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Sample records for multiple languages french

  1. Multiple Minorities or Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Plurilingual Learners? Re-Envisioning Allophone Immigrant Children and Their Inclusion in French-Language Schools in Ontario

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Gail

    2012-01-01

    Four out of five immigrants to Canada speak a language other than English or French as a first language. Immigration is increasingly transforming francophone minority communities. Allophone children acquire minority status on multiple levels within French-language schools, where they can become both a linguistic minority and a cultural minority…

  2. Competing Desires and Realities: Language Policies in the French-Language Classroom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Giovanangeli

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available French language policy has historically centred on ways French can be considered a dominant and influential language. It has done this since the Middle Ages, by allowing the French language to serve as a political tool. On an international level, language was a way of subjugating conquered peoples (former colonies. It promoted France’s international status (by the 18th century French was the diplomatic language of Europe. On a national level, the French language was one of the ways governments were able to centralise political power (suppression of regional languages. One of the ways French language authorities have promoted the use of language has been through education policies and the way language is taught in schools. For example, the French language was imposed on the colonised territories of France through teaching in missionary schools. Within France, stringent laws were adopted, in particular during the nineteenth century, allowing the French language to replace local languages in schools. In France today, language policies continue to exist and to have an influence on the way we view language and society. One of the main priorities of French language policy is to protect the status of the national language in particular with respect to the increasing use of English as a global dominant language in areas such as science, technology, tourism, entertainment and the media (Nunan: 2007, 178. Consequently, France has adopted policies to respond to this linguistic climate. This has implications on the way the French language is taught both within France as well as outside of France. This paper will examine some of the policies and agencies created over recent years that affect the French language. It will also identify some of the consequences these policies have on the teaching of language. Finally it will argue that a space has been created within the language classroom that attempts to find a compromise between the language policies of

  3. Language-specific stress perception by 9-month-old French and Spanish infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skoruppa, Katrin; Pons, Ferran; Christophe, Anne; Bosch, Laura; Dupoux, Emmanuel; Sebastián-Gallés, Núria; Limissuri, Rita Alves; Peperkamp, Sharon

    2009-11-01

    During the first year of life, infants begin to have difficulties perceiving non-native vowel and consonant contrasts, thus adapting their perception to the phonetic categories of the target language. In this paper, we examine the perception of a non-segmental feature, i.e. stress. Previous research with adults has shown that speakers of French (a language with fixed stress) have great difficulties in perceiving stress contrasts (Dupoux, Pallier, Sebastián & Mehler, 1997), whereas speakers of Spanish (a language with lexically contrastive stress) perceive these contrasts as accurately as segmental contrasts. We show that language-specific differences in the perception of stress likewise arise during the first year of life. Specifically, 9-month-old Spanish infants successfully distinguish between stress-initial and stress-final pseudo-words, while French infants of this age show no sign of discrimination. In a second experiment using multiple tokens of a single pseudo-word, French infants of the same age successfully discriminate between the two stress patterns, showing that they are able to perceive the acoustic correlates of stress. Their failure to discriminate stress patterns in the first experiment thus reflects an inability to process stress at an abstract, phonological level.

  4. Activating teaching methods in french language teaching

    OpenAIRE

    Kulhánková, Anna

    2009-01-01

    The subject of this diploma thesis is activating teaching methods in french language teaching. This thesis outlines the issues acitvating teaching methods in the concept of other teaching methods. There is a definition of teaching method, classification of teaching methods and characteristics of each activating method. In the practical part of this work are given concrete forms of activating teaching methods appropriate for teaching of french language.

  5. Language policy implementation in multilingual Nigeria: French and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    By all standards, Nigeria is a multilingual and Multicultural state parading more than five hundred indigenous languages existing alongside English language as an official language and French language as the defacto second official language. Choosing a national language among the existing indigenous languages has ...

  6. Language Training: French Training

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an "application for training" form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz tel. 73127 language.training@cern.ch General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. These courses are open to all persons working on the Cern site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz: Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. This course is designed for people with a good level of s...

  7. Language Training: French Training

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an "application for training" form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz tel. 73127 language.training@cern.ch General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. These courses are open to all persons working on the Cern site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz: Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. This course is designed for people with a good level...

  8. The French Language in the Americas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdman, Albert, Ed.

    The annual bulletin of the French 8 section of the Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association of America is presented with the texts of papers read at both the 1969 and 1970 sessions. The 1970 papers, in French, include Jean Louis Darbelnet's "Etude Sociolinguistique des contacts entre 1'Anglais et le Francais au Canada et en…

  9. First French reader a beginner's dual-language book

    CERN Document Server

    Appelbaum, Stanley

    2008-01-01

    This excellent anthology offers the beginning French-language student a first taste of some of the world's most significant prose. Chosen for both their eloquence and ease of reading, excerpts from such masterpieces as Les Misérables, The Red and the Black, Madame Bovary, Carmen, and The Three Musketeers will open new worlds for linguists. Readers will savor the words of fifty great writers of multiple genres from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Balzac, Baudelaire, Dumas, Proust, and other literary virtuosos.Lucid and accessible, the unabridged Englis

  10. language teacher recruitment in the French

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We first present the broad lines of the French system of language teacher recruitment in ... Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish and .... knowledge and learning ability), the higher the Department's.

  11. Anglicism in the French language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Firoozeh Asghari

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available There is no question nowadays as to the international and powerful status of English at a global scale and, consequently, as to its presence in non-English speaking countries at different levels.  It is the languages which have mostly influenced French after the Two World War. So that now Anglicism exists in all levels of French. In this paper, besides the phenomenon of Anglicism, we will mainly focus on the reasons of increasing French interest in using of this phenomenon and also on the reactions taken against it in France. The method used in this research is descriptive – analytical.   The Result of this study shows that there is no purely linguistic reason for “Anglicism” in a country like France. In fact this paper remarks that the strong impact of English on French rather than being influenced by linguistic reasons is influenced by the cultural & social reasons. Additionally, the finding shows that the French especially the youth like using English for several reasons which include “prestige”, “snobbery” and “superiority”. Amongst the mentioned reasons in this paper, what caused the French to worry about the spread of Anglicism is due to fear of the American cultural influence, what is changing in the American cultural hegemony.

  12. Discourses of Linguistic dominance: A Historical Consideration of French Language Ideology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasuya, Keisuke

    2001-07-01

    The paper offers a historical perspective on the linguistic and cultural imperialism embedded in the struggle to maintain French as a leading international language. France was the nation-state where the ideology of national language was first clearly formulated and directly extended to overseas colonies. This shows the close relationship between linguistic nationalism and imperialism. It was believed that French was the language of universal human reason and had the power to civilize people who spoke it. This myth of the "clarté française" and the "mission civilisatrice" had a strong influence on various kinds of metalinguistic discourses that created the taken-for-granted representation of French as dominant language. It is the essential strategy of language dominance to establish the hierarchy of languages as if it were natural order of things. When French was obliged to yield the status of international language to English, there emerged the ideology of "Francophonie" which tried to defend its privilege against the monopoly of English, but the same ideology is also directed against minorities' claims for their own linguistic human right. It could be said that these discourses form a recursive prototype of language dominance whose variations are to be found in other shapes almost all over the world.

  13. FRENCH LANGUAGE: A BASIC G.S COURSE FOR NNAMDI ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    JONATHAN

    2016-07-01

    Jul 1, 2016 ... Presently in Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), apart from students majoring in French .... Oyo states that the inclusion of French language into the general studies ... securing a job in the labour market that is already saturated.

  14. From foreign to national: a review of the status of the French language in Gabon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.S. Ndinga-Koumba-Binza

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This article provides a review of the various statuses of the French language in Gabon, a French-speaking country in Central Africa. It reveals a process in which different generations of Gabonese people are increasingly learning, and thus conceptualising, French as a second language rather than a foreign language. Furthermore, some are also learning and conceptualising French as a mother tongue or initial language, rather than a second language. This process of reconceptualisation has somehow been encouraged by the language policy of the colonial administration and the language policy since the attainment of independence, the latter being a continuation of the former. The final stage of this process is that the language has been adopted among the local languages within the Gabonese language landscape.

  15. Nigerian French language curriculum and the millennium goals ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nigerian French language curriculum and the millennium goals: issues in the Nigerian educational system. ... Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research ... Education, on the other hand, language is universally acknowledged as a problem solver, which makes it paramount in the achievement of human developmental ...

