The Acquisition of discourse markers in L2 learners of French

The Acquisition of discourse markers in L2 learners of French
Joseph Edward Price
1. Introduction
Discourse markers (also called discourse particles or pragmatic markers) have been the study of descriptive
analysis for over twenty years, and the research literature is relatively abundant, particularly for English.
For example, in his 1982 doctoral dissertation, Schourup (1985) looked at ‘like’, ‘well’, ‘you know’, ‘now’,
‘I mean’, ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’, etc. and found that each played a distinct role is calling attention to “that
which is occurring beneath the ‘visible’ surface of a conversation” (154) . Schourup maintains that
discourse markers have the function of negotiating the relationship between the ‘world’ of the speaker (i.e.
covert thinking), that of the interlocutor and that which is shared by both. Specifically, ‘like’ relates what is
privately shared and what is intended, ‘well’ indicates that the speaker is considering internally information
in the shared world, ‘you know’ is an attempt on the part of the speaker to be reassured that his/her private
world corresponds to that of the interlocutor (155). What is clear, even in this early work on discourse
markers, is that the research observes that discourse markers do not necessarily represent idiosyncratic
speech ‘tics’ or empty fillers (although it is my belief that they can do so), but rather serve a particular
function. The vast majority of the research has been focussed on identifying the forms and function of these
markers.
Additional research has examined ‘well’ in detail: Carlson 1984; James 1983; Owen 1981; Schiffrin 1985;
Svartik 1980, among others. Similarly, ‘like’ has also been the subject of a number of studies: Andersen
1997, 1998; Miller and Weinert 1995; Romaine and Lange 1991. While these studies do not necessarily
agree on the function and distribution of these markers, they generally do agree they possess specific
functions which may differ from speaker to speaker.
In research on other languages, discourse markers have been considerably less studied. Bazannella (1990)
studied discourse marking in Italian, Takahara (1998) looked at Japanese, Hakulinen (1998) at Finnish,
Kroon (1995) at Latin (!), Suzuki (1998) compared English and Japanese discourse marking, Park (1998)
compared Korean, Japanese and English, while Hebrew has been the subject of studies by Maschler (1998),
Shloush (1998), Ziv (1998).
The study of discourse marking in French is extensive, certainly rivaling the work done on English, in
terms of sheer quantity. The discourse marker bon (‘well’) and its variants bien, ben, bon ben have the
subject of work by Auchlin (1981a, 1981b), Hansen (1995a, 1996), Hwang (1993), Luzzati (1982), Winther
(1985); alors (‘then, so’) has been studied Hansen (1987), Hwang (1983), Jayez (1988), Moine 1990;
Zénone (1982); donc (‘therefore, so, thus’) has been examined by Hansen (1987), Zénone (1981, 1982).
Other markers that have figured in the research are puis (‘then, next’) and its variant pi (Auchlin 1981a,
Hansen 1995b, Laurendeau 1983), quoi, ‘like, you know’ (Auchlin 1981a), while most of the general
studies on French discourse marking (Auchlin 1981b, Bange 1992, Ducrot et al. 1980, Hansen 1998,
Vincent 1993) have considered these and others (e.g., t’sais ‘you know’, dis/dis donc ‘hey’, hein ‘eh, you
know’, etc.).
Despite the fact that French – like English – is well described in terms of discourse marking, there is a
significant gap in the research on discourse marking as a whole in one particular domain: acquisition.
Certainly, the use of discourse marking is an important factor in competent self-expression and in the
accurate comprehension of discourse, yet a comprehensive search of the research on the part of the author
of this paper failed to yield even one piece of research specifically focussing on acquisition. One set of
interesting studies (Chaudron and Richards 1985, Flowerdew and Tauroza 1995) looked at the role of
discourse marking on the comprehension of university lectures by non-native speakers, suggesting that L2
are aware of discourse markers and may depend on them for comprehension. This awareness is certainly
part of acquisition, yet the development of this awareness is not part of this study nor of any known. The
same appears to be true of production and use of discourse markers. The purpose of the study proposed,
therefore is to study the acquisition of discourse markers in L2 learners of French.
2. The Study: Motivations and research questions
Due to their high frequency of use and low (or null) semantic value, discourse markers may appear to be
insignificant to both the teacher and student. Indeed, it may be for this reason that they were ignored in
linguistic research for so long, but as the many studies of discourse marking have shown, they are a very
real part of a speaker’s competence and practice, and serve a number of purposes. Because they are
frequent in the input an L2 receives from native speakers, one would expect that L2 learners would develop
and awareness of them and eventually, productive skills. This study will try to answer the following
questions:
1. What discourse markers do L2 learners of French use and at what stages of learning?
Specifically, factors such as source of input (classroom vs. target culture), length of study, motivation for
‘native-like’ speech need to be considered. Similarly, the role of transfer will have to be considered. In this
study, the study group will probably consist solely of English L1 speakers, but it would be interesting to
look at the role of other L1s in the acquisition of discourse marking. Another consideration is to see
whether L2 learners favor particular markers, and how their frequency of use corresponds to that of native
speakers.
2. Is there an order to acquisition of discourse markers?
That is, do L2 learners demonstrate consistent patterns in the acquisition of markers? Specifically, how
does this relate to production.
3. How accurate is the use of discourse marking?
That is, how do L2 learners’ use of discourse markers differ form native use. This will have to be judged by
native speakers by listening to recordings of L2 learners.
4. Do L2 learners demonstrate differences in patterns of use of discourse marking, compared with
each other and at what stages?
This depends on carefully examining the contexts in which L2 learners use the markers in question, and in
gauging their perceptions of what the markers mean and how natives use them.
3. The Study: Procedures and methodology
For this study, two methodologies were initially chosen: 1) observation of L2 learners of French and 2)
formal interview. Observation involved sitting at the French table and listening to students converse in
French; however, in three one-hour visits, no discourse markers were observed, save for ‘uh’/euh, whose
status as a discourse marker is questionable, as will be explained below. The reasons for the lack of
discourse marking may be the result of the population observed – all were very low level learners – but also
because of the dynamics of the table, which made it difficult to observe more than a few students over the
course of any one visit. Because of this, this methodology was abandoned and only the interview
methodology was used. The interview materials are included in the appendix. The Interview consisted of
three sections:
A) Five short questions, 1 minute each, each recorded on audio tape and transcribed.
1. What did you do this morning?
2. What did you do during Spring Break?
3. Where do you prefer to live: the city or the country? Why?
4. What is a house?
5. What is love?
Students were carefully read the instructions while silently reading the printed instructions in front of them.
Students were also allowed to rest for one minute. It was hoped that questions such 1 and 2 would trigger
the discourse markers related to time or sequence, such puis ‘then’ and alors ‘so’. Questions 4 and 5 were
designed to challenge the subjects slightly and to test discourse marking strategies employed when repair or
restarting must occur: tu sais ‘you know’ , bon ‘well, okay’, quoi ‘you know, whatever’, donc ‘so, then’.
Question 3 tested both sequence and repair strategies. Each question was presented one at a time, and
subjects could not anticipate upcoming questions. In short, this section tested production of discouse
marking, and there was nothing in the instructions to indicate that this what was being examined. The
overall results are reported in Table 2 (below) and will be discussed shortly.
B) The dialogue task.
1. Dialogue on tape with cloze completion task
Here, students were presented with a written dialogue containing a total of twenty blanks. Subjects were
told that they would hear the dialogue read by native speakers on audio tape and that they would hear it
twice. They were instructed to listen to the dialogue the first time, and for the second playing, to complete
the dialogue with any little words such as ‘euh’, ‘oui’, ‘alors’ that seem appropriate in the context. There
were told that the dialogue was fine as is, and that not filling any blanks would acceptable. Moreover, they
were told that some French speakers (two, in actuality, the two recorded on the tape) had also completed
the dialogue completion task with differing responses and that there were no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers.
The goal of this section was to test what intuitions subjects had about discourse marking. The instructions
contained three discourse markers (‘euh’, ‘oui’, ‘alors’) and students it was predicted that students with a
greater competence would accurately use discourse markers besides these three. The students’ results are
reported in Table 3b (below); the performance of the two native speakers is reported in Table 3a.
2. Cloze completion task with word bank
Immediately after completing dialogue completion task, the subjects were given the same dialogue to
complete again, this time with a list of discourse markers at the top of the page. The goal here was to see
whether students could recognize and accurately use discourse markers when provided with explicit
instructions to do so. Again, they were reminded that they could leave as many blanks as they wished.
Also, they were told that they could provide additional discourse markers that were not included in the list.
The results of this task are reported in Table 3c (below). After both tasks were administered, the results
were presented to the two native speakers, who were then asked to judge the use of the discourse markers
employed as acceptable, unacceptable (these items are marked with an asterisk [*] in the tables) or
questionable (marked with a question mark [?] ). The results of the two dialogue completion task are
compared in Table 3d, to see whether the provision of the discourse markers had any effect on the number
and accuracy of the learners’ use of these items.
