicky

Motion verbs, Auxiliary selection, Cognitive grammar, Second language acquisition, Italian L2

Změněno: 24. 6. 2025 13:01, Mgr. Magdaléna Nahálková

Anotace

V originále

This poster presents results from an experimental study conducted at Masaryk University (Brno) as part of a broader cognitive-linguistic support project for teaching Italian as an L2. The study investigates whether tools inspired by cognitive grammar (Russi 2023) can support the acquisition of auxiliary selection (essere vs. avere) with motion verbs in the passato prossimo, a well-known difficulty for learners whose L1s (Czech, Slovak) lack auxiliary selection in the past tense systém. Auxiliary selection in Italian motion verbs is semantically driven and correlates with agentivity and telicity (cf. Sorace 2000). Motion verbs may select essere (e.g., andare ‘go’), avere (e.g., camminare ‘walk’), or alternate between the two depending on context (e.g., salire ‘go up’). In many textbooks, these distinctions are reduced to memorized lists, and learners first encounter them at A1 level. Two first-year student groups (N=14) were taught the same content; however, one group received a visual-conceptual intervention using image schemas to represent the internal structure of motion events. Three written tests (T1: 1 day post-intervention; T2: after 10 days; T3: after 4 months) assessed accuracy in auxiliary selection through recognition, fill-in-the-blank, and narrative tasks. The experimental group initially outperformed the control group (e.g., 91.4% vs. 68.6% on motion unergatives in T1). However, performance declined by T3, with the control group ultimately achieving higher scores in all categories. Error patterns were interpreted also in light of the Auxiliary Selection Hierarchy (Sorace 2000): the highest error rates occurred with semantically hybrid verbs (e.g., correre, salire), but difficulties also emerged with prototypical unaccusatives (e.g., entrare, uscire), underscoring the need for continued conceptual reinforcement.

Citovat

NAHÁLKOVÁ, Magdaléna. Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia. In The Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium (Olinco). 2025.

@proceedings{2505358,
   author = {Nahálková, Magdaléna},
   booktitle = {The Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium (Olinco)},
   keywords = {Motion verbs, Auxiliary selection, Cognitive grammar, Second language acquisition, Italian L2},
   title = {Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia},
   url = {https://olinco.upol.cz/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/OLINCO_book-of-abstracts_2025_web.pdf},
   year = {2025}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 2505358
AU  - Nahálková, Magdaléna
PY  - 2025
TI  - Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia
KW  - Motion verbs, Auxiliary selection, Cognitive grammar, Second language acquisition, Italian L2
UR  - https://olinco.upol.cz/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/OLINCO_book-of-abstracts_2025_web.pdf
N2  - This poster presents results from an experimental study conducted at Masaryk University (Brno) as part of a broader cognitive-linguistic support project for teaching Italian as an L2. The study investigates whether tools inspired by cognitive grammar (Russi 2023) can support the acquisition of auxiliary selection (essere vs. avere) with motion verbs in the passato prossimo, a well-known difficulty for learners whose L1s (Czech, Slovak) lack auxiliary selection in the past tense systém. Auxiliary selection in Italian motion verbs is semantically driven and correlates with agentivity and telicity (cf. Sorace 2000). Motion verbs may select essere (e.g., andare ‘go’), avere (e.g., camminare ‘walk’), or alternate between the two depending on context (e.g., salire ‘go up’). In many textbooks, these distinctions are reduced to memorized lists, and learners first encounter them at A1 level. Two first-year student groups (N=14) were taught the same content; however, one group received a visual-conceptual intervention using image schemas to represent the internal structure of motion events. Three written tests (T1: 1 day post-intervention; T2: after 10 days; T3: after 4 months) assessed accuracy in auxiliary selection through recognition, fill-in-the-blank, and narrative tasks. The experimental group initially outperformed the control group (e.g., 91.4% vs. 68.6% on motion unergatives in T1). However, performance declined by T3, with the control group ultimately achieving higher scores in all categories. Error patterns were interpreted also in light of the Auxiliary Selection Hierarchy (Sorace 2000): the highest error rates occurred with semantically hybrid verbs (e.g., correre, salire), but difficulties also emerged with prototypical unaccusatives (e.g., entrare, uscire), underscoring the need for continued conceptual reinforcement.
ER  -

NAHÁLKOVÁ, Magdaléna. Auxiliary Selection in Italian Motion Verbs: An Experiment in L2 Italian Classes in Czechia. In \textit{The Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium (Olinco)}. 2025.

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