  16. Portfolio langagier en francais (Language Portfolios in French).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laplante, Bernard; Christiansen, Helen

    2001-01-01

    Suggests that first-year college students learning French should create a language portfolio that contains documents that illustrate what they have learned in French, along with a brief statement of what linguistic skill the document demonstrates. The goal of the portfolio is to make students more aware of their own learning, their strengths, and…

  17. Foreign Language Workshop on French Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Sue, Ed.; And Others

    A compilation of French cultural units for use in secondary school language classes is presented in this text. Units include: (1) "Les mots et leur implication culturelle," (2) "Le telephone--une capsule culturelle," (3) "Le repas," (4) "La femme francaise 1972," (5) "Les Parents," (6)…

  18. First Language Proficiency and Successful Foreign Language Learning: The Case of High School Students Learning French as a Foreign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gnintedem, Antoine

    2014-01-01

    This study investigated whether there was a correlation between first language proficiency as measured by the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT II) Reading and Language Arts and foreign language proficiency as measured by the French Language Proficiency Test. Data for the independent variable, first language proficiency, was collected from the…

  19. French Cuisine in the Classroom: Using Culture to Enhance Language Proficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrate, Jane E.

    1993-01-01

    French cuisine offers a valuable resource for creating culture-based contexts for language use in the classroom. Suggestions and ideas are presented for incorporating food-related activities in the French class. (VWL)

  20. Exaggeration of Language-Specific Rhythms in English and French Children's Songs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannon, Erin E; Lévêque, Yohana; Nave, Karli M; Trehub, Sandra E

    2016-01-01

    The available evidence indicates that the music of a culture reflects the speech rhythm of the prevailing language. The normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) is a measure of durational contrast between successive events that can be applied to vowels in speech and to notes in music. Music-language parallels may have implications for the acquisition of language and music, but it is unclear whether native-language rhythms are reflected in children's songs. In general, children's songs exhibit greater rhythmic regularity than adults' songs, in line with their caregiving goals and frequent coordination with rhythmic movement. Accordingly, one might expect lower nPVI values (i.e., lower variability) for such songs regardless of culture. In addition to their caregiving goals, children's songs may serve an intuitive didactic function by modeling culturally relevant content and structure for music and language. One might therefore expect pronounced rhythmic parallels between children's songs and language of origin. To evaluate these predictions, we analyzed a corpus of 269 English and French songs from folk and children's music anthologies. As in prior work, nPVI values were significantly higher for English than for French children's songs. For folk songs (i.e., songs not for children), the difference in nPVI for English and French songs was small and in the expected direction but non-significant. We subsequently collected ratings from American and French monolingual and bilingual adults, who rated their familiarity with each song, how much they liked it, and whether or not they thought it was a children's song. Listeners gave higher familiarity and liking ratings to songs from their own culture, and they gave higher familiarity and preference ratings to children's songs than to other songs. Although higher child-directedness ratings were given to children's than to folk songs, French listeners drove this effect, and their ratings were uniquely predicted by n

  1. Barriers to offering French language physician services in rural and northern Ontario.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timony, Patrick E; Gauthier, Alain P; Serresse, Suzanne; Goodale, Natalie; Prpic, Jason

    2016-01-01

    Rural and Northern Ontario francophones face many health-related challenges including poor health status, a poor supply of French-speaking physicians, and the potential for an inability or reduced ability to effectively communicate with anglophone healthcare providers. As such, it can reasonably be expected that rural and Northern Ontario francophones experience barriers when receiving care. However, the experience of physicians working in areas densely populated by francophones is largely unexplored. This paper identifies barriers experienced by French-speaking and Non-French-speaking rural and Northern Ontario physicians when serving francophone patients. A series of key informant interviews were conducted with 18 family physicians practicing in rural and urban francophone communities of Northeastern Ontario. Interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis process. Five categories of barrier were identified: (1) language discordance, (2) characteristics of francophone patients, (3) dominance of English in the medical profession, (4) lack of French-speaking medical personnel, and (5) physicians' linguistic (in)sensitivity. Some barriers identified were unique to Non-French-speaking physicians (eg language discordance, use of interpreters, feelings of inadequacy), some were unique to French-speaking physicians (eg limited French education and resources), and some were common to both groups (eg lack of French-speaking colleagues/staff, added time commitments, and the particularities of Franco-Ontarian preferences and culture). Healthcare providers and decision makers may take interest in these results. Although physicians were the focus of the present article, the barriers expressed are likely experienced by other healthcare providers, and thus the lessons learned from this article extend beyond the physician workforce. Efforts must be made to offer educational opportunities for physicians and other healthcare providers working in areas densely populated by

  2. Using Early Silent Film to Teach French: The Language of "Cinema Muet."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloom, Michelle E.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses the use of early silent films in second-language classrooms, focusing on the experiences of one instructor in using early French silents in elementary and intermediate French courses. Sample lesson plans and information on the availability of French silents are also provided. (Contains 17 references.) (MDM)

  3. The Role of Colloquial French in Communication and Implications for Language Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonin, Therese M.

    1978-01-01

    This article discusses comprehension problems encountered by students of French as a second language as a result of the mismatch between the standard language they learn in classrooms and the language used by native speakers. (CLK)

  4. Student and Teacher Perceptions of First Language Use in Secondary French Immersion Mathematics Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culligan, Karla

    2015-01-01

    This phenomenological study (Creswell, 2003, 2007; van Manen, 1997) explores student and teacher perceptions of first language use in French immersion mathematics classrooms at a large, urban high school in Canada. During individual interviews, participants discussed their perceptions and experiences of French immersion mathematics, language use,…

  5. Strategies for improved French-language health services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier, Alain P.; Timony, Patrick E.; Serresse, Suzanne; Goodale, Natalie; Prpic, Jason

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective To identify strategies to improve the quality of health services for Francophone patients. Design A series of semistructured key informant interviews. Setting Northeastern Ontario. Participants A total of 18 physicians were interviewed. Ten physicians were interviewed in French, 7 physicians were women, and 10 physicians were located in urban communities. Methods Purposive and snowball sampling strategies were used to conduct a series of semistructured key informant interviews with family physicians practising in communities with a large Francophone population. Principles of grounded theory were applied, guided by a framework for patient-professional communication. Results were inductively derived following an iterative data collection–data analysis process and were analyzed using a detailed thematic approach. Main findings Respondents identified several strategies for providing high-quality French-language health services. Some were unique to non–French-speaking physicians (eg, using appropriate interpreter services), some were unique to French-speaking physicians (eg, using a flexible dialect), and some strategies were common to all physicians serving French populations (eg, hiring bilingual staff or having pamphlets and posters in both French and English). Conclusion Physicians interviewed for this study provided high-quality health care by attributing substantial importance to effective communication. While linguistic patient-to-physician concordance is ideal, it might not always be possible. Thus, conscious efforts to attenuate communication barriers are necessary, and several effective strategies exist. PMID:26505060

  6. French language: A basic G.S course for Nnamdi Azikiwe University ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Descriptive method was adopted for the study and data were collected from articles, internet sources and interview. The finding indicated that some universities have adopted French as one of the GS courses. It suggested that French language be taught in UNIZIK as a GS course. The work was based on NUC benchmark ...

  7. Language Training: French course for beginners

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an 'application for training' form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. A French course for beginners (level 0) will take place from 12 July to 27 August. Timetable: not yet fixed Duration: 54 hours / 2 hours a day Price: CHF 702 Please enrol as soon as possible through the Web: http://cern.ch/Training FORMATION EN LANGUES LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz 73127 language.training@cern.ch

  8. Language Training: French course for beginners

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an 'application for training' form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. A French course for beginners (level 0) will take place from 12 July to 27 August. Timetable: not yet fixed Duration: 54 hours / 2 hours a day Price: 702 SF Please enrol as soon as possible through the Web: http://cern.ch/Training FORMATION EN LANGUES LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz 73127 language.training@cern.ch

  9. French Bilingual Classes in Vietnam: Issues and Debates about an Innovative Language Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Normand-Marconnet, Nadine

    2013-01-01

    Despite a long historical French presence in Vietnam, only 0.5% of Vietnamese people speak French today. As in other countries of South East Asia, language instruction in Vietnam has mainly focused on English for several decades. This paper provides an overview of a project called "French bilingual classes". The main aim of the study is…

  10. Pedagogy and second language learning: Lessons learned from Intensive French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joan Netten

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Through research and classroom observation undertaken while conceptualizing and implementing the Intensive French program in Canada, many new insights were gained into the development of communication skills in a classroom situation. Five lessons learned about the development of spontaneous oral communication are presented in this article: the ineffectiveness of core French in primary school; the minimum number of intensive hours necessary to develop spontaneous oral communication; the need to develop implicit competence rather than explicit knowledge; the distinction between accuracy as knowledge and accuracy as skill; and the importance of teaching strategies focusing on language use. These lessons have implications for our understanding of how oral competence in an L2 develops and for the improvement of communicative language pedagogy.

  11. Health Literacy - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Health Literacy URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... W XYZ List of All Topics All Health Literacy - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  12. Cosmetic Dentistry - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Cosmetic Dentistry URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... W XYZ List of All Topics All Cosmetic Dentistry - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  13. Atrial Fibrillation - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Atrial Fibrillation URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Atrial Fibrillation - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  14. Domestic Violence - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Domestic Violence URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Domestic Violence - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  15. Herbal Medicine - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Herbal Medicine URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Herbal Medicine - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  16. Elder Abuse - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Elder Abuse URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Elder Abuse - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  17. Zika Virus - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Zika Virus URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Zika Virus - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  18. Diabetic Foot - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Diabetic Foot URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Diabetic Foot - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  19. Child Abuse - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Child Abuse URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Child Abuse - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

  20. The influence of military contacts on French loanwords in the English language

    OpenAIRE

    MITCHELL PETER J.; AKHTAMBAEV ROMAN P.; IGNATOV A.A.

