Dataset for the research article "Acquisition of L3 English past perfect, present progressive, and present perfect tenses by L1 Kirundi-L2 French bilinguals"

The present data were used to check through the LPM the effect of CLI in the acquisition of L3 English past perfect, present progressive, and present perfect tenses by L1 Kirundi-L2 French bilinguals. The subtractive language groups design was used: One trilingual (L1 Kirundi-L2 French-L3 English learners) group was compared to two bilingual (L1 Kirundi-L2 English and L1 French-L2 English learners) groups in order to derive which previously acquired language was driving CLI among L3 learners. Each language group had 30 learners distributed in four proficiency groups, namely the pre-intermediate group (6 participants), lower-intermediate group (7 participants), upper-intermediate group (11 participants), and advanced group (6 participants). Therefore, there were two independent variables (language group and proficiency group) and three continuous dependent variables which were the participants' scores on the three target structures, namely the past perfect, present progressive, and present perfect tenses. The following predictions were tested: 1. With regard to the past perfect tense (L1=L2=L3), learners of L3 English with a background knowledge in L1 Kirundi and L2 French are likely to have no difficulty in the acquisition of the said tense in English regardless of their English proficiency level; i.e. even lower proficiency learners will perform well on that tense. However, higher proficiency learners may make most correct use of this tense. 2. With regard to the present progressive tense (L1≠L3≠L2), we can predict that all the three language groups, i.e. L1 Kirundi, L1 French and L3 groups, will face difficulties in their performance on this tense. In other words, none of the previously acquired languages (neither L1 Kirundi, nor L2 French) is expected to significantly affect the performance of L3ers on the said tense. Lower proficiency learners are predicted to face most difficulty on the tense. 3. With regard to the present perfect tense (L3=L2≠L1), we can predict that the L3 group will perform similarly as the L1 French group, while the two groups are likely to outperform the L1 Kirundi group. This implies that facilitative CLI is expected from L2 French in the L3 group. 4. Considering the present research scenarios for the past perfect (L1=L2=L3), present perfect (L1=L3≠L2), and present progressive (L1≠L2≠L3) tenses, we predict CLI where L3 learners are expected to acquire the past perfect earlier than the present perfect, and the present perfect earlier than the present progressive. In other words, their performance on the past perfect tense should be significantly higher than that on the present perfect while their score on the present perfect is expected to be significantly higher than that on the present progressive. Data were elicited through the grammaticality judgment task, and the raw data analyzed in the SPSS software using descriptive statistics, MANOVA, post-hoc comparisons, and independent samples t-tests.

本数据集用于通过语言处理模型（LPM）检验跨语言影响（Cross-Linguistic Influence，CLI）对母语（First Language，L1）为基隆迪语、第二语言（Second Language，L2）为法语的双语者习得第三语言（Third Language，L3）英语的过去完成时、现在进行时与现在完成时的作用。本研究采用减损型语言组实验设计：将一组三语学习者（L1基隆迪语-L2法语-L3英语学习者）与两组双语学习者（分别为L1基隆迪语-L2英语学习者与L1法语-L2英语学习者）进行对比，以明确究竟是哪一种先前习得的语言驱动了第三语言学习者的跨语言影响。

每组语言群体均包含30名学习者，且被划分为四个熟练度水平组，分别为初级中级组（6名参与者）、低中级组（7名参与者）、中高级组（11名参与者）与高级组（6名参与者）。因此，本研究包含两个自变量（语言群体与熟练度水平组），以及三个连续型因变量，即参与者在三个目标语法结构——过去完成时、现在进行时与现在完成时——上的得分。

本研究对以下四项假设进行了检验：
1. 关于过去完成时（L1=L2=L3）：以基隆迪语为母语、第二语言为法语的第三语言英语学习者，无论其英语熟练度水平如何，均有望在该英语时态的习得中无明显困难；即便是低熟练度学习者，在该时态任务上也可取得良好表现。不过，高熟练度学习者或能最准确地使用该时态。
2. 关于现在进行时（L1≠L3≠L2）：可预测所有三组语言群体（基隆迪语母语组、法语母语组与第三语言组）在该时态的表现上均会面临困难。换言之，先前习得的两种语言（无论是基隆迪语还是法语），均不会对第三语言学习者在该时态上的表现产生显著影响。据推测，低熟练度学习者在该时态上的困难最为突出。
3. 关于现在完成时（L3=L2≠L1）：可预测第三语言组的表现将与法语母语组相近，且两组的表现均优于基隆迪语母语组。这意味着，第三语言组或可从第二语言法语中获得促进性的跨语言影响。
4. 结合本次研究中过去完成时（L1=L2=L3）、现在完成时（L1=L3≠L2）与现在进行时（L1≠L2≠L3）的具体情境，我们预测第三语言学习者的跨语言影响将表现为：过去完成时的习得早于现在完成时，而现在完成时的习得早于现在进行时。换言之，学习者在过去完成时上的表现应显著优于现在完成时，而其在现在完成时上的得分也应显著高于现在进行时。

本研究通过语法判断任务采集数据，并使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）对原始数据进行分析，分析方法包括描述性统计、多元方差分析（Multivariate Analysis of Variance，MANOVA）、事后比较以及独立样本t检验。