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摘要：English-speakers' learning of a French vowel contrast (/(schwa)/-/o/) was examined under six different stimulus conditions in which contrastive and noncontrastive stimulus dimensions were varied orthogonally to each other. The distribution of contrastive cues was varied across training conditions to create single prototype, variable far (from the category boundary), and variable close (to the boundary) conditions, each in a single talker or a multiple talker version. The control condition involved identification of gender appropriate grammatical elements. Pre- and posttraining measures of vowel perception and production were obtained from each participant. When assessing pre- to posttraining changes in the slope of the identification functions, statistically significant training effects were observed in the multiple voice far and multiple voice close conditions.

摘要：This study examines the roles of proficiency and working memory (WM) capacity in second-/foreign-language (L2) learners' processing of agreement morphology. It investigates the processing of grammatical and ungrammatical short- and long-distance number agreement dependencies by native English speakers at two proficiencies in French, and the relationship between their proficiency and WM capacity in French and their sensitivity to agreement violations. Native English speakers at mid- and high proficiencies in French and native French speakers completed an acceptability judgment task, a self-paced reading task, and a WM task in French, and the English speakers also completed a WM task in English. The results showed that whereas all participants performed at ceiling on the acceptability judgment tasks, only the high-level L2 learners and native speakers showed some sensitivity to number agreement violations. For L2 learners, this sensitivity did not vary as a function of the length of the agreement dependency. The results also indicated that L2 learners tended to be more sensitive to agreement violations as their WM memory capacity in French increased. The implications of these results for theories of L2 morphological processing are discussed.

摘要：We assessed the language, cognitive, and socioemotional abilities of 27 internationally adopted children from China, adopted by French-speaking parents, 12 of whom had been assessed previously by Gauthier and Genesee. The children were on average 7 years, 10 months old and were matched to nonadopted monolingual French-speaking children on age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Although there were no significant differences between the groups with respect to socioemotional and cognitive development, the adoptees scored significantly lower than the controls on measures of receptive grammar, expressive vocabulary, word definitions, and sentence recall, findings that were similar to those reported by Gauthier and Genesee. Analyses of correlations between the adopted children's language test results and their age at adoption, length of exposure to the adoption language, health, and other developmental problems revealed relatively few significant associations. In contrast, analyses of the relationship between their language test scores and their performance on the recalling sentences subtest suggest a link between performance on these two tests. We speculate on the role that performance on sentence recall might play in mediating differences in language outcomes between the two groups of children.

摘要：This study explored the developed and acquired critical competence of a group of American learners of French as a second language (L2), intermediate level, within a virtual learning environment (VLE). In this VLE, students had to resolve complex problems in a collaborative way. The study focused on the concept of negotiation and co-construction of meaning as a paradigmatic phenomenon of emerging critical competence for learners of a foreign language. It first aimed to evaluate the nature of discourse schemas produced by these learners when chatting in the VLE in order to find out what these schemas indicated about the quality of the critical competence of these learners. Furthermore, this study wanted to explore the learners' perception of the impact of their immersion within the VLE on the development of their critical competence in French in order to better inform the way VLEs should be used in foreign language courses. This study was based on a mixed methods research protocol that favoured the complementarity of quantitative and qualitative data in order to increase the results' validity and credibility. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The purpose of this article is to offer contextual linguistic explanations for morphosyntactic deviances (MSDs) in high-level second language (L2) French (30 nonnative speakers vs. 10 native speakers). It is hypothesized that the distribution of formulaic sequences (FSs) and the complexity of information structure will influence the occurrence of MSDs. The study reports that MSDs rarely occur within FSs, and if they do, they occur within sequences containing open slots for creative rule application. The rhematic part of the utterance attracts more MSDs due to the fact that this part is more syntactically complex than the preamble (the thematic part). An additional explanation is the mean length of the rhematic part, which is longer than the preamble and implies a higher processing load. A final explanation of MSD occurrence in the rheme is linked to the distribution of FSs in the information structure. The results are discussed in relation to the ongoing debate on the constructs of complexity, accuracy, and fluency -- a promising area of study. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study adopts a case study approach to investigate the impacts of synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) learning environments on learners' perception of social presence. The participants were twelve French as a foreign language (FFL) beginners in a Taiwanese university. Divided into three groups, they conducted some tasks in three different learning environments (video/audio, audio and face-to-face) during an academic semester. Before each oral task, all the participants had to conduct the same task in synchronous text chat. The participants' interview transcriptions, learning journals and the instructor's observation journal provided information about the impacts of each environment on their perception of social presence. The results of the study suggested that the differences in the environments are reflected in the learners' perception of social presence. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examines aspects of the syntax-discourse interface in near-native French. Two cleft structures-c'est clefts and avoir clefts-are examined in experimental and spontaneous conversational data from 10 adult Anglophone learners of French and ten native speakers of French. C'est clefts mark focus, and avoir clefts introduce new discourse referents. Although previous research on the syntax-discourse interface has revealed residual difficulties in near-native speakers, the near-natives in the present study evinced nativelike behavior on a range of measures, a finding that suggests complete acquisition of aspects of the syntax-discourse interface. