ERIC Number: EJ1161179
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1481-868X
EISSN: N/A
Opening up to Native Speaker Norms: The Use of /?/ in the Speech of Canadian French Immersion Students
Nadasdi, Terry; Vickerman, Alison
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée, v20 n2 p18-31 2017
Our study examines the extent to which French immersion students use lax /?/ in the same linguistic context as native speakers of Canadian French. Our results show that the lax variant is vanishingly rare in the speech of immersion students and is used by only a small minority of individuals. This is interpreted as a limitation of French immersion students' sociolinguistic competence. Within the group of students who do use both variants, we document a positive correlation between female and middle-class students and use of the lax variant and suggest these speakers are generally more sensitive to sociolinguistic variation. A reverse correlation between English cognates and laxing was found. This is taken as evidence that the learning of laxing is lexically mediated.
Descriptors: French, Immersion Programs, Second Language Instruction, Teaching Methods, Language Proficiency, Sociolinguistics, Gender Differences, Correlation, Social Class, Language Usage, Foreign Countries, Native Speakers, Dialects, Secondary School Students, Grade 9, Grade 12, Coding, Hypothesis Testing, Social Influences, Family Environment, Phonetics, Vowels, Grammar
Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics / Association Canadienne de Linguistique Appliquée. Departement de langues, linguistique et traduction, Pavillon de Koninck, Universite Laval, Quebec, QC G1K 7P4, Canada. Web site: http://www.aclacaal.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada (Toronto)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A