3. The definition/equivalents task.
Here, students were presented with a list of common discourse markers and asked to provide an English
equivalent for the item. They were told that the equivalent did not have to be a literal translation, but what
they think the word meant as they used it in the preceding task (they were allowed to look back at this
task). The result of this task are presented in Table 3e.
C) Language background and motivation questions
This section asked questions about language background, attitudes toward learning French, and goals for
learning French. It was hypothesized that the more a subject planned to major in French, use it after
graduation, and had a strong desire to excel in French, the more he or she might be likely to acquire
discourse markers. The information from this section is presented in Table 1.
In short, the tasks were ordered such that production was tested first. Recognition and awareness were
gradually introduced into the procedure in the dialogue completion tasks, particularly in the dialogue
completion task with a word bank and the English equivalent task. The attitude and background questions
were administered last so as not to influence the outcome of the other tasks.
There was a total of 8 subjects, 4 female and 4 male, drawn on a volunteer basis from five French classes.
Students were provided with general instructions regarding the nature of the procedures. The subjects were
remunerated in the amount of five dollars for their participation. Originally, 10 subjects were sought, but
neither the female subject from F150 nor the male subject from F475 succeeded in contacting the
experimenter in time. Each participant was given a number as summarized below:
F150
F200
F250
F316
F475
1m (#7)
1m (#2), 1f (#4)
1m (#5), 1f (#3)
1m (#6), 1f (#1)
1f (#8)
Before analyzing the results, it must be stressed that this is a pilot study only. The number of subjects is
admittedly (and deliberately) small. At this point in the experimental process, it will suffice to see whether
there are any emergent patterns and whether the hypotheses need to be revised. Moreover, this will be
considered a test of the procedures, to see whether they need to be refined. In short, the results of this study
cannot be considered generalizable at this stage, as the number of subjects and the size of the speech
sample is as of yet too small. It is hoped, however, that this study could be replicated with a larger sample
size and additional tasks.
4. Results
Table 1 below presents some general information about the subjects, as completed on the last page of the
interview form. The question on years of study yielded unclear answers and will need to be restated. The
students’ level of French, sources of contact, attitude toward the difficulty of learning French, plans to
major in French, the importance that they place on speaking well and the comfort they express in speaking
French will all figure in the analysis of subsequent tables, and such, this information is presented first. In
future versions of this experiment, the questions dealing with ‘speaking well’ may be expanded to include
‘speaking without an accent’, ‘speaking like everyday people do’, etc.
Table 1: Language Background and Attitudes
St #
Sex
French
Course
Years of
Study
(HS,IU)
Visits to
L2
culture?
other
contact
learning
French is
…
major?
Use
after
grad.?
Importance
Comfort
1
f
F316
Paris, 1
week
movies
music
books
easy
yes
yes
very
important
comfortable
2
m
F200
1 yr. MS,
4 yrs.
HS, 2
sem.
3 sem.
no
yes
important
f
F250
4 yrs.
HS, 1
sem.
Paris, 10
days
@14 yrs
slightly
difficult
hard
no
3
no
yes
very
important
somewhat
comfortable
somewhat
comfortable
4
f
F200
7
no
movies
music
movies
music
books,
talking
w/frds
TV
hard
no
yes
5
m
F250
1 yr HS,
2 sem.
no
slightly
easy
yes
yes
somewhat
important
very
important
somewhat
comfortable
comfortable
6
m
F316
10
3 weeks
in France
slightly
difficult
yes
yes
very
important
comfortable
7
m
F150
2 sem.
10 days
no
yes
8
f
F475
4 yrs.
HS, 2
sem. at
IU
2 days in
Paris
slightly
difficult
easy
no
yes
somewhat
important
very
important
somewhat
comfortable
somewhat
comfortable
movies
music
books,
talking
w/frds
movies
music
books
books
job,
penpal,
music,
books
Table 2 presents the results of the first task, the five one-minute questions. After the collection of the data
(on audio cassette) the results were transcribed as faithfully as possible. The transcriptions were then
presented to 2 native speakers, who were instructed to evaluate the speakers’ communicative ability, based
on the transcripts, as ‘poor’, ‘average’, ‘good’ and ‘very good’. They were also to evaluate the use of
discourse marking as accurate, inaccurate or questionable, as in the dialogue completion task. The
transcripts were then translated as best as possible into English. In the English translations, fillers such as
um and uh were omitted. Similarly, apparent sentence breaks were noted by backslashes ( / ) rather than by
a period (.) . The complete transcriptions are provided in the appendix. In particular, Table 2 notes the
approximate number of sentences, the approximate number of words, the approximate number of uses of
the filler uh, the use of other discourse markers, fixed expressions, and particular characteristics of the
learners’ speech that might be considered advanced.
Table 2: Oral Production
St
#
apx #
of
sents
apx #
of
words
other DMs
Fixed expressions
Characteristics
NS Rating of printed
transcripts without English
translations
597
apx #
of
uses
of ‘uh’
64
1
13
après
les choses comme ça
Very good
11
12
336
384
46
25
Puis
0
je ne sais pas
use of on
16
21
20
18
22
380
535
498
376
481
44
12
60
18
57
puis, alors
Puis (3)
donc (2), bon (3)
puis (2), ensuit
puis, *alors,
donc
pas deletion,
corrections
corrections
switch to English
at end of question
5
I mean (3x); no
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Pardon in
correction (= ‘I
mean?’)
Average
Good
Average
Very good
Very good
Good
Very good
It is important to focus, at this point, on the four subjects who were identified as being ‘very good’:
Subjects #1, #5, #6 and # 8. In comparing Tables 1 and 2, we see a correlation between this evaluation and
the level of French (all are at F250 or above), all reported that speaking well was ‘very important’. The
factors of comfort and contact with the target culture may not be significant in this sample, although other
language contact/input may be; with the exception of #5, all of those rated ‘very good’ reported contacted
with a variety of other sources. All four also provided the largest samples, in terms of sheer number of
words. In terms of number of sentences, three of the four (#5, # 6, and # 8) also provided the largest
number of (what were judged to be) complete sentences. With the exception of # 1, #5, # 6, and # 8 also the
greatest number of discourse markers; # 5 provided puis three times, #6 provided donc (‘so’) twice and bon
(‘well’) three times, #8 used puis, alors (albeit incorrectly) and donc.
At this point, a note must be made about uh, um, er. These occurred with great frequency in the data from
the first part of the experiment. The question is, is this important? To be sure, French has the equivalent euh
. The problem in including these in any analysis is that it is not clear whether it is transfer or acquisition.
Even if a student learns to change the phonology of his or her pronunciation of English uh to sound like
French euh it is not clear whether the L2 patterns differ from those of the student’s L1, nor whether these
patterns are similar to native speakers – that is, if one can establish such patterns. Therefore, while uh is
shaded in the transcripts and is counted in Tables 3a through 3e, it is not counted in Table 2 (Oral
production). It is interesting to note, however, that uh often corresponds to sentence breaks or to clause
boundaries, but not always. Indeed, lower-level learners, who employed fewer complete total sentences that
those judged to be ‘very good’, generally employed uh less frequently than the more advanced learners. In
short, an analysis including uh is problematic and probably not very revealing.
Table 3a shows the results of the two native speakers on the dialogue completion task. The numbers of the
items correspond to the numbers in the blanks on the interview form (these numbers were not included in
the version administered to the subjects). These data are included for comparative purposes.
Table 3a: Perception of Discourse Markers – Dialogue Completion w/o word bank – Native Speakers
Item 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
# of
DMs
Tot. #
acc./
inacc.
/?
NS #1 (m)
alors
bon
-ah oui
bon
le
-ben
oui
tu sais
quoi
alors
oui
et
okay
alors
okay
encore
dis moi
-13
NS # 2 (f)
euh
bon
-ah
-truc
--euh
-tout ça
alors
mais
et
bon
-alors
attends
heu
17
N/A
13
N/A
9
In Table 3b, we see the results of the dialogue completion task without the word bank. What is interesting
are the figures at the bottom of the column. If we look at # 1 and #2, we see that each provided exactly
three forms of discourse markers (alors, euh and oui) – the examples provided in the instructions. # 3 did
likewise, but also provided bon; # 4 used the examples in the instructions but also provided c’est (‘it is’),
d’accord (‘okay’), a form that was provided in the dialogue (and perhaps should not have been included); #
5 added c’est, donc, mon dieu (‘my God’), mais (but, hey). Subject #6, like #5, supplied a wide variety of
forms (not all of them discourse markers, e.g. rien ‘nothing’), most notably the attends (‘wait a second’,
‘hold on’, ‘by the way’) in item 18, a response that was also provided by a native speaker for this item.
Subject # 7 also provided a number of forms of discourse markers; # 8 provided few additional ones. Thus,
the candidates that seemed to have the best productive knowledge of discourse marking, based on this task,
were subjects #5, #6, #7, as they provided examples beyond those included in the instructions. For each
subject, and accuracy rate was also determined by dividing the number of total answers provided into the
number judged to be accurate (inaccurate and questionable items were omitted). This accuracy figure
includes all answers, and perhaps should have excluded non discourse markers such as rien and le.