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports on a study on learning new and relearning forgotten words of French as a foreign language in young (mean age 22.4), middle-aged (mean age 50.3), and elderly speakers (mean age 76.0). The three age groups performed similarly on relearning old words, but the younger learners were significantly better at learning new words. Data from a questionnaire on contact with French and a working-memory test showed that neither diminished language contact nor age-related decline in working memory can be seen as single factors explaining differences between learning and relearning. The decline in older adults' ability to learn new lexical information is discussed in terms of theories explaining age-related memory deficits and conceived of as an age-related deficiency to form associations between unrelated concepts. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study investigates the effects of sentence writing (SW) on second language (L2) lexical retention by comparing two word-learning conditions: writing new words in sentences and repeated word-picture viewing. L2 learners of French and Korean attempted to learn 24 new words: 12 words with one condition and 12 words with another condition. Dependent measures were one immediate and two delayed post-tests that required participants to produce target word forms. Results for both language groups revealed negative effects for SW, suggesting that SW can impede word-form learning during the initial stages of L2 vocabulary learning. Furthermore, the finding that the Korean learners' scores were much lower than the French learners' scores under the SW condition suggests that SW may result in even less retention when the L2 script is far more distant from one's first language (L1), thereby supporting the impact of L1-L2 orthographic distance on L2 word learning and retention. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study aims to investigate whether teaching vocabulary in immersion courses in two instructional contexts results in improvements in lexical acquisition. It was conducted with 11 students of law and 13 students of history who were enrolled in adjunct language courses linked to immersion courses at the University of Ottawa. Each week, for one university semester, the students completed a series of activities related to discipline vocabulary drawn from their readings or lectures. The participants' gains in target vocabulary knowledge were determined using pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests. The gains were compared for vocabulary items that were acquired incidentally and those that were explicitly taught. This study takes into account the specific characteristics of the vocabulary related to each discipline, how the vocabulary appears in the discipline course, and how it will have implications for the best pedagogical approach for the two language courses. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Nurses working in their second language (L2) face different language-related problems in clinical practice, among which is the difficulty to understand patients' accents or the colloquial phrases they use. These results come as no surprise as L2 teaching is often implicitly oriented toward the acquisition of the standard level of the target language. In order to incorporate a greater linguistic diversity into L2 teaching, the concept of a pedagogical norm, which reflects the observable linguistic behaviour of target language speakers, can be used. The present study aims to establish the pedagogical norm to adopt in the French as a second language education of nursing science students living in a French minority environment. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study explores the impact of concept map strategy on the understanding of second language information texts. Sixty-nine adult learners of French as a second language (FSL) in a Montreal francophone university were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. After reading an information text, both groups answered a comprehension questionnaire as a pre-test survey. The experimental group then participated in four weekly preparation sessions. After each session, proper understanding of the text studied was assessed through a comprehension survey composed of literal and inferential questions. One week after the last session, both groups of learners were evaluated using the same comprehension questionnaire that had been used as a pre-test. Results show that the experimental group tend to obtain higher scores than the control group on the immediate post-tests, either for the global score (3 of the 4 texts), or for the literal questions score (2 of the 4 texts), or for the inferential questions score (2 of the 4 texts). Moreover, a comparison of the pre- and post-test results shows that students from the experimental group were able to transfer their literal comprehension skills, but they could not, however, transfer their inferential comprehension skills. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports on an investigation into the development of the listening proficiency and strategic behaviour of 15 lower-intermediate learners of French in England. We consider whether listeners remain in the same listening proficiency group after six months, and whether changes in strategy use are related to movement or non-movement between listening proficiency groups. We also examine whether learners' strategic behaviour reflects their teachers' approaches to listening. Data were gathered at two time points from a recall protocol which learners completed after listening to short passages and from verbal reports made by learners while they completed a multiple choice listening task. Teacher interviews provided information on how listening had been presented in learners' classrooms. We detected little movement by students across the listening proficiency groups between the two time points. In spite of some changes in frequency of strategy use, we also observed stability in manner of use by some learners. Differences in strategy use were more evident between groups (non-movers, improvers and decliners) than between uses from Time 1 to Time 2. We conclude by discussing the pedagogical implications of these findings. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：This study examines the placement of finite and nonfinite lexical verbs and finite light verbs (LVs) in semispontaneous production and elicited imitation of adult beginning learners of German and French. Theories assuming nonnativelike syntactic representations at early stages of development predict variable placement of lexical verbs and consistent placement of LVs, whereas theories assuming nativelike syntax predict variability for nonfinite verbs and consistent placement of all finite verbs. The results show that beginning learners of German have consistent preferences only for LVs. More advanced learners of German and learners of French produce and imitate finite verbs in more variable positions than nonfinite verbs. This is argued to support a structure-building view of second-language development. