Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-11T19:26:57.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CONTACT, CONTEXT, AND COLLOCATION

The Emergence of Sociostylistic Variation in L2 French Learners during Study Abroad

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Kristen M. Kennedy Terry
Kristen M. Kennedy Terry*
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kristen M. Kennedy Terry, Merritt Writing Program, University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study uses a mixed-effects model to examine the acquisition of targetlike patterns of phonological variation by 17 English-speaking learners of French during study abroad in France. Naturalistic speech data provide evidence for the incipient acquisition of a phonological variable showing sociostylistic variation in native speaker speech: the elision of /l/ in third-person subject clitic pronouns (il vient [il vjɛ̃] ∼ [i vjɛ̃] “he is coming”). Speech data are compared and correlated with the results of a social network strength scale designed for the study abroad learning context. Results demonstrate that phonological variation patterns are acquired in a predictable order based on token type and collocation and that social networks with native speakers are statistically significant predictors of phonological variation patterns.

Type
Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , September 2017 , pp. 553 - 578
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I gratefully acknowledge funding for this research project provided by the Department of French and Italian at the University of California, Davis. I also thank Robert J. Bayley and Eric Russell for their expertise and critical commentary, as well as two anonymous reviewers who provided detailed and constructive feedback on this manuscript. Finally, I am indebted to the participants who shared their experiences with me during their time abroad.