    2014-01-01

    The article considers the problem of French words as loanwords in the English language, as a result of various armed conflicts and military contacts in the previous millennium. Loanwords are an important component of any language and, indeed, the vast majority of languages are heavily influenced by loanwords. War and armed conflicts in general, together with military cooperation, provide ''ideal'' conditions for the emergence of loanwords in foreign languages. The English language experience ...

  1. Is the perception of dysphonia severity language-dependent? A comparison of French and Italian voice assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghio, Alain; Cantarella, Giovanna; Weisz, Frédérique; Robert, Danièle; Woisard, Virginie; Fussi, Franco; Giovanni, Antoine; Baracca, Giovanna

    2015-04-01

    In this cross-language study, six Italian and six French voice experts evaluated perceptually the speech of 27 Italian and 40 French patients with dysphonia to determine if there were differences based on native language. French and Italian voice specialists agreed substantially in their evaluations of the overall grade of dysphonia and moderately concerning roughness and breathiness. No statistically significant effects were found related to the language of the speakers with the exception of breathiness, a finding that was interpreted as being due to different voice pathologies in the patient groups. It was concluded that the perception of the overall grade of dysphonia and breathiness is not language-dependent, whereas the significant difference in the perception of roughness may be related to a perception/adaption process.

  2. What French for Gabonese French lexicography? | Assam | Lexikos

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper is a response to Mavoungou (2013a) who has pleaded for the production of a dictionary of Gabonese French as variant B of the French language. The paper intends to com-prehend the concept of "Gabonese French". It gives an outline of the situation of French within the language diversity of Gabon as a ...

  3. French Interrogative Structures: A New Pedagogical Norm for the 21st-Century Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antes, Theresa A.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated interrogative structures most frequently used by native speakers of French, in an attempt to reconcile differences between language forms taught in the French as a foreign language classroom and those that are encountered in authentic input. Radio, television, and magazine interviews provided multiple examples of…

  4. Language Needs Analysis from a Perspective of International Professional Mobility: The Case of French Mountain Guides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wozniak, Severine

    2010-01-01

    This paper gives a detailed account of an analysis carried out at the French National Skiing and Mountaineering School from August 2008 to June 2009 to assess the language needs of French mountain guides. A targeted literature review highlighted two main points to be taken into account in the design of this language needs analysis: target…

  5. The Recording and Use of Off-Air French Television Programmes with Advanced Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, J. K.

    1978-01-01

    Describes a program at the University of Kent in which UHF broadcasts on French television are taped on video cassettes for use in a variety of courses, including French language classes. Instructional uses of the video cassettes are discussed. (KM)

  6. French For Dummies

    CERN Document Server

    Erotopoulos; Williams, Michelle M; Wenzel, Dominique

    2011-01-01

    The fast, informal way to learn to speak French French is known as perhaps the most beautiful of all languages. Listen to someone speak French-sure, you don't have a clue what they're saying, but aren't you enraptured by the sound of it? French is a beautiful language but quite difficult to learn. Whether you need to learn the language for a French class, or you travel overseas for business or leisure, this revised edition of French for Dummies can help. Written in an easy-to-follow format, it gives you just what you need for basic communication in FrenchExpanded coverage of necessary grammar,

  7. Salmonella Infections - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Salmonella Infections URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Salmonella Infections - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features ...

  8. Rotavirus Infections - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Rotavirus Infections URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Rotavirus Infections - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features ...

  9. Body Weight - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Supplements Videos & Tools You Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Body Weight URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Body Weight - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, ...

  10. Cross-language modulation of visual attention span: An Arabic-French-Spanish comparison in adult skilled readers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faris Haroon Rasheed Awadh

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages --French, Spanish and Arabic-- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were adult skilled readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented 5 consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T. All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that the VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between visual attention span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

  11. Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awadh, Faris H R; Phénix, Thierry; Antzaka, Alexia; Lallier, Marie; Carreiras, Manuel; Valdois, Sylviane

    2016-01-01

    In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages -French, Spanish, and Arabic- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

  12. Enseignement de la langue francaise au Maroc et dialogue des cultures (Teaching of the French Language in Morocco and Dialogue of Cultures).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lahjomri, Abdeljalil

    1984-01-01

    In the process of Arabization of Morocco, it is necessary to maintain French language instruciton, but as a necessary foreign language and not as a primary language. French remains an important part of Morocco's diverse cultural identity. (MSE)

  13. Translanguaging practices in the teaching of French as a foreign language in Malta

    OpenAIRE

    Bezzina, Anne-Marie;

    2017-01-01

    This study reviews beliefs related to translanguaging activities in the French as a Foreign Language (FFL) classroom and suggests cultural reasons why some condemn the concomitant use of previously learnt languages with the target language in FFL learning contexts. A corpus analysis of two Maltese FFL teachers’ recorded lessons attempts a structural categorisation of translanguaging instances according to the classification of classroom translanguaging in Causa (1998). It sheds light on the f...

  14. Electronic Mail, a New Written-Language Register: A Study with French-Speaking Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Volckaert-Legrier, Olga; Bernicot, Josie; Bert-Erboul, Alain

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the linguistic forms used by adolescents in electronic mail (e-mail) differ from those used in standard written language. The study was conducted in French, a language with a deep orthography that has strict, addressee-dependent rules for using second person personal pronouns (unfamiliar…

  15. Development of English and French Language and Literacy Skills in EL1 and EL French Immersion Students in the Early Grades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Au-Yeung, Karen; Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Chen, Xi; Pasquarella, Adrian; D'Angelo, Nadia; Deacon, S. Hélène

    2015-01-01

    In this article, we report two studies that compared the development of English and French language and literacy skills in French immersion students identified as native English speakers (EL1s) and English learners (ELs). In study 1, 81 EL1s and 147 ELs were tested in the fall and spring terms of grade 1. The EL1s and ELs had similar outcomes and…

  16. Piercing and Tattoos - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Piercing and Tattoos URL of this page: https://medlineplus. ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Piercing and Tattoos - Multiple Languages To use the sharing ...

  17. Asian American Health - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Asian American Health URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Asian American Health - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features ...

  18. Rotator Cuff Injuries - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Rotator Cuff Injuries URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Rotator Cuff Injuries - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features ...

  19. “I Felt Like My Life Had Been Given to Me to Start Over”: Alice Kaplan’s Language Memoir, French Lessons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleonora Rao

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Alice Kaplan’s memoir French Lessons (1993 is a story that deals as much with the issue of language learning as with that of cultural belonging(s. This “language memoir,” as it is typical of this sub-genre, is an intimate tale of the transition between languages and cultures. French Lessons recounts her evolving relationship with French language and culture in various phases of her life: starting from childhood, continuing through her graduate student years at Yale and finally as professor of French at Duke. Soon, however, in this unconventional Bildung, the second language turns out to be a verbal safe-house, an instant refuge when her first language and culture happen to be too uncomfortable. Ultimately, French provides a psychic space and a hiding place. Ultimately, however, as Derrida has shown, we are alienated from both the first and the second; we find ourselves to be more comfortable in one than in the other. This essay will analyze such processes with special attention to the part played by the body in Kaplan’s building as a student and eventually as a teacher. The analysis will be linked with the text’s peculiar narrative style: fast-paced, with simple, concise sentences, nevertheless extremely effective and moving.

  20. Authentic texts in teaching French as a foreign language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meta Lah

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The present paper is aimed at providing a ref lection on the use of authentic texts in French as a foreign language classroom. The author bases herself on an analysis of texts taken from four textbook sets (Le nouveau sans fronti`eres, Panorama, Campus and Rond point, which were or are still used in teaching French as a foreign language. Initially, a definition of authenticity and a survey of authentic material usage through history are provided. In the overview of the texts forming the corpus the texts are divided into authentic, adapted, apparently authentic and those for which no assumption can be made as to their authenticity. The authenticity analysis is also carried out by taking into account the analysis of/categorisation into text types (according to Adam. The author proceeds from two premises, i.e. firstly she foresees that authentic texts will be present in all text books analysed and secondly, considering the greater accessibility of materials, that their presence will be more pronounced in recent textbooks. However, none of the two hypo theses is confirmed, as authentic texts are found in the first three textbook sets, but not in the most recent one, while their presence is most pronounced in the oldest textbook set, i.e. in Le nouveau sans fronti`eres. The result of the analysis is thus somehow surprising given the overall accessibility of all kinds of authentic materials. In the author's opinion more authentic texts should be included into textbooks to thus enhance the purposeful ness of the foreign language classroom.

