No description available.

Cette thèse, qui s’inscrit dans le domaine de l’acquisition des langues étrangères, a pour objectif de comprendre comment les étudiants chinois, au cours de l’acquisition du français, expriment la référence spatiale (la localisation et le déplacement dans l’espace) lorsqu’ils s’acquittent d’une tâche verbale complexe. Nous avons effectué une étude longitudinale de trois ans, en recueillant des productions orales narratives à trois reprises, auprès de 22 apprenants de la même classe, avec des supports en images : Le Chat et Le Cheval respectivement aux deux premiers cycles, et Frog, where are you ? à chaque cycle. Cette procédure permet non seulement d’observer l’acquisition de la spatialité en français de tous les apprenants à un moment donné, mais aussi de mettre en lumière la progression acquisitionnelle de chaque apprenant dans le temps. Basée sur des analyses aux niveaux phrastique, conceptuel et discursif, nous essaierons de trouver les facteurs qui influencent l’expression de la spatialité en français, et de proposer des solutions pédagogiques en fonction des difficultés identifiées chez les apprenants, en vue d’améliorer l’acquisition de la spatialité dans le contexte de l’enseignement du français en Chine. / This thesis intervenes in foreign language acquisition, and has an objective to understand how Chinese students in university learn French space expression. I have thus conducted a three-year research and carried out three corpus collections with 22 Chinese learners from the same class, respectively in the first three years in French learning. The Chinese learners are required to tell a story according to the pictures. In every collection, all learners are assigned to tell the Frog story; in the first two collections the additional Cat and Horse stories are respectively required. From the collected corpus, each learner are fully studied, including the space expressions at specific stages and the progress in three-year period. The analysis based on the data has been carried out in the three levels: the sentence level, the conceptual level and the discursive level. It is aimed to find the factors which influence the space expression in French. Moreover, the thesis provides teaching solutions according to the learning difficulties identified in the corpus.