References

REFERENCES

Adamson, D., & Regan, V. (1991). The acquisition of community speech norms by Asian immigrants learning English as a second language: A preliminary study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13(1), 1–22.Google Scholar
Armstrong, N. (1996). Variable deletion of French /l/: Linguistic, social and stylistic factors. Journal of French Language Studies, 6, 1–21.Google Scholar
Ashby, W. (1984). The elision of /l/ in French clitic pronouns and articles. In Pulgram, E. (Ed.) Romanitas: Studies in Romance Linguistics (pp. 1–16). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Bayley, R. (1996). Competing constraints on variation in the speech of adult Chinese learners of English. In Bayley, R. & Preston, D. R. (Eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation (pp. 97–120). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Bayley, R. (2013). The quantitative paradigm. In Chambers, J. K. & Schilling, N. (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change (2nd ed., pp. 85–107). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bayley, R., & Langman, J. (2004). Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. IRAL, 42(4), 303–318.Google Scholar
Bayley, R., & Regan, V. (2004). Introduction: The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8(3), 323–338.Google Scholar
Beebe, L. M., & Giles, H. (1984). Speech accommodation theories: A discussion in terms of second language acquisition. International Journal of Sociology of Language, 46, 5–32.Google Scholar
Bickerton, D. (1973). The nature of a creole continuum. Language, 49(3), 640–669.Google Scholar
Bortoni-Ricardo, S. M. (1985). The urbanisation of rural dialect speakers: A sociolinguistic study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bürki, A., Fougeron, C., Gendrot, C., & Frauenfelder, U. H. (2011). Phonetic reduction versus phonological deletion of French schwa: Some methodological issues. Journal of Phonetics, 39, 279–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Díaz-Campos, M. (2004). Context of learning in the acquisition of Spanish second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 249–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickerson, L. (1974). Internal and external patterning of phonological variability in the speech of Japanese learners of English: Toward a theory of second language acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Edwards, W. F. (1992). Sociolinguistic behavior in a Detroit inner city black neighborhood. Language in Society, 21, 93–115.Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (2003). Constructions, chunking, and connectionism: The emergence of second language structure. In Doughty, C. J. and Long, M. (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 2–66). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding second-language acquisition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1987). Interlanguage variability in narrative discourse: Style shifting in the use of past tense. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 9, 1–20.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., Fafulus, S., & Kanwit, M. (2013). Acquiring geographically-variable norms of use: The case of the present perfect in Mexico and Spain. In Howe, C., Blackwell, S. E., & Quesada, M. L. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 15th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 205–220). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., García-Amaya, L., Hasler-Barker, M., Henriksen, N., & Killam, J. (2012). The L2 acquisition of variable past time reference in Spanish in an overseas immersion setting. In Geeslin, K. and Díaz-Campos, M. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 197–213). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Gorman, K., & Johnson, D. E. (2013). Quantitative analysis. In Bayley, R., Cameron, R., & Lucas, C. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 214–240). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guttman, L. (1944). A basis for scaling quantitative data. American Sociological Review, 9, 139–150.Google Scholar
Hansen Edwards, J. G. (2008). Social factors and variation in production in L2 phonology. In Hansen Edwards, J. G. & Zampini, M. L. (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 251–279). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J. A., & Filipović, L. (2010). Criterial features in L2 English: Specifying the reference levels of the Common European Framework. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hernández, T. A. (2010). The relationship among motivation, interaction, and the development of second language oral proficiency in a study-abroad context. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 600–617.Google Scholar
Howard, M., Lemée, I., & Regan, V. (2006). The L2 acquisition of a phonological variable: The case of /l/ deletion in French. French Language Studies, 16, 1–24.Google Scholar
Isabelli-García, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks, motivation, and attitudes: Implications for SLA. In DuFon, M. & Churchill, E. (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231–258). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. E. (2009). Getting off the Goldvarb standard: Introducing Rbrul for mixed-effects variable rule analysis. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3, 359–383.Google Scholar
Knouse, S. M. (2013). The acquisition of dialectal phonemes in a study abroad context: The case of the Castilian theta. Foreign Language Annals, 4, 512–542.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1966). The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1984). Field methods of the project on linguistic change and variation. In Baugh, J. & Sherzer, J. (Eds.), Language in use: Readings in sociolinguistics (pp. 28–54). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Laks, B. (1980). Différentiation linguistique et différentiation sociale: Quelques problèmes de linguistique française (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Université de Paris VIII-Vincennes, Paris.Google Scholar
Lippi-Green, R. (1989). Social network integration and language change in progress in an alpine rural village. Language in Society, 18, 213–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (1983). Native-speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics, 4, 126–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. & Bhatia, T. (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413–468). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lybeck, K. (2002). Cultural identification and second language pronunciation of Americans in Norway. The Modern Language Journal, 86(ii), 174–191.Google Scholar
