Academic literature on the topic 'Spoken discourse in french'

<p>This study investigates the use of formulaic language in spoken French produced by native and non-native speakers. It aims at describing the development of formulaic sequences in learners ranging from beginners to very advanced users. It draws on data from the InterFra corpus, which includes both formal and semi-formal learners. Four measures are used to characterize this development: extent of formulaic language used, category distribution, type / token ratio and frequency of types. </p><p>It has been shown that a user’s knowledge of formulaic sequences impacts heavily on language proficiency and idiomaticity. Because these sequences follow neither grammatical nor lexical rules, they constitute the last threshold for advanced L2 learners. In second language acquisition, the term formulaic sequence not only applies to strict idiomatic constructions, but it is also used to refer to sequences that appear to be acquired in a holistic manner during the first phases of acquisition. A categorization is therefore proposed that can account for native and non-native usage of formulaic sequences (prefabs). Five categories of prefabs are included: Lexical, Grammatical, Discourse, Situational and Idiosyncratic. </p><p>The extent of a learner’s use of formulaic language increases as the learner progresses, the largest amount found in the production of native speakers and very advanced learners. The learner’s distribution of categories moves towards native speaker distribution, albeit slowly. Situational and Idiosyncratic prefabs are found to characterize the early phases of acquisition, while Lexical prefabs are mastered later and are a major difficulty for L2 learners. Only very advanced learners who have spent considerable time in France produce the same proportion of Lexical prefabs as native speakers. Discourse prefabs constitute the most important category for all groups, including natives and non-natives. It can therefore be postulated that the main function of formulaic sequences in spoken French is that of discourse structuring and speech management. The development and use of formulaic language is explained within a framework of Frequency Effects. Coupled with other factors, frequency can account for why Lexical prefabs are hard to acquire and why formulaic sequences take a long time to master.</p><br>The thesis is published and can be purchased by Peter Lang http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?vID=11369&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=1&vUUR=38

Cette thèse a pour objet la description et l’analyse des marqueurs discursifs (MD) là, par exemple, ékyé et wèé en français parlé au Cameroun, variété de français régional qui s’inscrit dans le français parlé en Afrique subsaharienne. Elle propose une analyse centrée sur les échanges discursifs et prend en compte la pragmatique afin de montrer que la communication repose sur l’intersubjectivité langagière qu’on peut analyser au moyen de traces linguistiques comme les MD. Pour étudier ces phénomènes pragmatiques au demeurant très peu étudiés en français parlé au Cameroun, la recherche s’est organisée principalement autour des notions de flux discursif, d’implicite social et d’interaction afin de comprendre la structuration informationnelle et le contexte situationnel qui motivent l’apparition des MD là, par exemple, ékyé et wèé dans l’organisation du discours, tant dans la production que dans la réception. Le corpus se compose d’échanges radiophoniques d’une part et d’échanges internet d’autre part. La thèse est composée en deux parties. La première rend compte des aspects théoriques, même si nous l’illustrons parfois avec des extraits de notre corpus. La seconde est consacrée à l’analyse systématique des données (le fonctionnement des quatre MD là, par exemple, ékyé et wèé dans les discours radiophoniques et dans les écrits tirés d’internet). Cette analyse a permis de conclure à la difficulté de définir exactement ce qu’est un MD, et de relever l’existence de terminologies concurrentes, tant les théories qui décrivent et expliquent le fonctionnement des MD sont hétérogènes. Nous proposons une définition opérationnelle des MD pour l’analyse de notre corpus et nous plaidons pour une prise en compte des phénomènes oraux et liés à l’interaction dans les études sur le français régional en Afrique<br>This thesis sets out to describe and to analyse the discourse markers (DMs) là, par exemple, ékyé and wèé in Cameroon French, a regional variety of French that is spoken in Subsharan Africa. It is a pragmatic study of oral discourses that highlights how communication is based on speech inter-subjectivity such as DMs, which constitute linguistic traces. In order to study these uninvestigated pragmatic phenomena in Cameroon spoken French, three notions were of