Abstract The Swedish National Curriculum for Upper Secondary School states that English should be taught essentially in English. The aim of this study was to discuss the use of Swedish in the upper secondary English classroom with regard to building teacher-student relations and learning outcomes. A hypothesis was articulated, claiming that judicious use of Swedish in the English classroom would help establish teacher-student relations, which would benefit learning outcomes. The study focused on students’ attitudes on the use of Swedish in the English classroom, on the importance of student-teacher relations with regard to learning outcomes, and on the effect English has on building relations and learning outcomes. The material for the study was obtained from a student questionnaire with mixed multiple choice and essay questions. Results showed that most students preferred the inclusion of Swedish in English education and considered it beneficial to their learning. Despite students’ opinion, the national curriculum’s guidelines, and the line of current modern language research, a rather large part of students’ teaching appeared to be conducted in English only. Results furthermore showed that students considered the relation to their teacher more important for their learning outcomes than the language used by the teacher in class. An English-only requirement was experienced as inhibiting by a small majority of students with regard to building relations. It was concluded that Swedish could be seen as an useful instrument when forming teacher-student relations in the English classroom, which raised the thought that the national curriculum should, instead of restricting the amount of Swedish, stress when and how the use of Swedish is fruitful. This study is important as it shows how Swedish could be a useful tool in the specific environment of the English classroom, which calls for a different approach to English language learning than is supported in the national curriculum.   Key words: English, L1/L2, learning outcomes, relational pedagogy, socialization, student, teacher

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L'identification des systèmes dynamiques complexes reste une préoccupation lorsque les erreurs de prédictions contiennent des outliers d'innovation. Ils ont pour effet de détériorer le modèle estimé, si le critère d'estimation est mal choisi et mal adapté. Cela a pour conséquences de contaminer la distribution de ces erreurs, laquelle présente des queues épaisses et s'écarte de la distribution normale. Pour résoudre ce problème, il existe une classe d'estimateurs, dits robustes, moins sensibles aux outliers, qui traitent d'une manière plus « douce » la transition entre résidus de niveaux très différents. Les M-estimateurs de Huber font partie de cette classe. Ils sont associés à un mélange des normes L2 et L1, liés à un modèle de distribution gaussienne perturbée, dit gross error model. A partir de ce cadre formel, nous proposons dans cette thèse, un ensemble d'outils d'estimation et de validation de modèles paramétriques linéaires et pseudo-linéaires boîte-noires, avec extension de l'intervalle de bruit dans les petites valeurs de la constante d'accord de la norme de Huber. Nous présentons ainsi les propriétés de convergence du critère d'estimation et de l'estimateur robuste. Nous montrons que l'extension de l'intervalle de bruit réduit la sensibilité du biais de l'estimateur et améliore la robustesse aux points de levage. Pour un type de modèle pseudo-linéaire, il est présenté un nouveau contexte dit L-FTE, avec une nouvelle méthode de détermination de L, dans le but d'établir les linéarisations du gradient et du Hessien du critère d'estimation, ainsi que de la matrice de covariance asymptotique de l'estimateur. De ces relations, une version robuste du critère de validation FPE est établie et nous proposons un nouvel outil d'aide au choix de modèle estimé. Des expérimentations sur des processus simulés et réels sont présentées et analysées.L'identification des systèmes dynamiques complexes reste une préoccupation lorsque les erreurs de prédictions contiennent des outliers d'innovation. Ils ont pour effet de détériorer le modèle estimé, si le critère d'estimation est mal choisi et mal adapté. Cela a pour conséquences de contaminer la distribution de ces erreurs, laquelle présente des queues épaisses et s'écarte de la distribution normale. Pour résoudre ce problème, il existe une classe d'estimateurs, dits robustes, moins sensibles aux outliers, qui traitent d'une manière plus « douce » la transition entre résidus de niveaux très différents. Les M-estimateurs de Huber font partie de cette classe. Ils sont associés à un mélange des normes L2 et L1, liés à un modèle de distribution gaussienne perturbée, dit gross error model. A partir de ce cadre formel, nous proposons dans cette thèse, un ensemble d'outils d'estimation et de validation de modèles paramétriques linéaires et pseudo-linéaires boîte-noires, avec extension de l'intervalle de bruit dans les petites valeurs de la constante