Table 3b: Perception of Discourse Markers – Dialogue Completion without word bank
(NB: ? = judged questionable by native speaker; * = judged inaccurate use by NS)
Item 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
# of
DMs
Tot. #
acc./
inacc.
/?
% acc
S# 1
euh
ah
euh
alors
alors
euh
oui*
-alors*
euh
alors
euh
euh
alors
euh
oui*
alors
euh
euh
3
S# 2
euh
allors*
-alors
oui*
euh
alors
oui*
oui
euh
--euh
-alors
-oui*
euh
alors?
-3
S# 3
euh
oui
euh
--euh
--alors*
---oui
-bon
---euh
euh
4
S# 4
oui*
euh
c’est
d’accord
-euh
-oui*
-euh
oui*
alors
euh
-d’accord
-oui*
euh
--5
S# 5
-alors*
-alors
c’est
eu
alors
c’est
mon dieu
--alors
mais
et
alors
-donc
mais
--6
S# 6
euh
bah
-oh la la
beuf?
-mais
-mais
-rien
alors
bah
euh
bon
donc
enfin?
attends
-euh
11
S# 7
euh
-alors*
-euh
le
-mais
--mon dieu
-oui
-oui
euh
--euh
-6
S# 8
euh
--euh
-euh
----etc.
alors
-et
ça
-donc
euh
--5
18
15 / 3 / 0
14
9/ 4 / 1
9
8/1/0
13
9/4/0
13
12 / 1 / 0
15
13 / 0 / 2
10
9/1/0
9
9/0/0
83%
64%
88%
69%
92%
86%
90%
100%
In terms of accuracy, subjects #1, #3, #5, #6, #7 and #8 all performed well. Subject #1 and #3, however, did
not provide much that was not in the instructions, although #3 did provide bon an important discourse
marker. Similarly, aside from the use of donc, subject #8 did not provide much of importance, either.
Subject #7, despite the high accuracy rating, #7 did not show the variety the remaining subjects, #5 and #6,
whose discourse marking was varied and highly accurate. Nevertheless, as a lower level learner (F150), it
may be fair to say that this learner has an awareness of discourse marking and it would be interesting to
follow this subject over the course of a few more semesters. Similarly, it may be fair to say that #5 and #6
are the most proficient in the accurate production of these markers, although this sample is small. Of the
subjects that were rated highly – #1, #5, #6 and #8 – all had high accuracy ratings; however, #5 and #6 in
particular provided the largest number of varied discourse markers as well as high numbers of occurrences
and high accuracy. Conversely, #2 and #3, who provided all discourse markers available in the instructions
or in the dialogue (d’accord) scored low in accuracy. Thus, their productive knowledge of discourse
marking may be low. These two subjects were also rated ‘average’ by the native speakers (the lowest rating
given by the raters). This suggests the possibility that accurate discourse marking may play a role how
native speakers evaluate L2 learner’s communicate ability, at least in French.
Table 3c presents the results of the dialogue completion task when a word bank was provided. At this point,
the focus of the experiment shifts from production to recognition.
Table 3c: Perception of Discourse Markers – Dialogue Completion with word bank
Item 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
# of
DMs
Tot. #
acc/
inacc/?
% acc.
S# 1
euh
ben
fin?
donc*
eh bien
euh
alors
tu sais
bon?
euh
-enfin
et bien
euh
alors
ben
bon*
mais
alors
euh
10
S# 2
euh
bon
tu sais
alors
--quoi
-----euh
-bon
-oui*
puis?
--7
S# 3
-bon
-hein
euh
tu sais
hein
----alors
bon?
-eh bien
--euh
euh
-6
S# 4
oui*
euh
-d’accord
hein*
euh
alors
-bon?
-tu sais
alors
euh
-d’accord
puis*
oui*
euh
--8
S# 5
euh
bon
-ben
bien
euh
alors
-bon ben*
tu sais
quoi
tiens
alors*
eh bien
bon
eh bien
donc
mais
quoi*
-11
S# 6
quoi*
ben
-alors
beuf?
-alors
tu sais
mais
-rien
alors
bah
mais*
bon
donc
enfin?
mais
--11
S# 7
bon?
alors*
mais*
donc*
tu sais
euh
quoi
mais
puis*
euh
fin*
tu sais*
bon?
euh
eh bien
euh
enfin?
bien
mais
euh
12
S# 8
euh
--quoi
tiens
euh
hein
-mais
--puis*
--bon
euh
donc
euh
-fin
9
18
14 / 2 /2
9
7/1/1
10
9/0/1
14
9/4/1
17
14 / 3 / 0
15
11 / 2 / 2
20
11 / 6 / 3
12
11 / 1 / 0
77%
77%
90%
64%
82%
73%
55%
92%
Table 3d: Table 3b (no word bank) and 3c (word bank) compared
# of DMs
w/o wd
bank
# of DMs
with wd
bank
change
Total #
w/o wd
bank
Total #
w/wd bnk
change
Accuracy
w/o wd
bank
Accuracy
w/ wd
bank
# of
changes
between
tasks
# of
inacc.
changes
% of
inacc.
changes
change in
accuracy
S #1
3
S #2
3
S #3
4
S #4
5
S #5
6
S #6
11
S #7
6
S #8
5
10
7
6
8
11
11
12
9
+7
18
+4
14
+2
9
+3
13
+5
13
same
15
+6
10
+4
9
18
9
10
14
17
15
20
12
same
83%
-5
64%
-1
88%
+1
69%
+4
92%
same
86%
+10
90%
+3
100%
77%
77%
90%
64%
82%
73%
55%
92%
16
14
13
8
14
8
18
13
3
2
1
2
3
2
9
1
18%
14%
7%
25%
21%
25%
50%
7%
-6%
+13%
+2%
-5%
-10%
-13%
-35%
-8%
Table 3d compares the results of Tables 3b and 3c. The results show that, with the exception of # 6, all
subjects provided a variety of forms of discourse markers, and none provided any fewer. In terms of the
total number of occurrences of markers, subjects # 1 and #6 used the same number markers, #2 and #3 used
fewer, #4, #5, #7 and #8 used more. Here, an interesting pattern emerges: for every subject who used a
greater number of discourse markers (not the forms, but the total number), accuracy falls. More interesting
still, in those cases where a total greater number of discourse markers were employed, the decline in
accuracy appears to be proportional to the number of total forms used. The two subjects who used the
same number of discourse markers, #1 and # 6, both had declines in their accuracy scores. The two subjects
who used a fewer total number of discourse markers, #2 and #3, had increases in their scores, despite the
fact that they used a greater variety of discourse marker forms. If we compare the number of changes made
between the two tasks and the accuracy of these changes, we might be able to make some inferences about
the subjects’ recognition knowledge of French discourse markers. #7 made a total of 18 changes between
the tasks, 9 of which were judged to be inaccurate. Thus, the subjects recognition knowledge is perhaps
rather low, as was the productive knowledge. Despite this subject’s 90% accuracy rating the forms used
were limited. In the case of #1 and #2, both of whom used only forms in the instructions on the production
part of the dialogue completion task, they made 16 and 14 changes, respectively, with only 3 and 2 errors,
suggesting perhaps a higher recognition knowledge of these forms than productive knowledge. Subject #3
made 13 changes, only one of which was inaccurate, suggesting perhaps an even higher recognition
knowledge than subjects #1 and #2. What is surprising in these findings is that speakers who had good
knowledge of the meaning of discourse markers (as seen in Table 3e) made so many inaccurate changes
between the two task, particularly subjects #5 and #6. A comparison of Table 3b, Table 3c and Table 3e
shows that subjects did not use items for which they did not know the English equivalent (as marked with a
question mark after the item in Table 3e). However, even when their intuitions about the meaning were
correct, this did not prevent them from using them in an inappropriate context. It seems that this
experiment must then have tried to measure not just productive knowledge and recognition knowledge, but
also knowledge of appropriate use. Table 3d, for example, could have been supplemented with questions of
the type ‘when would you use this?’, ‘What does it express?’ ‘Can it go at the beginning of a sentence? The
end? The middle?’. Similarly, an additional task might have been included, where subjects rated model
sentences containing appropriate and inappropriate discourse marking, after the second dialogue
completion task, and perhaps after the English equivalent task, so as not to influence the data. The nature of
the task may have been to encourage the students to use as many discourse markers as possible. Indeed, the
data in Table 3e would suggest that students generally know what the discourse markers mean. Again, the
failure of the dialogue completion task with the word bank seem to stem from the failure of this experiment
to focus on context. Thus, we can distinguish a.) recognition of the discourse semantic value of discourse
marker X, b.) recognition of appropriate contextualization of discourse marker X, c.) productive knowledge
of discourse marker X. It is important to stress discourse semantic value in item a.) because most discourse
markers have a predictable ‘dictionary definition’ as well as a discourse definition. According to this
proposed model, it is possible to use a discourse marker accurately without knowing its discourse value.
