Perceptions of Students Learning French as a Foreign Language in Malaysia

The study investigated the perceptions of students learning French as a foreign language in a Malaysian public university. The specific objectives were to examine: (1) the self-reported French language proficiency level; and (2) their perceptions of their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in French. Questionnaire data were collected from 80 undergraduates enrolled in French Levels 1 and 2 courses. The analysis showed that language learners from Level 1 and Level 2 rated themselves as having fair proficiency level when they made their rating without comparing themselves to a French native speaker. However, when they compared themselves with a native French speaker, more of them rated their proficiency as poor. The results showed that the relative difficulty of mastering language skills in French, from the most difficult to the easiest, are writing, speaking, reading and listening. Similar results were found for Level 1 and Level 2 French but the undergraduates struggled with writing and speaking at Level 2 more than at Level 1 because of an increased vocabulary range, greater grammatical complexity and longer texts. The results suggest that the difficulties are not much in comprehension of the language but more towards expressing themselves whether in speaking or writing.

Being a journalist in a multilingual country: Representations of Dutch among Belgian French-speaking journalists

In this paper, we examine how the francophone TV audience is introduced to the Flemish community and its language through daily news broadcasts. More specifically, our research looks at how the Dutch language is used when francophone journalists prepare and produce their reports – during all stages of the process –, up until the actual broadcast. We therefore conducted 15 qualitative interviews with TV news journalists employed by the Belgian French-speaking public broadcaster. The interviews were organized around eight topics, e.g. the place of Dutch in the newsroom and the languages chosen during interactions with Dutch-speaking interviewees. From a discursive point of view, we focused on the selected lexical terms and rhetorical tropes (the various uses of the litotes, in particular) to unpack the journalists’ practices, in relation to their representations of Dutch. Our study provides notable insights into their representation of the differences between French- and Dutch-speaking Belgians as a generational issue, their tendency to assess their proficiency in Dutch measured against bilingualism, as well as their wish to beat the cliché of “the unilingual French-speaker”. These observations are coupled with criteria which explain why French might be preferred in the end: the TV audience’s comfort, general intelligibility and subtitling constraints.

The processing of dialectal variants: Further insight from French

ABSTRACTIn two semantic priming experiments, this study examined how southern French speakers process the standard French [o] variant in closed syllables in comparison to their own variant [ɔ]. In Experiment 1, southern French speakers showed facilitation in the processing of the associated target word VIOLET whether the word prime mauve was pronounced by a standard French speaker ([mov]) or a southern French speaker ([mɔv]). More importantly, Experiment 1 has also revealed that words of type mauve, which are subject to dialectal variation, behave exactly in the same way as words of type gomme, which are pronounced with [ɔ] by both southern and standard French speakers, and for which we also found no modulation in the magnitude of the priming effect as a function of the dialect of the speaker. Experiment 2 replicated the priming effect found with the standard French variant [mov], and failed to show a priming effect with nonwords such as [mœv] that also differ from the southern French variant [mɔv] by only one phonetic feature. Our study thus provides further evidence for efficient processing of dialectal variants during spoken word recognition, even if these variants are not part of the speaker’s own productions.

Contextuele invloeden op de productie van /h/ in het Nederlands van Belgisch-Franstalige leerders

The phoneme /h/ is absent in French and its acquisition has been described as being difficult for second language learners of Dutch, a language with /h/ in its phoneme inventory. In this study, several factors were examined that may affect the production of /h/ by Belgian-French learners of Dutch. Specifically, the factors included in this exploratory study were (1) L1-to-L2 transfer, (2) semantic contrastiveness, (3) the monitoring of one’s speech, and (4) educational grade. L1-to-L2 transfer was operationalized as the effect of liaison/elision contexts on /h/-production. The expectation was liaison contexts might transfer and would therefore hinder /h/-production. Semantic contrasts in minimal pairs including an h-initial word would elicit more /h/-productions if that word was contrasted with an empty onset than an onset (oor-hoor) filled by some other consonant (hand-tand). If a speaker pays more attention to his/her speech in an increased-monitoring task, the speaker is expected to produce /h/ more often, and finally it was expected that increased exposure to Dutch would result in more correct productions. In a cross-sectional study, students from the first, third and sixth grades of secondary education (60 in total, aged between 12 years and 19 years old) took part in two reading-aloud tasks, which were assumed to differ in the degree of speech monitoring they require. The first task was a text, with which L1-to-L2 transfer was assessed, and the second a list of minimal pairs containing h-onsets contrasting with either empty or filled onsets. Monitoring was assessed by comparing results between reading tasks. Results showed that increased monitoring positively influenced the numbers of [h]s produced, but that L1-to-L2 transfer of liaison/elision contexts did not occur. A small difference between conditions was found, but in the opposite direction. There was large between-learner variability and no performance increase with amount of exposure from first to sixth grade. Overall, performance left much room for improvement relative to native Dutch speakers and to the learners’ teacher. Further research is needed to better understand the development of French-speaker learners’ production of Dutch /h/.

Being a Francophone Parent with Children in Dutch-medium Education in Brussels

In the officially bilingual (French–Dutch) Brussels Capital Region (Belgium), education is largely organized in two parallel but separate systems: French-medium education and Dutch-medium education. Parents must choose to send their children to either a Dutch- or a French-medium school. The choice of one education system over another may generate identity-related issues, such as the idea—rooted in nationalism—that “being a French speaker” and “sending your children to Dutch-medium education” are identity options that are by definition conflicting. In this article, I present a case study of a Francophone couple who decided to enroll their children in a Dutch-medium school in Brussels. Even if this decision brought the parents closer to Dutch-speaking social networks, it also highlighted the tensions and contradictions between the various identity options available. The study shows how these parents, in trying to deal with these tensions, appeal to quite different and sometimes contradictory discourse on language and belonging.

