The purpose of this thesis is to investigate simple Spanish clauses expressing implied will. They represent the way of how we can express our wish or desire without referring us to any addressee. This work consists of two parts, theoretical and modal. The first part is dedicated to the enlightenment of the term of verbal mode. This is considered to be important because these types of clauses are associated with a specific verbal mode, known as subjunctive. We will describe the use of subjunctive in simple clauses in more detail, but without neglecting its alternation with the indicative mode and the issue of an imperative mode, which consists in different approach to the meaning of the verbal mode in Spanish linguistic tradition. The second section of the chapter will then be dedicated to the modality, where we clarify the term and apply it on Spanish language. We will define specific expressions and paradigms that will be dealt with in the practical section. It will consist of a few corpuses analyzes in four different linguistic corpuses, namely InterCorp, Araneum Hispanicum Maius, CORPES XXI and CREA. KEY WORDS subjunctive, modality, wish clauses, Spanish, hable, hablara, deontic modality

A aplicação do subjuntivo português falado em Maputo, Moçambique, é avaliada neste estudo variacionista, utilizando um corpus baseado em 20 entrevistas semiestruturadas de 2007. O objetivo da investigação é identificar e procurar explicações para a alternância do modo subjuntivo, avaliando efeitos potenciais de tendências de simplificação e o contato linguístico com as línguas bantu Ronga e Changana. Os dados identificados são codificados em 17 variáveis, onde a maioria das variáveis independentes são variáveis linguísticas. Os resultados sugerem que o modo subjuntivo é usado em 62,5% dos casos, com a maioria das variáveis seguindo a baixa aplicação. A análise propõe que tendências de simplificação são relevantes para serem consideradas o principal motivador da variedade. Porém, influências das línguas bantu pode afeitar a aplicação de algumas variáveis também. / The application of the Portuguese subjunctive spoken in Maputo, Mozambique, is evaluated in this variationist analysis. The thesis is based on 20 semi-structured interviews from 2007. The objective of the investigation is to identify and seek explanations for the alternation of the subjunctive mode, evaluating potential effects of simplification trends as well as linguistic contact with the Bantu languages Ronga and Changana. The identified data is mapped into 17 variables, out of which the majority of the independent variables are linguistic variables. The results suggest that the subjunctive mode is used in 62.5% of cases, with most variables following the low application. The analysis proposes that simplification trends could be considered the main driver of the variety. However, influences from the Bantu languages can affect the application of some variables as well.

This study examines the interaction between language experience and Spanish morphosyntactic development using longitudinal data of Spanish-English bilingual children with typical language development (TD) and developmental language disorder (DLD). Specifically, this study explores how language exposure and usage influence the production accuracy of articles, direct object clitics and subjunctives across 4 years. Analyses of growth trajectories show that the trajectories differ by both language ability groups and morphosyntactic structures. Among the three grammatical markers, the TD group demonstrates different patterns of growth while the DLD group demonstrates consistent ascending trajectories. The accuracy of articles is the highest in all three markers across 4 years for both TD and DLD groups. The accuracy of direct object clitics in the DLD group increases over time while it decreases slightly in the TD group. The accuracy of subjunctives increases in both TD and DLD groups, but the increase was higher in the DLD group than in the TD group. Results of the generalized linear model (GLM) of the accuracy of three grammatical markers indicate that the contributing factors differ by the marker: language exposure, language usage, language ability group and grade level have significant effects on accuracy of articles; language ability group is the only contributing factor to the production accuracy of direct object clitics; and language exposure, language ability group and grade level significantly influence the production accuracy of subjunctives. Results of the GLM of accuracy at the fourth assessment time also reveal that contributing factors to accuracy of fourth-year performance differ by grammatical markers: a significant effect of accuracy at first observation time for articles and direct object clitics, a significant effect of baseline accuracy for articles and subjunctives, and a significant effect of language ability for subjunctives. These results confirm that articles, direct object clitics and subjunctives are reliable markers of language impairment for Spanish-English bilingual children. This study also describes the specific influence of language experience within the language ability group and grade level. The influence of language experience on production accuracy differs by language ability group and morphosyntactic structures. / Communication Sciences

