Inflectional verbal morphology, the system of correspondences between grammatical meanings and their means of expression, is an area of language which is difficult for adult L2 learners. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a pedagogical tool for Anglophone adult learners presenting French verbal morphology with a focus on semantics. This thesis adopts the view that explicit teaching of grammar is the most effective with these learners. Using theoretical insights from the Meaning-Text Theory, Le Morpheur, an Internet-based conjugator, has been developed. In order to see a fully-conjugated form using Le Morpheur, the user selects from a table of inflectional meanings those he wishes to express. In this way, the user becomes aware of all the meanings which must be combined to produce a verbal form. This resource was tested with a group of first-year French students at Dalhousie University. The participants were enthusiastic about Le Morpheur and the manner in which it presents French verb conjugation. These encouraging results indicate that continuing development and evaluation of this semantic-based pedagogical approach is desirable.

Swedish learners of French often experience large difficulties in understanding spoken French. Words that the learners know very well when written or when pronounced separately are often hard to recognize in the speech flow. The aim of this study is to examine Swedish learners’ perception of French speech in order to identify the problems. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides an introduction to the perception of a second language. It also describes the phonological structures of Swedish and French and gives an overview of studies of the perception of spoken French. The second part of the thesis contains a presentation and an analysis of four perception experiments conducted with Swedish learners of French. The results show that the learners often confuse phonological contrasts that do not exist in Swedish. It is furthermore found that the phonological processes of schwa deletion, liaison, enchaînement and voicing assimilation contribute to the perception problems. However, although liaison may complicate word recognition the results indicate that the so-called potential liaison does so to an even greater extent. In a listening test using nonsense words, the learners seem actually to expect liaison when perceiving a word that can be linked to a following nonsense word. In fact, sequences like un navas and un avas are both perceived as un avas. Paradoxically, liaison thus seems to be most problematic when it does not occur. As to schwa deletion, the results show that word recognition is delayed when the schwa in the first syllable is deleted, as in la s’maine. In addition, the learners make a large number of errors due to schwa deletion. This phonological process sometimes completely prevents word recognition, especially when combined with a voicing assimilation. Schwa deletion thus seems to strongly complicate Swedish learners’ word recognition in spoken French.