Table 3e: Learner perceptions of meaning of French Discourse Markers
tu sais
S #1
good,
okay,
correct
you know
euh
uh, um
uh
uhhh…
mais
but
but
but
bien
well,
good
good.
well.
quoi
what
what?
like bon –
good,
alright,
literally
well
what
what
alors
puis
so, then
then,
therefore
end,
finally
so.
Then.
so
?
so
then
Finally.
?
okay
?
?
?
hey!
ben
oh my,
wow,
well…
well
?
?
?
(indifference)
eh bien
uh okay
Is it well?
ahhh,
good
okay,
that’s
good
and (one
more
thing)
bon ben
good,
well
?
?
(frustrated)
enfin
at last,
finally
In
finishing,
finally
good,
sounds
great
finally
next,
what else
donc
then,
therefore
uh, um,
well
Therefor
e
?
therefore,
so
huh?
okay
so
(summin
g thing
up)
so
bon
fin
tiens
hein
S #2
Good.
S #3
good or
“alright”
S #4
good,
okay
S #5
Well
S #6
good, ok
S #7
good,
yea
S #8
good
you
know?
you
know?
you know
you know
ya know
you know
sound
made
when you
are
thinking
but
Um
you know,
do you
know?
um…
umm
um
actually
(actually
there was
somethin
g else
fine/well
but
but
but
well, ok,
well,
very
good
good
like (like
you know
what I
mean)
so …
then
/well
-static
indicating
uncertainty
or generality
well then, so
then, so
what
what
so
since
so
so
-end, ? (I
don’t know
how it’s used
as verbal
static)
wait!,
Bravo!
finished,
over
so
?
look
could mean
good but is
more
neutral, it’s
a time staller
-Another
time staller,
indicating
that one is
about to say
something
?
?
?
hey
that’s
good
so (to
intro-duce
a question
?
?
at last
finally
so
-so;
so
then
?
?
yeah (in a
question)
good
okay
Indeed, no subject used a discourse marker for which the definition was unknown. However, for those
items where a definition was given, it was most often the surface, literal definition. Similarly, according to
this model, it is possible to use a given discourse marker without knowing the appropriate contexts. Targetlike use, in these cases, would also be accompanied by instances of inappropriate uses, given a large
enough sample. It is possible that those subjects that had low accuracy rates 1. did not know the discourse
semantic definition, 2. did not know the appropriate context, or both. It is also important to stress that the
process of acquisition, it is hypothesized, must occur independently for each discourse marker learned. In
the production task, the use of discourse markers puis, donc, bon, alors were correct; only one use (alors,
used by subject #8 in section 1). With this one exception, it appears that the speakers who used these
markers had acquired the appropriate context. The data in table 3e suggests that they had acquired the
semantic value as well. It may be that the high rate of inaccuracy on the part of the high-rated subjects in
the word-bank dialogue completion task stems from the fact that had not yet learned the context of the
target discourse marker, the discourse meaning or both. Again, the subjects’ perception of appropriate
context will have to be tested in any future of this experiment.
5. Discussion
The transcription of the subject revealed some interesting observations about the L2 learner’s language.
First, a number of the samples consisted of one sentence joined with et ‘and’ and that ‘uh’ frequently
corresponded to an apparent sentence break. Secondly, other native-like phenomena accompanied discourse
marking but not always: ne-deletion, elisions (loss of the unstressed e in words such as je), formulaic
expressions (quoi d’autre, et les choses comme ça). This may have also contributed to the higher ratings
that these subjects received. Thirdly, there were a lot of self-corrections, suggesting that there may have
been a focus on form on the part of some of the subjects. If this is true, then perhaps the nature of the
interview procedure may have inhibited some subjects from using these forms. Similarly, switches into
English were relatively rare, as were loans, suggesting that the subjects may have been focusing on
producing grammatically accurate utterances.
Aside from the potential task effects and failure to incorporate context into the experimental model, this
study has some additional flaws. Primarily, the number of subjects is far too small to make generalizations
or establish patterns. More importantly, it will be important to look not just at L2 learners’ discourse
marking performance and perception of the meaning and appropriate context of a given set of discourse
markers, but to determine how they are acquired. It will be necessary to visit classrooms and observe the
teacher’s input and input from other students in group work. It will necessary to carefully examine the
textbook and other supporting materials to determine whether these markers are modeled or taught overtly.
If they are taught, it will be interesting to see the effect that teaching has, if any. For this reason, it would be
preferable to attempt a longitudinal measure, but with a subject pool comprising learners of different levels
at each stage of experimentation.
Despite these experimental flaws, this pilot study has allowed the researcher to identify certain patterns,
which may or may not represent the behavior and competence of L2 learners of French as a whole, but will
be tested in a future version of this study. These patterns are as follows:
1. There may be a relationship between motivation and acquisition of discourse marking. Of the 4 subjects
rated most highly (1, 5, 6, 8), 3 reported that they felt ‘comfortable’ with French (the highest self-rating
possible), 1 reported ‘somewhat comfortable’. Of these four, all said that speaking French well was ‘very
important’, and 3 were French majors.
2. There may be a relationship between input and discourse marking. The highest rated subjects identified
the greatest number of additional sources of input and were also in the most advanced classes. However,
the role of target culture contact is still unclear.
3. There may be a relationship between aptitude and discourse marking; all 4 reported that learning French
was ‘easy’, ‘slightly easy’ or ‘slightly difficult’.
4. There may be a relationship between awareness of meaning of discourse marking and use: all 4 gave
most detailed English equivalent (Table 3c). However, as we have seen, their performance on the guided
completion task was less accurate than their performance on the first task, the question-and-answer task.
5. The 4 highest rated subjects used the greatest number of words, (with one exception, #5) the greatest # of
‘uh’, generally the largest number of sentences (except #1), and the greatest number of discourse markers
(except #1)
6. Conclusions
To conclude, this paper will restate and attempt to answer the original research questions:
1. What discourse markers do L2 learners of French use and at what stages of learning?
It appears that the forms that have a strict surface definition as well as a discourse meaning were used
without any guidance: alors, donc, puis, bon. The status of students’ knowledge of the other forms tested
was unclear.
2. Is there an order to acquisition of discourse markers?
It appears, based on this sample that puis may be one of the first forms to emerge. Alors will probably also
emerge early. Donc was used little, bon even less. In any case, forms that have a strict dictionary definition
as well as a discourse meaning (e.g., alors ‘then’ vs. ‘so’; puis; ‘next’ vs. ‘and’; bon ‘good’ vs. ‘well,
okay’) will probably be acquired before those items that do not have a strict dictionary definition (e.g. bon
ben ‘well’).
3. How accurate is the use of discourse marking?
In the production stage (i.e., the first task), the discourse markers were, with one exception (alors used by
Subject #8 in question #3; see transcripts in Appendix 1) correct. This suggests that subjects may freely use
the markers in unguided production tasks only when they are sure they understand the discourse meaning
or context or both. The error on the part of this student may stem from an apparent misunderstanding of the
discourse meaning, although the grammatical position in the sentence would be correct. Thus, while
discourse markers can have a strict surface (dictionary) definition, they can also have a discourse definition.
Students may use them in a correct place in a sentence, but appropriate context, as defined here, would
include the position and the meaning. In the tasks were students were asked to provide discourse markers in
a dialogue, they were moderately accurate with the ones whose discourse meaning they seemed to know.
When the did not know the discourse meaning, their accuracy rates fell.
4. Do L2 learners demonstrate differences in patterns of use of discourse marking, compared with
each other and at what stages?
Clearly, the use of discourse marking is related to level of proficiency (which usually corresponds
to length of formal instruction). Other factors, such as motivation to sound native-like, may play a part in
one’s attentiveness to discourse marking. It may also be the fact that the use of discourse marking increases
when subjects speak in complete sentences rather than a series of conjoined independent clauses. At this
point, it is hard to determine at which stage the markers will emerge, but is predictable that those markers
that have a strict definition and a discourse definition might be learned first.
The findings of this study are interesting; however, it must be stressed that these findings are still
only tentative observations of a very small group of learners in a limited series of production and
recognition tasks. To best determine the use of discourse marking by L2 learners of French, this study must
be expanded, incorporating the factor outlined above and involving a larger sample of students observed
over a longer period of time. It must begin with a more clearly articulated model of discourse marking, one
involving the notions of surface meaning, discourse meaning and appropriate context (position in the
sentence and discourse meaning), as outlined above. This last area is the one that must figure in any future
versions of this experiment, as it may be that accurate production of discourse marking depends on an
acquisition of both semantic competence and contextual competence.
