Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

À la recherche de la morphologie silencieuse : sur le développement du pluriel en francais L2 écrit

Ågren, Malin LU (2008) In Études Romanes de Lund 84.
Abstract
This dissertation deals with the morphological development in written L2 French by Swedish learners. The thesis presents a detailed analysis of number marking and agreement in NPs and VPs, focusing mainly on the production of the morphemes –s (in NP) and the third person plural –nt (in VP). These agreements are particularly interesting in French where number morphology is often silent in the oral language and thus potentially difficult to produce in writing.

The aim of the thesis is to describe the developmental sequence of number morphology in written L2 French, from an initial to a lower advanced level, and to discuss underlying factors that influence the morphological development in this domain. The results are interpreted... (More)
This dissertation deals with the morphological development in written L2 French by Swedish learners. The thesis presents a detailed analysis of number marking and agreement in NPs and VPs, focusing mainly on the production of the morphemes –s (in NP) and the third person plural –nt (in VP). These agreements are particularly interesting in French where number morphology is often silent in the oral language and thus potentially difficult to produce in writing.

The aim of the thesis is to describe the developmental sequence of number morphology in written L2 French, from an initial to a lower advanced level, and to discuss underlying factors that influence the morphological development in this domain. The results are interpreted through two different theoretical models: Pienemann’s Processability Theory (1998) and Goldschneider’s and DeKeyser’s multiple factors approach (2001).

The empirical part of the thesis is based on the CEFLE corpus (Corpus Écrit de Français Langue Étrangère) which includes approximately 400 texts written in L2 French by instructed Swedish learners and by a French control group. A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study of this material are presented.

The cross-sectional study of four groups of learners (N=105) and the French controls (N=30) demonstrates a clear and gradual development in the L2 production of number morphology. The following sequence is observed: 1) plural marking on nouns/pronouns and quantifiers, 2) determiner-noun agreement, 3) subject-verb agreement, and, last of all, 4) noun-adjective agreement.

It is argued that the lack of phonological saliency has a minor influence on the acquisition of plural morphology in written L2 French in the instructional setting as compared to L1 acquisition. It is also shown that the semantically motivated plural markers are used initially and that the high morphological regularity in the plural, and possibly transfer, has an impact on the acquisition process at initial levels. A multiple factors approach, as proposed by Goldschneider and DeKeyser, is necessary to understand the very late noun-adjective agreement in written L2 French.

The longitudinal study of fifteen individual learners, framed within the Processability Theory, shows a similar developmental pattern to that of the cross-sectional study. In general terms, the morphological development observed in the data can be accounted for by Pienemann’s processing hierarchy. However, the analysis calls for the notion of intra-stage sequencing in order to explain the differences within developmental stages, especially at the phrasal level (NP). Other factors than processing constraints, such as morphological regularity, syntactic status and frequency seem important to understand the details of the observed development.

In conclusion, the learners show a gradual and rather early morphological development of plural marking in written L2 French. The two theoretical approaches meet different problems when applied to the written French L2 data. This observation raises the question of a possible synthesis of the two models discussed in this thesis. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Véronique, Daniel, Université de Provence and Université Paris 10, France
organization
alternative title
In Search of the Silent Morphology : On the Development of the Plural in Written L2 French
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
French, morphology, Processability Theory, development, Acquisition, Goldschneider and DeKeyser., developmental sequences, SLA, Swedish, written language, L2, number agreement, stages of development
in
Études Romanes de Lund
volume
84
pages
315 pages
publisher
Lund University
defense location
Geocentrum 1, Hörsal Världen, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
defense date
2008-12-12 13:15:00
ISSN
0347-0822
ISBN
978-91-628-7629-6
language
French
LU publication?
yes
id
90929965-46ed-4144-8a19-d66650fe1a14 (old id 1267092)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:00:45
date last changed
2019-05-21 14:02:23
@phdthesis{90929965-46ed-4144-8a19-d66650fe1a14,
  abstract     = {{This dissertation deals with the morphological development in written L2 French by Swedish learners. The thesis presents a detailed analysis of number marking and agreement in NPs and VPs, focusing mainly on the production of the morphemes –s (in NP) and the third person plural –nt (in VP). These agreements are particularly interesting in French where number morphology is often silent in the oral language and thus potentially difficult to produce in writing. <br/><br>
 The aim of the thesis is to describe the developmental sequence of number morphology in written L2 French, from an initial to a lower advanced level, and to discuss underlying factors that influence the morphological development in this domain. The results are interpreted through two different theoretical models: Pienemann’s Processability Theory (1998) and Goldschneider’s and DeKeyser’s multiple factors approach (2001).<br/><br>
 The empirical part of the thesis is based on the CEFLE corpus (Corpus Écrit de Français Langue Étrangère) which includes approximately 400 texts written in L2 French by instructed Swedish learners and by a French control group. A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study of this material are presented. <br/><br>
 The cross-sectional study of four groups of learners (N=105) and the French controls (N=30) demonstrates a clear and gradual development in the L2 production of number morphology. The following sequence is observed: 1) plural marking on nouns/pronouns and quantifiers, 2) determiner-noun agreement, 3) subject-verb agreement, and, last of all, 4) noun-adjective agreement. <br/><br>
 It is argued that the lack of phonological saliency has a minor influence on the acquisition of plural morphology in written L2 French in the instructional setting as compared to L1 acquisition. It is also shown that the semantically motivated plural markers are used initially and that the high morphological regularity in the plural, and possibly transfer, has an impact on the acquisition process at initial levels. A multiple factors approach, as proposed by Goldschneider and DeKeyser, is necessary to understand the very late noun-adjective agreement in written L2 French.<br/><br>
 The longitudinal study of fifteen individual learners, framed within the Processability Theory, shows a similar developmental pattern to that of the cross-sectional study. In general terms, the morphological development observed in the data can be accounted for by Pienemann’s processing hierarchy. However, the analysis calls for the notion of intra-stage sequencing in order to explain the differences within developmental stages, especially at the phrasal level (NP). Other factors than processing constraints, such as morphological regularity, syntactic status and frequency seem important to understand the details of the observed development.<br/><br>
 In conclusion, the learners show a gradual and rather early morphological development of plural marking in written L2 French. The two theoretical approaches meet different problems when applied to the written French L2 data. This observation raises the question of a possible synthesis of the two models discussed in this thesis.}},
  author       = {{Ågren, Malin}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-628-7629-6}},
  issn         = {{0347-0822}},
  keywords     = {{French; morphology; Processability Theory; development; Acquisition; Goldschneider and DeKeyser.; developmental sequences; SLA; Swedish; written language; L2; number agreement; stages of development}},
  language     = {{fre}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Études Romanes de Lund}},
  title        = {{À la recherche de la morphologie silencieuse : sur le développement du pluriel en francais L2 écrit}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4297314/1267127.pdf}},
  volume       = {{84}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}