China’s growing economic power has led to over one hundred million people speaking Chinese world-wide (Chai & Wang, 2017). Although the Chinese language may not replace English as the most popular language worldwide, it is acknowledged that the Chinese language is an indispensable part of the future world (Zhao & Huang, 2010). However, there appears to be a paucity of research into the role self-efficacy and establishing good habits as a language learner play in non-native speaking students experiencing success while learning Chinese. A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate college students who were early Chinese learners in a beginning level preparatory course of a non-academic long-term Chinese language program, their experiences of learning Chinese, and the association, if any, between students’ self-efficacy as learners of Chinese and their demonstration of characteristics of Good Language Learners (GLLs). Data were collected from a survey, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews. Six research findings were generated from research data and based on early Chinese learners, referred to students in the findings. Research findings from this study are listed as followed. Research Finding 1: Students’ perceptions of their strengths in learning Chinese are the strengths related to language aspects and personality traits. Research Finding 2: Students’ perceptions of their challenges in learning Chinese are language-related challenges, challenges from the teachers, challenges from the curriculum setting, and challenges from the class members. Research Finding 3: Students have at least five characteristics of GLLs (Edge & Garton, 2009) which are Characteristics 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 and partial of Characteristics 8 and 10. More specifically, early Chinese learners have a positive attitude toward Chinese and Chinese speakers (Characteristic 1). They have strong motivations to learn Chinese (Characteristic 2). They are confident in becoming successful learners (Characteristic 3). They actively organize Chinese practices (Characteristic 6). They have ways to express themselves correctly (Characteristic 7). They are willing to engage in Chinese-speaking situations (partial of Characteristic 8). They use strategies to learn Chinese (partial of Characteristic 10). Research Finding 4: Students tend to have Characteristics 4 and 5 and partial of Characteristic 10. To be more specific, early Chinese learners tend to have their minds prepared for making mistakes when using Chinese and to learn from the mistakes (Characteristics 4). They tend to like learning Chinese (Characteristics 5). And they tend to try out new strategies while learning Chinese (partial of Characteristic 10). Research Finding 5: Students lack Characteristic 9 and partial of Characteristic 8. To be more specific, early Chinese learners are not used to working directly in Chinese (Characteristic 9). They are neither ready to use Chinese as frequently as their native languages (partial of Characteristic 8). Research Finding 6: There is no obvious association between students’ efficacy and their demonstration of characteristics of GLLs (Edge & Garton, 2009) while learning Chinese. This study investigated college students who were early Chinese learners in a beginning level preparatory course of a non-academic long-term Chinese language program, their experiences of learning Chinese, and the association, if any, between students’ self-efficacy as learners of Chinese and their demonstration of characteristics of Good Language Learners (GLLs). This study offered recommendations for teachers, administrators, and policy makers, in non-academic long-term Chinese language programs and in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Last but not least, recommendations for further research were provided for researchers in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis reports on a study, which investigated the process of early foreign language learning in a classroom context and the functions of multi-word units of language known as formulaic sequences in the oral language production of young foreign language learners. A classroom with 11 students in the age range 9 to 11 years was observed and video recorded for 16 sessions (90 minutes per session). The observations were accompanied by two elicitation tasks. 10 sessions out of the 16 sessions of the collected speech samples were transcribed chronologically. In the next step, formulaic sequences were identified based on pre-established criteria, which were further developed during the analysis. The data was analyzed in order to identify the functions of formulaic sequences in learners’ oral language production in addition to the inter-learner variations in the application of formulaic sequences for different functions. The results revealed evidence of incidental learning of formulaic sequences from input; the language input provided instances for the learners to learn multi-word units. In addition, formulaic sequences played different roles in the language production of the learners. These sequences helped young language learners to overcome their lack of knowledge, to improve their fluency, and to enjoy some language play. Formulaic sequences were used as a strategy to economize effort on processing and also to buy time for processing. The findings of the study suggested that language users might introduce dis-fluency in the production of their sequences in order to buy time for further processing. Moreover, the data provided examples illustrating communicative functions of formulaic sequences where the use of formulaic sequences was affected by the relationship between the speaker and listener. The analysis revealed that although all the learners applied formulaic sequences in their language production, there was a great variation among individual learners in their intention and the extent of the application of formulaic sequences. Some learners used these sequences to be able to extend their utterances and produce more of the language, whereas other learners used them to avoid further language production. In sum, it seemed that individual learners' different personalities, needs or limitations served as explanation for the application of formulaic sequences in different contexts.

This study applied the latest developments in language testing validation theory to derive a core body of evidence that can contribute to the validation of a large-scale, high-stakes English as a Foreign Language (EFL) testing program in Japan. The testing program consists of a set of seven level-specific tests targeting different levels of proficiency. This core aspect of the program was selected as the main focus of this study. The socio-cognitive model of language test development and validation provided a coherent framework for the collection, analysis and interpretation of evidence. Three research questions targeted core elements of a validity argument identified in the literature on the socio-cognitive model. RQ 1 investigated the criterial contextual and cognitive features of tasks at different levels of proficiency, Expert judgment and automated analysis tools were used to analyze a large bank of items administered in operational tests across multiple years. RQ 2 addressed empirical item difficulty across the seven levels of proficiency. An innovative approach to vertical scaling was used to place previously administered items from all levels onto a single Rasch-based difficulty scale. RQ 3 used multiple standard-setting methods to investigate whether the seven levels could be meaningfully related to an external proficiency framework. In addition, the study identified three subsidiary goals: firstly, toevaluate the efficacy of applying international standards of best practice to a local context: secondly, to critically evaluate the model of validation; and thirdly, to generate insights directly applicable to operational quality assurance. The study provides evidence across all three research questions to support the claim that the seven levels in the program are distinct. At the same time, the results provide insights into how to strengthen explicit task specification to improve consistency across levels. This study is the largest application of the socio-cognitive model in terms of the amount of operational data analyzed, and thus makes a significant contribution to the ongoing study of validity theory in the context of language testing. While the study demonstrates the efficacy of the socio-cognitive model selected to drive the research design, it also provides recommendations for further refining the model, with implications for the theory and practice of language testing validation.

