Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom
TP124: Language practices and identity construction by advanced L2 and L3 speakers: the acquisition of sociostylistic variants
The present study will investigate the perceptions that nearly 400 advanced learners of French in universities in Europe, North America and Australia have of the French language. Our previous work in this area has focused on the perception of difficulty of the use of pronouns of address in French L2 (Dewaele & Planchenault, 2006) and the perception of emotional attributes of the L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5 among polyglots (Dewaele, 2007). In the present study, the perceptions (on Likert scales) include emotional appraisals of the French language and of Francophones, as well as perception of areas of difficulty in the French language (pronunciation, grammar, syntax, lexicon, politeness, address pronouns, spelling). Data were gathered through a closed questionnaire with 16 items. Statistical analyses allowed us to determine the effects of the independent variables (age, gender, nationality, L1 and any additional languages) on the dependent variables. One finding was that the opinions that more advanced learners have of the French language tends to correspond more closely to the opinions expressed by native speakers of French. Also, native speakers of French do not judge their language to be easy. We conclude that such an emic perspective can enrich our understanding of learners’ language practices, identity construction, and acquisition of sociolinguistic competence.
References
Dewaele, J.-M. (2007) Context and L2 users’ pragmatic development. In Z. Hua, P. Seedhouse, L. Wei, and V. Cook (eds.), Language Learning and Teaching as Social Inter-Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, pp. 162-183.
Dewaele, J.-M. & Planchenault, G. (2006) “Dites-moi tu”?! La perception de la difficulté du système des pronoms d’adresse en français. In M. Faraco (ed.), Regards croisés sur la classe de langue : Pratiques, méthodes et théories. Aix : Publications de l'Université de Provence, pp. 153-171.
Session: Themed Panel (part 2)
Language practices and identity construction by advanced L2 and L3 speakers: the acquisition of sociostylistic variants
Saturday, April 5, 2008, 13:45-15:15
room: 07