In response to the dearth of research on culture awareness instruction prior to foreign language instruction, the objective of this study was to explore the effects of culture awareness lessons on learner attitudes and beliefs in second-semester university students of French. As a treatment, the experimental group received lessons on culture awareness prior to traditional French classroom instruction; the control group did not. Culture awareness lessons addressed terms such as perspective, culture, interpretation, and stereotypes. Lessons also included worksheets consisting of open-ended questions designed to capture students' responses to the aforementioned topics of discussion. Data collection methods consisted of pre- and post-surveys that included Likert-scale questions and reflections that incorporated open-ended questions designed to capture student attitudes and beliefs. Reflections included general questions on attitudes toward the French as well as cultural practice-specific questions. Qualitative analysis revealed that students from the experimental group showed greater appreciation for culture as an important component of foreign language instruction as well as higher response rates vis-à -vis intercultural understanding. Statistical analysis of the Likert-scale questions also showed significance among questions addressing greater understanding of cultural differences and increased perceived similarity between American and French cultures among the experimental group. However, the experimental group also showed a decrease in student predilection for studying and talking about culture. In general, the study reveals that the explicit teaching of culture awareness prior to traditional foreign language instruction, in conjunction with the opportunity students had to reflect and express their thoughts, has a positive effect on student attitudes.

No description available.

No description available.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis investigates the second language acquisition of English psych predicates by Chinese-speaking and French-speaking adult learners of English within the Government and Binding Theory. Two major parts comprise the whole work: a study of psych predicates across Chinese, English and French, including verbs like blame and annoy, adjectives such as annoying and annoyed, and nominals like annoyance; and an experiment on Chinese and French learners' knowledge of English psych predicates. / An account of psych predicates is proposed, under which Experiencer Object (EO) verbs are the causatives of Experiencer Subject (ES) verbs, derived by zero affixation. Different D-structures are suggested for the two classes of verbs, solving the linking problem of psych predicates. The binding problem with EO verbs and corresponding -ing adjectives is resolved by the assumption of anaphoric pro, which enables the anaphor to be bound backwards by the antecedent through the extension of chain-binding theory. The Target/Subject Matter (T/SM) restriction is ruled out by a generalization established on the interaction of the zero CAUS and selectional restrictions. / Given the linguistic analysis that EO verbs are made up of a zero CAUS and a root, and the fact that psych adjectives and psych nominals are derived from these verbs, the central hypothesis for the L2 acquisition of English psych predicates hinges on this zero CAUS. It is predicted that if L2 learners of English have difficulty figuring out the causative nature of EO verbs and -ing adjectives, they should have difficulty recognizing the correct argument structure, the ungrammaticality of T/SM violations and the grammaticality of backwards binding with these predicates. A picture identification task, a multiple choice task and a grammaticality judgment and correction task are designed to test L2 learners' knowledge of these properties. The results obtained through the experiment are discussed with respect to the issues in second language acquisition.

This cross-cultural study examined the preferences of 137 Taiwanese EFL students and 97 ESL Quebecois students for specific types of corrective feedback, as well as their attitudes and beliefs about error correction, and those of 12 Taiwanese English instructors and 12 native English teachers in Quebec. All participants completed two questionnaires, the first eliciting overall preferences and attitudes for corrective feedback, and the second eliciting preferences for specific types of feedback aurally modeled through a digital recording designed for the purpose of this study. In addition, a subsample of participants was selected for follow-up interviews. Descriptive analysis of the initial questionnaire coupled with trends found in interview data revealed cross-cultural differences in preferences for types of errors to correct, the use of correction, rates of correction and affective reactions to error correction. However, statistical analysis of the data yielded by the main elicitation instrument revealed similar preferences within both cultural groups, with explicit correction being ranked highest, followed by recasts and then prompts.