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APPENDIX 1: Transcripts of the interviews
Subject #1
1. uh je me levais a uh mm 10 heures je pense et uh je préparais mon petit déjeuner uh uh je mangeais
et uh j’ai travaillé un peu pour un projet pour ma classe de français uh nous avons un présentation ce
matin uh dans groupe et après ça j’ai mangé uh à Ballantine et uh j’aimais pas ça parce que uh il y a un
orage et j’aime pas marcher dans les orages um et j’arrivais je suis arrivée à le union et j’ai acheté uh un
bagel uh (laugh) et j’ai parlé avec un ami pour pendant quelques minutes et après ça je suis allée à
Ballantine pour ma classe de français
I got up at 10:00 I think and I prepared my breakfast I ate and I worked a little for a project for my French
class /we have a presentation this morning in group and after that I ate at Ballantine and I didn’t like that
because there is a storm and I don’t like to walk in storms and I was arriving I arrived at the Union and I
bought a bagel and I spoke with a friend for during several minutes and after that I went to Ballantine for
my French class
2. mm premièrement uh je je suis rentré à ma maison uh un jour avant que les vacances de printemps a
commencé uh parce que j’ai seulement un cours le vendredi et après ça uh j’ai visité avec uh tes amis et
uh je suis allée a Floride avec mes parents pour rendre visite à ma grand-mère et nous avons mangé
beaucoup les restaurants et je suis pas allée à la plage uh mais c’est (ici?) parce qu’elle habite uh cinq
minutes de la plage et je fais du shopping et des choses comme ça uh et après ça nous uh nous sommes
rentrés Indiana / je suis rentrée à ma maison pendant quelques jours uh et après ça j’ai rentré uh IU et
first I returned home one before spring break began because I only have one course on Friday and after that
I visited with my friends and I went to Florida with my parents to visit my grand-mother and we ate a lot in
restaurants and I did not go to the beach and it is (here ?) because she lives five minutes from the beach and
I go shopping and things like that and after that we we returned Indiana/ I returned to my house for a few
days and after that I returned IU and
3. uh je préfère habiter dans la ville uh pour beaucoup de raisons. Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire dans la
ville uh comme les films et le centre commercial uh aussi uh j’aime beaucoup le bruit (laugh) je peux
pas dormir quand il y a quand il n’y a pas de bruit comme dans la campagne uh aussi uh je pense aussi
qu’il y plus des opportunités dans la ville uh et beaucoup des personnes et beaucoup des personnes
différentes et uh mm je ne sais pas j’aime fait beaucoup de choses dans la ville et j’habitais dans la ville
pendant toute ma vie et (?) je sais pourquoi je peux faire uh j’aime aussi parce que c’est uh c’est plus près
des autres choses comme les (?) et les hopitals et choses comme ça et
I prefer to live in the city for a lot of reasons/ there are a lot of things to do in the city like films and the
mall and also I like the noise / I can’t sleep when there isn’t any noise like in the country and also I think
also there are more opportunities in the city also a lot of people and a lot of différent people and I don’t
know I like do a lot of things in the city and I was living in the city my whole life (?) and I know why I can
do I also like because it’s it’s closer to other things like the (?) and the hospitals and things like that and
4. mm une maison c’est uh un endroit où une personne vit uh et quelquefois c’est petit quelquefois c’est
plus uh grand mm il uh dans ma maison il y a seulement uh une étage mais dans quelques autres maisons
il il y a plus des étages uh mais uh quelquefois il viennent amis qui habitent dans la maison quelquefois
ils restent dans autres personnes et des amis uh et uh ma maison uh quelques maisons coutent tres
cheres mais les autres uh ne coutent pas beaucoup uh les les mai les maisons uh protegent une personne
de les le temps comme le pluie et les orages comme aujourd’hui uh et une personne peut dormir et manger
dans la maison
A house it’s a place where a person lives and sometimes it’s little and sometimes it’s big/ there in my house
there is only one floor but in some other houses there there are more floors but sometimes friends come
who live in the house sometimes in other people and friends and my house some house cost a lot and others
don’t cost a lot / the the hou houses protect a person from the weather like the rain and the storms like
today and a person can live and eat in the house
5. uh l’amour uh il y a beaucoup des types differentes de l’amour uh um uh par exemp(le) (?) l’amour
pour la famille uh aussi uh pour ses amis ou peut-etre pour une petite amie ou uh pour une autre
personne uh il est difficile de comprendre ou definir l’amour uh beaucoup de personnes pensent qu’il uh
aiment quelqu’un ou les choses comme ça et après ça ils découvrent que non c’est pas vrai um mmm uh
uh (laugh) c’est quelque chose uh tres uh vague et pas il il n’y pas une definition specifique pour l’amour
je pense et uh c’est um c’est
love there are many different types of love for example the love for a family and also for one’s friends or
maybe for a girlfriend or for another person / it is difficult to understand or define love / a lot of people
think that they love someone or things like that and after that they discover that no it’s not true / it’s
something very vague and not there there isn’t a specific definition for love I think
Subject #2
1. qu’est-ce tu as fait ce matin? uh je je me reveillais a dix heures uh je je me lave uh puis je me j’ai
margé un petite dejeuner des des cereales uh (?) j’ai parti uh pour ma cour uh (?) a 11 heures uh et /
(cough) j’ai j’ai plu l’autobus uh uh pour le campus et je suis allé a ma ma cour anglais et
what did you do this morning? I woke up at ten o’clock and I I wash then I ate a breakfast some cereal / I
took my course at 11 o’clock and I I took the bus for campus and I went to my English course
2. spring break? mm j’ai resté à Bloomington uh pour le spring break uh j’ai j’ai peindu peindu beaucoup
uh je je suis uh un artiste uh et uh j’ai li or j’ai lu uh beaucoup les livres et um je parle avec mes amis
j’ai sorti uh j’ai uh je suis allé Anderson pour un jour ou deux et je je suis je parle avec mes parents et
mes amis mmm uh de Anderson mmm
Spring break? I stayed in Bloomington for the Spring Break / I I painted a lot / I am an artist and I read
(corrected pronunciation) a lot of books and I speak with my friends and I went out I went to Anderson for
a day or two and I spoke with my parents and my friends from Anderson
3. mmm je je prefere habiter a la a la ville uh j’adore uh la vie nuit er uh la vie de nuit et j’aime
beaucoup la vie de nuit uh en centre ville il y a uh beaucoup fait uh et uh la campagne est bien et
tranquille et je voudrais uh rendre une visite a la campagne quelquefois mais je je prefere habiter
I prefer to live in the city / I adore the night life (corrected form) in the downtown / there is a lot do and the
country is nice and quiet and I would like to pay a visit to the country sometimes but I prefer to live
4. une maison uh c’est (laugh) uh ma ma un famille habite uh en une maison uh il y a beaucoup de
piecés de pieces uh un salle des jeux uh les chambres uh un balcon uh une maison il y a beaucoup de
maisons uh uh dans un voisinage uh beaucoup des chiens habitent dans le maison et une une je ne sais
pas il il y a (laugh)
a house it’s where my my a family lives / in a house there are a lot of rooms (corrects pronunciation) a
game room the bedrooms a balcony / a house there are a lot of houses in a neighborhood a lot of dogs love
in the house and a a I don’t know there there is/are
5. l’amour oo c’est tres difficile et uh un homme et une femme uh (cough) trouver l’amour (cough)
quand le je ne sais pas et uh c’est tres difficile c’est uh uh je ne sais pas une emotion uh et un pere et un
mere uh ils sont amour pour les enfants uh mais il est different uh que l’amour de un homme et
love oh it’s very difficult and a man and a woman to find love when the I don’t know and it is very difficult
it is I don’t know an emotion and a father and a mother they are love for the children but it is different that
the love of a man and
Subject #3
1. um je reveillais a dix heures dix heures et demie je pense et je ne prends pas une douche (laughs) parce
que j’ai pris une douche dernière soir et j’ai je me suis brossée mes dents je j’ai lavé le visage et (laughs)
j’ai écouté uh à français sur le télé pour préparer ça et (laughs) uh je j’ai lu mon e-mail j’ai je suis habillé
et je suis allée au Starbucks et j’ai acheté j’ai acheté café et journal mmm ah je
I woke up at 10 o’clock 10:30 I think and I do not take a shower because I took a shower last night and I
brushed my teeth and I washed my face and I listened to French on TV to prepare for this and I read my email and I got dressed and I went to Starbucks and I bought coffee and newpaper
2. ah je suis allée au Key West avec ma famille uh c’est c’est (?) nous sommes restés dans un une maison
c’est très près de l’aéroport (laughs) des avions ont volé uh dans le ciel uh uh beaucoup et uh nous
avons une piscine c’est chouette et uh je nous sommes allés au plage à la plage et j’ai fait les cours j’ai
acheté des vêtements des CDs j’ai pris des bains de soleil beaucoup mais maintenant je suis blanche
(laughs) uh j’étais bronzée et uh umm
I went to Key West with my family and it’s it’s we stayed in a a house it’s very near the airport and the
planes flew in the sky a lot and we have pool it’s great and I we went to the beach to the beach and I went
shopping / I bought clothes some CDs I took some sunbaths a lot but now I am white / I was tanned
