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Native and non-native perceptions of appropriateness in the French second-person pronoun system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2014

RÉMI A. VAN COMPERNOLLE
RÉMI A. VAN COMPERNOLLE*
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University
*
Address for correspondence: Rémi A. van Compernolle, Department of Modern LanguagesCarnegie Mellon University160 Baker Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15213USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article explores perceptions of appropriateness in the French second-person pronoun system in relation to various sociopragmatic factors among native and nonnative speakers of French between the ages of 18 and 29. Participants completed an online survey in which a series of five social-interactive situations were presented. Analysis focused on the similarities and differences among native, near-native, advanced and intermediate speakers in their perceptions of formality, social distance, power/equality and appropriate tu/vous use, as well as correlations between the sociopragmatic factors and selection of tu or vous. Results indicate a high degree of variation within and across participant groups, with nonnatives tending to be more conservative (e.g., more formality, higher frequencies of vous) in their choices than their native-speaker counterparts. In concluding, the findings are discussed in relation to pedagogical implications.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of French Language Studies , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 45 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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