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Le présent article propose des regards croisés sur la question de l’acquisition des connecteurs français par les apprenants norvégiens. Il conjugue une étude qualitative où l’usage des connecteurs est examiné au prisme des processus cognitifs de structuration textuelle à une analyse quantitative de la fréquence et la variation des connecteurs en comparaison, notamment, avec la richesse lexicale des individus testés. Mises en interaction, nos investigations confirment sans surprise des corrélations entre le niveau de maîtrise linguistique des apprenants et leur bon usage – fréquent et diversifié – des connecteurs. Plus encore, elles permettent de diagnostiquer, dans des contextes discursifs sémantiquement exigeants, une sur-utilisation globale de quelques rares connecteurs communs.

Cet article présente deux études qui visent à tracer le développement de représentations sémantiques pour les prépositions spatiales en français langue seconde chez des locuteurs de différents niveaux de maîtrise. La première élicite la production de prépositions spatiales pour des situations spatiales spécifiques, et la seconde, des jugements d’acceptabilité pour les mêmes situations. Les résultats indiquent une structuration de la représentation sémantique qui continue à travers les niveaux de maîtrise.

The overall objective of the present thesis was to investigate the semantic underpinnings of a selection of spatial prepositions in Norwegian and French, to assess sources of difficulties for the use and comprehension of such prepositions in an L2, and to investigate how knowledge of the meaning of spatial preposition in a second language changes with increasing proficiency. This was studied within the Functional Geometric Framework, FGF (Coventry & Garrod, 2004), which permits for a finegrained study of underlying semantic features relevant for spatial preposition usage; geometric routines, dynamic-kinematic routines and object knowledge. Data consisted of preposition production and acceptability judgments, and were collected from five participant groups: one L1 Norwegian group, one L1 French group, and three different L2 French groups. An important finding in the present thesis is that geometric and functional information underlie comprehension prepositions in both Norwegian and French in similar ways to those theoretically studied by Vandeloise (1986) and to those established in a large body of experimental work for English prepositions. Despite some typological differences in the expression of space in Norwegian and French, native speakers of Norwegian and French make meaning distinctions based on geometry and function in analogous ways. Differences in preposition usage between the two languages stem primarily from language-specific ways of combining object labels and prepositions. Such combinations are sometimes arbitrary, and language conventions may override strong geometric or functional cues for preposition choice. The consequence of the findings for L1 Norwegian and L1 French is that Norwegian learners of L2 French should be able to rely on their intuitions about the semantics of preposition in Norwegian for a native-like comprehension of French prepositions. However, findings in the present thesis are that while L2 users with relatively high L2 proficiency are able to make native-like distinctions based on functional information for prepositions denoting location on the vertical axis, they differ from native speakers in the meaning-distinctions they make based on geometrical information. These findings are directly comparable to findings from a large study of the L2 acquisition of prepositions in English and Spanish (Coventry, Guijarro-Fuentes, & Valdés, 2011). It is therefore likely that the weighting of geometric information for the meaning of spatial prepositions in the L2 takes longer to readjust than the weighting of functional information, at least for prepositions denoting location on the vertical axis. Moreover, findings in the thesis are that both preposition production and judgments about the acceptability of preposition usage are more consistent in the L2 user groups with the highest L2 proficiency. This indicates that the semantic network for spatial prepositions undergoes structuring and tightening as proficiency in the L2 increases, and that lexical knowledge continues to develop in depth also after a preposition has entered into the L2 user’s productive vocabulary.