  1. French grammar for dummies

    CERN Document Server

    Mazet, Veronique

    2013-01-01

    The easy way to master French grammar French Grammar For Dummies is a logical extension and complement to the successful language learning book, French For Dummies. In plain English, it teaches you the grammatical rules of the French language, including parts of speech, sentence construction, pronouns, adjectives, punctuation, stress and verb tenses, and moods. Throughout the book, you get plenty of practice opportunities to help you on your goal of mastering basic French grammar and usage. Grasp the grammatical rules of French including parts of speech, sentenc

  2. French, English or Kanak Languages? Can Traditional Languages and Cultures Be Sustained in New Caledonia?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anu Bissoonauth

    2017-10-01

    Preliminary results from the study show a difference in the language habits between older and younger generations on New Caledonians of Melanesian descent. Although French is perceived as the lingua franca by all, English is more valued than ancestral Melanesian languages by the younger generations. In terms of cultural representations and links with family history, there seems to be a discrepancy between the younger and the older generations. Whilst the older generations perceive the Centre Culturel Tjibaou as a traditional space for Melanesian art and culture their younger counterparts on the contrary view it as a place associated with contemporary art and music performances.

  3. Acquisition of French as a second language new developmental perspectives

    CERN Document Server

    Lindqvist, Christina

    2014-01-01

    It has been argued that the study of child L2 development can inform different maturational accounts of language acquisition. One such specific proposal was put forward by Meisel (2008), arguing for a cut-off point for monolingual or bilingual first language acquisition - (2)L1 - type of development at 3-4 years. The paper analyses the longitudinal development of object clitics in child L2 French (L1 Swedish) and compares the developmental sequence in child L2 learners (n = 7) with different Ages of onset of Acquisition (AoA) (from 3;0 to 6;5) to the adult L2 sequence that was found in previou

  4. The World Center for Computing's Pilot Videodisc Project for French Language Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eastmond, J. Nicholls, Jr.; Mosenthal, Richard

    1985-01-01

    Describes a pilot videodisc project for French language instruction. Unique features include (1) learner control of instruction by a mouse or touch-sensitive screen, (2) extensive cultural interaction, and (3) an elaborate lexicon of word meanings portrayed visually for selected key words. (Author/SED)

  5. MORALITY IN CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN FAIRYTALE AND ITS IMPLICATION IN LEARNING FRENCH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ninuk Lustyantie

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The culture of a society is closely related to the language used by the speakers. Moreover, there are opinions saying that in a language there will be patterns of behavior, materials, ideas (beliefs and knowledge, and sentiments (attitudes and norms of a society that are formed and exposed. This fact is in accordance with the opinion that a language is more than just a communion; it is the relation between individual and sociocultural values. Among all characteristics of culture, language is the most prominent distinguishing feature, since each social group feel themselves as a different entity from other groups. For certain social groups, language is used as the social identity/symbol. Close relation between language and culture is reflected in words used by the society. A concept or way of life in a society can be supported by words and language. Someone’s language behavior generally follows the culture of a society where he/she lives, including how the cultural elements appear in the equipment of human life, livelihood, social system, language (and literature system either written or oral, various of arts, knowledge system, and religious system. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that there is a close relation between the language used by people and how they understand the world and behave in it. Based on 17th Century French fairytales, this article will review the moral values contained in the cultural elements and the implications in learning French as a foreign language.

  6. Technical Text Comprehension Difficulties in the Usage of Reflexive Verbs in the French Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina Dubikaltytė-Raugalienė

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The author researches the problems of textual competence and especially the reflexive constructions in the texts of French speciality. It was established that there exists some difference in the usage of reflective verbs in the French and the Lithuanian language especially in the field of passive voice and a wider semantics of modal and aspect verbs and that raises not a fen problems of effective text reading problems.

  7. The Effect of Target Language and Code-Switching on the Grammatical Performance and Perceptions of Elementary-Level College French Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viakinnou-Brinson, Lucie; Herron, Carol; Cole, Steven P.; Haight, Carrie

    2012-01-01

    Grammar instruction is at the center of the target language (TL) and code-switching debate. Discussion revolves around whether grammar should be taught in the TL or using the TL and the native language (L1). This study investigated the effects of French-only grammar instruction and French/English grammar instruction on elementary-level students'…

  8. 500 French verbs for dummies

    CERN Document Server

    Erotopoulos

    2013-01-01

    Vexed by French verbs? Fear no more! In 500 French Verbs For Dummies, beginning French language learners can find a quick reference for verbs in the basic present tenses. More advanced French speakers can utilize this book to learn more complex verb tenses and conjugations as well as advanced verbs with irregular endings. One page for each of the 500 most commonly used verbs in the French language -alphabetically arranged and numbered for easy referenceSpecial designation of the 50 most essential French verbsA summary of basic French grammar that incl

  9. Dictionnaires du francais langue etrangere (Dictionaries for French as a Second Language).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gross, Gaston; Ibrahim, Amr

    1981-01-01

    Examines the purposes served by native language dictionaries as an introduction to the review of three monolingual French dictionaries for foreigners. Devotes particular attention to the most recent, the "Dictionnaire du francais langue etrangere", published by Larousse. Stresses the characteristics that are considered desirable for this type of…

  10. Cross-language categorization of French and German vowels by naive American listeners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strange, Winifred; Levy, Erika S; Law, Franzo F

    2009-09-01

    American English (AE) speakers' perceptual assimilation of 14 North German (NG) and 9 Parisian French (PF) vowels was examined in two studies using citation-form disyllables (study 1) and sentences with vowels surrounded by labial and alveolar consonants in multisyllabic nonsense words (study 2). Listeners categorized multiple tokens of each NG and PF vowel as most similar to selected AE vowels and rated their category "goodness" on a nine-point Likert scale. Front, rounded vowels were assimilated primarily to back AE vowels, despite their acoustic similarity to front AE vowels. In study 1, they were considered poorer exemplars of AE vowels than were NG and PF back, rounded vowels; in study 2, front and back, rounded vowels were perceived as similar to each other. Assimilation of some front, unrounded and back, rounded NG and PF vowels varied with language, speaking style, and consonantal context. Differences in perceived similarity often could not be predicted from context-specific cross-language spectral similarities. Results suggest that listeners can access context-specific, phonetic details when listening to citation-form materials, but assimilate non-native vowels on the basis of context-independent phonological equivalence categories when processing continuous speech. Results are interpreted within the Automatic Selective Perception model of speech perception.

  11. Language Training: French

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an 'application for training' form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt.General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. These courses are open to all persons working on the Cern site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz: Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 April to 02 July 2004. This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken French. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF (for 8 students) For further information and registra...

  12. Aspirations langagieres: Negociation et apprentissage du francais (Language Aspirations: Negotiation and Learning French).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lepetit, Daniel; Cichocki, Wladyslaw

    1990-01-01

    A survey of 130 beginning French students at the University of Windsor (Canada) focused on their second language aspirations, expectations, and anticipated needs. Interpersonal relations appear to be the primary motivator, with travel and instrumental motivation secondary. (20 references) (Author/MSE)

  13. Health Information in Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... gov/languages/languages.html Health Information in Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Use these ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 4 June 2018

  14. L1 Frequency in Foreign Language Acquisition: Recurrent Word Combinations in French and Spanish EFL Learner Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paquot, Magali

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated French and Spanish EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' preferred use of three-word lexical bundles with discourse or stance-oriented function with a view to exploring the role of first language (L1) frequency effects in foreign language acquisition. Word combinations were extracted from learner performance data…

  15. Pour Adolescent et Adulte, Francais Langue Etrangere, Niveau 1 (French as a Foreign Language, Level 1, for Adolescents and Adults)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibert, Pierre

    1975-01-01

    This annotated bibliography lists dictionaries and reading materials including stories and legends, biographies, works relating to cinema, theatre and French civilization, magazines, and educational activities and games for introductory instruction of French as a foreign language to adults and adolescents. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

  16. Flirting with French

    CERN Document Server

    Alexander, William

    2015-01-01

    William Alexander is not just a Francophile, he wants to be French. It's not enough to explore the country, to enjoy the food and revel in the ambience, he wants to feel French from the inside. Among the things that stand in his way is the fact that he can't actually speak the language. Setting out to conquer the language he loves (but which, amusingly, does not seem to love him back), Alexander devotes himself to learning French, going beyond grammar lessons and memory techniques to delve into the history of the language, the science of linguistics, and the art of translation. Along

  17. French Teaching Aids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, J. Dale

    Supplementary teaching materials for French language programs are presented in this text. Primarily intended for secondary school students, the study contains seven units of material. They include: (1) French gestures, (2) teaching the interrogative pronouns, (3) French cuisine, (4) recreational learning games, (5) French-English cognates, (6)…