d'accord de la norme de Huber. Nous présentons ainsi les propriétés de convergence du critère d'estimation et de l'estimateur robuste. Nous montrons que l'extension de l'intervalle de bruit réduit la sensibilité du biais de l'estimateur et améliore la robustesse aux points de levage. Pour un type de modèle pseudo-linéaire, il est présenté un nouveau contexte dit L-FTE, avec une nouvelle méthode de détermination de L, dans le but d'établir les linéarisations du gradient et du Hessien du critère d'estimation, ainsi que de la matrice de covariance asymptotique de l'estimateur. De ces relations, une version robuste du critère de validation FPE est établie et nous proposons un nouvel outil d'aide au choix de modèle estimé. Des expérimentations sur des processus simulés et réels sont présentées et analysées. / Complex dynamic systems identification remains a concern when prediction errors contain innovation outliers. They have the effect to damage the estimated model if the estimation criterion is badly chosen and badly adapted. The consequence is the contamination of the distribution of these errors; this distribution presents heavy tails and deviates of the normal distribution. To solve this problem, there is a robust estimator's class, less sensitive to the outliers, which treat the transition between residuals of very different levels in a softer way. The Huber's M-estimators belong to this class. They are associated to a mixed L2 - L1 norm, related to a disturbed Gaussian distribution model, namely gross error model. From this formal context, in this thesis we propose a set of estimation and validation tools of black-box linear and pseudo-linear models, with extension of the noise interval to low values of the tuning constant in the Huber's norm. We present the convergence properties of the robust estimation criterion and the robust estimator. We show that the extension of the noise interval reduces the sensitivity of the bias of the estimator and improves the robustness to the leverage points. Moreover, for a pseudo-linear model structure, we present a new context, named L-FTE, with a new method to determine L, in order to linearize the gradient and the Hessien of estimation criterion and the asymptotic covariance matrix of the estimator. From these expressions, a robust version of the FPE validation criterion is established and we propose a new decisional tool for the estimated model choice. Experiments on simulated and real systems are presented and analyzed.

This dissertation examines the role of the native dialect in non-native perception and production in the specific case of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish as native varieties and of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot as the target. In most second language studies, the learners’ native variety is assumed to be homogenous, regardless of their regional variety. Nevertheless, regional varieties differ in non-trivial ways and such differences need to be considered when analyzing second language acquisition. This dissertation takes shape around the main research question of whether potentially systematic differences between vowels in the native dialects of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish would produce matching phonetic differences in non-native perception and production of English vowels. This question was addressed in three experiments that compared native vowels in these Spanish varieties, as well as the perception and production of the target English vowels as in hat, hut, hot by Cuban and Peninsular Spanish learners. Significant cross-dialectal differences were identified in the production of native vowels, namely, locations of /i, o/, durations of /e, a, o/ as well as different variability patterns, which were predicted to influence mapping of sounds in L2 perception and production. In L2 perception, discrimination for advanced and naïve listeners from each dialect was tested with English contrasts as in hat-hut, hut-hot, and hat-hot. No clear native dialect effect could be identified; however, Cuban advanced listeners obtained high error rates with hut-hot. In L2 production, though, dialect-specific patterns were found: Peninsular learners produced vowels as in hat, hut, hot with significant spectral but no durational differences whereas Cuban learners produced vowels as in hut, hot with no significant spectral but with duration differences. I concluded that the native dialect was one of several factors generating the differences between Peninsular and Cuban participants’ perception and production of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot. The conjoint effect of the native dialect, input and learning experience were shown to have contributed to the distinctions. This finding contributes to second language acquisition research because it stresses the need to control for learners’ native dialect. This research contributed new acoustic data on Cuban Spanish and on L2 English. It uncovered specific patterns and interlanguage strategies of Spanish learners of English.