Dans ce mémoire, nous examinons la taille du vocabulaire en français chez les élèves du secondaire en Norvège. Nous utilisons le test X-lex (Meara et Milton, 2003), un test de oui/non avec 100 mots français et 20 mots inventés. Les mots inventés sont des mots qui ressemblent à des mots français orthographiquement ou phonétiquement, et les 100 vrais mots sont sélectionnés parmi une liste des 5000 mots les plus fréquents dans la langue française. Les 80 participants, âgés 15 à 18 ans, et issus des 4 niveaux de classe du lycée norvégien, ont rempli trois versions du test. Les niveaux varient de débutant (moins de 6 mois de français) à intermédiaire (4,5 ans de français). 30 participants sont omis du résultat. Les scores moyens à chaque niveau ont été calculés, et comparés les uns aux autres. Les scores moyens obtenus sont 745 (apprenants de 1ère année), 853 (apprenants de 2ème année), 773 (apprenants de 3ème année) et 1325 (apprenants de 4ème année). Une analyse ANOVA a également été menée pour examiner les différences statistiques entre les groupes. Il y a une grande variance parmi les scores des participants des trois premiers groupes, et des petites tailles d’échantillons, et conséquemment, il n’y a pas une différence statistique entre ces groupes. Le dernier groupe a obtenu un score significativement plus élevé, et il y avait des différences significatives entre ce groupe et les autres. Nous comparerons nos résultats avec des études antérieures similaires utilisant le même test X-Lex, une étude suédoise (Lindqvist, 2017), deux études britanniques (Milton, 2008; David, 2008) et une étude norvégienne (Kjellmark, 2021). Nos scores sont généralement plus élevés que les scores des autres études aux niveaux débutants, mais nous n'observons pas la même croissance régulière. In this thesis, we examine the vocabulary size in French among upper secondary school students in Norway. We use the X-lex test (Meara and Milton, 2003), a yes/no test with 100 French words and 20 invented words. The invented words are words that resemble French words phonetically or orthographically, and the 100 real words are selected from a list of the 5000 most frequent words in the French language. The 80 participants, aged 15 to 18, and from 4 grade levels in Norwegian upper secondary, completed three versions of the test. Levels vary from beginner (less than 6 months of French) to intermediate (4.5 years of French). 30 participants were omitted from the result. The average scores at each level were calculated, and compared to each other. The average scores obtained are 745 (1st year learners), 853 (2nd year learners), 773 (3rd year learners) and 1325 (4th year learners). An ANOVA analysis was also conducted to examine statistical differences between the groups. There is a large variance among the scores of participants in the first three groups, and small sample sizes, and therefore there is no statistical difference between these groups. The latter group scored significantly higher, and there were significant differences between this group and the others. We compared our results with similar previous studies using the same X-Lex test, a Swedish study (Lindqvist, 2017), two British studies (Milton, 2008; David, 2008) and a Norwegian study (Kjellmark, 2021). Our scores are generally higher than scores from other studies at the entry-level levels, but we don't see the same growth from year to year.

Selon plusieurs études récentes, les connaissances lexicales sont primordiales pour l’acquisition de la langue en général. Dans ce mémoire, nous allons examiner la taille du vocabulaire chez des étudiants du premier semestre d’études universitaires de français en Norvège. 16 étudiants âgés de 18 à 25 ans ont accompli trois versions différentes du test X-Lex (Meara et Milton, 2003). Chaque version du test contient 100 mots français ainsi que 20 mots inventés. Les vrais mots ont été sélectionnés parmi les 5000 mots les plus fréquents de la langue française. La moyenne était ensuite calculée ainsi que la distribution de connaissance selon les cinq bandes de fréquence. Nous avons aussi examiné lesquels parmi les mots inventés les participants ont indiqué qu’ils connaissent. Les mots inventés ressemblant aux vrais mots anglais sont les plus cochés. Les résultats font ressortir que les étudiants norvégiens connaissent en moyenne 2451 mots français. Ceci concorde avec l’estimation de la taille du vocabulaire nécessaire pour atteindre le niveau CECRL de maîtrise de langue A2. Les connaissances préalables recommandées pour étudier le français à l’université en Norvège est aussi le niveau A2. La taille du vocabulaire chez les étudiants en premier semestre d’études universitaires de français en Norvège est similaire à celle des étudiants anglophones dans des études précédentes. Une étude effectuée en Suède a suggéré que l’étendue du vocabulaire nécessaire pour arriver à une niveau de compréhension acceptable de trois textes littéraires qui sont au programme du premier semestre d’études de français. La connaissance d’entre 7000 et 9000 lemmes donnent une couverture (coverage) de 98%. Nos résultats et les similarités entre les programmes universitaires en Norvège et en Suède soulève la question de savoir si les étudiants norvégiens ont un vocabulaire suffisamment large pour lire et comprendre les textes qui figurent au programme.

Denne oppgaven ønsket å undersøke hvordan L1 og L2 påvirker innlæring av fransk L3 når det kommer til innlæring av plassering av verb hos norske skoleelever. Dette har blitt gjort ved en litteraturstudie der fire forskningsartikler har blitt sammenlignet. Deltakere, metoder og resultater har blitt sammenlignet og diskutert for å finne ut hvilke antydninger vi kan ha når det gjelder transfer fra norsk L1 og engelsk L2 hos norske skoleelever som lærer fransk. Det ble funnet at man trolig vil se påvirkning fra begge språkene i fransklæringen, særlig fra L1 i tidlig læringsfase, men også fra L2. Jo lenger man har lært fransk, jo mindre påvirkning viser man fra L1 og L2. This thesis aimed to research how L1 and L2 influence acquisition of French L3 regarding the acquisition of verb placement in Norwegian pupils. This was done with a literary study where four research articles on the subject have been compared. Participants, methods and results have been compared and discussed in hopes to find what implications we have concerning transfer from Norwegian L1 and English L2 in Norwegian pupils learning French. It was found that we will likely see influence from both languages in French learning, especially from the L1 at an early stage, but also from the L2. The longer one has learned French, the less influence can be seen from L1 and L2.

