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Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2016

Aarnes Gudmestad  and
Amanda Edmonds
Aarnes Gudmestad*
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Amanda Edmonds
Affiliation:
Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour
*
agudmest@vt.edu
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Abstract

This study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n = 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n = 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n = 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

Résumé

Cette étude cherche à faire progresser notre compréhension de l'acquisition de la référence temporelle au futur en français langue seconde, en comparant les trajectoires développementales d'apprenants vivant ou non dans le milieu de la langue-cible. Des apprenants participant à un séjour en France (n = 45), d'autres vivant aux États-Unis (n = 37) et des locuteurs natifs du français hexagonal (n = 30) ont participé à la présente étude. Ils ont réalisé une tâche d’écriture contextualisée et un test de compétence linguistique, et répondu à un questionnaire de profil linguistique. Pour chaque item d’écriture contextualisée, les participants devaient choisir parmi trois réponses de forme différente (futur fléchi, futur périphrastique, présent). Les items étaient conçus pour tester l'influence de trois facteurs sur la forme choisie : la présence ou l'absence d'un indicateur temporel lexical, la distance temporelle et la certitude. Nous avons également examiné deux facteurs extralinguistiques : le contexte d'apprentissage et le niveau de compétence. Les analyses de fréquence et de régression multinomiale logistique suggèrent qu'en dépit de développements similaires entre les contextes d'apprentissage, la trajectoire acquisitionnelle des apprenants participant à un échange linguistique et celle des apprenants en contexte américain ne sont pas identiques.

Keywords

L2 variationfuture-time referenceFrenchlearning contextL2 developmentvariation en langue seconderéférence temporelle au futurfrançaiscontexte d'apprentissagedéveloppement en langue seconde
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 61 , Issue 3: Future temporal reference in French/La référence temporelle au futur en français , November 2016 , pp. 259 - 285
Copyright
© Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2016 

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