This dissertation examines the role of the native dialect in non-native perception and production in the specific case of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish as native varieties and of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot as the target. In most second language studies, the learners’ native variety is assumed to be homogenous, regardless of their regional variety. Nevertheless, regional varieties differ in non-trivial ways and such differences need to be considered when analyzing second language acquisition. This dissertation takes shape around the main research question of whether potentially systematic differences between vowels in the native dialects of Cuban and Peninsular Spanish would produce matching phonetic differences in non-native perception and production of English vowels. This question was addressed in three experiments that compared native vowels in these Spanish varieties, as well as the perception and production of the target English vowels as in hat, hut, hot by Cuban and Peninsular Spanish learners. Significant cross-dialectal differences were identified in the production of native vowels, namely, locations of /i, o/, durations of /e, a, o/ as well as different variability patterns, which were predicted to influence mapping of sounds in L2 perception and production. In L2 perception, discrimination for advanced and naïve listeners from each dialect was tested with English contrasts as in hat-hut, hut-hot, and hat-hot. No clear native dialect effect could be identified; however, Cuban advanced listeners obtained high error rates with hut-hot. In L2 production, though, dialect-specific patterns were found: Peninsular learners produced vowels as in hat, hut, hot with significant spectral but no durational differences whereas Cuban learners produced vowels as in hut, hot with no significant spectral but with duration differences. I concluded that the native dialect was one of several factors generating the differences between Peninsular and Cuban participants’ perception and production of English vowels as in hat, hut, hot. The conjoint effect of the native dialect, input and learning experience were shown to have contributed to the distinctions. This finding contributes to second language acquisition research because it stresses the need to control for learners’ native dialect. This research contributed new acoustic data on Cuban Spanish and on L2 English. It uncovered specific patterns and interlanguage strategies of Spanish learners of English.

Lexical inferencing is considered a listening strategy that is commonly employed by advanced EFL (English as a Foreign Language) listeners and a factor that contributes to successful listening comprehension. However, investigations of the factors that influence inferencing success in listening as well as how much each factor contributes to success are scant, as more studies have been conducted exploring lexical inferencing in reading. In addition, even though idiomatic expressions such as smell a rat, jump the gun, and go cold turkey are ubiquitous in the English language, especially in oral communication, and they are considered crucial in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition, little is known about the effectiveness of inferencing strategies where idiomatic expressions are concerned.Three goals motivated the current study. The first goal was to investigate whether inferencing is an effective strategy in the case where the target item is an idiomatic expression. The second goal was to investigate how four person-level factors, familiarity, listening proficiency, listening vocabulary size and working memory, two sentence-level factors, lexical density and sentence length, and two lexical-level factors, L1–L2 congruency and semantic transparency, influence the inferencing success of English idiomatic expressions in listening. The third goal, related to the second goal, was to determine which of the two lexical component factors, L1–L2 congruency and semantic transparency, is more important to inferencing success. A mixed methods design, the explanatory sequential design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018), was employed in this study. Quantitative data were collected from 89 EFL Japanese university students using a Listening Vocabulary Levels Test, a Listening Span Test, and an Idiom Inferencing Elicitation Task. The collected data were examined using mixed-effects logistic regression. Twelve participants were invited to participate in follow-up interviews based on their response patterns on the Idiom Inferencing Elicitation Task. The quantitative results indicated that familiarity, listening comprehension skills, working memory, and L1–L2 congruency were significant factors influencing inferencing success and the qualitative results supported these findings. In addition, the qualitative analyses suggested that depth of vocabulary is another potentially important factor. Furthermore, listening comprehension moderated the L1–L2 congruency effect. The finding that semantic transparency is not an influential factor in successful inferencing of unfamiliar idiomatic expressions provides evidence that the semantic transparency of known idiomatic expressions formed after learners acquire the meaning of the expression is a different construct from the perceived semantic transparency of unfamiliar idiomatic expressions. In addition, even though the sentence-level factors were not statistically significant in successful idiom inferencing in this study, further studies are required in order to see if this result holds true when the characteristics of the listening tasks differ from those of the task used in this study. It is hoped that the findings provide insights into how to help Japanese university EFL learners improve their listening skills, especially in tasks that include unfamiliar idiomatic expressions. / Teaching & Learning

