Investigating the Reverse Transfer From L3 Spanish, French, and Italian to L2 English in Tense and Aspect

A Study of L1 Mandarin Chinese Speakers

Bibliographic Data

ID19234076
AuthorsYuliang Sun (0000-0001-9071-7379, School of International Studies Soochow University Suzhou China), Yan Li (0000-0001-6650-7726, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures Nanjing Normal University Nanjing China, corresponding author), Yi Pan (0000-0003-4685-221X, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures Nanjing Normal University Nanjing China), Lourdes Díaz Rodríguez (0000-0002-7707-808X, Department of Translations and Language Science Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona Spain)
Year2026
Publication date2026-04-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Applied Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0802-6106 • E-ISSN: 1473-4192
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ijal.70207
OpenAlexW7155868194
LanguageEN
References cited31

This study investigates whether the knowledge of two perfective distinctions (current relevance vs. simple past completion) that learners have acquired from their L3 leads to reverse transfer, observable in their comprehension of the corresponding L2 English forms (present perfect and simple past). We analyze the manifestations of this transfer across three levels: formal, semantic, and conceptual. The participants consist of 50 L1 Mandarin Chinese learners specializing in Spanish ( N = 17), French ( N = 18), or Italian ( N = 15) as their L3 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; B2), all of whom share English as their L2 (B2). A translation appropriateness assessment was administered to evaluate learners’ L2 English renditions of sentences presented in their respective L3s. Results indicate that reverse transfer occurred across all three linguistic levels (formal, semantic, and conceptual), with conceptual transfer manifesting more prominently than morphological transfer in the learners’ English translations. Furthermore, transfer across these different levels is not solely determined by static multilingual knowledge but rather operates as a dynamic process influenced by contextual cues and ongoing language analysis and processing by multilingual speakers

Agreement · Comprehension · Mandarin Chinese · Negative transfer · Second language · Second-language acquisition · Simple past · Transfer of training · Categorization, perception, and language · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Second Language Acquisition and Learning

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