Perception in bilingual children learning English as a foreign language – A pilot study

hors série : De la perception à la compréhension d’une langue étrangèr

The practical value of formal graphophonemic rules - insights from lexical frequency and linguistic competence

This paper looks into some of the most well-known graphophonemic rules of English and seeks to determine the extent to which they can be relied on in the light of lexical frequency and learner proficiency. It aims at encouraging teachers and learners to adopt an explicit and constructive strategy to incorporate letter-to-sound rules in the learning process. Cet article examine certaines règles graphophonématiques parmi les mieux connues afin de déterminer à quel point elle sont fiables si l'on considère la fréquence lexicale et la compétence langagière de l'apprenant. L'objectif est d'encourager l'enseignant et l'apprenant à adopter une stratégie claire et constructive pour l'intégration des règles graphophonématiques dans l'apprentissage

Vowel length in Scottish English – The Scottish Vowel Length Rule from an empirical perspective

This paper presents an intriguing problem from the frontier of phonology and morphology in the variety of English spoken in Scotland. Scottish English vowels do not have the short-long distinction common to other accents of English, yet they do show a peculiar durational variation triggered by a set of morpho-phonological factors (a phenomenon called the Scottish Vowel Length Rule). In this paper I will first explore the controversial phonological status of vowel length in the Scottish English vowel system and argue that in some way it has to be encoded in the phonology of Scottish English. Then I go on to review the results of previous empirical studies of the operation of the Scottish Vowel Length Rule and compare these with the preliminary indications from recent Ayrshire data

L'effet de la fréquence lexicale sur les réalisations des rhotiques en Ecosse

Cet article présente les résultats d'une étude auditive et acoustique des réalisations du phonème /r/ en position de coda dans l'anglais parlé en Écosse, avec comme objectif de tester le lien entre la fréquence lexicale et les formes non rhotiques. Bien que la lénition des rhotiques en Écosse partant d'une vibrante roulée et évoluant vers une approximante accompagnée de réalisations de plus en plus vocalisées devrait être sensible à la fréquence lexicale, les données relevées en parole spontanée chez dix-huit locuteurs ne montrent pas de corrélation significative entre celle-ci et les formes non rhotiques. Par conséquent, l'article propose de s'interroger d'une part sur la cohérence méthodologique, et d'autre part sur la possibilité d'interprétation de la fréquence à différentes échelles. Lexical frequency effects on rhotic realisations in Scotland This paper presents results from an auditory and acoustic study of coda /r/ realisations in Scottish English related to potential frequency effects on non-rhotic occurrences. Although lenition from the Scottish trill towards approximants and more vocalic realisations should be sensitive to word frequency, findings from spontaneous speech in 18 speakers do not show a significant correlation between non-rhotic forms and lexical frequency. Consequently, we raise questions on the coherence across methodological practices on the one hand, and on the interpretation of observed frequency effects on different levels, on the other

OCTANT: Digital platform for interdisciplinary and collaborative learning and research

OCTANT is designed to become an online digital platform integrating both pedagogical and research features combining open and restricted accesses. It will initially focus on the humanities and social sciences, but aims to make itself available to the whole academic community. OCTANT will open up new virtual spaces of learning that juxtapose time and space graphically through the interactive association of timelines and maps. It will also allow for the visualization of text areas and of a diversity of links to bibliographies, websites, Moodle pages, open archives, scientific newsfeeds. This online pedagogical space is intended to encourage successful learning strategies, student autonomy, critical thinking, and collaborative learning. With its focus on interdisciplinary research, it encourages students to open their perspectives and to conceive of original research objects through the organization and analysis of personalized databases

Linguistic accommodation and the salience of national identity markers in a border town

This study tests the extent of speakers’ linguistic accommodation to members of putative in-groups and out-groups in a border locality where such categorizations can be said to be particularly accentuated. Variation in the speech of informants in dialect contact interactions with separate interviewers is analyzed for evidence of speech accommodation in the form of phonological convergence or divergence. The data do not support a straightforward interpretation of accommodation, and findings are considered in terms of evidence required for such an account. Implications for the notion of salience in explanations of contact-induced language change are also considered, as is the significance of the “interviewer effect” in the compilation of data sets for use in quantitative studies of phonological variation and change