Language learning

  • Maria CHINI (Pavie, Italie)
    Marked orders in the acquisition of general and language specific structures in Italian as L2
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 107-127

    The paper deals with the acquisition and use of marked orders in postbasic German learners of Italian, mainly in a functional and textual perspective. We consider that grammar (in the case in point, the domain of information structure rules) is affected both by general pragmatic principles and by language-specific rules that the learner has to learn together with the target language. A cross-sectional analysis and a short longitudinal sketch reveal an acquisitional sequence of marked orders beginning with presentative structures, going on with cleft sentences and, rather late, dislocations. Results are discussed with regard to the impact of different factors (general and language-specific information organisation principles, syntactic complexity, source language, text type, etc. ).


  • Jean-Marc DEWAELE (Londres, Grande-Bretagne)
    Acquisition of sociopragmatic competence in a foreign language
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 129-143

    The present study offers an overview of research on the acquisition of sociopragmatic competence in a foreign language. Our starting point is the "hardware", i.e. the bilingual brain and the storage of different types of pragmatic and linguistic information in it. We then adopt a teacher's perpective by looking at how sociopragmatic aspects of the target language are integrated in language courses and language classes. We go on to consider a number of studies on the teaching, the acquisition and the use of sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence in the target language. A number of studies on the teaching, the acquisition and the use of sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence in the target language are then considered. Theoretical and didactical implications are presented in the final part of the study.


  • Rita FRANCESCHINI (Sarrebruck, Allemagne)
    Why do linguists need multilingual speakers?
    2004, Vol. IX-2, pp. 105-124

    In light of the vast number of publications dedicated to the different aspects of multilingualism, one might wonder whether the analyses carried out so far have had an impact on the development of the theory of language in general. Are they merely the latest trend (due to intelligible and undisputable social reasons) or rather a real challenge for linguistics? This article first examines the terminology and then tries to answer these questions with eleven theses. It also highlights the importance of developing a linguistic theory based on multilingualism and the significance of the applied concepts for the analysis regarding the acquisition of a second (or even a third or fourth) language. The cognitive bases as well as the contemporary or separate handling of various languages on the mental level are discussed.


  • Anna GIACALONE RAMAT (Pavie, Italie)
    The use of connectors: is però always equivalent to mais?
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 57-74

    Italian grammars written for French speakers do not pay much attention to però and touch very briefly upon its difference with respect to ma. The present study is based upon a detailed analysis of French translation equivalents of però in Veronesi's novel Caos calmo (2005) and draws upon Italian oral data from the LIP corpus (1993). Results of this study show how the grammars considered fail to offer clear indications concerning the freedom of position inside the sentence and the stronger value of però. Furthermore, the introduction of the diachronic dimension shows the gradual development of contrast relations out of temporal and causal lexical sources along paths already established for the processes of grammaticalization and highlights the present-day distribution in both languages.


  • Peter GRIGGS (Lyon 2)
    The cognitive dimension in learning foreign languages
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 17-29

    The aim of this article is to show the importance of basing foreign language teaching pedagogy on a cognitive theory of learning. The article draws on John Anderson's theory of learning and is illustrated by two longitudinal studies. Learning is seen to involve two main stages :at the initial stage a procedural rule giving a specific form to a function is constructed from declarative knowledge from different sources using general problem-solving procedures ; a second phase entails the automatisation of the procedural rule and its gradual modification through processes of generalisation and discrimination. An analysis of classroom practice leads us next to re-focus the problem of instructed language learning on the compatibility between the aims of the teacher, the cognitive activity of the learner and his communicative performance and needs in the target language.


  • Ulrich HEID (Stuttgart, Allemagne)
    Semi-automatic updating of dictionaries
    2002, Vol. VII-1, pp. 53-66

    Many more dictionaries are being updated than are written from scratch. Taylor-made computational linguistic support for lexicographers should thus not only provide corpus-derived data, but, along with this, a comparison with the information given in the targeted dictionary. We are developing a system for German, which provides this kind of comparison, for a set a macro- and microstructural data. We report about the main lexicographic and computational aspects of the approach.


  • Martin HOWARD (Cork, Irlande)
    Interaction between contextual factors and variation in the use of past tenses by anglophone learners of French
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 31-42

    Given the range of linguistic factors which have previously been proposed as constraints on the linguistic variation characterising the expression of past time by the second language learner, it is difficult to pinpoint which single factor is genuinely at work behind this phenomenon in learner language. In an attempt to distinguish between the effects of such multiple factors in anglophone advanced learners of French, this paper presents quantitative evidence which suggests that no single factor outweighs another. Rather, each factor 'interacts' with every other, in such a way that the causes of that variation are not singular but indeed multiple.


  • Eva LARSSON RINGQVIST (Wäxjö, Suède)
    Interrogative constructions with Swedish learners of French
    1997, Vol. II-2, pp. 81-94

    The present article reflects an ongoing research project on the grammar and pragmatics of interrogative constructions in French. The perspective is that of second language acquisition with advanced learners. The aim of the article is to show that the use of a particular interrogative construction in French, which in the language of native speakers is governed by restrictions at different levels, is, in the case of learners, characterized by an imperfect knowledge of these restrictions and by the necessity to rely on specific production strategies.


  • Carlos MELÉNDEZ QUERO (Université de Lorraine)
    Lexicographic treatment of discourse particles in Spanish: problems and proposals
    2015, Vol.XX-1, pp. 29-44

    In the present paper we offer some reflexions on the lexicographic study of discourse particles. Setting out from the analysis of emotive evaluative Spanish adverbs, we try to emphasize the difficulties with dictionary use for the learning of the discourse functions of these units. Following a presentation of the dictionaries’ contributions, we suggest a method for the lexicographic definition and explanation of the given words in terms of discursive instructions and communicative intentions. This model enables us to resolve certain problems and to illustrate the principal similarities and differences between analogous evaluative expressions.


