scholarly journals “Les copains *dit au revoir”: On Subject–Verb Agreement in L2 French and Cross-Linguistic Influence

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Malin Ågren ◽  
Marie-Eve Michot ◽  
Cyrille Granget ◽  
Sonia Gerolimich ◽  
Pascale Hadermann ◽  
...  

This study focuses on the production of subject–verb (SV) agreement in number in L2 French and investigates the role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in this particular morphosyntactic domain. CLI is a well-known phenomenon in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research but it has rarely been investigated systematically in relation to SV agreement in French. The participants of the study are 114 learners with Italian, German, Dutch and Swedish as L1. The source languages are all inflectional languages but they vary in terms of morphological richness in the verb paradigm, ranging from very poor (Swedish) to very rich (Italian). The participants performed an oral narrative task contrasting singular and plural contexts of SV agreement. Results indicate a significant difference between L1 groups in terms of correct SV agreement but they also show that the overall presence of rich verb morphology in the L1 does not, on its own, result in a more correct SV agreement. It is when comparing learners at two different proficiency levels that we observe differences in the rate of L2 development, which may be explained as an effect of CLI. Overall, results indicate a complex interplay of different factors, where the role of CLI must be further investigated in future studies in relation to L2 French.

Author(s):  
Alexandra Vraciu

This paper explores coalitions between tense-aspect morphology and the aspectual class of predicates in second language acquisition (the Aspect Hypothesis) on the basis of 36 oral narratives elicited with a picture book from French L1 adult learners of English. The observed distributional patterns are analysed in relation to the prototypical inflection/predicate coalitions observed both at early stages of L2 development and in English L1. While advanced learners are expected to make a productive use of tense-aspect morphology within all predicate classes, our data indicate that the prototypical coalition between the progressive form and activity predicates remains strong until very proficient stages of English L2, when the distribution of verb morphology within this class eventually becomes more flexible and activities as a class are predominantly encoded in the non-progressive present or past form. Non-grammaticalisation of the progressive in the learners’ L1 may interfere with the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis for this form in English L2.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Prentza ◽  
Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli

We examine the microparameters of null and postverbal subjects in the Greek L1/English L2 interlanguage, exploring the role of interpretability in interlanguage representations. Our results suggest that while uninterpretable features are inaccessible in L2 acquisition, interpretable features are available and play a compensatory role. Although the abstract L1 properties of subject-verb agreement seem to transfer to the L2 representation, the effects appear scattered and transfer is not direct. We thus suggest that Greek-learner L2 English grammar exhibits non-random optionality in the properties of null and postverbal subjects, regulated by parameter-resetting (feature re-valuation) which is, however, neither the L1 (Greek) nor the target L2 (English) option.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Jiang

There has been considerable research that investigates whether reflexives in interlanguage grammars (ILGs) are constrained by Principle A of the Binding Theory. These earlier studies focused on the role of sentence type, including both finite and non-finite test sentences; they did not examine the role of antecedent type, namely distinguishing between quantified antecedents and referential antecedents in the test sentences. This study explores Chinese learners’ acquisition of the locality constraints on the binding of English reflexives from a developmental perspective, focusing both on the role of sentence type and the role of antecedent type. A story-based truth-value judgment task was administered to three proficiency levels of Chinese-speaking learners of English. It was found that the finite/non-finite asymmetry in the learners’ long-distance (LD) judgments was strongest for the intermediate participants but much weaker for the beginners and advanced participants; the referential/ quantified asymmetry in the learners’ LD judgments was strongest for the advanced participants but much weaker for the beginners and intermediate participants. Implications of these findings are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Jin Chen ◽  
Jianghao Lin ◽  
Lin Jiang

<p>Corrective feedback (CF) refers to the responses or treatments from teachers to a learner’s nontargetlike second language (L2) production. CF has been a crucial and controversial topic in the discipline of second language acquisition (SLA). Some SLA theorists believe that CF is harmful to L2 acquisition and should be ruled out completely while others regard CF as an essential catalyst for L2 development. The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in empirical research on the effectiveness of CF. This article, with an aim to provide an informed knowledge of the potential role of CF, briefly traces the history of research on CF and proposes some recommendations for further studies. It starts by surveying a range of theoretical stances on the role of error and error correction (also known as CF) in SLA. It then moves into detailed discussion of three issues on CF heatedly debated either within a cognitive or a sociocultural framework. By examining the empirical findings, some possible topics for further studies are uncovered.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1410-1415
Author(s):  
Marefa Jahan ◽  
Nidhish Francis ◽  
Bing Wang

