Abstract
Our study examines the extent to which French immersion students use lax /ɪ/ in the same linguistic context as native speakers of Canadian French. Our results show that the lax variant is vanishingly rare in the speech of immersion students and is used by only a small minority of individuals. This is interpreted as a limitation of French immersion students’ sociolinguistic competence. Within the group of students who do use both variants, we document a positive correlation between female and middle-class students and use of the lax variant and suggest these speakers are generally more sensitive to sociolinguistic variation. A reverse correlation between English cognates and laxing was found. This is taken as evidence that the learning of laxing is lexically mediated.
Highlights
The goal of this study is to examine the extent to which Canadian French immersion students use lax /ɪ/ in the same linguistic context as native speakers
This result is in spite of the fact that a) the lax variant is used categorically by Canadian Francophones in this same linguistic context, and b) the lax variant is by no means difficult to pronounce
Let us consider the students who do make some use of the lax variant and examine the linguistic contexts in which this variant is found
Summary
The goal of this study is to examine the extent to which Canadian French immersion students use lax /ɪ/ in the same linguistic context as native speakers. Our general results suggest that French immersion students’ use of the variable differs greatly from that of their French native speaker (L1) peers since the majority of immersion students make no use of the lax variant in obligatory context. This is yet another case where the sociolinguistic competence of immersion students is markedly different than that of the Canadian Francophones with whom they are compared. We present our hypotheses and results concerning the variable in question in the current study, followed by a general discussion of results
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
