The production of alternatives to factual events implies a counterfactual thinking in which reality is compared to an imagined view of what might have been. Previous studies in linguistics have analyzed counterfactuality in the context of conditional constructionsif P (then) Q(Bates 1976; Bloom 1981; Reilly 1982; Au 1983; Liu 1985; Bernini 1994; Chini 1995; Schouten 2000; Yeh & Gentner 2005). This article aims to describe the use of simple conditional sentences in a mutation task by 30 Spanish-speaking learners of French. In quantitative terms, the frequency of use of the conditional tense in the learner group is similar to that of the French control group for the same task. In qualitative terms, however, the way in which learners use the conditional differs from the native pattern in several ways: the use of the conjunction-queat the head of the mutation core (i.e.,Qu’elle aurait pu choisir son repas ‘That she could have chosen her meal’); the omission of a modal in the mutation core (i.e.,Son supérieur aurait choisi les moules‘Her superior would have chosen the mussels’) or the use of a modal verb elsewhere than in the past participle position (i.e.,Elle pourrait avoir commandé elle-même‘She could have ordered herself’). Our results show that in the production of counterfactual scenarios, the learners combine flexional features that match the native pattern with syntactic and lexical elements dominant in the organizational principles of information in the L1
Table of contents Acknowledgments v Tables and figures x Dedication xiii Quote xv 3 Acquisition of counterfactuality in L1 and L2 29 3.1 Introduction 29 3.2 Counterfactuality in L1: Previous studies 29 3.2.1 Summary on L1 results 35 3.3 Counterfactuality in L2: Previous studies 36 3.3.1 Summary on L2 results 40 3.4 Conclusion 40
Counterfactuality is a semantic subdomain of irreality (Pietrandrea 2010) which results from the comparison of reality to an imagined view of what might have been (Kahneman & Tversky 1982). Previous studies have shown that simple clauses containing the conditional tense are frequently used by native speakers of French to express irreality (Hellberg 1971, Repiso 2013.This use corresponds to the grammatical description of the conditional tense, which is said to mark the posteriority of a process whose realization is deferred to certain hypothetical conditions (Charaudeau 1992). In contrast to the conditional, this study explores the use of the present indicative which our learners predominantly used in the semantic domain of counterfactuality.A heterogeneous group of 23 Italian learners of French completed a mutation task and a predictive task. Their responses were transcribed and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In general, indicative tenses other than the conditional were significantly overused. This type of response was usually structured by coordinated clauses, similar to linear narrations. However, behind this general pattern, we found three sets of grammatical regularities which allowed us to distinguish the learners: a) an overuse of bare present forms as well as the periphrastic future form 'Aller (to go) + Infinitive'; b) a broader repertoire combining the present or the imparfait (imperfective) and some forms of the conditional; and c) a dominant use of the conditional over other indicative tenses.Our results suggest that the present tense is frequently used by Italian learners in the construction of counterfactual scenarios. This may be explained because of (i) a stylistic preference in the case of those learners able to align their productions to the native pattern and (ii) the underdeveloped grammars of those learners who do not use conditional forms.
Abstract. This preliminary survey examines how 30 native speakers and 30 Spanish learners of French evoke counterfactual scenarios from a semantic and a lexical perspective. Counterfactual thinking is a universal cognitive process in which reality is confronted with an imagined view of what might have been (Kahneman & Tversky 1982). The world as we know it is based on a set of enabling conditions that can be mutated, i.e., modified in order to evoke counterfactual worlds. This can be done by modifying various elements in a sentence. For example, speakers might produce counterfactual scenarios by replacing an accusative (1) or by changing some attribute of the subject (2).(1) I should have had coffee at breakfast rather than tea.(2) If I were a man, my life would have been quite different. In each case, a specific language property is changed. Example (1) results from a modification operated on transitivity, and example (2) on affectedness. While counterfactual thinking is universal, its concrete form is only shaped in childhood together with the acquisition of the first language. Is this concrete form preserved or changed in second language acquisition? Earlier research has shown that speakers of different languages have different preferences to do that (Repiso 2013). This survey compares whether non-native speakers of French adopt the same preferences which native speakers have at the level of Verb-Argument Constructions (VACs).Résumé. Conceptualisations contrefactuelles en français L2: des principes cognitifs aux realisations sémantiques et lexicales. Cette étude préliminaire explore la façon dont 30 locuteurs natifs et 30 locuteurs hispanophones du français relate des scénarios contrefactuels dans une perspective sémantique et lexicale. La pensée contrefactuelle est un processus cognitif dans lequel la réalité est confrontée à une vision imaginaire de ce qui aurait pu se passer (Kahnenan & Tversky 1982). Le monde tel que nous le connaissons repose sur un ensemble de conditions de possibilité qui peuvent être changées, c'est-à-dire modifiées afin d'évoquer des mondes contrefactuels. Par exemple, les locuteurs peuvent produire des scénarios contrefactuels en remplaçant un complément d'objet par un autre (1) ou en changeant un attribut du sujet (2). (1) J'aurais dû avoir un café plutôt qu'un thé au petit déjeuner.(2) Si j'étais un homme, ma vie aurait été assez différente. A chaque fois, une propriété langagière spécifique est modifiée. L'exemple (1) témoigne d'une modification du ressort de la transitivité, et l'exemple (2) de l'ordre de l'affectedness. Alors que la pensée contrefactuelle est universelle, sa forme concrète est façonnée durant l'enfance lors de l'acquisition de la langue première. Cette forme concrète est-elle préservée ou changée dans l'acquisition de la langue seconde ? Des recherches antérieures ont montré que des locuteurs de langues différentes ont des préférences différentes pour le faire (Repiso 2013). Cette étude observe de façon contrastive si des locuteurs non natifs du français adopte...
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