Factors driving lexical variation in L2 French: A variationist study of automobile, auto, voiture, char and machine

ABSTRACT Our paper examines lexical variation in the spoken French of second language learners and focuses on words referring to the notion of ‘automobile’ (i.e., automobile , auto , voiture , char and machine ). Results reveal that while students do follow the native speaker pattern of using the ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of French language studies Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 365 - 381
Main Authors NADASDI, TERRY, MOUGEON, RAYMOND, REHNER, KATHERINE
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.11.2008
Subjects
Colloquial language
Francophones
French as a second language
French language
Immersion programs
Learning
Linguistics
Middle class
Speaking
Speech
Students
Studies
Variables
Ontario Canada
Montreal Quebec Canada
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Summary:ABSTRACT Our paper examines lexical variation in the spoken French of second language learners and focuses on words referring to the notion of ‘automobile’ (i.e., automobile , auto , voiture , char and machine ). Results reveal that while students do follow the native speaker pattern of using the neutral variant auto in most instances, they diverge from native speakers by making no use of the vernacular form char and relatively high use of the prestige variant voiture . The principal external factors that influence variant choice are students' home language and the representation of variants in the input to which students are exposed.
Bibliography:The research reported upon in the present article was made possible in part through a research grant awarded to Raymond Mougeon and Terry Nadasdi by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada from 1996 to 2002.
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PII:S0959269508003505
ArticleID:00350
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ISSN:0959-2695
1474-0079
DOI:10.1017/S0959269508003505