Corsican is a Romance language that belongs to the Italo-Romance group. Corsican has been recognised since 1974 as a regional language in France by the Ministry of National Education. The language is officially recognised by the French Constitution as belonging to the heritage of France. Over the past 25 years, several laws, decrees, regulations,…

The process of studying a foreign language in Russian higher education institutions is carried out in a specially organized linguo-didactic language environment which is understood as a methodological framework designed in accordance with the peculiarities of a linguo-cultural community. It is aimed at combining learning methods and techniques to…

In the first half of the twentieth century, notions such as linguistic structures and students' linguistic capacity were the traditional elements of any language teaching. These notions are yielding their place to the functional use of language and how language is being shaped by the different communicative situations. This communicative approach…

This study investigated the differential effects of prompts and recasts, in the context of dyadic interaction, on the acquisition of grammatical gender by adult second language learners of French. Participants were 25 undergraduate students enrolled in an intermediate-level French course at an English-speaking university. All students were exposed…

Closed-class word selection was investigated by focusing on determiner production. Native speakers from three different languages named pictures of objects using determiner plus noun phrases (e.g., in French "la table" (the [subscript feminine] table), while ignoring distractor determiners printed on the pictures (e.g., "le"…

This paper responds to Claire Kramsch's essay on the demise of the notion of the idealized native speaker as the model for second language learning and implications for second languages and cultures education. Focusing on French, this paper suggests that it is not certain whether the elevation of the native speaker model ever was as real or…

This paper responds to Claire Kramsch's essay on the demise of the notion of the idealized native speaker as the model for second language learning and implications for second languages and cultures education. In her essay, Kramsch forcefully argues against the native speaker construct and exhorts teachers and learners not to abandon their unique…

Investigated the relative importance of various grammatical and discourse features in the evaluation of second-language writing samples produced by college students enrolled in beginning and intermediate French courses. Three native-speaking instructors of French rated 172 essays using a scale that was constructed by a researcher and based on…

Studied second language acquisition (SLA) designed with Web-based elicitation tasks to obtain greater internal and external validity. Tested the acquisition of the properties subsumed under the verb movement parameter and the null subject parameter by English native speakers enrolled in college French. (Author/VWL)

This article offers the pedagogical norm as an approach to dealing with linguistic variation in instructed second language learning, suggesting that an invariant target language (TL) norm, based on the planned discourse of educated and cultivated TL speakers, is both elusive and illusory as a target for learners, especially at the beginning and…

A summative evaluation of the Drop-in center took place in order to: (1) observe French-speaking monitors during their sessions as hosts; (2) provide feedback on their ability to carry out this role; (3) monitor the implementation of changes previously recommended; (4) assess student reaction to the center programs by questionnaire; and (5)…

Describes a program that has been a requirement for Hofstra University students majoring or minoring in French for six years. The program offers 20-25 minutes per week of individual conversation sessions with native level speakers. Criteria for selection of personnel and diagnosis of each student's needs are discussed. (MES)

Reports on a study investigating the occurrence of spelling errors in the French dictations of French-speaking Ontarians. The frequency of errors was compared to that of French speakers from Quebec. Results indicate that spelling interference from English is present for French-speaking Ontarians in far greater degree than from French speakers from…

Investigates both speech and speaker perceptions through tape-recorded conversations between summer study abroad students and their French hosts, as well as through interviews and observations. Findings indicate that natives and nonnatives alike relied heavily on classroom roles and discourse structures to manage their interactions, calling into…

A study analyzed development of French aspectual markers in 39 college students of French as a second language and 30 native French-speaking students. Results indicate classroom instruction may increase the rate at which learners develop this knowledge, and that lack of access to second-language discursive-pragmatic conditions may prevent learning…