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

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