This study analyzed how six Heritage language learners at the university level gained conscious awareness and control of the concept of modality as revealed in student verbalizations (Vygotsky, 1998) throughout five different written communicative events. This work took place in the only course designed for Heritage language learners at a large public suburban university in the Northeast part of the United States. Grammatical simplification in bilingual speakers is due to incomplete acquisition of Spanish, attrition or loss of an underused linguistic system (Lynch, 1999; Martínez Mira, 2009a, 2009b; Mikulski, 2010b; Montrul, 2007; Ocampo, 1990; Silva-Corvalán, 1990, 1994a, 1994b, 2003; Studerus, 1995). The result of the process of simplification is reduction or loss of forms and/or meanings. In this work, I investigated in which ways Gal’perin’s (1989) systemic-theoretical organized instruction promoted awareness, control and internalization of the concept of modality in three sets of data: definition, discourse and verbalization (Negueruela, 2003). In addition, I examined how the concept of modality emerged and proceeded. By focusing students’ attention in Negueruela’s (2003) Concept of Mood in Spanish orienting chart in a top down fashion, students were able to strengthen their theoretical understanding in practical activity while still accessing empirical knowledge, and eventually generalizing its use in new contexts across nominal, adjectival and adverbial clauses. At the definition level, Gal’perin’s Systemic-theoretical instruction promoted emergence and progress of their conceptual understanding from perceptual to semantic. At the discourse level, students’ theoretically based semantic understanding had a positive impact as revealed in student’s discourse progress throughout tasks. At the verbalization level, semantic, abstract and systematic verbalizations showed students’ emergence of awareness of the interrelated categories of modality. The conceptual category of anticipation was appropriately verbalized and contextualized 68% of the time. The absence of quality verbalizations referring to a specific conceptual category in some students lead me to conclude that students did not fully understand the meaning of some conceptual categories. On the contrary, their presence in any of the tasks showed emergence of conceptual meaning(s) in appropriate contexts, further appropriate recontextualization may provide full awareness and control.

<p dir="ltr">This study investigates the acquisition of obligatory and variable subjunctive across modality type among child heritage speakers of Spanish. Specifically, it focuses on the production of obligatory and variable subjunctive in deontic, epistemic, and epistemological predicates, and the role of extralinguistic factors such as chronological age, proficiency and language exposure/use in the use of the subjunctive.</p><p dir="ltr">The subjunctive mood, known for its grammatical complexities, has been extensively studied among heritage speakers. Previous research has documented difficulties in the mastery of the subjunctive mood with Spanish heritage speakers showing lower rates of subjunctive use in variable contexts, but higher rates in obligatory contexts (Montrul, 2007, 2009; Silva-Corvalán, 1994; Van Osch & Sleeman, 2018). These findings have been taken as evidence of interface vulnerability effects in the acquisition of mood. Nonetheless, recent studies by Lustres et al. (2020) and Perez-Cortes (2021) have suggested that differences between obligatory and variable subjunctive might be mitigated if the modality of the predicates is controlled. This study builds upon existing literature that emphasize the role of modality in language acquisition (Blake, 1983; Merino, 1983; Silva-Corvalán, 1994) and employs a comparative analysis to examine whether child heritage speakers of Spanish exhibit similar patterns of subjunctive use as their monolingual peers and parents. The study contributes to heritage language research by incorporating child participants, filling a significant gap in existing literature predominantly focused on adult heritage speakers.