Notre travail de recherche porte sur la production des consonnes coronales anglaises /t, d, n/ par des apprenants francophones. Bien que ces phonèmes fassent partie du répertoire de l'anglais et du français, des différences infra-phonémiques se manifestent dans leur réalisation, au niveau du voisement et du lieu d'articulation des occlusives. Il est reconnu que les aspects phonétiques sont, parmi les nombreux aspects d'une langue, les plus difficiles d'acquisition dans l'apprentissage d'une L2.<br />Nous abordons dans ce travail l'acquisition de la phonologie de la langue maternelle, avant de nous concentrer sur l'acquisition d'une L2 chez les adultes. Au travers d'une étude acoustique et articulatoire, nous montrons qu'une production semblable à celle d'un locuteur natif est réalisée par les apprenants, qui ont une maîtrise suffisamment grande de leur appareil articulatoire pour leur permettre de produire les sons de la L2 différemment de ceux de la L1.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le courant des études portant sur la relation langage-cognition enL2. L’objectif principal est d’analyser la conceptualisation spatiale dans une tâchenarrative orale (Frog story) chez plusieurs groupes d’apprenants qui se distinguent a) pourleur L1 (anglais, français, italien), b) pour leur L2 (italien, français) et c) pour leur niveaude compétence en L2 (intermédiaire vs. avancé). Pour ce faire, nous adoptons uneméthodologie impliquant des comparaisons successives entre les récits de groupes natifs etnon natifs ayant accompli la même tâche, afin de comprendre de quelle manière lesapprenants se rapprochent de la LC et s’ils sont influencés par leur L1 lors du discoursspatial en L2.L’analyse des récits natifs confirme les différences intertypologiques entre les languesverb-framed, français et italien, et satellite-framed, l’anglais (Talmy 1985). Néanmoins,une variation intra-typologique entre l’italien et le français est attestée: seul l’italienexploite des constructions satellitaires.Quant aux productions en L2, les apprenants, surtout les intermédiaires, traitent la tâche defaçon minimale (traitement prototypique, Watorek 1996) en exprimant essentiellement latrajectoire, qui représente la composante de base dans la tâche demandée. Au niveauintermédiaire, il n’y a pas de traces d’influence de la L1 sur la conceptualisation spatiale enL2, qui est, en revanche, attestée chez les apprenants anglophones avancés de l’italien L2 àtravers l’emploi de constructions satellitaires. L’existence de structures similaires dans laLS et la LC et l’évidence positive dans l’input semblent favoriser le transfert conceptuel enL2. / This thesis intervenes in the line of studies about the relation between language andcognition in L2. The main objective is to analyze spatial conceptualization in an oralnarrative task (Frog story) by several groups of learners who differ for a) their L1 (English,French, Italian), b) their L2 (Italian, French) and c) their L2 proficiency level (intermediatevs. advanced). In order to do this, we adopt a methodology that implies successivecomparisons between the productions performed by different native and non-native groupsaccomplishing the same task. The aim is to distinguish to what extent learners get closer tothe TL and if they are influenced by their L1 during the spatial production in L2.The L1 results confirm the intertypological differences between verb-framed, Italian andFrench, and satellite-framed languages, English (Talmy 1985, 2000). Nevertheless, anintratypological variation between Italian and French is attested: only Italian makes use ofsatellite constructions.As for L2 productions, learners, especially the intermediate ones, provide a minimalresponse to the task (traitement prototypique, Watorek 1996) by encoding mainly Path, thebasic component of the task. At the intermediate level, there are no traces of the influenceof the L1 on spatial conceptualization in L2, instead attested by advanced English learnersof Italian L2 through the use of satellite constructions. The existence of similar structure inthe SL and TL and the positive evidence in the input seem to favour conceptual transfertfrom L1 to L2.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:24:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eloiza Ceresso de Andrade.pdf: 2652218 bytes, checksum: 293504ea7946c7cb73ff0be0631fa9f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-30 / This study, developed under a qualitative approach, is grounded in theoretical aspects of the teaching/learning of English as L2. It aims at investigating the implementation of a teaching proposal which uses the four abilities (reading, writing, speaking and listening) integratively. In order to meet this goal, students needs analysis concerning the use of English in the social context was conducted , followed by the identification of the mechanisms used during the application of the units which proved to foster the development of L2 teaching and learning. The research was done in a state school, and the subjects were middle-school 6-graders in the twelve to thirteen age bracket. The data under analysis originated from 10 sessions as far as the theoretical background is concerned, needs analysis, reflection on action, the variables introduced by Krashen (1985) and the research on the teaching of speech production and perception in L2 were taken into account. The interviews in the community, the needs analysis questionnaire and the teaching units were important tools used in data collection. The teaching units were divided into 3 stages: 1) reading comprehension and vocabulary; 2) recognition; 3) listening comprehension and oral production. In the first stage, it was analyzed the ability of the student to interpret the text, considering his/her knowledge of the world and the mother tongue. In the second stage, recognition/perception, qualitative listening was developed, in order for the students to perceive the phonetically relevant detail in the acquisition of segmental distinctions in English. In the third stage, comprehension and oral production, oral comprehension was dealt so as to promote students involvement in social interaction. Krashen s Theory of Second Language Acquisition was also very important in data analysis once, while discussing the acquisition-learning process in L2, this author emphasizes the importance of affective variables in this process. Research results demonstrated that this study helped to promote a reflection about the learning and teaching of oral skills in English in an L2 context. It also raised awareness to the fact that the use of students needs analysis, coupled with reflexive practice on the part of both student and teacher, can provide valuable input, as they facilitate the learning process in English / Esta dissertação de mestrado, inserida em uma abordagem qualitativa, fundamenta-se em aspectos teóricos sobre ensino/ aprendizagem de inglês como L2, tem como objetivo investigar a implementação de uma proposta de ensino que embora trabalhe todas as habilidades (ler, escrever, falar e ouvir) integradamente, confere ênfase às habilidades orais. Para atender a esse objetivo, iniciou-se com a investigação das necessidades dos alunos acerca do uso da língua inglesa no contexto social, e prosseguiu-se com a identificação dos mecanismos que beneficiassem o desenvolvimento do ensino/aprendizagem de L2. O cenário da pesquisa foi uma Escola Estadual. Os sujeitos de pesquisa eram alunos entre doze e treze anos que cursavam a 6ª série do Ensino Fundamental II. Os dados foram analisados a partir de registros de 10 sessões. Como subsídio teórico recorreu-se à análise das necessidades, à reflexão na ação, às variáveis introduzidas por Krashen (1985) e à pesquisa sobre o ensino da produção e percepção de fala em L2. Foram importantes instrumentos de coletas de dados as entrevistas à comunidade escolar e a aplicação de questionários para o levantamento das necessidades dos alunos. A análise foi efetuada em três etapas: 1) compreensão leitora e vocabulário; 2) percepção e 3) compreensão e produção oral. Na primeira etapa, compreensão leitora e vocabulário, analisou-se a habilidade do aluno para a compreensão geral do texto, levando em consideração seu conhecimento de mundo e da língua materna. Na segunda etapa, percepção, desenvolveu-se a escuta qualificada, para que os alunos percebessem os detalhes fonéticos relevantes para a aquisição das distinções da língua inglesa. Na terceira etapa, compreensão e produção oral, foram trabalhadas a compreensão oral para tornar possível o envolvimento dos alunos no contexto de interação social. Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram que este estudo serviu para desencadear uma reflexão acerca do ensino/aprendizagem da habilidade oral em inglês como L2, e para perceber que o recurso à análise de necessidades dos alunos e a prática reflexiva das ações foram insumos importantes, pois facilitaram o processo de aprendizagem de língua inglesa