prime necessity, namely: discursive continuity, social implicity and interaction. These notions help to shed light on the informational structure and on the situational context of the DMs là, par exemple, ékyé and wèé in discourse organization as well as in its production or in its reception. The data of this study was got from two sources: on the one hand, radio programmes, and on the other hand, scripts collected from the internet. The study comprises two parts: Part one focuses on the theoretical concerns, alongside some illustrations of excerpts from the data. The second part provides a systematic analysis of the data (the functioning of the four DMs là, par exemple, ékyé and wèé in radio programmes and in internet scripts). This analysis enabled the confirmation that not only is it difficult to clearly define what a DM is but that there are also several competing terms and explanations, as theories regarding studies on DMs are heterogeneous. We propose an operational definition of DMs for the analysis of the data and suggest that studies on regional French spoken in Africa should take into account oral phenomena related to interaction

Notre travail porte sur un ensemble d'entretiens, écrits ou oraux, à dominante culturelle. Nous identifions le genre de l'« entretien culturel ». Ce genre de discours s'apparente au dialogue et relève de diverses sphères d'activités culturelles (pratiques artistiques principalement) et s'inscrit dans des institutions identifiées de production ou de diffusion des savoirs. Les domaines culturels que nous avons privilégiés sont la littérature (F. Ponge, N. Sarraute, A. Nothomb, É. Reinhardt) et le cinéma (A. Varda, J. Rouch, B. Tavernier, M. Piccoli). Les entretiens oraux proviennent d'enregistrements de la chaîne radiophonique France-Culture. Les entretiens écrits sont des publications livresques ou sont extraits de médias de presse (Télérama ou Le Monde).Dans une première partie, nous nous efforçons de caractériser le genre de l'entretien culturel en le rapportant à sa superstructure dialogale et en le différenciant d'une conversation ordinaire. Nous avons tout d'abord fait le constat de l'omniprésence médiatique de l'entretien dans les médias, ce que nous avons attesté par diverses données chiffrées. Ensuite, nous avons traité la question de la synonymie d'entretien, conversation et dialogue à travers des usages de presse (Le Monde). Enfin, vient notre cadrage théorique qui est surtout constitué par l'analyse du discours (D. Maingueneau, 1999, 2002, 2014), le dialogisme (J. Bres, 2005), les analyses conversationnelles (E. Roulet et al., 19872) et interactionnistes (C. Kerbrat-Orecchioni, 1990), et la linguistique textuelle (J.-M. Adam, [1992] 20174). L'ensemble de ces apports théoriques se fonde sur la différence entre les genres premiers et les genres seconds opérée par M. Bakhtine (1984). À l'issue de la première partie, nous définissons le genre de l'entretien culturel, c'est-à-dire que nous spécifions les composantes de sa macro-structure.Ensuite, dans une deuxième grande partie, nous procédons à des analyses linguistiques d'extraits pour lesquelles nous nous sommes dotée d'outils linguistiques susceptibles de rendre compte du niveau de structuration intermédiaire. Le flux verbal et le dynamisme informationnel nécessitent en effet que l'on sache appréhender la question énonciative ou la macro-syntaxe avec des outils d'analyse adaptés : la grammaire de la période (Groupe de Fribourg, 2012) ; la grammaire de texte et les stratégies de topicalisation (B. Combettes, 1986). De même, la micro-syntaxe dans ses réalisations orales nécessitent des outils appropriés comme la grille syntaxique de C. Blanche-Benveniste (1990).Dans notre dernière partie, nous cherchons plus spécialement à caractériser les échanges entre une forme orale et une forme écrite, la réalisation d'effets de mixité n'étant pas nécessairement liés au support lui-même. La thèse se propose de revenir sur le continuum communicationnel de Koch &amp; Oesterreicher (2001) pour en éprouver les paramètres (« les déterminants situationnels et contextuels »). Il nous a semblé que le continuum communicationnel est une solution pour résoudre la question générale de la dichotomie oral et/ou écrit. Nous essayerons de montrer comment ce continuum opère dans le cas des entretiens culturels<br>Our work concerns a set of interviews, written or oral, with a cultural focus. We identified the genre of the “cultural interview”. This genre of discourse is similar to the dialogue and it concerns various spheres of cultural activities (mainly artistic practices) that are inscribed in identified institutions of production or publication. The cultural domains that we have selected are literature (F. Ponge, N. Sarraute, A. Nothomb, É. Reinhardt) and cinema (A. Varda, J. Rouch, B. Tavernier, M. Piccoli). The oral interviews