3. uh je prefere habiter dans une ville parce que uh j’aime etre dans une ville avec beaucoup de personnes
et uh je uh uh j’aime avoir beaucoup de choses pour faire et je déteste en etant (?) je pense (laughs) et
j’aime avoir beaucoup de places à pour à manger. Je viens de Montana et on n’a pas beaucoup de places
pour manger les différentes nourritures (laughs) et uh j’aime New York par exemple beaucoup uh j’aime
San Francisco j’aime Seattle uh oui, uh oui uh
I prefer to live in a city because I like to be in a city with a lot of other people and I like to have a lot of
things to do and I hate being (?) I think and I like to have a lot of places to eat / I come from Montana and
we don’t have a lot of places to eat different foods and I love New York for example / I love San Francisco
I love Seattle, yes, yes
4. uh c’est une maison est une place pour une famille la plupart du temps et c’est par exemple quatre
personnes ils il habitents dans la place et il y beaucoup de chambres et c’est où c’est où on préparait le
repas on se couche on regarde le télé par exemple (laughs) c’est la place où on va après le travail ou après
le cour et pour l’accès c’est difficile c’est dans
It’s a house is a place for a family most of the time and it’s for example four people they they live in the
place and there are a lot of rooms and it’s where it’s where one to prepared the meal /one goes to bed one
watches TV for example/ it’s the place where one goes after work or after school and for access it’s
difficult it’s in
5. uh l’amour ah d’accord c’est si deux se aiment (laughs) ils dans l’amour et c’est peut-être un fille et elle
pense d’un certain garçon et habite pour le moment quand elle l’a vu il elle uh veut parler uh lui et ils ils
sortient ensemble et quand ils uh ils sortient ensemble beaucoup ils se sentent très uh fort (laughs) pour
uh each other I don’t know the word
love ah okay it’s if two love each other they in love and it’s maybe a girl and she thinks of a certain boy
and lives for the moment where she saw him / he she wants to talk to him and they go out together when
they go out together a lot they feel very strongly for (English) each other I don’t know the word
Subject #4
1. uh ce matin uh je suis allée uh la bibliothèque pour une classe dans uh avec un ordinateur um je j’ai
je suis revenée à uh neu- neuf heures et j’ai j’ai pris un douche puis j’ai um oh j’ai mangé un pop-tart
(laughs) et um dans la classe nous utilisons les ordina l’ordinateur uh vingt auss- il il y a uh trois I mean
vingt-trois vingt et trois
this morning I went to the library for a class in with a computer / I I came back at nine o’clock and I I took
a shower then I oh I ate a pop tart and in the class we use computers twenty als- there are (English) I mean
(French) twenty-three twenty and three
2. pendant le Spring Break um je ne je ne pas au travail I mean je ne travaille pas et um je suis passée
beaucoup de temps avec mes amis et ma famille uh je suis allée au cinéma au centre commercial uh j’ai
mangé beaucoup des uh des cuisines par ma mère et uh j’ai rendre visite ma grand-mère et mon grandpère uh je umm je suis allée regarder pour uh les travails pour l’été et umm je m’amuse beaucoup parce
que uh uh je j’étais à loin de l’école et des devoirs
during the Spring break I I not at work (English) I mean (French) I don’t work and I spent a lot of time with
my friends and my family / I went to the movies to the mall / I ate a lot of the foods by my mother and I
have pay a visit my grandmother and my grandfather / I went to look at for the jobs for summer and I have
a good a time because I was at far from school and homework
3. um la ville parce que j’aime j’aime uh aller au centre commercial et um j’aime acheter les vêtements les
uh aussi je j’aime um visiter mon ami dans la ville um la campagne est trop uh trop uh uh la vi- la ville
bruyant et j’aime le bruyant aussi la ville est um est mmm je ne sais pas la ville j’habite dans la ville pour
mon vie alors la campagne je n’aime pas la campagne
the city because I like I like to go to the mall and I like to buy clothes also I I like to visit my friend in the
city / the country is too too the cit- the city noisy and I like the noisy also the city is is I don’t know / the
city I live in the city for my life so the country I don’t like the country
4. mm la place où tu habites uh il y a la uh il y a une puis(?) dix (?) uh il y a une uh les chambres les uh
uh peut-être une télévision uh tu dors tu dors uh tu as dormi uh eh um c’est dans la ville ou dans la
campagne uh dans une uh voisin- uh no um eh uh um une jar jardin uh avec les chiens les arbres les
fleurs
the place where you live/ there is the there is a then (?) ten (?) there is a the bedrooms the maybe a TV you
sleep you sleep you slept/ it is in the city or in the country in a neighborh-- (English ?) no (French) a gargarden with dogs trees flowers
5. um oh je ne sais pas um c’est comme um je t’adore j’aime uh uh tu uh tu adores les uh ton famille ton
copain uh tes amis uh c’est très très content uh aussi il y a I mean il est um important parce que c’est un
c’est un c’est spécial et uh tu uh tu as tu l’as quand tu es un enfant uh je ne sais pas
oh I don’t know it’s like I love you I like you /you you love the your family your buddy your friends / it’s
very very happy also there is/are (English) I mean (French) it is important because it’s a it’s a it’s special
and you you you have it when you are a child I don’t know
Subject #5
1. uh ce matin je me suis levé à onze heures et et je suis allé à mon cours de uh je devais jouer du piano
pour une amie parce qu’elle a une cours de de voix et je vais jouer pour elle et puis uh je suis allé pour à
manger uh à Mc MacDonald et uh puis uh et j’ai eu mon cours d’espagnol et puis j’ai eu mon cour de
une leçon de piano puis je suis venu ici. uh je ne voulais pas je voulais me res- je je voulais rester dans
mon lit uh j’avais pas envie de de me lever
this morning I got (out of bed) at 11 o’clock and I went to my class in / I had to play piano for a friend
because she has a voice class and I am going to play for her and then I went to eat at Mc McDonalds and
then and I had my Spanish course and then I and my course in a piano lesson then I came here/ I didn’t
want to I wanted to stay in my bed /I didn’t have the wish to to get up
2. uh je suis allé chez moi uh je n’ai fait beaucoup de cho- je n’ai fait je n’ai pas fait beaucoup de choses
uh j’ai joué un peu de piano j’ai étudié un peu uh je vais écrire une uh composition pour un cours et je
l’ai fait samedi presque uh au fin des vacances et uh j’ai vu uh j’ai vu ma famille uh je n’ai pas travaillé
uh je je suis allé pour uh chercher du travail pour le pour l’été uh parce que pendant l’été je vais
travailler uh dans ma vi- dans ma ville et je vais chercher un travail uh je suis sorti avec des amis des fois
mais pas beaucoup
I went home /I didn’t do a lot of thi- I didn’t do I didn’t do a lot of things /I played a little piano /I studied a
little /I am going to write a composition for a class and I did it Saturday almost at the end of the vacation
and I saw I saw my family and I did not work /I I went to look for work for the the summer because I am
going to work in my tow- in my town and I am going to look for a job /I went out with my friends some
times but not a lot
3. uh maintenant je préfére- je préférerais uh habiter dans la ville dans une ville parce que maintenant je
pense quand je suis je uh j’ai beaucoup des idées et j’aime uh les personnes des autres pays et je sais que
ils se trouvent souvent dans les grandes villes et il y a beaucoup de choses qu’on peut faire qu’on peut y
faire et uh uh parce que je pense que la vie dans la ville est moins uh ennuyeuse que dans la campagne et
je pense que je quand je sois quand je serais uh plus plus âgé uh je voudrai uh habiter à la campagne
parce que c’est plus uh il y a plus de paix
now I would would prefer to live in the city in a city because now I think when I am I I have a lot of ideas
and I like the people from other countries and I know that they are often found in big cities and there are a
lot of things that one can do that one can do there and I because I think that life is less boring than in the
country and I think that I when I be when I will be older I will want to live in the country because it’s there
is more peace
4. uh une maison est une place où uh une famille ou des personnes vi—habitent uh c’est quelque chose
qui uh protègent aux (?) gens (?) du temps uh de la température uh un peu uh il y a de tout (?) dans la
maison pour exemple pour uh laver laver les uh les vêtements pour pour uh s’a— pour dormir ou pour
s’amuser uh la maison uh réflit toujours uh la personnalité des personnes qui y habitent uh s-- il y a
beaucoup de tailles uh plusieurs tailles de maisons
a house is a place where a family or people liv- resident/ it is something that protects a person (?) from the
weather and from the temperature a little /there is everything is the house for example to wash wash clothes
to to have fu— to sleep or to have fun /the house always reflects the personality of the people who live
there /there are a lot of sizes several sizes of houses
5. ah je pense que l’amour c’est quelque chose qui qui uh se part- partage entre deux personnes uh il y a
beaucoup de façons de l’amour il y a l’amour de entre la famille entre les amis et entre des amantes uh je
pense que beaucoup de personnes pensent qu’ils trouvent uh qu’ils trouvent uh qu’ils le trouvent mais uh
je pense que c’est quelque chose de spécial et beaucoup de personnes uh ne le trouvent pas uh c’est
quelque chose très uh joli et uh uh je pense qu’il faut attendre à uh à que à que tu trouves la personne
