The Acquisition of Community Speech Norms by Asians Immigrants Learning English as a Second Language: a preliminary study

Investigation of Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants' acquisition of the English variable "ing" found that such production was constrained by phonological, grammatical, stylistic, and social factors. (39 references) (Author/CB

The use of colloquial words in advanced French interlanguage

This article addresses the issue of underrepresentation or avoidance of colloquial words in a cross-sectional corpus of advanced French interlanguage (IL) of 29 Dutch L1 speakers and in a longitudinal corpus of 6 Hiberno-Irish English L1 speakers compared with a control of 6 native speakers of French. The main independent variable analysed in the latter corpus is the effect of spending a year in a francophone environment. This analysis is supplemented by a separate study of sociobiographical and psychological factors that affect the use of colloquial vocabulary in the cross-sectional corpus. Colloquial words are not exceptionally complex morphologically and present no specific grammatical difficulties, yet they are very rare in our data. Multivariate regression analyses suggest that only active authentic communication in the target language (TL) predicts the use of colloquial lexemes in the cross-sectional corpus. This result was confirmed in the longitudinal corpus where a t-test showed that the proportion of colloquial lexemes increased significantly after a year abroad

Le contexte d’acquisition : la variation du groupe et de l’individu

Le problème du rapport entre le locuteur individuel et le groupe a été étudié par les chercheurs variationnistes. Ceux-ci ont découvert à propos des locuteurs en langue première, que les tendances générales de la communauté linguistique se répètent chez les individus. Même si le taux d’usage d’une variante varie, par exemple, entre les individus, les tendances générales restent les mêmes. La question toutefois du rapport entre les locuteurs individuels L2 et le groupe a jusqu’ici été peu traité en acquisition des langues secondes. Cet article aborde ce problème en rapport avec la compétence sociolinguistique. Les données sont issues d’une étude longitudinale de cinq apprenants Hiberno-Anglais avancés de l’anglais L2 dans différents contextes d’acquisition. Une analyse Varbrul a été effectuée sur des données de trois étapes de développement, comprenant un séjour passé dans la communauté native. Les résultats montrent les mêmes tendances dans le groupe et les individus. Il paraît qu’en dépit de la variation individuelle qui fait partie intégrante de l’acquisition des langues secondes, le rapport entre le groupe et l’individu se maintient, tout comme pour la langue première.The issue of the relationship between the group and the individual has been raised and explored from within the variationist paradigm. Variationists have found, as regards first language use, overall community patterns of variation are replicated by the individual. For instance, even if the rates of usage of a variable vary, the general tendencies are the same. However, the issue of the relationship between individual L2 learners and the group has received little attention in second language acquisition literature. This article explores the issue in relation to the acquisition of socio-linguistic competence. Data come from a longitudinal study of five advanced Hiberno-English learners of French in varying contexts of acquisition. Varbrul analysis is carried out on data sets from three stages of development, including a stay in the French speaking community. Results show that a parallel pattern emerges on the part of the group and of the individual. It appears that, despite individual variation inherent in language learning, the relationship between the group and the individual is maintained, as it is for L1 speakers

Variation, identity and language attitudes: Polish migrants in France

This chapter examines migrants’ use of French L2, analysing the speech of ten L1 Polish speakers, thirty to sixty years, in a naturalistic setting. Using informal conversations, this study focuses on L1 variation patterns; specifically ne deletion, a sensitive and powerful indicator of social issues, using Rbrul. The data permit comparison of use of the same sociolinguistic variable by L2 speakers from two different L1 typological groups: Polish and English. The analysis showed the migrants broadly adopt L1 speech patterns, constraint ordering, and frequently even rates (as had the more formal L1 English learners) with universalistic implications for sociolinguistic variation acquisition. However, two couples are ‘outliers.’ Qualitative analysis indicates that differences in the speech of these two couples relate to language attitudes and ideology and suggests language ideology plays an important role in L2 acquisition and use. Complementary quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal aspects of L2 acquisition, which, separately, might not have been captured.Irish Research Counci

Tales from the Celtic Tiger: migrants' language use and identity

This chapter describes an aspect of Ireland and Irishness in the twenty-first century. It tells the story of a country undergoing major changes and a concomitant identity in flux. Ireland has had, in a relatively short space of time, an economic boom and a subsequent crash. This economic cataclysm, with its major shifts in population caused by immigration and emigration, has brought with it changes in how Irish people see themselves and indeed what constitutes ‘Irishness’. The study presented here tells this story through the lens of language: language use, language practices and language attitudes. an important ‘barometer’ of identity is language; here, language tells a story of identity in flux where ‘Irishness’ is redefined. Similarly to the picture painted by Lamarre (this volume) of a changing Quebec identity, Ireland’s rapidly changing identity may be captured here through language use in Ireland today; specifically the language of the ‘new Irish’.Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Science