<p>Swedish learners of French often experience large difficulties in understanding spoken French. Words that the learners know very well when written or when pronounced separately are often hard to recognize in the speech flow. The aim of this study is to examine Swedish learners’ perception of French speech in order to identify the problems.</p><p>The thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides an introduction to the perception of a second language. It also describes the phonological structures of Swedish and French and gives an overview of studies of the perception of spoken French.</p><p>The second part of the thesis contains a presentation and an analysis of four perception experiments conducted with Swedish learners of French. The results show that the learners often confuse phonological contrasts that do not exist in Swedish. It is furthermore found that the phonological processes of <i>schwa deletion</i>, <i>liaison</i>, <i>enchaînement</i> and <i>voicing assimilation</i> contribute to the perception problems. However, although <i>liaison</i> may complicate word recognition the results indicate that the so-called <i>potential liaison</i> does so to an even greater extent. In a listening test using nonsense words, the learners seem actually to expect liaison when perceiving a word that can be linked to a following nonsense word. In fact, sequences like <i>un navas</i> and <i>un avas</i> are both perceived as <i>un avas</i>. Paradoxically, liaison thus seems to be most problematic when it does not occur.</p><p>As to schwa deletion, the results show that word recognition is delayed when the schwa in the first syllable is deleted, as in <i>la s’maine</i>. In addition, the learners make a large number of errors due to schwa deletion. This phonological process sometimes completely prevents word recognition, especially when combined with a voicing assimilation. Schwa deletion thus seems to strongly complicate Swedish learners’ word recognition in spoken French.</p>

Swedish learners of French often experience large difficulties in understanding spoken French. Words that the learners know very well when written or when pronounced separately are often hard to recognize in the speech flow. The aim of this study is to examine Swedish learners’ perception of French speech in order to identify the problems. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides an introduction to the perception of a second language. It also describes the phonological structures of Swedish and French and gives an overview of studies of the perception of spoken French. The second part of the thesis contains a presentation and an analysis of four perception experiments conducted with Swedish learners of French. The results show that the learners often confuse phonological contrasts that do not exist in Swedish. It is furthermore found that the phonological processes of schwa deletion, liaison, enchaînement and voicing assimilation contribute to the perception problems. However, although liaison may complicate word recognition the results indicate that the so-called potential liaison does so to an even greater extent. In a listening test using nonsense words, the learners seem actually to expect liaison when perceiving a word that can be linked to a following nonsense word. In fact, sequences like un navas and un avas are both perceived as un avas. Paradoxically, liaison thus seems to be most problematic when it does not occur. As to schwa deletion, the results show that word recognition is delayed when the schwa in the first syllable is deleted, as in la s’maine. In addition, the learners make a large number of errors due to schwa deletion. This phonological process sometimes completely prevents word recognition, especially when combined with a voicing assimilation. Schwa deletion thus seems to strongly complicate Swedish learners’ word recognition in spoken French.

L'expression du mouvement fait l'objet d'un nombre croissant d'études centrées sur le domaine de l'espace. Néanmoins, peu de travaux ont examiné comment ce domaine interagit avec celui de la temporalité, notamment pendant l'acquisition du langage. La thèse aborde deux questions de recherche : comment la spatialité et la temporalité sont imbriquées dans le discours ; l'incidence des propriétés spécifiques des langues dans ces phénomènes et dans le processus d'acquisition d'une langue étrangère. L'analyse tient compte des différences typologiques entre deux langues, l'anglais et le français, dans le domaine de la spatialité, notamment leur appartenance à deux groupes (langues à cadrage satellitaire vs. verbal). Par ailleurs, la thèse teste plusieurs hypothèses concernant l'émergence de la morphologie verbale temporo-aspectuelle pendant l'acquisition L2. L'analyse porte sur des productions recueillies auprès d'adultes anglophones apprenants du français, comparées à celles de natifs des deux langues, dans deux tâches centrées sur l'expression du mouvement provoqué et volontaire. Conformément aux propriétés typologiques des langues en présence, les locuteurs de l'anglais expriment très systématiquement la cause et différents types de manière dans le verbe, encodant la trajectoire dans la constellation du verbe principal, qui devient souvent le centre sémantique de l'expression de bornes temporelles, notamment à travers les particules spatiales. Les locuteurs du français montrent des variations importantes dans l'expression des différentes composantes du mouvement provoqué, qu'ils situent soit dans le verbe principal, soit dans sa constellation, variations qui sont en grande partie liées à la contrainte d'expression des bornes temporelles dans le verbe, typique des langues à cadrage verbal. Comme les natifs anglophones, les apprenants encodent cause et manière dans le verbe, rencontrant des difficultés pour exprimer la trajectoire, qu'ils tentent d'abord d'exprimer par des localisations. Ils parviennent le plus souvent à borner les événements au moyen de la morphologie temporo-aspectuelle au premier niveau de compétence. Avec le développement de la L2, ils n'intègrent que très graduellement les schémas lexicaux et grammaticaux de la langue cible. Enfin, les résultats montrent que le contexte discursif joue un rôle important dans le choix de la morphologie verbale par les apprenants et les locuteurs monolingues. Ils montrent également comment les apprenants intègrent partiellement les marqueurs spatiaux et temporo-aspectuels pour exprimer le mouvement dans le discours.