juste pour toi uh
I think that love is something that that is shar- is shared between two people/ there are different kinds of
love /there is the love of within the family between friends and between lovers /I think that a lot of people
think that they find that they find it but I think that it’s something special and a lot of people don’t find it
/it’s something nice and I think that it is necessary to wait till till you find the person just for you
Subject #6
1. uh je me suis levé à neuf heures et demie et uh je pris un douche une douche et après j’ai uh j’ai
commencé mon ordinateur et uh je cherchais uh pour un article sur uh le le censorshippe le censure uh
pour ma classe de français et uh j’ai uh regardé mon e-mail et uh après j’ai parlé avec quelques amis sur
mon étage et j’ai uh j’ai mangé uh du céréale et j’ai fait du café et après je suis allé au rendez-vous avec
uh
I got up at 9:30 and I took a shower and after I started my computer and I looked for an article on
censorship for my French class and I looked at my e-mail and after I spoke with some friends on my floor
and I I ate some cereal and I made some coffee and after I went to a meeting
2. uh j’ai pensé de faire un voyage mais j’ai décidé de uh de travail chez moi avec uh la plupart (?) de
mes amis donc j’ai gagné beaucoup d’argent et j’ai pas dépensé beaucoup d’argent et c’est bien uh uh
bon, j’ai uh nous avons uh cassé les murs et les choses comme ça dans un uh bâtiment pour uh pour se
prépare un bâtiment le nouveau construction j’ai j’ai vu mes amis et sorti beaucoup la nuit et c’était bien uh
um bon uh
I thought about taking a trip but I decided to work at home with my best friend (?) so I earned a lot of
money and I didn’t spend a lot of money and that’s good well/ I we broke walls and things like that in a
building to prepare a building the new construction / I I saw my friends and went out a lot at night and it
was good, well
3. uh moi je préfère uh changer uh avant entre les deux um j’ai je me suis j’ai grandi à dans la campagne
uh et je l’aimais beaucoup mais je voulais toujours uh habiter dans la ville et maintenant c’est plus
comme (?) la ville uh mais uh mm je préfère les deux je je dois changer toujours uh j’aime la ville parce
qu’il y a beaucoup des des gens et et des choses à faire et j’aime la campagne parce qu’il y a beaucoup de
solitude et c’est uh il n’y a pas beaucoup de bruit uh donc je veux changer toujours dans ma vie je pense
je vais uh déménager uh beaucoup de temps uh j’aime faire le camping dans le campagne j’aime visiter
les grandes villes aussi
I prefer to change before between the two/ I grew up in the country and I loved it a lot but I always wanted
to life in the city and now it’s more like (?) the city but I prefer both / I I have to always change / I like the
city because there are a lot of of people and and (of) things to do and I like the country a lot/ there is a lot of
solitude and it’s there isn’t a lot of noise so I want to always change in my life/ I think that I am going to
move a lot of times/ I like to go camping in the country/ I like to visit big cities also
4. une maison c’est une uh place qu’on habite uh il y a beaucoup de chambres comme uh uh le cuisine
et les chambres dont on se couche les WC uh uh dans les quartiers il y a beaucoup des maisons uh et uh
c’est une place pour qu’on habite et uh on dort et on fait la cuisine et on uh reçoit les amis/ c’est une place
pour toutes les choses pour habiter et uh bon, il y a des grandes maisons et les petites maisons uh uh et et
ils ont tous le même fonction – habiter
a house is a place that one lives in /there are rooms like the kitchen and the rooms of which one sleeps, the
bathrooms/ in neighborhoods there are a lot of houses and it’s a place for that one lives and one sleeps and
one cooks and one receives friends / it’s a place for all things, to live and well there are big houses and
small houses and they all have the same function- to live.
5. l’amour c’est un sentiment entre deux personnes ou on entre ou quelque chose uh sentir pour autre
chose peut-être un objet ou un animau la plupart du temps uh on parle de l’amour uh à propos des autres
personnes uh l’amour uh c’est un sentiment un un émotion très fort et uh s—il pour il serait quelque
chose très bien et aussi très mauvais si on a l’amour pour quelque quelqu’un qui n’a pas l’amour pour uh
le la première personne uh uh ça pourrait être très mauvais uh très triste et difficile uh mais si les deux
personnes sont –
love it’s a feeling between two people or a being (?) or something to feel for another thing maybe an object
or an animal / most of the time one speaks of love regarding other people / love it’s a feeling a a very strong
emotion and it- it would be something good and also very bad if one a love for some someone that doesn’t
have love for the first person / that could be very bad very sad and difficult but if both persons are
Subject #7
1. uh je suis réveillé à à huit heures et j’ai mangé un petit déjeuner à ma residence université uh j’ai
mangé uh céréale et j’ai vu uh un copain ensuit je suis un classe de mathématiques la classe appelle
“finites” et j’ai étudié uh au sujet de de probabilities uh après ça classe uh je suis allé au café et j’ai
mangé un sandwich à à Burger King uh et puis uh j’ai étudié mes devoirs pour mon
I woke up a 8 o’clock and I ate breakfast at my university dorm/ I ate cereal and I saw a friend then I took a
mathematics class / the class calls ‘finites’ and I studied regarding (on the subject of of) probabilities /after
that class I went to the cafeteria and ate a a sandwich at Burger King and then I studied my homework for
my
2. je suis au Cancun avec mes amis um je j’ai pris un avion à Chicago et puis j’ai pris un autre avion
Cancun uh j’ai resté à un bon hôtel il s’appelle Plaza las Glorias pendant le jour je suis allé à la plage
pendant de la nuit uh je suis allé beaucoup des fêtes et beaucoup des bars et juste uh je suis allé à la plage
encore
I am at Cancun with my friends and I I took a place to Chicagi and then I took another place Cancun / I
stayed at a good hotel / it is called Plaza las Glorias / during the day I went to the beach / during the night I
went a lot of parties and a lot of bars and just I went to the beach again
3. uh je préfère habiter uh à la ville parce que j’ai besoin de beaucoup des personnes uh parce que je
déteste être seulement et je voudrais uh une travail et je pense que il est beaucoup de travail en la en ville
et je je veux un travail en business beaucoup des travails est en dans sur une farm ou quelque chose comme
ça uh et je je veux habiter dans immeuble et je déteste habiter dans une grande maison parce que je je me
uh
I prefer to live in the city because I need a lot of people / I hate to be only and I would like a job and I think
that it is a lot of work in the in the city and I want a job in business / a lot of jobs is in on on a farm or
something like that / I I want to live in building and I hate to live in a big house because I I
4. c’est une place où est une famille habiter habiter pour beaucoup de temps uh il y a un salon uh
beaucoup des chambres uh il y a des toilettes et uh une cuisine uh c’est une place où est la famille
manger uh se coucher uh juste faire beaucoup des choses avec uh avec uh des personnes uh d’habitude
dans dans un banlieue ou un un campagne uh de temps en temps il y a une garage avec des voitures uh
It’s a place where is a family to live (living?) for a lot of time / there is a living room a lot of bedrooms
(rooms?) there are bathrooms and a kitchen / it’s a place where is the family to eat to go to bed just do a lot
of things with people / usually in a suburb or in in the country sometimes there is a garage with cars
5. l’amour est quelque chose quand tu adores quelqu’un et tu veux être avec un quelqu’un pour beaucoup
des temps uh tu tu adores tout les choses au sujet de nous et tu penses que uh elle est si tu es uh tu es un
homme elle est un perfecte elle est incrediblé et tu uh tu veux marier uh des jours uh
love is something when you love someone and you want to be with a someone for a lot of time and you
love all the things concerning us and you think that she is if you are man she is perfect she is incredible and
you you want to marry some days
Subject #8
1. Ce matin j’ai fait un enregistrement uh avec un violoncelliste alors je suis pianiste et je joue ici dans le
uh l’école de musique et uh nous violoncellistes nous jouons uh un sonate de Beethoven et uh il essaie
uh d’être admis dans une programme d’été ou quelque chose comme ça et puis uh j’ai parlé uh avec un
prof de piano ici uh pour obtenir de de renseignements uh d’étudier en France uh il m’a dit qu’il y a
plusieurs plusieurs conservatoires uh des écoles supérieures je crois uh mais principalement il y a en a un
à Lyon et un à Paris et uh mais il a recommandé l’un à Paris et uh il m’a aidé beaucoup c’est c’est
intéressant ce pour moi le système est très uh très complexe une américaine je ne sais pas peut-être on
commence et ça marche et
This morning I made a recording with a cellist so I am a pianist and I play in the school of music and we
(our?) cellists we are playing a sonata by Beethoven and he is trying to be admitted into a Summer program
or something like that and then I spoke with a piano professor here to get some information to to study in
France / he told me that there are several several conservatories écoles supérieures I think but principally
there is one in Lyon and one in Paris but he recommended the one in Paris and he helped me a lot / it’s it’s
interesting it for me the system is very / very complex an american (female) I don’t know maybe one starts
and it works and