</p><p dir="ltr">Thirty child heritage speakers of Spanish (age range: 6;5 - 12;8, <i>M=</i> 9;11, <i>SD=</i>1.91), thirty monolingual children from Mexico (age range: 6;0 - 12;2, <i>M=</i> 9;46, <i>SD=</i>2.17), fifteen immigrant parents (age range: 29 - 47, <i>M=</i> 39;27, <i>SD=</i>6.56) and fifteen monolingual parents (age range:<b> </b>25 - 45<b>, </b><i>M=</i> 34;67, <i>SD=</i>6.87) completed an elicited production task. The results revealed significant differences in subjunctive use between groups. The heritage children were outperformed by the monolingual children and parents as they exhibited lower subjunctive use. However, there was variability in their production. The results showed that the heritage children employed the subjunctive more frequently in deontic contexts than in epistemic and epistemological contexts. Similarly, monolingual children showed high subjunctive usage in deontic and epistemic contexts but lower usage in epistemological contexts. No differences were observed between obligatory and variable contexts within the same modality. These findings challenge previous assertions regarding the influence of selection type and underscore the significance of modality in research of mood. Despite variability within participants, the results indicated that the subjunctive production was influenced by the participants’ age and proficiency levels. High proficiency along with increased age led to a higher proportion of subjunctive. These findings provide support to the Bilingual Alignment approach and the activation approach which relates differences in heritage grammars to the degree of activation of each language on the mind.</p>

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le domaine de la linguistique applicable, discipline médiane entre linguistique et didactique, qui s’intéresse aux contenus grammaticaux proposés pour l’enseignement. On y aborde la problématique de la grammaire sous l’angle exclusif de l’acquisition du FLE (français langue étrangère), et la première partie de la thèse est consacrée à une mise au point théorique dans les études psycholinguistiques et didactiques. La deuxième partie examine la méthodologie relative à la grammaire dans les ressources pour l’enseignement-apprentissage du FLE, les manuels et les ouvrages de référence grammaticaux, ainsi que sur les cd-rom et les sites internet consacrés au FLE. Les contenus relatifs au subjonctif ont été recensés dans ces supports pédagogiques, et on peut aisément montrer qu’ils ne correspondent pas aux usages réels de la langue. Faut-il préférer le silence ou le mensonge métalinguistique ?Si l’on ne peut se résoudre à aucune de ces options, peut-on reposer la question de l’apport de la linguistique à la didactique ?Répondant par l’affirmative, la troisième partie de la thèse passe en revue les théories linguistiques abordant le subjonctif :sémantiques, syntaxiques, générativistes, mentalistes, énonciatives, psychomécaniques, etc. Pour passer de la linguistique théorique à la didactique, un concept novateur est nécessaire :la valeur d’applicabilité. Elle est définie comme la tendance d’une théorie linguistique à être plus ou moins transposable pour l’enseignement-apprentissage. Les critères de cette valeur sont empruntés à des domaines variés, comme la philosophie des sciences, la lisibilité, et bien sûr la didactique. Le passage en revue des théories linguistiques montre que la théorie la plus transposable est celle de Marc Wilmet, mais qu’elle est ne rencontre pas tous les critères de la valeur d’applicabilité. Différentes propositions d’aménagement de la théorie guillaumienne, qui a inspiré celle de Wilmet, prennent place dans la suite de ce travail, et, même si elles ont une valeur d’applicabilité plus élevée, elles ne rencontrent pas non plus tous les critères. Enfin, cette thèse propose une théorie applicable qui concerne le subjonctif, mais aussi, plus largement, les modes français :infinitif, subjonctif et indicatif. Cette théorie fait appel à un principe explicatif unique :l’ancrage. Ancrer signifie lier le procès, par la personne et/ou le temps, au repère choisi par l’énonciateur pour l’énonciation. L’infinitif n’ancre pas le procès, le subjonctif l’ancre sur le plan de la personne et l’indicatif ancre le procès par le temps et la personne. L’ancrage est un terme simple, imagé, métaphorique, qui permettra aux apprenants de comprendre à moindre coût le système des modes français. La théorie permet de prédire les emplois dans un très grand nombre de cas, et cela, avec l’avantage d’une grande économie conceptuelle.<p>Les emplois du subjonctif français sont passés en revue à la lumière de cette théorie, ainsi que les nombreux cas de concurrence entre les modes. Enfin, on propose une séquence applicable, composée d’une synthèse sur les modes et d’explications sur le fonctionnement des emplois du subjonctif français, et incluant une progression des contenus grammaticaux. Cette ultime partie fait donc le lien avec le début de la thèse, et profite des recherches sur la grammaire en psycholinguistiques et en didactique.<p>En conclusion, cette thèse ouvre la voie à une rénovation profonde des contenus grammaticaux pour l’enseignement, tant pour le FLE que pour le FLM, car, si la grammaire française est réputée difficile, c’est peut-être autant dû à une inadéquation entre les règles et les usages donc à des lacunes de ses descriptions, qu’à une complexité inhérente au fonctionnement de la langue.