Cover not available
Part of
Sociolinguistic Variation and Language Acquisition across the Lifespan
Edited by Anna Ghimenton, Aurélie Nardy and Jean-Pierre Chevrot
[Studies in Language Variation 26] 2021
► pp. 227–250

Chapter 10
Usage, evaluation and awareness of French sociolinguistic variables by second-language learners during a stay abroad

The case of negative ne and optional liaison

| Université de Grenoble-Alpes
| Université de Grenoble-Alpes

This chapter deals with the acquisition of two sociolinguistic variables of twenty-nine American and Chinese learners of French. The purpose is to track the production and evaluation of the optional liaison and the variable deletion of negative ne during a 9-month stay abroad (SA) and to take a close look at the differences between the two sociolinguistic variables during the course of acquisition. We also aim to understand whether evaluation and awareness of the usage of these variables could influence the learners’ production. Statistical analyses show that the use of formal variants by the learners declined significantly during their SA. Moreover, acquisition of the ne variable seems guided by awareness of its sociolinguistic value, whereas acquisition of optional liaison appears to be driven by exposure to input and item-based learning.

Keywords: study abroad, sociolinguistic competence, sociolinguistic usage, sociolinguistic awareness and evaluation
Article outline
  • 1.Sociolinguistic variation in second language research
  • 2.Sociolinguistic variables in second language classroom and textbooks
  • 3.Awareness and evaluation of sociolinguistic variants
  • 4.Purpose of the study
  • 5.Methodology
    • a.Participants
    • b.Sociolinguistic variables
      • Optional liaison
      • Negative ne
    • c.Sociolinguistic interviews
    • d.Judgement tasks for the two variables
    • e.Questionnaire on sociolinguistic variables
  • 6.Results
    • a.Optional liaison
    • b.Negative ne
    • c.Evolution of judgements from T1 to T3
  • 7.Conclusion and discussion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Appendix
Published online: 16 August 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.26.10gau
References

