Title: The learning of sociolinguistic competence in French as a foreign language by different groups of Italian-speaking students
Date: Wednesday 2 June 2021
Time: 12:00 (noon) - 13:00
Venue: Virtual; contact Ms Jessica Formosa to register and receive the Zoom link
Talk Host: Dr Roberto Paternostro, University of Geneve
Since the fall of the schwa in "je_C" constructions seems to be a more advanced variational feature than that of "ne", learners' behavior should differ according to their learning path. To test this hypothesis, the productions of the guided conversations of the IPFC-Italian and IPFC-Swiss projects of four groups of learners are examined: beginner Italian learners who have not spent any time in a French-speaking environment, more advanced Italian learners with and without an immersion experience, as well as advanced Swiss Italian-speaking learners currently staying in a francophone environment.
The results show that, while the level of training and the learning context are important, the Swiss learners stand out from the other three groups. The importance of the status of the target language - national language for the Swiss vs. foreign language for the Italians - in the construction of their learner identity also seems to play a significant role.