Denne masteroppgaven er en kvalitativ studie som tar for seg hvordan fransk negasjon blir undervist i Norge. Jeg undersøker hvordan lærebøker presenterer negasjon, hvordan lærere underviser variasjonen mellom skriftlig og muntlig negasjon og hvordan de reflekterer rundt undervisningen av negasjon. For å studere dette har jeg intervjuet tre ungdomsskolelærere og to lærere på videregående skole, i tillegg til at jeg har studert hvordan negasjonen er presentert i lærebøkene. Resultatene blir diskutert i lys av et utvalg studier som tar for seg statusen til partikkelen ne i muntlig fransk hos morsmålsbrukere og andrespråkbrukere i fransk. Resultatene viser at negasjon er undervist med en skriftlig tilnærming i norske skoler, både gjennom lærebøkene og av lærerne. Det er opp til lærerne å informere elevene om den muntlige variasjonen, da lærebøkene hovedsakelig fokuserer på den skriftlige variasjonen. Informantene gir uttrykk for at det er sikrere å undervise hele negasjonen, da de opplever bruken av begge elementene ne og pas som ”mest korrekt” i tillegg til at de tror elevene vil få mest bruk for hele negasjonen i framtiden. Dette synet er imidlertid ikke i tråd med forskningen rundt fenomenet. Forskning viser at for morsmålsbrukere framstår overforbruk av partikkelen ne som en markør på en ikke-morsmålsbruker. Oppsummert viser denne masteroppgaven at undervisningen av negasjon i Norge ikke følger utviklingen til det franske talespråket, der ne er utelatt i de aller fleste tilfeller, også i formelle språkregister. Norske lærere trenger læringsmateriell som er oppdatert om denne utviklingen på fransk og som hjelper dem å undervise variasjonen i negasjon. This master’s thesis is a qualitative study that examines how French negation is taught in Norway. I examine how textbooks present negation, how teachers teach the variation between written and oral negation and how they reflect on their teaching of negation. To study this, I have interviewed three secondary school teachers and two high school teachers, as well as studying how the negation is presented in textbooks. The results are discussed in light of a selection of studies that look at the use of the grammatical particle ne in the oral language of both native French speakers and those learning French as their second language. The results show that negation is taught with a written approach in Norwegian schools, both through textbooks and by teachers. It is up to the teachers to inform the students about the oral variation, since the textbooks mainly focus on the written variation. The informants state that it is safer to teach the whole negation to the students, as they experience the use of both elements ne and pas as most correctly and they think the students will have the most use for the whole negation in the future. However, when you look to the literature, this view point does not seem supported by research concerning this phenomenon. Research shows that overconsumption of the particle ne appears as a foreign marker for native speakers. To conclude, this master’s thesis shows that the teaching of negation in Norway does not follow the development of the French oral language, where ne is omitted in most cases, even in formal language registers. In my opinion, Norwegian teachers need updated learning material concerning this development in French that allows them to teach this variation in negation.

Cross-linguistic variation is incredibly prevalent and has led to various questions regarding human language and cognition. Such variation predominantly reflects differences in lexicalization strategies across languages, and investigating these patterns is a useful tool for researchers to examine what is possible in the languages of the world, i.e., ‘thinking for speaking’ patterns. An interesting avenue to explore these topics is through the study of human locomotion. Talmy proposed a typological classification of motion events, separating languages in terms of where the element of Path is encoded in a language’s structure. However, many authors criticized this typology, including Vulchanova and colleagues who suggested that languages should instead be addressed through a set of parameters and conceptual features. Further, cross-linguistic variation begs the question of how the acquisition of second languages may be impacted, for which there is no current consensus. The present thesis reviews some of the most prevailing research surrounding these issues and assesses their validity with a behavioural free naming task. The aim of the present study is to determine (i) whether speakers employ the naming patterns predicted in previous research, and (ii) to what extent different encoding strategies between the L1 and L2 impact second language acquisition. Six L1 Norwegian speakers of beginner-intermediate L2 French were recruited and asked to describe 20 videos of human locomotion in both languages. L2 descriptions were compared to labels provided by six native French speakers. L1 Norwegian descriptions were compared to those provided by two native Norwegian pilot participants. Results from both native speaking control groups indicated that speakers primarily employed patterns predicted by previous research. No evidence of transfer was confirmed amongst L2 speakers, perhaps attributed to the L1’s more complex lexical inventory relevant to the patterns of motion in this study. L2 speakers tended to behave similar to native speakers in basic patterns of human locomotion; however, when presented with more complex patterns, L2 labels displayed more errors, and significantly more variation in general. Those with higher L2 proficiency levels performed closer to L1 speakers overall, indicating that some lexicalization patterns in this domain may be acquired in later stages of second language acquisition.

Denne studien observerer translingvistisk interferens i syntaktisk plassering av verb hos norske elever/studenter med engelsk som andrespråk og fransk som tredjespråk. Den fokuserer på tilegning av fransk som tredjespråk ved å undersøke potensielle overføringer av syntaktiske strukturer i produksjonsdata. This study observes translinguistic interference in syntactic placement of verbs in norwegian pupils/students with english as a second language and french as a third language. It focuses on the acquisition of french as a third language by examining potential transfers of syntactic structures in production data.