French second language learners’ acquisition of the sequence aller + infinitive: Movement, aspect and tense

Abstract

This article reports on the development of a particular TAM (tense, aspect, modality) sequence in L2 French (FL2):

Future or Movement? The L2 Acquisition of Aller + V Forms

“…Their use seems to develop with L2 proficiency, especially in an immersion context, as a result of exposure to French native input. While an exhaustive account of these studies is beyond the scope of this paper, we will detail the results of two studies that resonate with our own research questions: (Michot andPierrard 2017 andGudmestad et al 2020).…”

“…At lower proficiency level, learners have been found to make a limited use of these periphrastic forms (Ayoun 2014;Bartning and Schlyter 2004;Edmonds and Gudmestad 2015;Howard 2012;Michot and Pierrard 2017). Their use seems to develop with L2 proficiency, especially in an immersion context, as a result of exposure to French native input.…”

“…As a clear instance of the spatio-temporal metaphor, we examine the use of aller + V forms in the oral production of native speakers of French and English L2 learners of French. Studies on the acquisition of the future have shown a limited use of this periphrastic form, particularly at lower proficiency level (Ayoun 2014; Bartning and Schlyter 2004;Edmonds and Gudmestad 2015;Michot and Pierrard 2017) and in an instructed context (Howard 2012). Their use seems to develop with L2 proficiency, especially in an immersion context, as a result of exposure to French native input.…”

“…While most studies refer to aller + V forms as instances of periphrastic future, it is not always clear to what extent they encode spatial information (il va chercher l'échelle) or temporal information (il va essayer de donner la main à sa maîtresse) (see Bres and Labeau 2013;Michot and Pierrard 2017). Michot and Pierrard (2017) indeed observe that while French natives mostly use aller + V forms with a temporal or aspectual meaning in an oral narrative task, learners do so mostly to express motion. However, there is little information regarding learners' use of these forms in other discursive contexts, a gap we wish to address through an analysis of aller + V forms in an oral narrative and a semi-guided interview.…”

L'effet de la saillance phonologique du sujet sur la forme plurielle des verbes alternants en français L2 : amorçage ou redondance ?

“…En cas de reformulation ou de répétition de la forme verbale, c'est la dernière forme produite qui est retenue pour l'analyse, par exemple font dans l'exemple ci-dessous est adéquate (Fadeq) parce qu'il s'agit d'une forme du pluriel produite en contexte pluriel, d'un verbe en -ont (Vont) avec un sujet pronominal (Spron) et non saillant (SPNS). Nous avons exclu des analyses les formes verbales auxiliées constituées d'une forme de l'auxiliaire être ou avoir, comme ils ont dit en raison du caractère d'auxiliaire du premier verbe, mais maintenu celles constituées d'une forme du verbe aller, par exemple ils vont faire du fait que le verbe aller est susceptible d'exprimer le déplacement et a un sens plein (Michot et Pierrard, 2017).…”