L2 acquisition of epistemic/evidential stance-marking by French learners of English: the case of ‘I think’
Résumé
Speaking about things involves taking a stance towards those things. To express their subjectivity, speakers use a variety of stance-markers, with different discursive functions. For L2 learners, acquiring a relevant repertoire of stance-markers, and making context-appropriate choices, is a crucial process. However, epistemic stance is generally observed to emerge at a late stage of L2 acquisition. In this study, we adopt a functional and developmental perspective to determine to what extent intermediate and advanced French learners of English use ‘I think’ in oral narratives and interviews, and to what extent this reveals learner style. We use two oral discursive tasks: an oral narrative (ten upper intermediate and ten advanced learners, plus a control group of ten English native speakers), where learners are recorded in a French context, and a longitudinal oral interview task (n=5), where intermediate and advanced learners are recorded in a study abroad context on three occasions, plus pre-departure, and post-return. Our study provides evidence of the influence of the type of discursive task in the way ‘I think’ is used by French learners of English, while contributing to illustrate the links between the linguistic choices of learners and their study-abroad experience.
Mots clés
French
English
second language acquisition
type of discourse
evidentiality
functional approach
longitudinal study
epistemic stance
learner style
I think French English second language acquisition type of discourse evidentiality functional approach longitudinal study epistemic stance learner style
French
I think
Domaines
Linguistique
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)