Bibliography

Adda-Decker, M., Boula de Mareüil, P. and Lamel, L.
1999 Pronunciation variants French : schwa and liaison. Proceedings of the XIVth International Congress of Phonetics Sciences, 2239–2242.Google Scholar
Adda-Decker, M., Fougeron, C., Gendrot, C. & Lamel, L.
2012 La liaison dans la parole spontanée familière : une étude sur grand corpus. Revue Française de Linguistique Appliquée, 17, (1), 113–128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ashby, W.
2001 Un nouveau regard sur la chute du ne en français parlé tourangeau : s’agit-il d’un changement en cours ? Journal of French Language Studies, 11, 1–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bargh, J. A. & Chartrand, T. L.
2000 Studying the mind in the middle : a pratical guide to priming and automacity research. In H. Reis & C. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social psychology (pp. 253–285). New-York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Coveney, A.
1996 Variability in spoken French. A sociolinguistic study of Interrogation and negation. Exeter: Elm Bank Publications.Google Scholar
De Jong, D.
1991 La liaison à Orléans (France) et à Montréal (Québec). Actes du XIIe Congrès International des Sciences Phonétiques (pp. 198–201). Aix-en Provence, France.Google Scholar
Dewaele, J-M.
2002 Using socio-stylistic variants in advanced French interlanguage: the case of ‘nous’/‘on’. In S. H. Foster-Cohen, T. Ruthenberg & M. L. Poschen (Eds.) Eurosla Yearbook (pp. 205–226). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dickerson, L. J.
1975 The learner’s interlanguage as a system of variable rules. TESOL Quartely, 9, 401–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Durand, J. & Lyche, C.
2003 Le projet ‘Phonologie du Français Contemporain’ (PFC) et sa méthodologie. In E. Delais and J. Durand (Eds.), Corpus et variation en phonologie du français : méthodes et analyses (pp. 212–276). Toulouse: Presses Universitaires du Mirail.Google Scholar
2008 French liaison in the light of corpus data. Journal of French Language Studies. 18, (1), 33–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Durand, J., Laks, B. & Lyche, C.
2005 Un corpus numérisé pour la phonologie du français. In G. Williams (Ed.), La linguistique de corpus (pp. 205–217). Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.Google Scholar
Durand, J., Laks, B., Calderone, B. & Tchobanov, A.
2011 Que savons-nous de la liaison aujourd’hui ? Langue Française, 169, 103–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C.
2002 Frequency effects in language processing : a review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24, (2), 143–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Etienne, C., & K. Sax
2009 Stylistic variation in French: bridging the gap between research and textbooks. Modern Language Journal, 93, 584–606. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, B. M. & Malderez, I.
2004 Le ne de négation en région parisienne : une étude en temps réel. Langage et Société, 107, (1), 5–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harnois-Delpiano, M.
2016 Le kaléidoscope de la liaison en français : étude comparée de son appropriation par des apprenants adultes de FLE et des enfants natifs. Doctoral dissertation. Grenoble Alpes University.Google Scholar
Howard, M.
2012 The advanced learner’s sociolinguistic profile: On issues of individual differences, second language exposure conditions, and type of sociolinguistic variable. The Modern Language Journal, 96,(1), 20–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Howard, M., Mougeon, R. & Dewaele, J. M.
2013 Sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. In R. Bayley, R. Cameron & C. Lucas (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 340–359). New York, U.S.: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kinginger, C.
2008 Language learning in study abroad : Case studies of Americans in France. Supplement to Modern Language Journal, 92, 1–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labov, W.
1972 Sociolinguistic Patterns. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
1976 Sociolinguistique. Paris: Éditions de Minuit.Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B.
2000 The CHILDES Project : Tools for Analyzing Talk. 3rd Edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Mallet, G. M.
2008 La liaison en français : descriptions et analyses dans le corpus PFC. Doctoral dissertation, Paris 10 University.Google Scholar
Mougeon, R. & Dewaele, J.-M.
2002 L’acquisition de la variation par les apprenants du français langue seconde. Special issue of Acquisition et Interaction en Langue Etrangère, 17, 3–5. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mougeon, R., Nadasdi, T., & Rehner, K.
2002 Etat de la recherche sur l’appropriation de la variation par les apprenants avancés du FL2 ou FLE. In J.-M. Dewaele & R. Mougeon (Eds.), L’acquisition de la variation par les apprenants du français langue seconde. Special Issue Acquisition et Interaction en Langue Etrangère, 17, 7–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010 The sociolinguistic competence of immersion students. Bristol/Toronto: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nadasdi, T., Mougeon, R. & Rehner, K.
2003 Emploi du ‘futur’ dans le français parlé d’élèves d’immersion. Journal of French Language Studies 13, (2), 195–219. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nardy, A.
2008 Acquisition des variables sociolingusitiques entre 2 et 6 ans : facteurs sociologiques et influences des interactions au sein du réseau social. Doctoral dissertation, Stendhal, Grenoble University.Google Scholar
Psychology Software Tools, Inc
2012 [E-Prime 2.0].Google Scholar
Regan, V., Howard, M. & Lemée, I.
2009 The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context. Bristol, Toronto: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sax, K.
2003 Acquisition of stylistic variation in American learners of French. Doctoral dissertation, Bloomington, Indiana University.Google Scholar
Thomas, A.
2004 Phonetic norm versus usage in advanced French as a second Language. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 42, (4), 365–382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Torreira, F., Adda-Decker, M. et Ernestus, M.
2010 The Nijmegen corpus of casual French. Speech Communication, 52, 201–212. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Compernolle, R. A.
2013 Concept appropriation and the emergence of L2 sociostylistic variation. Language Teaching Research, 17, (3), 343–362. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Compernolle, R. A. & Williams, L.
2011 Metalinguistic explanations and self-reports as triangulation data for interpreting second language sociolinguistic performance. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 21, (1), 26–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 Teaching, Learning, and Developing L2 French Sociolinguistic Competence: A Sociocultural Perspective. Applied Linguistics, 33, (2), 184–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Waugh, L. R. & Fonseca-Greber, B.
2002 Authentic materials for everyday spoken French : Corpus linguistics vs. French textbooks. Arizona Working Papers in SLAT, 9, 114–127.Google Scholar