<p><p> / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Master of Arts / Modern Languages / Earl K. Brown / Considerable research exists on subjunctive versus indicative mood patterns of use by both native and L2 speakers of Spanish. Though intermediate level textbooks expose L2 learners to the various tenses of the subjunctive mood, literature has shown that students still struggle with its implementation in their discourse, and various reasons are offered. Little has been done to analyze the prescribed uses that textbooks offer to students regarding mood selection and how these prescribed uses may differ from what Spanish speakers do in real life. The paper first offers a brief explanation of L2 learners’ mood selection in Spanish, followed by a description of Spanish moods and the realis/irrealis dichotomy that is often placed at the center of Spanish mood selection in the literature. Following this, the study offers an analysis of six intermediate level Spanish textbooks’ prescribed uses of two past subjunctive tenses (present perfect and imperfect), as prior research has shown an overlap in the functions of their indicative counterparts. The textbook analysis is then compared to a corpus composed of messages sent on the social media platform Twitter, containing one of six emotive phrases as main clauses, with three in present, three in preterit. The results show that Spanish-speaking users of Twitter employ the prescribed subjunctive mood more often when the verb in the main clause is expressed in the preterit instead of the present, though no such tendency is discussed in the textbooks. The results also reveal an overlap in the functions of the past tense subjunctive moods. The present perfect subjunctive (i.e. haya trabajado ‘has worked’) is used in the subordinate clause nearly 40% of the time with emotive verbal main clauses expressed in the preterit, where the imperfect subjunctive would normally be expected according to prescriptive norms. This pattern of use is not discussed in any of the analyzed textbooks. A discussion of the limitations of the study, implications for textbook writers and further research then follow.

Le présent projet vise à mieux comprendre les difficultés reliées à l’acquisition du subjonctif en français langue seconde chez les apprenants adultes. Nous tenterons plus particulièrement de déterminer les différents facteurs influant sur son acquisition. Nous présenterons dans un premier temps les théories de l’acquisition des langues, depuis ses débuts dans les années 50 jusqu’à aujourd’hui, afin de faire la lumière sur les différents facteurs impliqués dans l’acquisition d’une deuxième langue à l’âge adulte. Nous nous pencherons ensuite sur le cas spécifique du subjonctif en français. Dans la littérature, il est généralement accepté que ce mode est difficile à acquérir en raison de ses règles d’usage complexes et propres au français. Nous verrons par contre que certaines études contredisent le fait que le subjonctif se retrouve sous des formes complexes dans la langue parlée courante. Nous terminerons donc par une description du subjonctif et de ses règles d’usage. Cette description nous permettra de saisir le vaste éventail des emplois possibles et de le mettre, par la suite, en parallèle avec celui trouvé dans la langue parlée. Dans les deux dernières parties de ce travail, nous analyserons et discuterons des différents facteurs impliqués dans l’acquisition de ce mode. L’analyse de cinq études traitant du subjonctif en français langue première et seconde nous permettra d’abord de démontrer que, contrairement aux idées reçues dans la littérature, la complexité des règles d’usage du subjonctif n’affecte pas son acquisition. Nous verrons en fait que les occurrences du subjonctif en français parlé sont rares et leurs formes, relativement simples. Nous montrerons ensuite que la cause principale des difficultés d’acquisition est l’incapacité à remarquer facilement ce mode dans la langue cible en raison de sa faible fréquence et saillance, c'est-à-dire sa capacité à ressortir par rapport aux autres éléments de la phrase. Nous verrons également que le subjonctif s’acquiert tardivement parce que son développement dépend de celui des phrases complexes dans lesquelles il se trouve obligatoirement. / This project aims at understanding the difficulties related to the acquisition of the French subjunctive in second language adult learners. More specifically, we will try to determine the different elements involved in its acquisition. To begin with, we will present language theories from the 1950s to the present in order to shed light on the various elements affecting second language acquisition in adults. We will then look specifically at the situation of the French subjunctive. The subjunctive mode is generally described in the literature as difficult to acquire because its usages are complex and unique to the French language. However, as we will see, some studies have proven that the subjunctive in oral French is in fact quite simple. We will end this section by describing the subjunctive and its applications. This description will demonstrate the wide theoretical range of these applications which