are mainly from recordings of the radio station « France-Culture » whereas, the written interviews were selected from books or press media such as, Télérama or Le Monde.Firstly, we characterize the genre of the cultural interview by relating it to its dialogical superstructure and differentiating it from an ordinary conversation. We noted the media omnipresence of the interview which we have attested by various figures. Then, we deal with the synonymous questions of an interview, conversation and dialogue through press usage (Le Monde). Finally, our theoretical framework is mainly constituted by discourse analysis (D. Maingueneau, 1999, 2002, 2014), dialogism (J. Bres, 2005), conversational analysis (E. Roulet et al., 19872), interactionist analysis (C. Kerbrat-Orecchioni, 1990) and textual linguistics (J.-M. Adam, [1992] 20174). All these theoretical contributions are based on the difference between primary and secondary genres made by M. Bakhtine (1984). At the end of the first part, we define the genre of the cultural conversation by specifying the components of its macro-structure.We then proceed to linguistic analyses of excerpts for which we have equipped ourselves with linguistic tools likely to account for the intermediate level of structuring. The verbal flow and the informational dynamism require indeed that we know how to apprehend the enunciative question or the macro-syntax with adapted analysis tools: the grammar of the period (Groupe de Fribourg, 2012); the grammar of text and the strategies of topicalization (B. Combettes, 1986). Similarly, micro-syntax in its oral realizations, requires appropriate tools such as the syntactic grid of C. Blanche-Benveniste (1990).Lastly, we specifically characterize the exchanges between an oral form and a written form. The realization of mixing effects may not be necessarily linked to the medium itself. The thesis proposes to return to Koch &amp; Oesterreicher's communicational continuum (2001) in order to test its parameters (situational and contextual determinants). We observed that the communicative continuum is a solution to the general question of the oral and/or written dichotomy. Here we show how this continuum operates in the case of cultural interviews

In this thesis, a set of defining properties of grammatical variables is proposed, taking particular account of the precise extent to which variants should be required to be equivalent, semantically and pragmatically. These principles are then applied in a variationist analysis of negation and interrogation in spoken French, with data from a corpus from the Somme, northern France. Computer-assisted data-handling techniques are employed, notably the Oxford Concordance Program. For the (ne) variable, a large proportion of the data is analysed in terms of preformed sequences, which strongly favour the omission of the negative particle. There is also evidence that age is the most important extra-linguistic constraint, but this is interpreted as being a case of age-grading rather than of change in progress, as has sometimes been supposed. It is suggested that the negative particle has all but disappeared from northern French vernacular styles. To check the pragmatic equivalence of variant interrogative structures, a taxonomy of communicative functions is set up, drawing from research on speech acts, conversational structure and communicative grammar. The interrogatives in the corpus are then classified in terms of this taxonomy. In Yes/No interrogatives, clitic inversion is found to be completely absent from the corpus, and the minority use of est-ce 92! is shown to be motivated by pragmatic and socio-pragmatic factors, ie it is often used when the speaker does not expect an answer. from the addressee, or to encode politeness. WH interrogatives constitute one of the most complex grammatical variables studied so far, with six variant structures occurring in the corpus, and the choice among them being constrained by a large number of linguistic, discoursal and pragmatic factors. In order to take account of the unacceptability of some structures in certain contexts, the notion of "semi-variable" tokens is proposed. This is reflected in the method of calculating each variant's relative frequencies, as these exclude those contexts where the variant would be unacceptable, or non-equivalent to the structure actually used. The productive use of clitic inversion in the corpus is seen to be minimal, and the choice of the WH-final structure (as opposed to a WH-fronted one) is shown to be motivated overwhelmingly by discoursal considerations. The female informants are found to favour the est-ce que structure (partly, again, for politeness), whereas the male speakers use rather more of a non-standard variant.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-152).<br>by Giovanni Flammia.<br>Ph.D.