Mackey, A. (1999). Input, interaction and second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 557–587.Google Scholar
Magnan, S. S., & Back, M. (2007). Social interaction and linguistic gain during study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 40(1), 43–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, R. (2004). Gender and stylistic variation in second language phonology. Language Variation and Change, 16(3), 164–188.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of second language learning. London, UK: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Milroy, J., & Milroy, L. (1978). Belfast: Change and variation in an urban vernacular. In Trudgill, P. (Ed.), Sociolinguistic patterns in British English (pp. 19–36). London, UK: Arnold.Google Scholar
Milroy, L. (1980). Language and social networks. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Milroy, L. (2002). Social networks. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change (pp. 549–572). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Mougeon, R., Nadasdi, T., & Rehner, K. (2001). A sociolinguistic analysis of phonetic variation in the spoken French of immersion students. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Applied Linguistics, Quebec City, Quebec.Google Scholar
Mougeon, R., Nadasdi, T., & Rehner, K. (2010). The sociolinguistic competence of immersion students. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Mougeon, R., Rehner, K., & Nadasdi, T. (2004). The learning of spoken French variation by immersion students from Toronto, Ontario. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8(3), 408–432.Google Scholar
Nagy, N., Blondeau, H., & Auger, J. (2003). Second language acquisition and “real” French: An investigation of subject doubling in the French of Montreal Anglophones. Language Variation and Change, 15(1), 73–103.Google Scholar
Poplack, S., & Walker, D. C. (1986). Going through /l/ in Canadian French. In Sankoff, D. (Ed.), Diversity and diachrony (pp. 173–198). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Regan, V. (1995). The acquisition of sociolinguistic native speech norms: Effects of a year abroad on L2 learners of French. In Freed, B. F. (Ed.), Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 245–267). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Regan, V. (1996). Variation in French interlanguage: A longitudinal study. In Bayley, R. & Preston, D. R. (Eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation (pp. 177–201). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Regan, V., Howard, M., & Lemée, I. (2009). The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rehner, K. (2002). The development of aspects of linguistic and discourse competence by advanced second language learners of French (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
Rehner, K., Mougeon, R., & Nadasdi, T. (2003). The learning of sociolinguistic variation by advanced FSL learners: The case of nous vs. on in immersion French. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 127–156.Google Scholar
Rickford, J. R. (2002). Implicational scales. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (Eds.), The handbook of language variation and change (pp. 142–167). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Roy, J. (2011). Sociolinguistic statistics: The intersection between statistical models, empirical data and sociolinguistic theory. Paper presented at Methods in Dialectology XIV, London, Ontario.Google Scholar
Russell Webb, E. (2009). Minimalism and French /R/: Phonological representations in phonetically based phonology. French Language Studies, 19, 87–115.Google Scholar
Sankoff, D., & Cedergren, H. (1976). Les contraintes linguistiques et sociales de l’élision de /l/ chez les Montréalais. In Boudreault, M. & Mohren, F. (Eds.), Actes du XIIIème congrès international de linguistique et philologie romanes (pp. 1101–1117). Quebec, Canada: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar
Sankoff, D., Tagliamonte, S. A., & Smith, E. (2005). Goldvarb X: A variable rule application for Macintosh and Windows. Toronto, Canada: Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Sax, K. (2000). Acquisition of stylistic variation by American learners of French: /l/ elision in the subject pronouns il and ils. Paper presented at the Annual Second Language Research Forum, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Sax, K. (2001). Stylistically speaking: Variable use of nous vs. on in American learners’ French. Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV) 30, Raleigh, NC.Google Scholar
Sax, K. (2003). Acquisition of stylistic variation by American learners of French (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N., & Freed, B. F. (2004). Context, contact, and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 173–199.Google Scholar
Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In Gass, S. & Madden, C. (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–337.Google Scholar
Tarone, E. (1988). Variation in interlanguage. London, UK: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Tarone, E. (2007). Sociolinguistic approaches to second language acquisition research—1997–2007. The Modern Language Journal, 91(5), 837–848.Google Scholar
Tarone, E., & Swain, M. (1995). A sociolinguistic perspective on second-language use in immersion classrooms. Modern Language Journal, 79, 166–178.Google Scholar
Tranel, B. (1987). The sounds of French. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Uritescu, D., Mougeon, R., & Handouleh, Y. (2002). Le comportement du schwa dans le français parlé par les élèves des programmes d’immersion française. In Tatilon, C. & Baudot, A. (Eds.), La linguistique fonctionnelle au tournant du siècle: Actes du 24e colloque international de linguistique fonctionnelle (pp. 335–346). Toronto, Canada: Éditions du GREF.Google Scholar
Weinreich, U., Labov, W., & Herzog, M. (1968). Empirical foundations for a theory of language change. In Lehmann, W. P. & Malkiel, Y. (Eds.), Directions for historical linguistics: A symposium (pp. 95–195). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Wolfram, W. (1985). Variability in tense marking: A case for the obvious. Language Learning, 35, 229–253.Google Scholar
Young, R. (1991). Variation in interlanguage morphology. New York, NY: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Young, R., & Bayley, R. (1996). Varbrul analysis for second language acquisition research. In Bayley, R. J. & Preston, D. R. (Eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation (pp. 253–306). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Benjamins.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kennedy Terry supplementary material

Kennedy Terry supplementary material

Download Kennedy Terry supplementary material(File)
File 30.2 KB