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Article In: Language, Interaction and Acquisition: Online-First Articles

Speaking about the past in English as a Foreign Language

A secondary school learners’ corpus-based study

ORCiD logo with link | Université Paris Nanterre, CREA
 | Université Paris Nanterre, CREA
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Abstract
This study investigates how French secondary school learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)(14 year-olds, A1+-B2 level) develop the ability to refer to the past during social interactions. Based on a corpus of video-recorded peer interactions, our cross-sectional study integrates tools from an enunciative theory (theory of predicative and enunciation operations) and conversation analysis for second language acquisition. We identified key stages in the acquisition of past tense forms, from reliance on adverbials and verb stems to the use of more complex past verb forms. Our findings align with Klein and Perdue’s Basic Variety concept (Klein, W., & Perdue, C. (1997). The Basic Variety (or: Couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research, 13(4), 301–347. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), suggesting a ‘natural’ interlanguage development, even in tutored settings where a different linguistic progression is implemented in the programme of instruction. By valuing learner productions and focusing on interactional dynamics, our research highlights the natural progression in EFL learners’ use of various forms when referring to the past, contributing to a deeper understanding of their linguistic development and providing empirical support for the view that grammar emerges from social interaction.
Résumé
Cette étude s’intéresse à la manière dont des apprenants français de l’anglais langue étrangère développent la capacité de se référer au passé pendant les interactions sociales. Basée sur un corpus filmé d’interactions entre pairs en classe dans le secondaire, notre étude transversale s’appuie sur une théorie de l’énonciation basée sur l’usage (théorie des opérations prédicatives et énonciatives) ainsi que sur l’Analyse Conversationnelle appliquée à l’apprentissage des langues. Nous avons identifié des étapes clés dans l’acquisition des formes de temps passé, depuis le recours aux adverbiaux et aux bases verbales jusqu’à l’utilisation de formes verbales plus complexes. Nos résultats sont en phase avec la théorie dite « variété basique », développée par Klein, W., & Perdue, C. (1997). The Basic Variety (or: Couldn’t natural languages be much simpler?). Second Language Research, 13(4), 301–347. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar. On observe un développement ‘naturel’ de l’interlangue, même en contexte tuteuré, alors même que l’input est apporté dans un ordre différent. En valorisant les productions des apprenants et en se concentrant sur la dynamique interactionnelle, notre recherche met en évidence la progression naturelle par les apprenants de l’anglais L2 de formes variées pour se référer au passé. Cette étude basée sur l’usage contribue ainsi à une compréhension plus approfondie du développement linguistique des apprenants et vient renforcer l’idée que la grammaire émerge de l’interaction sociale.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Grammatical development-in-interaction
    • 2.2Referring to the past in first language acquisition
    • 2.3Learning paths in second language acquisition
      • 2.3.1Temporality: Linguistic developmental stages in untutored adult SLA
      • 2.3.2From untutored adult SLA to instructed secondary school pupils’ interlanguage
  • 3.The study
    • 3.1Context
    • 3.2The corpus
    • 3.3Methodology of analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Markers not included in the verb phrase
      • 4.1.1Circumstantial markers
      • 4.1.2Interactional patterns as markers
    • 4.2Markers included in the verb phrase
      • 4.2.1Peri-verbal solutions
      • 4.2.2Intra-verbal solutions
      • 4.2.3Verb phrase lexical variety
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
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