The aim of this master's thesis " education of German language on secondary schools" -

Nous définissons les stratégies d'usage de la langue de la façon suivante : il s’agit de stratégies langagières que les élèves appliquent en résolvant des exercices en langue cible (par exemple de DEL 2). Afin d’analyser ces stratégies langagières, nous menons une étude qualitative auprès de 14 écoliers suivant un cursus franco-allemand à Baden-Baden. Nous demandons aux élèves de résoudre des exercices de français tirés des Évaluations nationales des acquis des élèves. Nous appliquons la méthode de la pensée à voix haute. Les élèves choisissent s'ils verbalisent leurs pensées en langue allemande ou française. L'objectif principal de notre étude est d'analyser et d'éliciter les stratégies d'usage de la langue.Environ 1000 stratégies ont été observées et codées avec le logiciel MAXQDA. Les stratégies cognitives sont les stratégies qui ont été appliquées le plus souvent par les élèves testés - en tout presque 350 fois. La langue de base choisie par les élèves pour les protocoles à voix haute était le français et pas l'allemand. / This thesis reports on an empirical study of 3rd and 4th grade students in a German-French bilingual school. The study consisted of research subjects solving exercises by using the thinkaloud method, after which film and transcription analysis allowed for a detailed examination of the strategies used during the exercises. Such strategies have been termed "language usagestrategies" and have been distinguished from learning and communication strategies. This distinction is important because when students use their L2 in this context, their goal is not to learn the language or to communicate, rather, it is to solve the exercise. The students used and combined many cognitive, compensatory, metacognitive, social and affective strategies during the Think aloud Protocols. Also the individual interviews revealed that the students manifested a large number of language usage strategies, suggesting that they are conscious of strategy usage when using their L2.

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo verificar como as masculinidades e feminilidades são mostradas, cronologicamente, nos manuais do FLE (Francês Língua Estrangeira), analisando sobretudo as visões sexistas da diferença dos sexos e as relações de gênero. Segundo Scott (1999), a visão sexista dominou durante séculos as análises que se propunham refletir sobre a problemática das diferenças sexuais. Na verdade, tratava-se de uma visão estática do que representava ser homem ou ser mulher nas sociedades ocidentais. Somente a partir da revolução sexual proposta pelo Movimento feminista anglo-americano dos anos 1960 que se começou a pensar em gênero como resultado sócio-cultural das diferenças dos corpos masculino e feminino, percebendo que a identidade de gênero é construída para além do corpo biológico e, além do mais, passível de variações no tempo e no espaço. Para a realização desta pesquisa, selecionamos alguns manuais representativos na história do FLE, mais especificamente seis manuais produzidos a partir de 1960, ano da publicação do manual VIF, que coincide com o início movimento feminista. Para tanto, foi feita uma análise descritiva das imagens e textos pertinentes à pesquisa. Nossa hipótese de partida era a de que encontraríamos dentro desses manuais muito mais visões sexistas do que variações das identidades de gênero. Acreditamos que esta pesquisa é promissora no domínio do Ensino de Línguas Estrangeiras, em especial do FLE, pois pode oferecer aos professores de LE outros elementos de análise e de crítica sobre o livro didático e, conseqüentemente, sobre suas práticas pedagógicas. / The object of this research was to check how male and female chracteristics are chronologically presented in the FFL (French as a Foreign Language) manuals, through the analysis of sexist views of the difference between genders and their relations. According to Scott (1999), for centuries the sexist point of view was predominant in the analyses of sexual differences. In fact, it was a stactic view of the representation of what was believed to be a man or a woman in the Western civilization. Just after the sexual revolution resulting from the American Liberation Movement of the 1960s did one start to reflect on gender as a result of social and cultural-based concepts between male and female bodies, and to notice that gender identity is built beyond the biological body, thus subjected to time and space variations. For the sake of this research , we selected some manuals which are benchmarks in the history of FFL, more specifically six manuals produced as of 1960, year of the publication of the VIF, which coincides with the start of the Liberation Movement. We proceeded to make a descriptive analysis of the images and texts which fit the research. We hypothesized finding many more sexist views in these manuals than variations of gender identities. We believe that this research is very promising in the Foreign Language Studies domain, specially in FFL, for it may offer FL teachers other elements of analysis and criticism of the textbook and, consequently, of its pedagogic practices.