  18. Language Training - French Training

    CERN Multimedia

    HR Department

    2008-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 January to 3rd April 2009. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Nathalie Dumeaux : Tel. 78144. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 January to 3rd April 2009. This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken French. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF For further information and registration, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Nathalie Dumeaux : Tel. 78144. Nathalie Dumeaux Tel. 78144 mailto:nathalie.dumeaux@cern.ch

  19. Language Training - French Training

    CERN Multimedia

    HR Department

    2009-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 January to 3rd April 2009. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Nathalie Dumeaux : Tel. 78144. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 January to 3rd April 2009. This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken French. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF For further information and registration, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Nathalie Dumeaux : Tel. 78144. Nathalie Dumeaux Tel. 78144 mailto:nathalie.dumeaux@cern.ch

  20. The neural correlates of highly iconic structures and topographic discourse in French Sign Language as observed in six hearing native signers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Courtin, C; Hervé, P-Y; Petit, L; Zago, L; Vigneau, M; Beaucousin, V; Jobard, G; Mazoyer, B; Mellet, E; Tzourio-Mazoyer, N

    2010-09-01

    "Highly iconic" structures in Sign Language enable a narrator to act, switch characters, describe objects, or report actions in four-dimensions. This group of linguistic structures has no real spoken-language equivalent. Topographical descriptions are also achieved in a sign-language specific manner via the use of signing-space and spatial-classifier signs. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the neural correlates of topographic discourse and highly iconic structures in French Sign Language (LSF) in six hearing native signers, children of deaf adults (CODAs), and six LSF-naïve monolinguals. LSF materials consisted of videos of a lecture excerpt signed without spatially organized discourse or highly iconic structures (Lect LSF), a tale signed using highly iconic structures (Tale LSF), and a topographical description using a diagrammatic format and spatial-classifier signs (Topo LSF). We also presented texts in spoken French (Lect French, Tale French, Topo French) to all participants. With both languages, the Topo texts activated several different regions that are involved in mental navigation and spatial working memory. No specific correlate of LSF spatial discourse was evidenced. The same regions were more activated during Tale LSF than Lect LSF in CODAs, but not in monolinguals, in line with the presence of signing-space structure in both conditions. Motion processing areas and parts of the fusiform gyrus and precuneus were more active during Tale LSF in CODAs; no such effect was observed with French or in LSF-naïve monolinguals. These effects may be associated with perspective-taking and acting during personal transfers. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Essential French grammar

    CERN Document Server

    Thacker, Mike

    2014-01-01

    Essential French Grammar is an innovative reference grammar and workbook for intermediate and advanced undergraduate students of French (CEFR levels B2 to C1). Its clear explanations of grammar are supported by contemporary examples and lively cartoon drawings.  Each chapter contains: * real-life language examples in French, with English translations * a 'key points' box and tables that summarise grammar concepts * a variety of exercises to reinforce learning * a contemporary primary source or literary extract to illustrate grammar in context. To aid your understanding, this book also contains a glossary of grammatical terms in French and English, useful verb tables and a key to the exercises. Together, these features all help you to grasp complex points of grammar and develop your French language skills.

  2. French in the XX Century: Development Tendencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taisiya I. Skorobogatova

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This article is devoted to the disclosure of changes that occurred in the French language in the XX century. The task of the authors is to present the main features characteristic of the French language of the 20th century, taking into account external history and to give their perspective assessment. World wars, the development of communication tools and the creation of new technologies, the strengthening of cultural and economic ties between France and other countries of the world had a significant impact on the evolution of the French language. Important results of the development of the French language in the period under review include: fixing a new phoneme [ŋ] in the consonantial system of the French language; enrichment of the lexical system at the expense of internal resources and at the expense of other languages; strengthening the dynamics of the development of the non-literary part of the language; increase in the number of syntactic Anglicisms. In general, the authors of the article attempted to give a detailed answer to the question: if there was the impoverishment of the French language in the twentieth century.

  3. The acquisition of French in multilingual contexts

    CERN Document Server

    Guijarro-Fuentes, Pedro; Müller, Natascha

    2015-01-01

    This volume brings together new research from different theoretical paradigms addressing the acquisition of French as a second language. It focuses on the acquisition of French in combination with different languages and enriches our understanding of the particularities of French and the role of language combinations in the acquisition process.

  4. Radiation Therapy - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... W XYZ List of All Topics All Radiation Therapy - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, ... Information Translations Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) Expand Section Radiation Therapy - Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese) ... Health Information Translations Characters not displaying correctly on this page? See language display issues . Return to the MedlinePlus Health Information ...

  5. Identite culturelle et francophonie dans les Ameriques (Cultural Identity and the French Language in the Americas). Series No. B-88.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baudot, Alain; And Others

    These papers, given at five general sessions and fifteen workshops, discuss the relationship between cultural identity and the French language in the Americas, and deal with the following topics: (1) French speech in Canada; (2) anthropology and cultural identity; (3) translation; (4) French in Ontario and New England; (5) sociology; (6)…

  6. French Training

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2003-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place: from 13 October to 19 December 2003. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages or contact Mrs. Fontbonne: Tel. 72844. Writing Professional Documents in French This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken French. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF (for 8 students) For further information and registration, please consult our Web pages or contact Mrs. Fontbonne: Tel. 72844. Language Training Françoise Benz Tel.73127 language.training@cern.ch

  7. Emerging Voices: "Speak White": Language Policy, Immigration Discourse, and Tactical Authenticity in a French Enclave in New England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Jason

    2013-01-01

    This article provides a historical case study of the Sentinelle Affair, a conflict between French language rights and the English Only educational policies of the Catholic Church in New England in the 1920s. An analysis of this conflict reveals a correspondence between programs of language centralization and the production of language differences…

  8. Multiple Language Use Influences Oculomotor Task Performance: Neurophysiological Evidence of a Shared Substrate between Language and Motor Control.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karin Heidlmayr

    Full Text Available In the present electroencephalographical study, we asked to which extent executive control processes are shared by both the language and motor domain. The rationale was to examine whether executive control processes whose efficiency is reinforced by the frequent use of a second language can lead to a benefit in the control of eye movements, i.e. a non-linguistic activity. For this purpose, we administrated to 19 highly proficient late French-German bilingual participants and to a control group of 20 French monolingual participants an antisaccade task, i.e. a specific motor task involving control. In this task, an automatic saccade has to be suppressed while a voluntary eye movement in the opposite direction has to be carried out. Here, our main hypothesis is that an advantage in the antisaccade task should be observed in the bilinguals if some properties of the control processes are shared between linguistic and motor domains. ERP data revealed clear differences between bilinguals and monolinguals. Critically, we showed an increased N2 effect size in bilinguals, thought to reflect better efficiency to monitor conflict, combined with reduced effect sizes on markers reflecting inhibitory control, i.e. cue-locked positivity, the target-locked P3 and the saccade-locked presaccadic positivity (PSP. Moreover, effective connectivity analyses (dynamic causal modelling; DCM on the neuronal source level indicated that bilinguals rely more strongly on ACC-driven control while monolinguals rely on PFC-driven control. Taken together, our combined ERP and effective connectivity findings may reflect a dynamic interplay between strengthened conflict monitoring, associated with subsequently more efficient inhibition in bilinguals. Finally, L2 proficiency and immersion experience constitute relevant factors of the language background that predict efficiency of inhibition. To conclude, the present study provided ERP and effective connectivity evidence for domain

  9. Comparing Written Competency in Core French and French Immersion Graduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lappin-Fortin, Kerry

    2014-01-01

    Few studies have compared the written competency of French immersion students and their core French peers, and research on these learners at a postsecondary level is even scarcer. My corpus consists of writing samples from 255 students from both backgrounds beginning a university course in French language. The writing proficiency of core French…

  10. Hierarchies of Authenticity in Study Abroad: French from Canada versus French from France?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wernicke, Meike

    2016-01-01

    For many decades, Francophone regions in Canada have provided language study exchanges for French as a second language (FSL) learners within their own country. At the same time, FSL students and teachers in Canada continue to orient to a native speaker standard associated with European French. This Eurocentric orientation manifested itself in a…

  11. French Second-Language Teacher Candidates' Positions towards Allophone Students and Implications for Inclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mady, Callie; Arnett, Katy; Muilenburg, Lin Y.

    2017-01-01

    In Canada, there is a rising population of K-12 students who speak neither French nor English at home, and who are sometimes expected to learn both of the country's official languages in school. Applying the lenses of critical theory and positioning theory, this study uses questionnaire and interview data to frame considerations to explore how…

  12. Beliefs about Early Language Learning: St. Lucian Beginning Students of French and Spanish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuntz, Patricia S.

    A study investigated the attitudes toward language learning held by early secondary school students (ages 11-13) on the island of Saint Lucia who are studying French and Spanish simultaneously, as required in the first two years of secondary school. Subjects were students at two schools, and included 121 boys and 72 girls. The survey consisted of…

  13. Language Training - French Training

    CERN Document Server

    2007-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 29 January to 30 March 2007. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz : Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 29 January to 30 March 2007. This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken French. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF (for 8 students) For further information and registration, please consult our Web pages:   http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz : Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in English The next session will take place from January to June 2007 (break at Easter). This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken English. Duration: 30 hours Price: 660 CHF (for 8 students) Timetable will be fixed after discussion with the students. For registratio...

