The current article studies the competencies of plurilingual students and how these competencies are exploited in the learning of French as a Foreign Language. Adopting a translanguaging theoretical approach, we argue that learners of foreign languages who already speak at least one other language have some linguistic competencies which manifest…

Previous studies using judgments of morphosyntactic errors have shown mixed evidence for a critical period for L2 acquisition (e.g., Birdsong & Molis, Journal of Memory and Language 44: 235-249, 2001, Johnson & Newport, Cognitive Psychology 21: 60-99, 1989). This study uses anomalies in the domain of information structure, the interface…

In a project-based approach to teaching a foreign language at the university level, students are often required to participate in several task-based writing activities. In doing so, language learners not only write incorrect forms, but also correct forms of the same structures, both of which provide useful information on their strengths and…

The purposes of this study are to test whether the processing of subject relative (SR) clauses is easier than that of object relative (OR) clauses in Turkish and to investigate whether the comprehension of SRs can be better explained by the linear distance hypothesis or structural distance hypothesis (SDH). The question is examined in two groups…

In a study on L2 proficiency in writing, conducted among 84 Dutch university students of Italian and 75 students of French, manipulation of task complexity led in the complex task to a significant decrease of errors, while at the same time a trend for a lexically more varied text was observed (Kuiken and Vedder 2005, 2007, in press). Based on this…

Reasserts, in response to a review of a book about language immersion programs, that the linguistic failure of immersion programs has major theoretical implications, focusing on the failure of immersion students to reach nativelike language proficiency and the failure to emphasize language accuracy. (two references) (CB)

Students of French are now more fluent orally than their counterparts of a few years ago. They are using, however, a more anglicized French. The causes are three: (1) unawareness of the value of words; (2) infrequent use of reference material, specifically the dictionary; (3) lack of adequate knowledge of basic rules. (CFM)

A detailed analysis of errors in French composition of French-speaking secondary school students in Ontario. A general conclusion is that these students do not possess a mastery of formal written French. It is hoped that the analysis will help teachers of minority Francophones elsewhere. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

This article discusses the section of the final examination used at a regional training center in French language and literature in Morocco. The linguistics task is in the form of two tests containing language errors which an examination candidate is required to find, correct, and explain. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Examines the differential use of formal explicit knowledge and intuitive implicit knowledge in a second language grammaticality judgement tasks. (Author/AM)

This study examined the conditions for the selection of certain communication strategies in terms of the inferencing ability of the learner, the formal proficiency level attained, and the features of the communicative situation (task requirements). Two groups of 17-year-olds--one studying advanced French and the other French as part of a "core"…

Reviews the results of six studies which indicated that the output of students involved in an immersion program was linguistically faulty, and suggests ways in which immersion programs can be made more effective and lead to greater linguistic competence as well as communicative competence in its students. (CB)

Some empirical data are presented concerning the use of cloze tests to measure children's proficiency in a bilingual educational program. The subjects were grade five students in their sixth year of a primary French immersion program. (Author/CFM)

Analysis of responses of native French-speaking (N=10) and English-speaking (N=10) college French instructors rating students' errors in French revealed that (1) native French speakers were more critical evaluators than native English speakers; (2) teachers were generally more critical evaluators than students; and (3) more fluent speakers were…

This paper examines the effect of formality in three different situations on the oral production of French interlanguage. An analysis of 39 Dutch-speaking students revealed that, contrary to predictions, the more formal situation does not lead to higher accuracy rates. (23 references) (Author)