Negation in French chat: Learners vs. non-learners

van Compernolle, R. A., & Williams, L. (2006, September). "Variation of negative particle use in electronic French discourse: Educational and non-educational contexts." Paper presented at the 2006 conference of the Association for French Language Studies, September 3-5, 2006, Bristol, England.

This research investigates the variable deletion of ne in two corpora of French chat: one produced by non-learners in public, free-access chat environments and the other produced by 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year learners of French in an educational context. Selected internal linguistic and pragmatic factors constraining the variation are considered.

Available from:
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dd5gmkw2_38hbd8sdd4&skipauth=true

Learner use of French address pronouns

McCourt, C. A. (2008). "Learner use of French second-person pronouns in synchronous electronic communication." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX.

This is the PowerPoint of the M.A. thesis defense for Claire McCourt. She investigates variation in the use of the French address pronouns tu and vous among learners of French engaged in synchronous interlearner chat discussions. The corpus-based, quantitative approach used in this research reveal some clear patterns of variation.

• Instructional level (i.e., 1st, 2nd, or 3rd semester) does not have a significant main effect
• Most address pronouns occurred in interrogative sentences
• Instructional level and interrogative syntax are both significant factors in a VARBRUL analysis of variation within interrogative sentences

In concluding, the pedagogical implications of this research are discussed and future directions for research are presented.

Available from:
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dd5gmkw2_31fjfmk2fm&skipauth=true

Using chat for teaching language variation in French

van Compernolle, R. A. (2008, April). "Sociolinguistic norms and variation in French-language on-line chat communities and implications for foreign language pedagogy." Paper presented at the 2008 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. March 29-April 2, 2008, Washington, D.C.

This presentation explores sociolinguistic variation in French-language online chat communities, focusing specifically on variation in the pronoun paradigm, verbal negation, and interrogation. Findings include:

• an overwhelming preference for tu when compared to vous-singular
• nearly categorical use of on as a substitute for nous
• high rates of ne deletion in verbal negation
• nearly categorical use of declarative syntax for yes/no interrogation

Following the results, the pedagogical implications of this research are explored. Sample tasks and task components situated within the New London Group's (1996) pedagogy of multiliteracies are provided, with the aim of sensitizing learners of French to language variation.

Available from:
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dd5gmkw2_13hqmhfrfg&skipauth=true