ERIC Number: EJ976414
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Sep
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Syntax and Discourse in Near-Native French: Clefts and Focus
Donaldson, Bryan
Language Learning, v62 n3 p902-930 Sep 2012
This study examines aspects of the syntax-discourse interface in near-native French. Two cleft structures--"c'est" clefts and "avoir" clefts--are examined in experimental and spontaneous conversational data from 10 adult Anglophone learners of French and ten native speakers of French. "C'est" clefts mark focus, and "avoir" clefts introduce new discourse referents. Although previous research on the syntax-discourse interface has revealed residual difficulties in near-native speakers, the near-natives in the present study evinced nativelike behavior on a range of measures, a finding that suggests complete acquisition of aspects of the syntax-discourse interface. (Contains 9 figures and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Syntax, Native Speakers, French, Discourse Analysis, Second Language Learning, Grammar, Task Analysis, English, Foreign Countries, Adults, Suprasegmentals
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: France
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A