Additive Linking in L2 French Discourse by German Learners: Syntactic Embedding and Intonation Patterns

Benazzo Sandra,Dimroth Christine,Fabian Santiago

doi:10.3390/languages6010020

Abstract

This study deals with the expression of additive linking in L2 French by adult German learners with two proficiency levels (advanced vs. intermediate). We examine whether crosslinguistic influences are observed in three domains: the frequency and type of additive expressions in discourse, the syntactic integration of additive particles in the utterance and the prosodic contour associated with them. A total of 70 participants (20 French native speakers, 20 German native speakers and 30 German learners of L2 French) performed an oral narrative task elicited via a video clip presenting abundant additive contexts. Our results show that advanced German learners did not experience an L1 transfer in any of the domains analyzed, but instead they show a learner-specific tendency to overmark the contrastive status of the relevant entities in discourse. Yet traces of crosslinguistic influence are visible in intermediate learners’ choice and frequency of additive means, as well as the preferred position of the particles. All learners seem to have quickly discarded the possibility to mark scope by prosody, in contrast to what they do in their L1. We discuss these findings in the light of the L2 acquisition of cohesive devices in discourse and their interactions with different linguistic levels.

Highlights

IntroductionIntroduction of the protagonistsIntroduction of the house and flatsMr Blue going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Green going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Red going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping Fire on the roofMr Green sleeping Mr Red sleepingMr Blue not sleeping, noticing the fireMr Blue calling fire brigadeMore fire, Mr Blue worriedMr Green awake and worried
Introduction of the protagonistsIntroduction of the house and flatsMr Blue going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Green going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Red going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping Fire on the roofMr Green sleeping Mr Red sleepingMr Blue not sleeping, noticing the fireMr Blue calling fire brigadeMore fire, Mr Blue worriedMr Green awake and worried
In order to gain insight on the acquisition of additive means, we study additive linking in oral narratives produced in French L2 by German learners representing two proficiency levels, in comparison to control groups of French and German native speakers

Summary

Introduction

Introduction of the protagonistsIntroduction of the house and flatsMr Blue going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Green going to bed, switching off the light, sleepingMr Red going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping Fire on the roofMr Green sleeping Mr Red sleepingMr Blue not sleeping, noticing the fireMr Blue calling fire brigadeMore fire, Mr Blue worriedMr Green awake and worried. Mr Blue going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping. Mr Green going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping. Mr Red going to bed, switching off the light, sleeping Fire on the roof. In the two languages under study, additive linking is mainly expressed by particles, respectively Ge. auch/ebenfalls/sogar and Fr. aussi/également/non plus/même, i.e., invariable items sharing a similar semantic meaning and structural properties (cf König 1991; Gast and Auwera 2011; Nølke 1983). Contrary to Ge. auch, Fr. aussi is replaced by non plus in negative contexts (Marie ne parle pas non plus anglais, “Mary does not speak English either”). We will focus on the differences between the central particles auch/aussi. These items can occupy different positions in a sentence, which are language-specific

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