  14. Cross-language categorization of French and German vowels by naïve American listeners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strange, Winifred; Levy, Erika S.; Law, Franzo F.

    2009-01-01

    American English (AE) speakers’ perceptual assimilation of 14 North German (NG) and 9 Parisian French (PF) vowels was examined in two studies using citation-form disyllables (study 1) and sentences with vowels surrounded by labial and alveolar consonants in multisyllabic nonsense words (study 2). Listeners categorized multiple tokens of each NG and PF vowel as most similar to selected AE vowels and rated their category “goodness” on a nine-point Likert scale. Front, rounded vowels were assimilated primarily to back AE vowels, despite their acoustic similarity to front AE vowels. In study 1, they were considered poorer exemplars of AE vowels than were NG and PF back, rounded vowels; in study 2, front and back, rounded vowels were perceived as similar to each other. Assimilation of some front, unrounded and back, rounded NG and PF vowels varied with language, speaking style, and consonantal context. Differences in perceived similarity often could not be predicted from context-specific cross-language spectral similarities. Results suggest that listeners can access context-specific, phonetic details when listening to citation-form materials, but assimilate non-native vowels on the basis of context-independent phonological equivalence categories when processing continuous speech. Results are interpreted within the Automatic Selective Perception model of speech perception. PMID:19739759

  15. Possessive pour in the French Lexicon of the Ivory Coast and Language Contact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akissi Boutin, Béatrice

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Any variationist study of Ivory Coast French needs to take into account sociolinguistic considerations and systemic features of other contact languages. For instance, there is a specific usage of pour against which the interference hypothesis can easily be tested:FI: Le kaki que je porte présentement, c'est pour un bachelier qui me l'a laissé avant de partir en fac, cadeau. (Lafage 2003: 676. Avant de te moquer du linge de ta voisine, regarde si pour toi est propre..In Ivory Coast French, pour (N/Pro can display a variety of functions: it can be part of associative predications, it can stand for genitive phrases in an anaphoric construction, make reference to an object in relation with another and participate in various idiomatic expressions.This paper has a twofold objective. First, I argue that pour (N/Pro constructions has to be analysed as an empty headed "associative" noun phrase. Second, I will show the relevance of extra- AND intersystemic factors in accounting for language variation. Incidentally, the use of pour (N/Pro constructions seems to be conditioned by the availability of similar constructions in other Ivory Coast languages on the one hand, such as baoule (o liε or dioula (à tá, and, cultural needs on the other.

  16. Anemia - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... XYZ List of All Topics All Anemia - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 30 April 2018

  17. Allergy - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... XYZ List of All Topics All Allergy - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 23 May 2018

  18. Alcohol - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... XYZ List of All Topics All Alcohol - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 16 April 2018

  19. Asthma - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... XYZ List of All Topics All Asthma - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 2 May 2018

  20. Access French

    CERN Document Server

    Grosz, Bernard

    2014-01-01

    Access is the major new language series designed with the needs of today's generation of students firmly in mind. Whether learning for leisure or business purposes or working towards a curriculum qualification, Access French is specially designed for adults of all ages and gives students a thorough grounding in all the skills required to understand, speak, read and write contemporary French from scratch. The coursebook consists of 10 units covering different topic areas, each of which includes Language Focus panels explaining the structures covered and a comprehensive glossary. Learning tips

  1. A Cross-linguistic Perspective on Questions in German and French Adult Second Language Acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias Bonnesen

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have been conducted to try and understand and explain the morphological and syntactic aspects of adult second language acquisition (SLA. Two prominent hypotheses that have been put forward concerning late L2 speakers' knowledge of inflectional morphology and of related functional categories and their feature values are the Impaired Representation Hypothesis (IRH and the Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (MSIH.The cross-linguistic comparison of the acquisition of questions in German and French provided in this study offers a new perspective to differences and similarities between first language acquisition (FLA and adult SLA. Comparing a Germanic and a Romance L2, differing not only in their overall linguistic properties (such as i. e. OV/VO, V2, clitics, but explicitly in the formation and regularities of questions, we present striking similarities in adult SLA, and irrespective of the first and the second languages and of instructed versus non-instructed learning. The investigation of the adult SLA of morphological and structural aspects of questions in French and German strengthens the assumption that the acquisition of morphology and syntax is connected in French and German FLA but is disentangled in adult SLA. Our data reveal variability of question syntax, and with the syntactic position of the verb in particular. Instead of discovering the correct position of the verb at a certain stage of acquisition which can be accounted for by parameter setting in FLA, the adult learners gradually approach the target word order but still exhibit a great deal of variation after several years of exposure to the L2.The findings provided here contradict the predictions of the MSIH (Prévost/White 2000; Ionin/Wexler 2002; among others, for not only morphological features, but syntactic finiteness of finiteness are problematic in adult SLA, and that the Impairment Representation Hypothesis (IRH (Beck 1998; Eubank 1993/1994; among others

  2. French Second Language Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development in Canada: The Roles of Smaller Universities and Related Institutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heffernan, Peter J.

    1991-01-01

    Discusses teacher shortages in French language instruction areas in Canada, both core and immersion; the rationalization of programs; staffing and financial support among Alberta's tertiary education; language teacher preparation; and continuing professional development. Suggestions are made as to how a smaller university can better fulfill its…

  3. Immersion Education in the Context of an Endangered Language: A Linguistic Study of the Oral Production of French Immersion Students in Louisiana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betters, Jennifer R.

    2016-01-01

    In the past century, French has shifted from being the native language of many Louisianans to being an endangered dialect. Since the creation of the state agency CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana) in the 1960's, efforts have been made to revitalize French in Louisiana, and since the 1980's, some parishes have offered…

  4. TEACHING AND LEARNING OF FRENCH: IMPERATIVE FOR ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Prof

    It is important to note that, the teaching of French was introduced into the ... subjects like English to the detriment of French language is a proof of that .... To encourage teachers to lead the learners to use French language as a tool for .... professionals, thereby placing Nigeria at a disadvantage in terms of job creation.

  5. The 36. French Language Colloquium on Nuclear Medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bourguet, P.

    1997-01-01

    This issue of the journal 'Medecine Nucleaire - Imagerie Fonctionnelle et Metabolique' contains the short communications, abstracts of the poster communications and lectures presented in the 36. French Language Colloquium on Nuclear Medicine held at Rennes - Saint-Malo on 1 to 3 October, 1997. According to their content the communications were bunched in the following sessions: Radioprotection-Environment, Cardiology-Pneumology, Endocrinology, Oncology-Diagnosis, Oncology-Therapy, Neurology, Radiobiology, Radioprotection, Osteo-articulary, Uro-Nephrology, Hepato-Gastroenterology, Radiopharmaceuticals, Immuno-analysis, Instrumentation-Image Processing. The overwhelming majority of the papers presented dealt with the use of radioisotopes and radiolabelled complexes in diagnosis and therapy especially, by means of PET and SPECT techniques. The colloquium proceedings are completed by two lectures on Radioimmunotherapy of lymphomas and use of PET in tumor imaging considered from the cost efficiency

  6. Appropriating Written French: Literacy Practices in a Parisian Elementary Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rockwell, Elsie

    2012-01-01

    In this article, I examine French language instruction in an elementary classroom serving primarily children of Afro-French immigrants in Paris. I show that a prevalent French language ideology privileges written over oral expression and associates full mastery of written French with rational thought and full inclusion in the French polity. This…

  7. developing french for specific purposes in the nigerian university ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ada

    Following the changing role of the French Language from a vehicle of French culture to a vehicle of Science, Technology, Commerce and Diplomacy, the teaching of French as a foreign language (FFL) around the world has shifted emphasis from literary studies to what has come to be known as French for Specific Purposes ...

  8. A French-speaking speech-language pathology program in West Africa: transfer of training between Minority and Majority World countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topouzkhanian, Sylvia; Mijiyawa, Moustafa

    2013-02-01

    In West Africa, as in Majority World countries, people with a communication disability are generally cut-off from the normal development process. A long-term involvement of two partners (Orthophonistes du Monde and Handicap International) allowed the implementation in 2003 of the first speech-language pathology qualifying course in West Africa, within the Ecole Nationale des Auxiliaires Medicaux (ENAM, National School for Medical Auxiliaries) in Lome, Togo. It is a 3-year basic training (after the baccalaureate) in the only academic training centre for medical assistants in Togo. This department has a regional purpose and aims at training French-speaking African students. French speech-language pathology lecturers had to adapt their courses to the local realities they discovered in Togo. It was important to introduce and develop knowledge and skills in the students' system of reference. African speech-language pathologists have to face many challenges: creating an African speech and language therapy, introducing language disorders and their possible cure by means other than traditional therapies, and adapting all the evaluation tests and tools for speech-language pathology to each country, each culture, and each language. Creating an African speech-language pathology profession (according to its own standards) with a real influence in West Africa opens great opportunities for schooling and social and occupational integration of people with communication disabilities.

