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This volume explores the relationship between 'study abroad' and the acquisition of 'sociolinguistic competence' - the ability to communicate in socially appropriate ways. The volume looks at language development and use during study abroad in France by examining patterns of variation in the speech of advanced L2 speakers. Within a variationist paradigm, fine-grained empirical analyses of speech illuminate choices the L2 speaker makes in relation to their new identity, gender patterns, closeness or distance maintained in the social context in which they find themselves. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, four variable features of contemporary spoken French are analysed in a large population of advanced Irish-English speakers of French. This close-up picture provides empirical evidence by which to evaluate the wide-spread assumption that Study Abroad is highly beneficial for second language learning.
This book is a real eye opener for anyone who would equate conjugating verbs and memorizing noun genders with 'learning' a second language. Regan et al. offer a stunning demonstration that effective communication hinges on acquiring the sociolinguistic competence to interpret (and produce) the many choices among variant linguistic structures that native speakers make regularly in their everyday interactions. Exemplifying with the controversial Year Abroad experience, the authors provide a first detailed account of how this is achieved. Their results should be required reading for educators, planners and policymakers, as well as linguists of all stripes.
Vera Regan is Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics at University College Dublin. She is Chevalier de lâordre des Palmes Académiques and has served as President of the European Second Language Association, President of the Association for French Language Association, and President of the Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland.
Martin Howard is Lecturer in French at University College, Cork, Ireland. A former President of the Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland, he is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the European Second Language Association (EUROSLA), and Treasurer of the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS). He is a former Government of Ireland Research Fellow and was a recipient of the Prix du Québec. His research focuses on Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and Canadian Studies. He has published on (socio)linguistic variation in relation to both native speaker and learner French, as well as on the acquisition of temporality.
Isabelle Lemée is Assistant Lecturer in the Department of French at St Patrick's College in Ireland. Her research focuses on Second Language Acquisition, as well as on Canadian Studies. She is currently the Secretary of the Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland. She is also on the Committee of the Association for French Language Studies and the Association of Applied French (AFA).
Chapter 1 – Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Variation
Chapter 2 – Linguistic Outcomes of Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad Context
Chapter 3 – Extralinguistic Factors Affecting L2 Development during Study Abroad
Chapter 4 – The Research Project: An Overview
Chapter 5 – The Acquisition of ne Deletion by Irish Learners of French
Chapter 6 – The Variable Use of Nous/On by Irish Learners of French
Chapter 7 – The Acquisition of /l/ deletion by Irish Year Abroad Speakers of French
Chapter 8 – The Variable Use of Future Temporal Reference
Chapter 9 – The Role of Gender in the Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Competence in an L2 During the Year Abroad
Chapter 10 – Spending a Year Abroad: Do we Acquire Sociolinguistic Competence?