Classroom foreign language learning and language variation: the notion of pedagogical norms

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article comprises three parts. In the first part, a model of interlinguistic variation is developed which, unlike those presented heretofore, attempts to take into account inherent variation in the target language. In the second part are presented the results of a pilot study which suggests that advanced learners, including foreign language teachers, differ significantly from target language speakers in the way they handle variation. In the third part an argument is constructed for the establishment of special classroom replicas of the target language labelled pedagogical norms. Finally, the notion of pedagogical norm is illustrated with two variable features of French, the phonological ‘è’ variable and interrogative structures. These two examples illustrates the important point that pedogogical norms must take into account the full range of target language variability, including sociolinguistically stigmatized features. Although all the examples in this article are drawn from French, the model of interlinguistic variation that is developed and the notion of pedagogical norm that stems from the model are applicable to all types of foreign‐ and second‐language learning, including that of English as a second language.