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Factors driving lexical variation in L2 French: A variationist study of automobile, auto, voiture, char and machine1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

TERRY NADASDI ,
RAYMOND MOUGEON  and
KATHERINE REHNER
TERRY NADASDI*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
RAYMOND MOUGEON
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto
KATHERINE REHNER
Affiliation:
University of Toronto at Mississauga
*
Address for correspondence: Terry Nasdasi, Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Canada, T6G 2E6 e-mail: terry.nadasdi@ualberta.ca
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Abstract

Our paper examines lexical variation in the spoken French of second language learners and focuses on words referring to the notion of ‘automobile’ (i.e., automobile, auto, voiture, char and machine). Results reveal that while students do follow the native speaker pattern of using the neutral variant auto in most instances, they diverge from native speakers by making no use of the vernacular form char and relatively high use of the prestige variant voiture. The principal external factors that influence variant choice are students' home language and the representation of variants in the input to which students are exposed.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of French Language Studies , Volume 18 , Special Issue 3: Knowledge and use of the lexicon in French as a second language , November 2008 , pp. 365 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Footnotes

1

The research reported upon in the present article was made possible in part through a research grant awarded to Raymond Mougeon and Terry Nadasdi by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada from 1996 to 2002.

References

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