  9. Language Learning versus Vocational Training: French, Arab and British Voices Speak about Indigenous Girls' Education in Nineteenth-Century Colonial Algeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Rebecca Elizabeth

    2012-01-01

    This article focuses on the first school for indigenous girls in Algeria that opened in Algiers in 1845. The founder, Eugenie Luce, taught girls the rudiments--French language and grammar, reading, arithmetic, and Arabic, while the afternoon hours were devoted to sewing. This early focus on teaching French in order to achieve the "fusion of…

  10. French Literature Abroad: Towards an Alternative History of French Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Gaunt

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available What would a history of medieval literature in French that is not focused on France and Paris look like? Taking as its starting point the key role played in the development of textual culture in French by geographical regions that are either at the periphery of French-speaking areas, or alternatively completely outside them, this article offers three case studies: first of a text composed in mid-twelfth century England; then of one from early thirteenth-century Flanders; and finally from late thirteenth-century Italy. What difference does it make if we do not read these texts, and the language in which they are written, in relation to French norms, but rather look at their cultural significance both at their point of production, and then in transmission? A picture emerges of a literary culture in French that is mobile and cosmopolitan, one that cannot be tied to the teleology of an emerging national identity, and one that is a bricolage of a range of influences that are moving towards France as well as being exported from it. French itself functions as a supralocal written language (even when it has specific local features and therefore may function more like Latin than a local vernacular.

  11. Latin Loans In French Contemporary Advertising: Socio-Cultural, Linguistic and Psychological Aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Kudinova

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the Latin language borrowings in the modern French language. The functioning of Latin borrowings in French advertising is analyzed. The attention is drown to the socio-cultural, linguistic and psychological aspects of this functioning. General trends concerning latinisms in French language are the clear proof of the importance and vitality of Latin into French society. It was shown that the Latin language has greatly influenced the French cultural memory and common European culture.

  12. English and French courses

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn a language, there is no excuse anymore!   You can attend one of our English or French courses and you can practise the language with a tandem partner! General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. Oral Expression This course is aimed at students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. Cours d’anglais général et professionnel La prochaine session se déroulera du 3 mars a...

  13. Exploring the Mastery of French Students in Using Basic Notions of the Language of Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canac, Sophie; Kermen, Isabelle

    2016-01-01

    Learning chemistry includes learning the language of chemistry (names, formulae, symbols, and chemical equations) which has to be done in connection with the other areas of chemical knowledge. In this study we investigate how French students understand and use names (of chemical species and common mixtures) and chemical formulae. We set a paper…

  14. Languages contact and geopolitics of Romance languages

    OpenAIRE

    Louis-Jean Calvet

    2017-01-01

    In this article, we first conceive the contact between languages from different configurations to, secondly, analyze the geopolitics of the Romance languages, represented by the three great linguistic groups, that is, the French-speaking, Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking groups.---Original in French.

  15. Language of Instruction and Instructed Languages in Mauritius

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonck, Gerda

    2005-01-01

    Mauritius is a multilingual country with English, French and Creole as the main languages, and several ancestral languages which are mainly used for religious ceremonies. Most children speak Creole at home and learn English, French and one ancestral language in the first year of primary school. The educational dropout rate is 40-50% after primary…

  16. Multiple Voices, Multiple Realities: Self-Defined Images of Self among Adolescent Hispanic English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajayi, Lasisi J.

    2006-01-01

    Acquisition of multiple identities to negotiate new forms of social participation and the concomitant attendant multiple languages and multiple cultures is "sine qua non" to success in English language learning classrooms. This study therefore, investigates how middle school Hispanic students reconceptualize their identities to negotiate…

  17. Colloquial French the complete course for beginners

    CERN Document Server

    Demouy, Valérie

    2015-01-01

    Colloquial French: The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to French as it is written and spoken today. Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in French in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Colloquial French is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range

  18. School of Economic French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. S. Franceva

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Economic French at MGIMO-University is based on the teaching methods developed by talented Methodist practitioner assistant professor L.L. Potushanskoy. She and her colleagues G.M. Kotova, N. Kolesnikova, I.A. Yudina created well-known in our country methodical complex of three textbooks. This complex is built on clear guidelines to facilitate the natural development of language skills "from simple to complex" and represents the effective approach to language learning: Currently, the department is constantly expanding its boundaries of school teaching economic and business of the French language in accordance with the emerging new special courses on the economics faculties.

  19. Back Pain - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... List of All Topics All Back Pain - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) ... Bethesda, MD 20894 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Page last updated on 31 May 2018

  20. Task-Based Language Teaching for Beginner-Level Learners of L2 French: An Exploratory Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erlam, Rosemary; Ellis, Rod

    2018-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of input-based tasks on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar by beginner-level learners of L2 French and reported the introduction of task-based teaching as an innovation in a state secondary school. The experimental group (n = 19) completed a series of focused input-based language tasks, taught by their…

  1. Languages contact and geopolitics of Romance languages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louis-Jean Calvet

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we first conceive the contact between languages from different configurations to, secondly, analyze the geopolitics of the Romance languages, represented by the three great linguistic groups, that is, the French-speaking, Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking groups.---Original in French.

  2. Japon: Le francais en sursis? (Japan: French in Stay of Execution?)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pecheur, Jacques

    1991-01-01

    In Japan, second-language instruction and specifically French instruction are at a crossroads. Despite appearances of normalcy, survival of university-level French instruction is threatened by greater current interest in Asian languages. In response, the French Embassy and Japanese Association of French Professors have established a policy to…

  3. Un projet de logiciels d'assistance a l'apprentissage de la lecture en FLE (An Interdisciplinary Research Project Oriented toward Computer Programs for Reading Instruction in French as a Second Language).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Challe, Odile; And Others

    1985-01-01

    Describes a French project entitled "Lecticiel," jointly undertaken by specialists in reading, computer programing, and second language instruction to integrate these disciplines and provide assistance for students learning to read French as a foreign language. (MSE)

  4. The Effects of Collaborative Models in Second Life on French Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Indy Y. T.; Yang, Stephen J. H.; Chia-Jui, Chu

    2015-01-01

    French is the ninth most widely used language globally, but French-learning environments in Taiwan have been insufficient. Language acquisition is easier in a natural setting, and so such a setting should be available to language learners wherever possible. This study aimed to (1) create an authentic environment for learning French in Second Life…

  5. The Prevalence of Speech and Language Disorders in French-Speaking Preschool Children From Yaoundé (Cameroon).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tchoungui Oyono, Lilly; Pascoe, Michelle; Singh, Shajila

    2018-05-17

    The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of speech and language disorders in French-speaking preschool-age children in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. A total of 460 participants aged 3-5 years were recruited from the 7 communes of Yaoundé using a 2-stage cluster sampling method. Speech and language assessment was undertaken using a standardized speech and language test, the Evaluation du Langage Oral (Khomsi, 2001), which was purposefully renormed on the sample. A predetermined cutoff of 2 SDs below the normative mean was applied to identify articulation, expressive language, and receptive language disorders. Fluency and voice disorders were identified using clinical judgment by a speech-language pathologist. Overall prevalence was calculated as follows: speech disorders, 14.7%; language disorders, 4.3%; and speech and language disorders, 17.1%. In terms of disorders, prevalence findings were as follows: articulation disorders, 3.6%; expressive language disorders, 1.3%; receptive language disorders, 3%; fluency disorders, 8.4%; and voice disorders, 3.6%. Prevalence figures are higher than those reported for other countries and emphasize the urgent need to develop speech and language services for the Cameroonian population.

  6. A comprehensive French grammar

    CERN Document Server

    Price, Glanville

    2013-01-01

    Characterized by clear and accessible explanations, numerous examples and sample sentences, a new section on register and tone, and useful appendices covering topics including age and time, A Comprehensive French Grammar, Sixth Edition is an indispensable tool for advanced students of French language and literature.A revised edition of this established, bestselling French grammarIncludes a new section on register and medium and offers expanded treatment of French punctuationFeatures numerous examples and sample sentences, and useful appendices covering topics including age, time, and dimension

  7. Pourquoi le francais et quel francais au Maroc? (Why French and Which French in Morocco?)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akouaou, Ahmed

    1984-01-01

    The status of French in Morocco is ambiguous: it is neither an official language nor a foreign language, and it would benefit greatly from an official definition that would allow a variety of language conflicts to be resolved. (MSE)

  8. So You Want Your Child To Learn French! Second Revised Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleming, Berkeley, Ed.; Whitla, Margaret, Ed.