Second language adquisition and sociollinguistic approaches: The Case of L2 French

French is one of the major target languages on which L2 acquisition research has been carried out. SLA research on French highlights specific aspects of L2 acquisition. Codification and prescriptivism long associated with French have wider implications for L2 language ideology and attitudes. Research on L2 French acquisition which reveals the influence of ‘la norme’ – especially the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation and pragmatics – is discussed. Research methods particularly suited to illuminating these issues are outlined, including variation analysis, mixed-methods research and network analysis. Current research themes include agency, identity and individual variation.2023-08-16 JG: PDF replaced with correct versio

Les apprenants avancés, la lexicalisation et l’acquisition de la compétence sociolinguistique : une approche variationniste

Cet article porte sur l’approche variationniste dans la recherche sur l’acquisition des langues secondes. Il montre comment une étude quantitative de type variationniste permet d’éclairer certains aspects du processus de l’acquisition, en se basant en particulier sur l’emploi des phrases lexicalisées par des apprenants avancés. La recherche a montré que les apprenants débutants se servent d’énoncés non analysés pour acquérir progressivement la syntaxe de la L2, mais la manière dont les apprenants avancés emploient ces énoncés n’a jusqu’à présent pas été décrite. La présente étude, qui traite de l’acquisition du français L2 par des hibernophones, montre que ces apprenants y ont recours également comme stratégie sociolinguistique.This article describes the variationist approach to second language acquisition research. It offers an example of the way in which an area of acquisition can be highlighted by variationist quantitative analysis. In relation to lexicalised phrases, the literature suggests that early learners use such phrases in a process of analysis of the grammar of the L2. This study (of Hibernophone learners of French L2) suggests that these phrases are also important for advanced learners but may be used by them as a sociolinguistic strategy

The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Native Speech Norms: Effects of a Year Abroad on Second Language Learners of French

One of the perennial debates in language teaching is the one about the benefits, or otherwise, of time spent abroad -- learning the language while immersed in the target speech community. After all, as Gardner (1979) says, in acquiring a second language "the student is faced with the task of not simply learning new information (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc) .. but rather of acquiring symbolic elements of a different ethnolinguistic community". To what extent is this process facilitated by living in the target language community? This article reports a study which provides concrete empirical data on the effects of such experiences on the language learning process. This sociolinguistic study of second language acquisition tries to investigate just what is the process of the acquisition of symbolic elements of another ethnolinguistic community. It is a study of the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence and focuses on the acquisition of a particularly sensitive sociolinguistic variable which is invested with powerful symbolic significance by the native speech community

Les apprenants avancés, la lexicalisation et l’acquisition de la compétence sociolinguistique : une approche variationniste

Cet article porte sur l’approche variationniste dans la recherche sur l’acquisition des langues secondes. Il montre comment une étude quantitative de type variationniste permet d’éclairer certains aspects du processus de l’acquisition, en se basant en particulier sur l’emploi des phrases lexicalisées par des apprenants avancés. La recherche a montré que les apprenants débutants se servent d’énoncés non analysés pour acquérir progressivement la syntaxe de la L2, mais la manière dont les apprenants avancés emploient ces énoncés n’a jusqu’à présent pas été décrite. La présente étude, qui traite de l’acquisition du français L2 par des hibernophones, montre que ces apprenants y ont recours également comme stratégie sociolinguistique.This article describes the variationist approach to second language acquisition research. It offers an example of the way in which an area of acquisition can be highlighted by variationist quantitative analysis. In relation to lexicalised phrases, the literature suggests that early learners use such phrases in a process of analysis of the grammar of the L2. This study (of Hibernophone learners of French L2) suggests that these phrases are also important for advanced learners but may be used by them as a sociolinguistic strategy

The significance of age and place of residence in the positional distribution of discourse like in L2 speech

This chapter investigates the use of discourse markers in L2 Irish English, specifically like by Polish people, assuming that the use of discourse markers is an indicator of integration. Quantitative and qualitative approaches are used to analyse the corpus of speech, focusing in particular on the positional distribution of like and the impact of age and place of residence. Results show that the L2 speakers use discourse like in patterns which correspond to those attested for L1 Irish English. Place of residence was a significant factor, with rural and urban speakers following rural and urban L1 patterns respectively. However, the younger speakers tended to favour urban (and global) clause-medial like over clause-marginal like, the more traditional pattern for Irish English. The young L2 speakers appear to be participating in the global change in like patterns