Achieving Native-like Pronunciation through Phonetic Analysis and Poetry

The problem of identifying phonetic phenomena related to language transfer and correction in second language (L2) production can be approached by conducting broad analyses of the same L2 speaker. This approach is applied in the present study, which investigates errors of pronunciation segmentally (grammatical mistakes, voicing of consonants, and vowel distinctions) and suprasegmentally (intonation and time-gaining techniques) in order to establish the possibility of their being corrected in two recordings of readings by a non-native French speaker. The errors from the first recording were identified, analyzed, and corrected through pronunciation exercises with the aim of raising awareness of the problems to help overcome them on the second reading attempt. The correction methods involved exercises such as reading poetry aloud, pronouncing consonantal segments in various vocalic environments, and reading the target text, syllable by syllable. In addition, the analysis investigates the possibility of phonetic transfer from the two primary languages of the speaker: Bulgarian and English. The researcher is the speaker, the methodological implications of which are discussed, reaching the overall conclusion that it helps to raise awareness of the phonetic background of the errors. Despite the risk of compromising the data through this methodological choice, the results show that a high level of attention and monitoring of the speech alone may be insufficient for internalizing corrections. While grammatical mistakes were corrected most effectively, other segmental and suprasegmental features showed different levels of success. One of the features (the /ɛ/ and /e/ distinction) even exhibited deterioration in the second recording. These examples suggest the presence of “equivalence classification” phenomena and raise the question of the appropriateness of the phonetic exercises for overcoming the errors. Another area of interest was determining the source of errors such as “uptalk”, the reassigning of grammatical gender, word-final devoicing, and elimination of syllable-initial lenis stop prevoicing. Due to the limited amount of data available, it was difficult to draw firm conclusions, but the tendencies observed suggested that the errors might be due to transfer from the speaker’s primary languages, whose influence appeared to be equal. Further research should therefore control for the influence of the two primary languages and extend the scope to include a second post-training recording. Overall, the second recording demonstrated that raised awareness and training helped to achieve acceptable production in the suprasegmental features as well as most of the instances of unfamiliar phones, such as /ʁ/, front-rounded vowels, and nasal vowels.

Evaluation of frequency of paediatric oral liquid medication dosing errors by caregivers: amoxicillin and josamycin

ObjectiveTo study reconstitution and preparation dosing errors of liquid oral medications given by caregivers to children.MethodsA prospective observational study was carried out in the departments of general paediatrics and emergency paediatrics at the Robert-Debré Children's University Hospital. An interview with caregivers involved (1) practical reconstitution and preparation of an oral liquid medication from a prescription drawn at random (amoxicillin (Clamoxyl, dosing spoon) or josamycin (Josacine, dose-weight pipette)) and (2) a questionnaire about their use.ResultsOne hundred caregivers were included. Clamoxyl and Josacine were incorrectly reconstituted in 46% (23/50) and 56% (28/50) of cases, respectively, with a risk of underdosing of Clamoxyl (16/23) and overdosing of Josacine (23/28). Dose preparation with the dosing spoon was incorrect in 56% of cases, and in 10% of cases with the dose-weight pipette. Female sex, native French speaker, and age were significantly associated with correct reconstitution. Male sex and medication were significantly associated with correct preparation.ConclusionsThis study highlights the high incidence of errors made by caregivers in reconstituting and preparing doses of these liquid oral medicines, which are associated with considerable risks of over- and underdosing. Factors associated with these errors have been identified which could help health professionals to optimise their strategy for educating families about the use of liquid oral medications and the need to check that they understand these instructions.

The Fateful Geography of Religion

If language is the mucilage of culture, religion is its manifesto. Any revelation of identity through language happens only when the speaker begins talking, and even then that identity remains in doubt except perhaps to the most experienced ear. Is that skilled KiSwahili speaker a Mijikenda from the Kenya coast or a Kamba from the interior? Is that cultivated French speaker a citizen of Senegal or a resident of Paris? Did those fellows at the bar in São Paulo mix some Brazilian terms with their Japanese, and are they mobals rather than visitors? Religious affiliation is another matter. Hundreds of millions of people routinely proclaim their religion through modes of dress, hairstyles, symbols, gestures, and other visible means. To those who share a faith, such customs create a sense of confidence and solidarity. To those who do not profess that faith, they can amount to provocation. For the faithful, religion is the key to identity. And such identity is part of the impress of place. Religion and place are strongly coupled, not only through the visible and prominent architecture of places of worship but also because certain orthodox believers still proclaim that their god “gave” them pieces of real estate whose ownership cannot therefore be a matter of Earthly political debate. To some, the Holy Land is a place where Jesus walked. To others, it is a gift from God. To the latter, it is worth dying for. Countless millions have perished for their faith, but comparatively few for their language. Dutch schoolchildren of a former generation used to learn the story of a captured boatload of medieval mercenaries plying the Zuider Zee. To a man, the captives claimed to be Dutch. The captain of the boarding party had a simple solution: any real Dutchman would be able to pronounce the word Scheveningen, a fishing port on the North Sea coast. Those who got it right were given amnesty. Those who failed were thrown overboard and drowned. It is an unusual tale. Language, dialect, accent, and syntax can confer advantage, open (or close) doors to opportunity, and engender social judgments. But they are not historically linked to mass annihilation.