  • Marie J. MYERS (Kingston, Canada)
    Development of strategies in the second language development
    2001, Vol. VI-1, pp. 137-144

    In this paper we analyse the decoding strategies of two female foreign students in engineering programs in order to uncover best practices. The students were asked to note language items causing difficulties and the different strategies used to arrive at the meaning while using a dictionary. We recommend scaffolding activities to enable these students to bridge the language gap and fully benefit from their program of studies.


  • Simona PEKAREK DOEHLER (Neuchâtel, Suisse)
    "CA for SLA": Conversational analysis and language acquisition research
    2006, Vol. XI-2, pp. 123-137

    This article presents the line of research that has recently come to be called CA for SLA - conversation analysis for second language acquisition. In a first step, roots of CA for SLA in ethnomethodology and in the classical CA work are sketched. In a second step, key-concepts and methodological underpinnings are discussed, which radically challenge received conceptions of language and language learning. In a third step, the major research themes are presented. The article concludes with a brief note on practical implications of the findings as well as the (mainly methodological) challenges the field is currently confronting.


  • Gema SANZ ESPINAR (Madrid, Espagne)
    The role of verbal lexicon at text level in SL- and FL-acquisition
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 71-87

    Verbal lexicon has key functions at textual level. Competence in second language - and specially narrative competence, with which we are dealing here - can be influenced by lack of verbal lexicon, by partial acquisition or idiosyncratic acquisition of it. A textual and conceptual approach of some narrative productions in French and Spanish as first and second languages (FLM, ELM, FLE and ELE) will allow us to compare both cases in these two languages in order to make clear how oral narratives are built up at propositional level (mainly, the explicit reference to processes, space and temporality) and at suprapropositional level (cohesion and coherence). Finally, we will study the influence of real oral input in the learners' oral productions.


  • Suzanne SCHLYTER (Lund, Suède)
    Telicity, past tense and types of discourse in acquiring French as an foreign language
    1996, Vol. I-1, pp. 107-118

    This article discusses a study of the acquisition of past tenses in French, more in particular that of the "passé composé" by a number of non-guided learners of French having Swedish as their native language. Results of the study show that, contrary to the "aspectual" thesis as put forward by Andersen, the passé composé is used rather rapidly and widely to refer to the past, with verbs of different semantic types.


  • Christiane STUTTERHEIM (VON) (Heidelberg, Allemagne)
    Translinguistic differences in the conceptualization of events
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 89-105

    Verbal lexicon has key functions at textual level.Competence in second language - and specially narrative competence, with which we are dealing here - can be influenced by lack of verbal lexicon, by partial acquisition or idiosyncratic acquisition of it. A textual and conceptual approach of some narrative productions in French and Spanish as first and second languages (FLM, ELM, FLE and ELE) will let us compare both cases in these two languages in order to make clear how oral narratives are built up at propositional level (mainly, the explicit reference to processes, space and temporality) and at suprapropositional level (cohesion and coherence). Finally, we will study the influence of real oral input in the learners' oral productions.


  • Ake VIBERG (Uppsala, Suède)
    Basic verbs in second language acquisition
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 51-69

    Verbs have a central role in language processing but simultaneously verbs tend to represent a greater cognitive load on processing than nouns. An important characteristic of the verb lexicon is that in all languages, a small number of verbs appear to be dominant in terms of frequency. The most frequent verbs in an individual language are referred to as basic verbs.Among the basic verbs in any language, there is a set of nuclear verbs which tend to have the same basic meaning in all languages (a universaltendency). In addition, there are some basic verbs that have alanguage-specific meaning. The paper summarizes research based on a computerized learner corpus with data from projects concerned with Swedish as a second language of children and adults. The primary data were recordings of oral production carried out individually with learners at several points in time. One of the major findings was that L2 learners tended to favour nuclear verbs which wereboth over used (in terms of frequency of occurrence) and over extended (withrespect to their semantic coverage). Language-specific meanings tended to be weakly represented at early stages of L2 acquisition


  • Sunniva WHITTAKER (Bergen, Norvège)
    Commercial correspondence: learning discursive strategies in a foreign language
    2001, Vol. VI-2, pp. 95-102

    This article focusses on the acquisition of discourse strategies by foreign students learning French. The study is based on a corpus of business letters written by Norwegian students. Our aim is to demonstrate how many of the mistakes that occur in this particular genre are due to the fact that even advanced students tend to misinterpret discourse contexts and as a consequence, fail to choose the correct discours strategy. Whereas grammatical mistakes will be considered by the addressee as being due to a poor command of the language and therefore easily forgiven, a bad choice of discourse strategy will often be interpreted as a manifestation of impoliteness or servility.


  • Ewa WIBERG (Lund, Suède)
    Reference to past and verticalization in advanced NNSs dialogues
    2002, Vol. VII-2, pp. 43-50

    The present work concerns the use of past reference and the possible connection between verticalization and syntactic complexity in advanced Italian interlanguage in dialogues with Swedish university students. Although the NNSs' (nonnative speakers) have reached a certain syntactic complexity and refer to the past in a way similar to that of native speakers of the target language, their fluency of speech is less advanced. The students therefore recur to scaffolding and verticalize their information about past events, relying on the proficient interlocutor's interaction. It is proposed that the above mentioned discrepancy might be due to different language processing skills utilized. Native speakers have access to procedural knowledge that is required in quick speech, while the acquisitional stages seem to use knowledge that is stored in long-term memory, that is declarative knowledge. Through exposure to language the NNSs' access to on-line speech production becomes more rapid and the procedural knowledge increases. Consequently it is important to sort out different language skills when defining the advanced levels.