Intensifying constructions in French-speaking L2 learners of Dutch or English
(2017) Research Seminar Functional and Cognitive Linguistics: Grammar and Typology (FunC) — Location: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (8.December.2017)
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Hendrikx, Isa 
- Abstract
- This study is part of a broader interdisciplinary research project on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in French-speaking Belgium (Hiligsmann et al. 2017). In this talk, we will present the different aspects of the project and then focus as a case study on the acquisition of intensifying constructions within this context. Intensification can be expressed cross-linguistically by several morphological and syntactic constructions (among others, Kirschbaum 2002; Hoeksema 2012; Zeschel 2012; Rainer 2015). The diversity of constructions and the language-specific preferences for particular types of intensification may complicate the acquisition of intensifying constructions for second language learners. Our research is situated within the theoretical framework of usage-based Construction Grammar and Construction Morphology (cf. Tomasello 2003; Booij 2010; Goldberg 2010 among others). Second language acquisition is presumed to be complex because of the competition between L1 and L2 constructions (Ellis & Cadierno 2009). This study focuses on one specific case of such constructional competition, namely the expression of adjectival intensification in the interlanguage of French-speaking learners of Dutch or English. More specifically, we will address three research questions: (i) Do French-speaking pupils encounter difficulties when they acquire English or Dutch intensifying constructions, and to what extent are these problems due to cross-linguistic differences? (ii) Does more input provided through a CLIL approach lead to a more native-like acquisition of intensifying constructions? (iii) What developments can we observe in the learners’ use of intensifying constructions from a longitudinal point of view (over the course of two school years)? The data for this study come from a corpus of the written productions in the form of fictional e-mails on the subject of a party or holidays. We compare texts written in 2015 and in 2017 by the same French-speaking secondary school pupils (aged 16-18), in CLIL and non-CLIL settings learning Dutch (CLIL n=132; non-CLIL n=100) or English (CLIL n=90; non-CLIL n=90) as a foreign language, and control groups of 63 native speakers of Dutch and 68 native speakers of English of about the same age. A collostructional analysis (Gries 2007; Stefanowitsch & Gries 2003) is used to compare the use of intensification in the different subcorpora and to investigate longitudinal developments in the learners’ acquisition of intensifying constructions. References Booij, G. (2010). Construction Morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ellis, N., & Cadierno, T. (2009). Constructing a Second Language. Introduction to the Special Section. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics 7, 111-139. Goldberg, A. (2010) [2006]. Constructions at Work. The nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gries, S. (2007). Coll.analysis 3.2a. A program for R for Windows 2.x. Hiligsmann, Ph., Van Mensel, L., Galand, B., Mettewie, L., Meunier, F., Szmalec, A., Van Goethem, K., Bulon, A., De Smet, A., Hendrikx, I., Simonis, M. (2017). Assessing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in French-speaking Belgium: linguistic, cognitive and educational perspectives. Les Cahiers du Girsef 109. 25 pp. Hoeksema, J. (2012). Elative compounds in Dutch: Properties and developments. In Oebel, G. (Ed.), Intensivierungskonzepte bei Adjektiven und Adverben im Sprachvergleich, (pp. 97-142). Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac. Kirschbaum, I. (2002). Schrecklig Nett Und Voll Verrückt Muster Der Adjektiv-Intensivierung Im Deutschen. PhD Thesis. Düsseldorf, Universität Düsseldorf. Rainer, F. (2015). 77. Intensification. In Peter O. Müller (Ed.), Word-Formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. 1339-1351. Stefanowitsch, A. & Gries, S. (2003). Collostructions: Investigating the interaction of words and constructions. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 8:2, 209-243. Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition. Boston: Harvard University Press. Zeschel, A. (2012). Incipient Productivity. A Construction-Based Approach to Linguistic Creativity. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
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Citations
Van Goethem, K., & Hendrikx, I. (2017). Intensifying constructions in French-speaking L2 learners of Dutch or English. Research Seminar Functional and Cognitive Linguistics: Grammar and Typology (FunC), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/178373