Cette recherche vise à étudier l'efficacité des cours d'espagnol comme langue étrangère, à partir de la perception des étudiants d’espagnol comme langue d’origine. Pour atteindre les résultats et les conclusions obtenus, cette étude qualitative compte sur la participation des répondants hispaniques qui ont appris l'espagnol à la maison, à l'école primaire, au secondaire, au cégep et/ou au collège. Les participants ont répondu à un questionnaire qui leur a permis d'exprimer leur perception à l'égard des cours d’espagnol comme langue étrangère qu'ils ont pris au cours de leur étude primaire, secondaire ou supérieure. Les résultats de cette recherche indiquent que les élèves hispaniques ne sont pas intégrés dans les classes ELE, ce qui motive les participants à poursuivre l’étude de la langue espagnole. Comme expliqué par Gardner (1985) dans sa théorie du modèle socio-éducationnel, l’acquisition des langages intervient dans un contexte culturel spécifique et elle est influencée par la croyance populaire et les différences individuelles. Ces dernières sont intégrées dans le concept du motif d'intégration, qui est composé du sens de l'intégration, de l'attitude envers la situation d'apprentissage et de la motivation. Les réponses données par les participants dans cette étude peuvent être utiles à la conception et au développement de cours et de méthodes d’apprentissage de l’espagnol pour les hispanophones d’origine. En tenant compte de leurs points de vue, les étudiantes auraient un sens plus élevé de l’intégration, ce qui influence directement leur motivation et par le fait même leur processus d’apprentissage. / The purpose of this research is to study the efficiency of Spanish courses from a Heritage Learner’s perspective. This qualitative study examines Hispanics who have learned Spanish at home, in elementary school, in high school, in CEGEP and/or in university. The participants answered a questionnaire that allowed them to express their perception of the Spanish courses that they had taken in their past. The results of this research indicate that L1/L2 users are not integrated in the Spanish classes. Participants demonstrate a reduced sense of motivation for the continuation of these types of courses. Gardner (1985) explains in his socio-educational model theory that language acquisition occurs in a specific cultural context and is influenced by cultural beliefs and individual differences. The latter are integrated in the concept of integrative motive, which is composed of the integrativeness, the attitude toward the learning situation and motivation. The answers given by the participants of this study may be of great help in the design and development of Spanish courses and books for L1/L2 users. By considering their views, students would have a higher sense of integration; an important factor that motivates students to pursue the study of Spanish. / Esta investigación tiene como objetivo final estudiar la eficacia de los cursos de ELE desde la percepción de los usuarios de L1/L2, o aprendices de herencia. Para llegar a los resultados y las conclusiones obtenidos, se realizó un estudio cualitativo que contó con la participación de informantes de origen hispano que han aprendido el español en casa, en la escuela primaria, en la secundaria, en el Cégep y/o en la universidad. Los participantes contestaron un cuestionario que les permitió expresar su percepción con respecto a los cursos de ELE, cursos que habían tomado durante sus estudios primarios, secundarios o superiores. Los resultados de esta investigación demuestran que los estudiantes de L1/L2 no se encuentran integrados en las clases de ELE, hecho que desmotiva a los informantes para continuar en el estudio de la lengua española. Tal y como explica Gardner (1985) en su teoría del Modelo socioeducacional, la adquisición de lenguas ocurre en un contexto cultural determinado, y está influenciada por la creencia popular y por las diferencias individuales. Estas se encuentran integradas en el concepto de motivo integrador, que está compuesto por el sentido de integración, la actitud hacia la situación de aprendizaje y la motivación. Las respuestas dadas por los informantes pueden servir de ayuda para el diseño y la creación de cursos y métodos de español destinados a usuarios de L1/L2. Al tomar en cuenta sus opiniones, los estudiantes tendrían un sentido de integración más alto, hecho que influye directamente en la motivación de los mismos y, por tanto, en su proceso de aprendizaje.

La liaison en français consiste en l’apparition d’une consonne de liaison entre deux mots dans des contextes précis de la chaîne parlée qui sont divisés en trois catégories : les contextes où la liaison est catégorique (un /n/ enfant), ceux où elle est variable (un gros /z/ avion) et ceux où elle est erratique (une chanson // anglaise). L’objectif de cette recherche est double : dans la première partie, nous exposons une analyse de chaque dimension linguistique et sociolinguistique impliquée dans le phénomène de la liaison. Chacune d’entre elles permet d’éclairer les études qui ont été réalisées ces dernières années auprès d’apprenants de FLE de niveau intermédiaire à avancé, afin de découvrir dans quelle mesure ils parviennent à s’approprier la liaison, en perception comme en production. Dans la seconde partie, nous présentons une étude expérimentale de l’appropriation de la liaison en français suivie par 17 apprenants coréens de FLE de niveau A1-A2 du CECRL enregistrés trois fois sur une durée d’un an, ainsi que par 165 enfants francophones natifs de deux à six ans. Comme il est impossible de comparer les deux groupes de participants du fait de conditions environnementales et de compétences cognitives non alignables, nous avons élaboré une méthode innovante d’appariement