This book presents an empirical study on the acquisition of aspect by second language learners of French. Kevin McManus provides a critical assessment of previous research on the acquisition of aspect, turning both to conceptual and empirical work. As a consequence, this book sheds new light on the long-standing question of the contribution of a learner's first language (L1) on their acquisition of a second. Alongside the role of the L1, language universals are also addressed in this study, in which the claims of the Aspect Hypothesis are carefully examined. Data are collected from 75...