Date of Award
1-1-2017
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School/Department
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Program
French Studies
Content Description
1 online resource (viii, 210 pages) : color illustrations.
Dissertation/Thesis Chair
Cynthia Fox
Committee Members
Cynthia Fox, Maurice Westmoreland, Lotfi Sayahi
Keywords
French language, input frequency, listening comprehension, object pronoun, SLA, textbook evaluation, Comprehension
Subject Categories
Education | Linguistics
Abstract
This semester-long study was designed to benefit developing Second Language Acquisition (SLA) instructional methods, specifically honing French language instruction, creating a foundation on which to explore the connection between input frequency during instruction and aural comprehension of difficultly acquired forms. Concurrently, five current French textbooks commonly used in universities across the United States are evaluated for object pronoun exposure. This evaluation uncovers a trend of avoidance of third person object pronoun forms prior to their being taught explicitly, and a general paucity of naturally occurring object pronouns in French language instruction textbooks. These instances of avoidance strategies lower the frequency of naturally occurring pronouns in the instructional input, and in some cases, model unnatural language patterns. This comparative study observes the impact of increasing the frequency of exposure to object pronouns in natural contexts throughout language instruction, on the aural comprehension of third person object pronouns, achieved by measuring aural comprehension in two diverse groups of university students enrolled in a novice mid level French course. The results indicate that increasing learners’ exposure to object pronouns through natural input during instruction appears to have a positive effect on the aural comprehension of third person object pronouns in L2 learners of French.
Recommended Citation
Barone, Olivia, "The effects of increasing object pronoun input frequency on the aural comprehension of 3rd person object pronouns among second semester classroom learners of French" (2017). Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024). 1780.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/legacy-etd/1780