L’acquisition de la négation en français langue étrangère (L2) par des adultes suédophones en production écrite
Author
Summary, in English
This study deals with the acquisition of negation in French second language for Swedish speakers in written production. In fact, numerous studies have been dedicated to this subject, investigating learners with different first languages. However, these studies often examine the acquisition of negation in oral language. Given the difference between speaking and writing in French language, it is also important to study the acquisition of written French.
What often has been discussed in previous studies is the possibility of a certain itinerary followed by the learners of a second language. Earlier studies suggest that second language learners follow a similar itinerary in their development of French negation (Bartning & Schlyter 2004; Sanell 2007). These studies have led to the observation of different stages corresponding to the process of the acquisition of French second language.
The objective of the present study is to examine how Swedish speaking learners of French as second language in the first semester at the university master the negation in written language and to compare the results with the oral acquisition stages.
The study includes 50 students, divided into 4 groups according to their level of French. Each student wrote a 300 words abstract of a newspaper article. The analyses concentrate on typical difficulties in the production of French negation, more precisely it’s placement in the phrase and the grammar rules applied to the articles and words in contact with every negation.
The results show that there exist both similarities and differences between the acquisition of negation in spoken and written French.
There seem to be fewer errors concerning the placement of articles and pronouns in written production, maybe due to the time of reflection while writing.
Concerning the developmental stages, overall the order seems to be similar in spoken and written French; the negation assumed the less difficult being the one mastered first by all learners. However, the order of appearance of some, more difficult types of negation seems to not be the same.
To summarize, the knowledge of negation appears to be easier to produce in written than in spoken French.
What often has been discussed in previous studies is the possibility of a certain itinerary followed by the learners of a second language. Earlier studies suggest that second language learners follow a similar itinerary in their development of French negation (Bartning & Schlyter 2004; Sanell 2007). These studies have led to the observation of different stages corresponding to the process of the acquisition of French second language.
The objective of the present study is to examine how Swedish speaking learners of French as second language in the first semester at the university master the negation in written language and to compare the results with the oral acquisition stages.
The study includes 50 students, divided into 4 groups according to their level of French. Each student wrote a 300 words abstract of a newspaper article. The analyses concentrate on typical difficulties in the production of French negation, more precisely it’s placement in the phrase and the grammar rules applied to the articles and words in contact with every negation.
The results show that there exist both similarities and differences between the acquisition of negation in spoken and written French.
There seem to be fewer errors concerning the placement of articles and pronouns in written production, maybe due to the time of reflection while writing.
Concerning the developmental stages, overall the order seems to be similar in spoken and written French; the negation assumed the less difficult being the one mastered first by all learners. However, the order of appearance of some, more difficult types of negation seems to not be the same.
To summarize, the knowledge of negation appears to be easier to produce in written than in spoken French.
Department/s
Publishing year
2013
Language
French
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Document type
Student publication for Bachelor's degree
Topic
- Languages and Literatures
Supervisor
- Anita Thomas