Introduction: Current visions of TAML2.

This special issue comprises a selection of studies on the acquisition of tense, aspect and modality (TAM) in second languages (L2) which aim to gain insight into the acquiring and learning of TAM representations, as this is one of the most challenging tasks for second language learners ([3]). González and Diaubalick's pilot study on the understudied language combination Dutch-Spanish highlights the importance of methodological questions in TAM research: only in certain experiments, an L1-effect was revealed. By means of a study in a setting of L3 acquisition, Eibensteiner's paper shows that aspectual knowledge successfully acquired in an L2 is able to accelerate the tense-aspect system in an L3, even if this latter system is more complex. Subtle differences, rigorous implications: German and Dutch representation of tense-aspect features in SLA research of Spanish. [Extracted from the article]