2. moi je viens de Californie et uh je suis rentrée chez moi et j’ai passé du temps avec ma famille j’ai deux
frères et ma mère et mon père et uh ma mère et moi nous avons fait des des achats uh souvent uh nous
sommes allées à San Francisco uh et il faisait très beau ce jour-là heureusement souvent il y a des
baignuages (?) à San Francisco et je n’ai pas pratiqué beaucoup parce que c’était mes vacances et quoi
d’autre j’ai fait des recherches concernant uh mes finances uh probablement je vais changer mes affaires
un peu avant de l’été parce que je vais à Vienne le semestre prochaine
I come from California and I went home and I spent time with my family / I have two brothers and my
mother and my father and my mother and I we went shopping often / we went to San Francisco and it was
nice weather that day fortunately / often there are clouds (?) in San Francisco and I did not practice a lot
because it was my vacation and what else / I did research concerning my finances / probably I am going to
change my affairs a little before the Summer because I am going to Vienna next semester
3. uh moi je préfère la ville uh en venant de de Californie je je suis habituée d’habiter avec beaucoup de
gens et uh moi j’aime Bloomington beaucoup j’aime uh j’aime uh les gens ici j’aime les étudiants et et et
les activités uh qui se passent dans la ville uh il y en a beaucoup certainement et uh mais je ne veux pas
habiter ici (laughs) pendant toute ma vie uh mais je ne veux pas habiter uh au milieu uh au centre ville
uh par exemple parce que uh uh je ne sais pas mais je veux habiter uh bien près de la ville où il y a le
l’opéra, le ballet, l’orchestre uh il y a les autres universités
I prefer the city / coming from California I I am used to living with a lot of people / I like Bloomington a
lot / I like I like the people here I like the students and and and the activities that take place in the city /
there are certainly a lot of them but I do not want to live here for my whole life / I do not want to live in the
middle in the downtown for example because I don’t know I want to live really near to the city where there
is the the opera the ballet the orchestra and there are other universities
4. uh on habite à une maison il y a souvent il y a des des chambres différentes uh et des activités diverses
se passent dans les chambres dans une chambre on dort dans une autre chambre on fait la cuisine uh dans
une chambre son chambre il y a la douche et le bain quoi d’autre uh il y a souvent une garage où on met la
voiture et uh um souvent on achète des choses pour décorer la maison pardon uh on sait un décor spécial
uh uh ch— on essaie à chosir les couleurs qui vont très bien ensemble
one lives in a house often there are some some different bedrooms (rooms?) and diverse activities take
place in the rooms (?) in one room (?) one sleeps in another room one prepares the food in a room his/her
room there is the shower and the bath what else there is often a garage where one puts the car and often one
buys things to decorate the room excuse me (= I mean [?] ) the house / one knows (?) a special decor / one
tries to choose the colors that go very well together
5. ah l’amour uh c’est bien un sentiment mais c’est aussi uh une décision uh qui est fait par quelqu’un uh
le meilleur exemple dans ma vient à mon avis de Dieu il nous aime comme comme une mère aime ses
enfants mais aussi il nous aime comme uh un amant un amant aime uh aime son amant et uh et aussi il
nous aime comme uh un ami aime son ami donc uh il y a ces ces trois types d’amour à à mon avis à à
mon experience – et il faut uh savoir comment avoir tous ces amours dans notre vie.
ah love it’s certainly a feeling but it’s also a decision that is made by someone/ the best example in my
comes in my opinion from God / he loves us like a mother loves her children but also he loves like a lover
loves his/her lover and and also he loves us like a friend loves his/her friend so there are these three types
of love in my opinion in in my experience and it is necessary to know how to have all of these loves in our
life
APPENDIX 2: Interview Materials
(7 min)
2. For this section, you will be asked to provide some answers in French.
This section will be timed. For this reason, it is important that you try to
keep talking until the time is up.
Even if you don’t feel that you can say anymore, try to keep going, even
if you get away from the subject a little bit.
1. Qu’est-ce tu as fait ce matin? (1 minute)
2. Qu’est-ce que tu as fait pendant le ‘spring break’? (1 min.)
3. Où est-ce que tu préfères habiter – la ville, ou la campagne?
Pourquoi? (1 min.)
For the next two items, you will be asked to try to give a description of
something. You can use examples if you like, just try to make it clear
what it is to your listener. Remember to keep going for the whole time.
4. Qu’est-ce que c’est…
une maison? (1 min.)
5. Qu’est-ce que c’est…
l’amour ? (1 min.)
(7 minutes) 3. On this section, you will hear a conversation. In each of
the sentences, there is a word missing. Try to fill in the blank with a
word that you think makes sense and works in this place, such as ‘oui’,
‘euh’, ‘alors’. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, really, this is just
to see what YOU would use in this situation. Just try to think about
what you know from your experiences in French and what you might
use. If you can’t think of an answer that you like, leave the item blank.
You will hear the conversation twice, once at normal speed, then a
second time, more slowly. Please wait until the second playing until you
start deciding on answers. Just listen the first time and get an idea of
what is going on.
Pierre and Marie are having a telephone conversation and are wrapping
it up. Pierre and Marie are talking about plans for the weekend.
Pierre: D’accord, Marie. Tu peux venir chez moi, ___1____, vendredi à 7 heures?
Marie: ____2___, oui, mais il y a un petit problème.
Pierre: Un problème?
Marie: Oui, ___3_____, avec la voiture.
Pierre: ____4_______, quelle sorte de problème?
Marie: _____5______, il y a le, _____6______, le … quelque chose qui ne marche pas.
Pierre: _____7______, quoi ça, ‘qui ne marche pas’?
Marie: ___8____, le moteur !
Pierre: ____9____, tu sais, je ne connais pas du tout choses, ___10___, les voitures, les
moteurs, les machines, ____11____ !
Marie: ____12______, tu peux venir chez moi?
Pierre: _____13_____ oui, ___14___ après on peut aller au restaurant.
Marie: _____15____, c’est parfait. ____16____, à 7 heures, ___17____.
Pierre: D’accord. ___18____, une autre petite question, ____19_____, ____20______,
est-ce que tu as de l’argent?
(5 minutes) 4. In English, people often little words that don’t have a lot of meaning,
such as ‘like’ and ‘you know’. The same is true in French. Here are some of these
words in French:
Bon
Bien
fin
Bon ben
Tu sais
Quoi
Tiens
enfin
euh
Alors
Ben
Donc
Mais
Puis
Eh bien
hein
Now look at the dialogue again. This time, see if you can fill in the blanks with the
items above. Don’t worry if you used different words in the section you just did. Just
try to use the words above in the blanks below, but only if they make sense to you in
the blanks. You do not have to use all of these words. You can even use only two or
three. Just use those words that you feel comfortable with. Of course, you can leave
as many blanks as you wish.
Pierre: D’accord, Marie. Tu peux venir chez moi, ___1____, vendredi à 7 heures?
Marie: ____2___, oui, mais il y a un petit problème.
Pierre: Un problème?
Marie: Oui, ___3_____, avec la voiture.
Pierre: ____4_______, quelle sorte de problème?
Marie: _____5______, il y a le, _____6______, le … quelque chose qui ne marche pas.
Pierre: _____7______, quoi ça, ‘qui ne marche pas’?
Marie: ___8____, le moteur !
Pierre: ____9____, tu sais, je ne connais pas du tout choses, ___10___, les voitures, les
moteurs, les machines, ____11____ !
Marie: ____12______, tu peux venir chez moi?
Pierre: _____13_____ oui, ___14___ après on peut aller au restaurant.
Marie: _____15____, c’est parfait. ____16____, à 7 heures, ___17____.
Pierre: D’accord. ___18____, une autre petite question, ____19_____, ____20______,
est-ce que tu as de l’argent?
5. (5 minutes)
In this section, you will see the same list of words that you were just asked to use.
You are asked to do two things here: 1) if you have seen or heard the word before,
give the definition in English – not the dictionary definition, necessarily, but the
English equivalent. You may look at the dialogue that you just completed to help
you. 2) If you have never seen or heard the word before, put a question mark ( ? )
next to the word. You can give as many definitions as you want for each word.
Bon
Tu sais
euh
Mais
Bien
Quoi
Alors
Puis
fin
Dis
Ben
Eh bien
Bon ben
enfin
Donc
hein
6. This is the last section of this experiment. Please answer the following questions
and respond to the statement below.
______________________________________________________________________
1. Sex: F __________
M __________
2. Number of semesters of French (including this one) ____________
3. Have you ever visited a French-speaking place? Where? How long?
4. What other contact have you had with French outside of class and besides travel?
(Check all that apply)
___________ movies
___________ music
__________ reading
5. I think that learning French is … (circle one):
pretty hard
hard
slightly difficult slightly easy
6. I plan to major in French.
easy
very easy
True False
7. I plan to use French after graduation. True False
8. How important is it for you to speak French well?
not important
somewhat important important
very important
9. How comfortable are you with speaking French in class?
uncomfortable somewhat uncomfortable somewhat comfortable comfortable