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article presents 2 case studies of intermediate university students of French, Casey and Melanie (both pseudonyms), and their developing use and understanding of stylistic variation over the course of an academic semester. It draws from a variety of data sources: classroom observation, learners' explanations of stylistic variants, learners' analyses of variation in transcriptions of spoken French, interlearner online chat discussions, and interviews with a teacher-researcher in French and English. The two case studies illustrate two dramatically different orientations to variation among second language learners of French. On the one hand, Casey uses variation during class assignments, and she is capable of creating and assigning social and symbolic meaning through its use. Yet variation for Casey remains an academic achievement and she resists incorporating variation into her natural speech. On the other hand, Melanie embraces variation as a mediating artifact that will afford her access to social, interpersonal interaction in the future, and enable her to engage in "being Melanie" in this additional language. In both cases, however, the importance of their personal histories, the role of language learning in their lives, and desired future access to French-speaking communities of practice beyond a school setting come into sharp relief. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The present study examined how American learners of French perceived the influence of instruction on their existing stereotypes about the French people to determine the effects of these stereotypes on their language learning and cultural openness. During a semester, 22 undergraduate students, all native English speakers enrolled in 4 sections of first-semester French at a large Midwestern university were interviewed 3 times via Instant Messenger. The data analysis revealed that, for some participants, the information received during instruction was selectively interpreted (Barna, 1998; Bennett, 1998) through the lenses of beliefs and images present in their habitus (Bourdieu, 1982), with as a result the reinforcement of preexisting stereotypes and impressions. This article focuses on 3 participants who, at some point during the semester, identified a stereotype about the French people and how they believed their instructor or the instructional material participated in its reinforcement. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports analysis of data collected from a quasi-experimental study in 2 Canadian late French immersion science classes. We examine if, how, and when the first language (L1) is used when students in the first years of their second language learning talk about complex science concepts. We compare differences in groups following a 2-month intervention. Specifically, we study differences in complexity of oral utterances, and differences in use of L1 in oral utterances after participating in an intervention using a literacy-based approach, or the typical, district-prescribed approach. Furthermore, we assess whether increased use of the L1 in complex content statements is positively associated with gains in French and science knowledge. Advanced statistical analyses linked the complexity of student utterances with language use, written skills in French, and performance in science. In this way, this article makes a significant contribution to the existing body of literature on this important topic. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examined the relationships between decoding ability (the ability to relate graphemes to phonemes) in French as a foreign language, self-reported use of such decoding, and dimensions of motivation, specifically self-efficacy and attribution, among young-beginner learners in England. It investigated whether these factors were related to a desire to continue studying the language beyond the compulsory learning age of 14. Previous research has found low levels of motivation for learning the language after only a few years of instruction and a number of authors have called for research to discover why this should be. With a large stratified sample of participants aged 11-14, decoding ability was elicited via written rhyme and word segmentation tests. Self-efficacy, attribution, perceptions of learning French and use of decoding were elicited via self-reported statements. Findings suggest that, after 3 years of studying French, students were unable to decode accurately even though they claimed to use decoding regularly in a range of language learning tasks. At all stages of learning, students' ability to decode, together with their belief that they could do it, appeared to contribute to the likelihood of their continuing with French study. They attributed inability to decode not to the teacher or teaching method but to the "strangeness" of French. Given the potential generalizability of these results, important implications for teaching and for curriculum review are drawn. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The defining feature of immersion language learning is the omnipresent pressure to communicate in the second language (L2), even as incipient skills are being acquired. This study uses the focused essay technique to investigate ambivalence about communicating among adolescent French immersion students (12-14 years of age). Students described situations in which they were most willing to communicate (241 entries received) and situations in which they were least willing to communicate (179 entries received). Responses reveal complex interrelations among linguistic development, L2 self-development, and the nonlinguistic issues that typically face adolescents. Most frequently, students discussed communication with teachers and friends in a school context, but other entries described situations outside the classroom, with extended family or encounters with media. Perceived competence and error correction were identified as major issues. Students also described feeling excluded or mocked because of their status as immersion students, but at other times they used language to form a secret club to exclude or poke fun at other people. Although we found substantial similarities between situations in which students are most or least willing to communicate, they can be differentiated by subtle changes in context that affect the authenticity of communication and needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The study reported in this article investigates the development of sociolinguistic competence among second-year (US university-level) L2 learners of French who were given systematic instruction on sociolinguistic variation as part of their normal coursework. We focus on the variable use of the negative morpheme ne in verbal negation. Drawing from learners' explanations of ne presence versus absence, their analyses of two texts representing different levels of discourse, and their own small-group inter-learner online chat discussions, we examine the link between conceptual understanding of variation in French and these learners' development of conscious control over variation. We show that properly organized pedagogical activity can help learners to develop their understanding of variable features of discourse, which ultimately leads (to) the development of their performance abilities. We present both quantitative and qualitative analyses of learners' performance to illustrate their developing control over variation in French, which begins to emerge as a sociolinguistic resource by the end of the academic term. Adapted from the source document