Abstract Lactoferrin (LF) is a sialylated iron-binding glycoprotein, occurring in several biological secretions like milk, saliva, and seminal fluids and is a major component of a mammalian innate immune system. It plays multiple protective roles against large group of microorganisms and performs anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. The concentration of serum LF in gilt (primiparous sow) and their piglets remains unknown. We determined serum LF concentration in gilts during gestation and lactation to that of 19-d-old piglets, including sow-fed and formula-fed piglets using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that the concentration of serum LF in gilts varied during gestation (0.77 ± 0.10 µg/mL) and lactation (0.62 ± 0.11 µg/mL). The mean concentration of serum LF in gilts (0.72 ± 0.06 µg/mL) was significantly higher than that of piglets (0.42 ± 0.07 µg/mL, P = 0.004). Additionally, a marginal significant difference (P =0.06) was observed for serum LF concentration in sow-fed piglets (0.42 ± 0.03 µg/mL) at 19 d old compared to that of formula-fed piglets (0.33 ± 0.04 µg/mL) at 37 d old. This study provides noble information regarding the serum LF concentration in the healthy gilts and piglets and thereby the data can be used as a standard reference point for future studies on the role of LF in pig reproduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Gago ◽  
Danilo M. Daloso ◽  
Marc Carriquí ◽  
Miquel Nadal ◽  
Melanie Morales ◽  
...  

Besides stomata, the photosynthetic CO2 pathway also involves the transport of CO2 from the sub-stomatal air spaces inside to the carboxylation sites in the chloroplast stroma, where Rubisco is located. This pathway is far to be a simple and direct way, formed by series of consecutive barriers that the CO2 should cross to be finally assimilated in photosynthesis, known as the mesophyll conductance (gm). Therefore, the gm reflects the pathway through different air, water and biophysical barriers within the leaf tissues and cell structures. Currently, it is known that gm can impose the same level of limitation (or even higher depending of the conditions) to photosynthesis than the wider known stomata or biochemistry. In this mini-review, we are focused on each of the gm determinants to summarize the current knowledge on the mechanisms driving gm from anatomical to metabolic and biochemical perspectives. Special attention deserve the latest studies demonstrating the importance of the molecular mechanisms driving anatomical traits as cell wall and the chloroplast surface exposed to the mesophyll airspaces (Sc/S) that significantly constrain gm. However, even considering these recent discoveries, still is poorly understood the mechanisms about signaling pathways linking the environment a/biotic stressors with gm responses. Thus, considering the main role of gm as a major driver of the CO2 availability at the carboxylation sites, future studies into these aspects will help us to understand photosynthesis responses in a global change framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Gérald Delelis ◽  
Véronique Christophe

Abstract. After experiencing an emotional event, people either seek out others’ presence (social affiliation) or avoid others’ presence (social isolation). The determinants and effects of social affiliation are now well-known, but social psychologists have not yet thoroughly studied social isolation. This study aims to ascertain which motives and corresponding regulation strategies participants report for social isolation following negative emotional events. A group of 96 participants retrieved from memory an actual negative event that led them to temporarily socially isolate themselves and freely listed up to 10 motives for social isolation. Through semantic categorization of the 423 motives reported by the participants, we found that “cognitive clarification” and “keeping one’s distance” – that is, the need for cognitive regulation and the refusal of socioaffective regulation, respectively – were the most commonly and quickly reported motives for social isolation. We discuss the findings in terms of ideas for future studies aimed at clarifying the role of social isolation in health situations.


Author(s):  
Ayaz Muhammad Khan ◽  
Amber Jamshaid ◽  
Tayyibah Roohi ◽  
Amna Ramzan

Sustainable Development (SD) is a rich, challenging and thought-provoking construct in social sciences. The main purpose of this paper was to identify and explore the role played by primary school teachers in building up the idea of sustainable development (SD) among students. This paper was intended to identify that how a teacher can successfully execute the concept of SD by influencing students’ minds at the primary level. Quantitative survey technique were utilized for data collection. All the primary school teachers of Lahore division comprised the population of the study. Through multistage sampling technique, 352 primary school teachers were selected as participants of the study. A self-developed SD questionnaire incorporating four major factors (teachers’ awareness, pedagogy, curricular and co-curricular activities) with Cronbach’s alpha value = .93 was used to measure the role of teachers in building the sustainability concept among students at primary level. The results indicated a significant mean score difference among SD scores of teachers, sector wise (private and public). Furthermore, the results also reconnoitered the significant difference (p=.04) between the mean scores of female and male teachers in building up the SD concept in students’ minds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-265
Author(s):  
István Fekete ◽  
Mária Gósy ◽  
Rozália Eszter Ivády ◽  
Péter Kardos

DianePecherés RolfA. Zwaan(szerk.): Grounding cognition: The role of perception and action in memory, language, and thinking (Fekete István)     253 CsépeValéria: Az olvasó agy (Gósy Mária) 256 Kormos, Judit: Speech production and second language acquisition (Ivády Rozália Eszter)      260 MarosánGyörgy: Hogyan készül a történelem? (Kardos Péter) 263


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