Chapter 5. Acquisition of 3 pl verb markings by (very) advanced FSL learners and bilingual Franco­phone students

Abstract

This study examines acquisition of distinctive 3pl markings of French verbs by bilingual Franco­phone students attending French-medium high schools in four Ontario Franco­phone communities of varying demographic strength and by learners enrolled in high school immersion or university FSL programs in Toronto. It documents the impact of the following factors: (i) the discursive frequency of the verbs; (ii) the students’ exposure to French in and outside of school, (iii) their individual frequency of use of French, (iv) teachers’ in class speech, and (v) invariant vs. variable use of the 3pl verb markings in the local varieties of French. The impact of these factors is manifested by different patterns of intergroup hierarchies in rates of acquisition.