Les textes littéraires dans l’enseignement du français, langue étrangère nous montrent l’emploi du lexique et de la morphosyntaxe dans un contexte linguistique, socioculturel et communicatif authentique. Ils motivent en outre les apprenants par un « plaisir de lecture ». Les textes illustrés ou les bandes dessinées renforceront ces objectifs et ils faciliteront encore mieux pour nos étudiants l’accès à la lecture grâce à la complémentarité du texte et de l’image. Astérix en sera le corpus principal, combinant le texte et l’image, la langue, la culture et des connaissances diverses. En comparant les interprétations variées des lecteurs chinois et des lecteurs français sur Astérix chez les Bretons, nous mettons en évidence l’interculturalité franco-chinoise, ce qui facilitera la compréhension de la langue et de la culture françaises. Le public visé est celui des étudiants de 3e année de licence des universités chinoises. Nous exploiterons ainsi la valeur pédagogique d’Astérix, tout en contribuant à la recherche sur l’emploi des textes illustrés et des bandes dessinées dans l’enseignement du FLE en Chine. / Literary texts in teaching French as a foreign language show us the use of an authentic lexicon and morphosyntax, in a linguistic, socio-cultural and communicative context. In addition, they motivate students through « reading pleasure ». Illustrated texts or comics reinforce these objectives, and they facilitate further access of reading by combining text and image. Astérix will be the main corpus, as it combines text and image, language, culture and diverse knowledge. By comparing the various interpretations of Chinese and French readers of Astérix in Great Britain, we bring to the fore Franco-Chinese interculturality, which will facilitate understanding of French language and culture. Chinese students in the third year of university curriculum are our targeted public. We will thus take advantage of the educational value of Astérix, while contributing to research on the use of illustrated texts and comics in teaching French as a foreign language in China.

Cette étude a pour objectif de définir la compétence d’interaction qui constitue l’objet principal de l’évaluation de l’oral en didactique des langues étrangères. Nous considérons qu’elle consiste en la capacité d’interagir avec l’interlocuteur pour mettre en œuvre des ressources multiples dans l’objectif de gérer collectivement une activité de discours adaptée à l’action dans une situation donnée. A travers une démarche empirique, analytique et compréhensive, nous décrivons la manière dont la compétence d’interaction se manifeste en situation d’évaluation. Elle se présente sous la forme de quatre volets : d’abord par la capacité d’interpréter son rôle dans un contexte donné afin de participer à l’organisation globale de l’interaction ; elle se manifeste aussi dans la coordination de l’alternance des tours de parole ; elle se trouve dans le partage de la responsabilité de la co-construction thématique des échanges ; enfin, cette compétence doit prendre en compte la mise en œuvre des stratégies de communication afin de résoudre les problèmes langagiers et interactionnels qui se présentent. Les analyses nous apportent des clarifications sur les enjeux didactiques en ce qui concerne la manière d’évaluer cette compétence. Elles nous conduisent à souligner quatre éléments essentiels dans la constitution du dispositif évaluatif : le scénario, la modalité de préparation, les conditions de réalisation et le barème de notation. Or, la démarche d’évaluation ne s’arrête pas à un dispositif soigneusement élaboré, mais s’effectue également dans sa mise en pratique et dans l’adaptation à un contexte évaluatif donné. Il existe donc un « contrat d’évaluation » qui règle l’organisation de cette activité et précise les droits et les devoirs de l’évaluateur et du candidat. Dans la réalisation du contrat, l’évaluateur doit assurer à la fois le rôle de facilitateur, d’examinateur, d’interlocuteur et d’accompagnateur, ce qui constitue un vrai défi dans l’évaluation en langues et nous donne des orientations pour nos futures recherches / This study aims to define the competence of interaction constituting the main object of oral evaluation in foreign language pedagogy. We consider that this competence consists in the ability to interact with an interlocutor in order to implement multiple resources with the aim of collectively managing speech activity adapted to action in a given situation. Using an analytical and comprehensive empirical approach, we describe how the competence of interaction manifests itself in a situation of evaluation. It takes the form of four components: firstly, the ability to interpret one’s role in a given context in order to participate in the global organization of interaction ; it also manifests itself in the coordination of turn-taking ; in the shared responsibility of the co-construction of the theme of the discourse; and finally in the use of communication strategies to solve language and interactional problems that arise. The analyses enable us to elucidate the pedagogical issues concerning the way to evaluate this competence. Four essential elements can be identified in the composition of the system of evaluation : the script, the type of preparation, the conditions in which it is implemented and the grading scale. The evaluation is not limited to a carefully worked out method ; it also entails the way it is carried out in a specific context. There exists a “contract of evaluation” which regulates the organisation of this activity and defines the rights and duties of the evaluator and the candidate. According to this contract, the evaluator must assume the roles of facilitator, examiner, interlocutor and guide, which constitutes a real challenge in language evaluation and opens up orientations for future research.

No description available.