we will later compare with those found in everyday oral French. In the last two sections of this work, we will analyze and discuss the results of five studies on the use of the subjunctive in French as a first and second language. First, we will demonstrate that, contrary to the received idea in the literature, the complexity of subjunctive applications does not affect its acquisition. We will in fact show that in spoken language, the subjunctive is rarely used, while its applications are relatively simple. We will then show that the main cause of its difficulty lies with the incapacity of learners to notice those verbs in the input due to its low frequency and its relatively slight saliency (in other words, its conspicuousness). We will also see that the acquisition of the subjunctive tends to be delayed in the learning process, largely because that acquisition is dependent on the development of the complex sentences in which it is found.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-05-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:07:43Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_rma_me_sjrp.pdf: 736092 bytes, checksum: b045dc53ffec1fa69362c507c4f820ee (MD5) / O estudo da variação de modo em estruturas complexas reveste-se de um interesse especial, em virtude de o modo verbal se manifestar morfologicamente, mas o seu uso estar fortemente determinado pelas relações que se manifestam no interior de um complexo oracional. Sendo assim, assumimos como tarefa investigar a manifestação do modo subjuntivo em estruturas complexas utilizando como principal ferramenta a Teoria da Variação Lingüística (LABOV, 1972). A utilização desse aparato como instrumento de investigação de um fenômeno morfossintático, entretanto, requer cuidado, já que há, no interior dos estudos lingüísticos, debates acalorados acerca da pertinência de investigar fenômenos para além do nível fonológico adotando a perspectiva da Teoria da Variação. Para realizarmos essa investigação utilizamos dois corpora: Discurso & Gramática, que contém amostras de fala da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, e Iboruna, com amostras de fala da região noroeste do Estado de São Paulo. Do conjunto de variáveis lingüísticas postulado, foram selecionadas pelo programa estatístico apenas três variáveis lingüísticas: carga semântica do predicado matriz, grau de certeza epistêmica e tipo de oração subordinada. Desse modo, no cálculo da regra variável, os resultados gerais apontam que o subjuntivo é favorecido: (i) em orações encaixadas em predicados não-factivos volitivos, e (ii) em orações condicionais irreais e potenciais. É desfavorecido em: (i) orações temporais provenientes de relatos de procedimento, (ii) em orações condicionais reais, e (iii) em orações encaixadas em predicados indiferentes de opinião, bicondicionais e emotivos/avaliativos. Como variáveis sociais possivelmente correlacionadas ao fenômeno investigado, compuseram nosso envelope de variação: (i) escolaridade; (ii) sexo; e, (iii) procedência do informante (identificada pelos corpora... / The study of mood variation in complex structures needs a special interest, since verbal mood is marked morphologically, but its use is highly determined through the relations which take place within the complex structure. In this way, we aim at investigating the manifestation of the subjunctive mood in complex structures using as main tool the Theory of Linguistic Variation (LABOV, 1972). The use of this theory as the investigation instrument of a syntactic phenomenon, however, requires some care, since there are, in the linguistic studies, vehement debates about the relevance of studying phenomena outside the phonological level adopting the Variation Theory perspective. In order to carry out this research, we used two corpora: Discurso & Gramática, which contains a sample of spoken language from Rio de Janeiro city, and Iboruna, with samples of spoken language from the northeast region of the state of São Paulo. From the group of linguistic variables postulated, only three of them were selected: semantic value of the matrix predicate, level of epistemic certainty and kind of subordinate clause. Thus, in the calculation of the variable rule, the general results show that the subjunctive is favored: (i) in clauses embedded in non-factive volitional predicates, and (ii) in unreal and potential conditional clauses. It is disfavored in: (i) temporal clauses from proceeding reports, (ii) in real conditional clauses, and (iii) in clauses embedded in indifferent of opinion, biconditional and emotive/evaluative predicates. The social variables probably correlated to the investigated phenomenon are: (i) education level; (ii) sex/gender; and, (iii) informant's origin (identified by the corpora used). After the investigation of the social variables, we noted that the variable use of the subjunctive mood is not related to social factors, since the subjunctive behavior manifests in a homogeneous way among the factors of the social variables considered.