sur la base de données factuelles. Nos résultats nous permettent non seulement d’étayer le modèle constructionniste de l’acquisition de la liaison L1 (Chevrot, Dugua, & Fayol, 2009; Chevrot, Dugua, Harnois-Delpiano, Siccardi, & Spinelli, 2013) mais aussi d’esquisser le processus d’appropriation de la liaison L2, très influencé par la graphie apprise dès les premiers cours de FLE. Nous concluons par une mise en perspective didactique prenant en compte l’ensemble des prismes de ce kaléidoscope linguistique de la liaison en français car sans une perception claire de chacun d’entre eux, les apprenants de FLE ne peuvent qu’avoir une vision floue du phénomène. / French liaison is the appearance of a liaison consonant between two words in specific contexts within the spoken word chain. These contexts are divided into three categories : those where the liaison is categorical (e.g. “a child” : un /n/ enfant ), those where it is variable (e.g. “a big plane” : un gros /z/ avion) and those where it is forbidden (e.g. “an english song” : une chanson // anglaise ).The aim of this research is twofold. In the first part, we present an analysis of each linguistic and sociolinguistic sub-field involved in the phenomenon of French liaison. Each of them will allow to shed light on studies of the acquisition of French liaison that have been conducted with learners of FFL (intermediate to advanced level) in recent years. In the second part, we present a comparative study of the acquisition of French liaison based on experimental tasks performed by 17 Korean learners of FFL (level A1-A2 of the CEFR) recorded three times over a one-year and by 165 native children aged two to six. As it is impossible to compare the two groups of participants due to environmental conditions and to different cognitive skills, we have developed an innovative matching method based on factual data. On the one hand, this supports the constructionist model of the acquisition of the liaison L1 (Chevrot, Dugua, & Fayol, 2009; Chevrot, Dugua, Harnois-Delpiano, Siccardi, & Spinelli, 2013). On the other hand, this enables us to sketch the acquisition process of the liaison L2, very influenced by the spelling which is learned from the first FFL course. We conclude with a didactic perspective layout taking into account all the prisms of this linguistic kaleidoscope of French liaison because without a clear perception of each one, FFL learners are bound to have a partial and unfocused interpretation of this phenomenon.

Cette thèse renseigne sur la structuration du discours d’écoliers haïtiens à des stades spécifiques de leur acquisition du français langue de scolarisation. A partir de tâche narrative de construction de récit, elle étudie d’une part leur capacité à mettre en mots des événements complexes, à produire un récit structuré et cohérent (analyse macro-structurelle) et, d’autres part, les moyens référentiels qu’ils mobilisent pour introduire, maintenir, réintroduire les protagonistes l’histoire à raconter (analyse micro-structurelle). Les récits ont été recueillis en créole haïtien L1 et en français L2 à partir de la planche narrative les Oisillons. Le corpus est constitué de 160 récits (80 en créole haïtien, 80 en français). Les enquêtés, d’âge et de niveau scolaire différents (9-10 ans/4ème année et de 11-12 ans/6ème année) viennent de 4 écoles différentes de la capitale haïtienne, positionnées différemment sur l’échelle des valeurs sociale et scolaire. L’âge, le niveau scolaire, le contexte d’appropriation du français ont été considérés pour les deux axes d’analyse. Les investigations portent essentiellement sur les récits produits en français L2, langue en cours d’acquisition mais certains éléments sont examinés au regard de la L1. Les résultats d’analyse révèlent principalement une variation importante dans le développement de la capacité narrative et linguistique des sujets en L2 entre les quatre groupes scolaires représentés. Ils montrent par la même occasion l’influence de l’école, lieu principal d’acquisition du français sur le développement des compétences linguistiques des écoliers haïtiens en L2, aspect qui est décrit dans cette présente étude. / This doctoral dissertation provides information on how Haitian pupils structure their written text at specific stages of the process of acquiring French as their academic language. Examining how narrative stories are constructed, on the one hand, the capacity of students to express complex events (macro-structural analysis) and, on the other hand, the referential means that are put to work: introducing, maintaining, and reintroducing the protagonists and the story to tell (micro-structural analysis). Stories have been gathered in Haitian Creole L1 and in French L2 from the story les Oisillons (Young birds). The corpus is made up of 160 stories (80 in Haitian Creole, 80 in French). The pupils surveyed whose age and school level are different (9-10 years old / 4th grade and 11-12 years old / 6th grade) come from 4 different schools of the Haitian capital. These schools occupy different positions on the scale of social and school values. Several factors including age, school level, and acquisition context of the French language have been considered for the two axes of analysis. The research focuses mainly on stories written in French L2, which is the language in the process of being acquired, but some elements of L1 are also examined. The results of the analysis reveal mainly an important variation in the development of the narrative and language capacity of the subjects in L2 between the 4 school groups that are represented. At the same time, it is shown how school which is the main place for the acquisition of French influences the development of language competence of Haitian pupils in L2. This is the point that is described in this study.

No description available.