La notion de transfert appliquée au français comme langue étrangère

Our main objective in this paper is to show how linguistic properties can be transferred from one system to another. Consequences of transfer are evaluated, both positive and negative, for the acquisition of possessives in French L2 or L3 by Norwegian learners. We take as a starting point a comparative description of the possessive systems in French and Norwegian and examine interlanguage grammars of adult learners of French both in a Norwegian university setting and in an immersion context. On the basis of results from production-comprehension tests we can predict and explain interlanguage errors in the students' L2-grammar (negative transfer) using comparative grammatical constraints (reflexive-irreflexive contrasts, binding constraints, explicit marking of the possessor, orientation towards the possessor or the possessum, etc.). We can also predict cases where the learners make fewer errors or no errors at all (positive transfer). In this way we are able to measure the importance of transfer, both negative and positive, for the acquisition of French as foreign language by Norwegian adult learners.

Tense and verb raising in advanced L2 French

ABSTRACTTwo UG approaches to L2A propose different views of parameter resetting, depending on the capacity of interlanguage grammars to gain new values for uninterpretable functional features. Representational Deficit/Interpretability (e.g. Hawkins, 2003) maintains that parameter settings are limited to L1 values, whereas Full Access (e.g. Prévost & White, 2000) claims L2 parameter values may be gained; both assume initial transfer of L1 morphosyntactic settings. We examine verb morphosyntax of three advanced anglophone learners of L2 French, beginning with a description of the theoretical issues. We next report the study: the subjects, data collection and results. The final section discusses the data in terms of the two approaches, concluding that the results generally support FA over RD/I.

Vragen Stellen In Het Frans

The paper reports the results of a pilot experiment carried out by De Wit (2008), investigating the acquisition of French wh-questions by Dutch L2-learners. The results of the experiment (an elicited production task) offer strong evidence for positive and negative transfer. Interestingly, however, the data also suggest the existence of interlanguage grammars that make use of positive transfer, while filtering out the effects of negative transfer.

TRANSITIVITY ALTERNATIONS IN L2 ACQUISITION Toward a Modular View of Transfer

This experimental study on English, Spanish, and Turkish as second languages investigates the interaction of universal principles and L1 knowledge in interlanguage grammars by focusing on verbs that participate in the causative/inchoative alternation (such as break in English). These verbs have the same lexico-semantic composition, but differ crosslinguistically as to how they encode the alternation morphologically. Results of a picture judgment task show that, as in L1 acquisition, L2 learners of Turkish, Spanish, and English with different L1s rely on a universal mechanism when learning transitivity alternations. L1 influence plays a prominent role in the morphological realization of the alternation. These findings suggest that UG and L1 knowledge may not affect all linguistic domains in the same way at a given stage of development. It is proposed that transfer is subject to modularity in interlanguage grammars.

On evaluating arguments for special nativism in second language acquisition theory

This article attempts to evaluate several arguments that have been put forth in favour of special nativism in SLA. Specifically, the cases for each of the following claims are considered: 1) that Universal Grammar (UG) being implicated in L2 acquisition is the null hypothesis; 2) that any theory of SLA necessarily needs a theory of grammar; and 3) that showing that interlanguage grammars are underdetermined by the available input implies that UG must be accessible in L2 learning. In each case, it is argued that the arguments for special nativism are not compelling, and that it is therefore reasonable to consider a research programme in SLA theory that is based on general nativism.