Ce travail vise à déterminer s’il existe ou non une norme du subjonctif en français préclassique, et dans l’affirmative de la décrire et de la saisir. D’un point de vue morphologique, on constate que le français préclassique simplifie les paradigmes du subjonctif par un effet d’analogie, alors que l’ancien français avait tendance à les différencier nettement de l’indicatif. Nous noterons de plus l’importance du yod « désactualisant » qui se généralise aux première et seconde personnes du pluriel, devenant le marqueur privilégié de l’indétermination. La syntaxe du subjonctif de cette période se caractérise par une exceptionnelle liberté, la seule règle suivie par le locuteur étant d’utiliser le subjonctif lorsque l’énoncé appartient au « monde des possibles » et l’indicatif lorsqu’il entre dans le « monde du probable » (terminologie empruntée à Robert Martin). Aussi, tout au long de la période préclassique le système modal ne connaît aucune servitude grammaticale, n’obéissant à aucune règle mécanique mais seulement à des tendances et à une concordance d’ordre cinétique et modal. Malgré cette autonomie, le subjonctif est souvent écarté au bénéfice de l’indicatif, auquel nous incluons la forme en –rais, quand le discours ne traduit aucun effet stylistique ou rhétorique, car l’indicatif indique précisément le temps sur la chronogénèse. En revanche l’image temporelle du subjonctif est incomplète et insécable, « amorphe » et « in fieri » (terminologie de Gustave Guillaume). Pourtant, malgré cette inhérente imprécision temporelle, le subjonctif demeure irremplaçable en français préclassique pour son extraordinaire poésie. / The purpose of this work is to determinate whether or not a method of subjunctive mode existed in Preclassic French, and in the affirmative, to describe and to explain it. From a morphological point of view, we notice Preclassic French was the age of simplification and analogy, while medieval system was marked, on the contrary, by a tendency to differentiate the subjunctive’s forms in a characteristic way. Besides, the presence of the yod at first and second plural persons becomes widespread, expressing in a better way the indetermination and “desactualisation” compared to the medieval system devoid of the yod. Regarding the syntax of the subjunctive mode during this period, it is characterized by an incredible freedom: the only rule actually followed by the speaker consisted, in case of doubt, in using the subjunctive tense, the “world of the possible”, in opposition to the “world of the likely” which is specific to the indicative mode, both concepts belonging to Robert Martin’s terminology. All along the aforesaid historical period, it is particularly interesting to see to what extent the modal system remains free from restrictive grammatical regulations. Indeed, the subjunctive mode doesn’t obey mechanical rules, except some tendencies. It only obeys kinetic and modal concordances. Despite its autonomy, subjunctive mode was nevertheless frequently ruled out to the benefit of indicative mode, including the “forme en –rais”, especially when authors showed no interest in stylistic or rhetorical effects. In a matter of fact, while indicative mode gives a precise indication of the time, mental representation of the verb within the subjunctive has the distinctive characteristic to be incomplete and indivisible as well, qualified as “amorphe” and “in fieri” according to Guillaume’s terminology. However, despite its inherent temporal imprecision, writers of that time widely used the subjunctive mode, judged exceptionally poetic and therefore irreplaceable.