    This collection of essays on early French second language instruction includes: "Why Bilingualism?" (Steven MacKinnon); "French Second-Language Programs: Alternative Approaches" (Henry P. Edwards); "Core French: A Brighter Future" (Janet Poyen, Judy Gibson); "The Parents' Role" (Deborah Whale); "Franco…

  9. ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS OF THE VERBS “TO BE”, “TO HAVE” AND “TO TAKE” AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN GERMAN, FRENCH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES: LINGUISTIC–CULTURAL ASPECT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Nikolaevna Panamaryova

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to find out conceptual characteristics of English, German, French, Italian languages world image. The subject of this paper is English collocations with the verbs “to be”, “to have” and “to take” and their equivalents in German, French and Italian languages. The task of this paper is to compare English collocations of the verbs “to be”, “to have” and “to take” and their equivalents in German, French and Italian languages in linguistic–cultural aspect. In Russian language studies such word groups are called “synlexis”. This term was coined by G. I. Klimovskaya, the professor ofTomskStateUniversity. The main method of the research is a comparative study of linguistic units. The conclusions made in the research are essential in the further study of European linguistic world image and can be used in textbooks on Cultural Linguistics.The practical result of the research can be a cross-cultural collocation dictionary of some languages. Such a dictionary is important for linguists, translators and people studying foreign languages.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-8-32

  10. Multilingualism in Action: A Conversation Analytic View on How Children Are Re-Voicing a Story in a French Second Language Learning Lesson

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arend, Béatrice; Sunnen, Patrick

    2017-01-01

    Our paper provides an empirically based perspective on the contribution of Conversation Analysis (CA) to our understanding of children's second language learning practices in a multilingual classroom setting. While exploring the interactional configuration of a French second language learning activity, we focus our analytic lens on how five…

  11. What French for Gabonese French Lexicography

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    administration, international relations, teaching, the media, trade, transport, tourism, .... The present study refutes such as reductive definition of what Gabonese .... language than French limits itself to public speeches and support to linguistics ...... sité Omar Bongo du Gabon: Série Lettres, Droit, Sciences et Médecine: 55-63.

  12. The nominalized infinitive in French : structure and change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petra Sleeman

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Many European languages have both nominal and verbal nominalized infinitives. They differ, however, in the degree to which the nominalized infinitives possess nominal and verbal properties. In this paper, nominalized infinitives in French are analyzed. It is shown that, whereas Old French was like other Romance languages in possessing both nominal and verbal nominalized infinitives, Modern French differs parametrically from other Romance languages in not having verbal infinitives and in allowing nominal infinitives only in a scientific style of speech. An analysis is proposed, within a syntactic approach to morphology. that tries to account for the loss of the verbal properties of the nominalized infinitive in French. It is proposed that the loss results from a change in word order (the loss of the OV word order in favor of the VO word order and a change in the morphological analysis of the nominalized infinitive: instead of a zero suffix analysis, a derivational analysis was adopted by the speakers of French. It is argued that the derivational analysis restricted nominalization to Vo, which made nominalization of infinitives less ìverbalî than in other Romance languages

  13. Colloquial French the complete course for beginners

    CERN Document Server

    Demouy, Valérie

    2014-01-01

     COLLOQUIAL FRENCH is easy to use and completely up to date!Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken French. No prior knowledge of the language is required.What makes COLLOQUIAL FRENCH your best choice in personal language learning?Interactive - lots of exercises for regular practiceClear - concise grammar notesPractical - useful vocabulary and pronunciation guideComplete - including answer key and reference sectionWhether you''re a business traveller, or about to take up a daring challenge in adventu

  14. Listening to accented speech in a second language: First language and age of acquisition effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larraza, Saioa; Samuel, Arthur G; Oñederra, Miren Lourdes

    2016-11-01

    Bilingual speakers must acquire the phonemic inventory of 2 languages and need to recognize spoken words cross-linguistically; a demanding job potentially made even more difficult due to dialectal variation, an intrinsic property of speech. The present work examines how bilinguals perceive second language (L2) accented speech and where accommodation to dialectal variation takes place. Dialectal effects were analyzed at different levels: An AXB discrimination task tapped phonetic-phonological representations, an auditory lexical-decision task tested for effects in accessing the lexicon, and an auditory priming task looked for semantic processing effects. Within that central focus, the goal was to see whether perceptual adjustment at a given level is affected by 2 main linguistic factors: bilinguals' first language and age of acquisition of the L2. Taking advantage of the cross-linguistic situation of the Basque language, bilinguals with different first languages (Spanish or French) and ages of acquisition of Basque (simultaneous, early, or late) were tested. Our use of multiple tasks with multiple types of bilinguals demonstrates that in spite of very similar discrimination capacity, French-Basque versus Spanish-Basque simultaneous bilinguals' performance on lexical access significantly differed. Similarly, results of the early and late groups show that the mapping of phonetic-phonological information onto lexical representations is a more demanding process that accentuates non-native processing difficulties. L1 and AoA effects were more readily overcome in semantic processing; accented variants regularly created priming effects in the different groups of bilinguals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Knowing One's Community through Language Rights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiasson, Maurice

    2016-01-01

    French-language schools in minority settings are set apart from other schools by their twofold mission: the educational success of students and the building of their Francophone identity. As a result, there are few French-language school boards or schools that do not underline the importance of the French-language culture in their mission. The…

  16. English-French bilingual children’s phonological awareness and vocabulary skills

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PiYu Chiang

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This study examined the relationship between English-speaking children’s vocabulary skills in English and in French and their phonological awareness skills in both languages. Forty-four kindergarten-aged children attending French immersion programs were administered a receptive vocabulary test, an expressive vocabulary test and a phonological awareness test in English and French. Results showed that French phonological awareness was largely explained by English phonological awareness, consistent with previous findings that phonological awareness skills transfer across languages. However, there was a small unique contribution from French expressive vocabulary size to French phonological awareness. The importance of vocabulary skills to the development of phonological awareness is discussed.

  17. Switches to English during French Service Encounters: Relationships with L2 French Speakers' Willingness to Communicate and Motivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNaughton, Stephanie; McDonough, Kim

    2015-01-01

    This exploratory study investigated second language (L2) French speakers' service encounters in the multilingual setting of Montreal, specifically whether switches to English during French service encounters were related to L2 speakers' willingness to communicate or motivation. Over a two-week period, 17 French L2 speakers in Montreal submitted…

  18. Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Frontal Lesions, and Social Aspects of Language Use: A Study of French-Speaking Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dardier, Virginie; Bernicot, Josie; Delanoe, Anaig; Vanberten, Melanie; Fayada, Catherine; Chevignard, Mathilde; Delaye, Corinne; Laurent-Vannier, Anne; Dubois, Bruno

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the social (pragmatic) aspects of language use by French-speaking individuals with frontal lesions following a severe traumatic brain injury. Eleven participants with traumatic brain injury performed tasks in three areas of communication: production (interview situation), comprehension (direct…

  19. Exploring Reflexivity and Multilingualism in Three French Language Teacher Education Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Byrd Clark

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract What does it mean to be and become a bi/multilingual and multicultural language teacher in today’s plurilingual times? This paper reports on the perspectives of multilingual student teachers as they pertain to the development of multilingual repertoires for the teacher candidates themselves and for these teacher candidates’ future French language learners. Globally, initiatives are often directed at language teachers to contribute to producing effective human capital (Byram, 2010; however, awareness in the field of French language pedagogy (FLP appears relatively unexplored beyond the local contexts. This paper illuminates the significance of developing reflexivity (Aull Davies, 2010; Byrd Clark & Dervin, 2014 for future language teachers and researchers through a multimodal, sociolinguistic approach incorporating new technologies by drawing upon data gathered through online, interactive discussion groups and semistructured interviews. The findings illustrate how certain representations of languages, identities, learning, and teaching are constructed and negotiated in these new spaces, and simultaneously challenge traditional (monolithic ways of teaching and researching in FLP. This work has implications for all those involved in language and multicultural education as it invites researchers to reflect upon their own engagements as well as how to create conditions for the inclusion of multilingual repertoires in Canadian classrooms and beyond. Résumé Qu’est-ce que cela veut dire d’être et de devenir un enseignant bi/plurilingue et pluriethnique dans ce monde marqué par le plurilinguisme ? Le travail présenté dans cet article porte sur les perspectives des enseignants-apprenants plurilingues en ce qui concerne le développement de répertoires linguistiques pour eux-mêmes ainsi que leurs futurs élèves. Cet article souligne aussi l’importance de développer ce que nous appelons la réflexivité (Aull Davies, 2010 ; Byrd

  20. Using Student Contributions and Multiple Representations To Develop Mathematical Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth A.

    2002-01-01

    Describes a way to introduce and use mathematical language as an alternative to using vocabulary lists to introduce students to mathematical language in mathematics classrooms. Draws on multiple representations and student language. (YDS)

  1. Language Training

    CERN Multimedia

    HR Department

    Permanence A "permanence" for language Training has been set up. If anyone has a question or requires information on any aspect of English or French training please come to our office 5 4-016 at the following times. Lucette Fournier - French courses Monday 13.30 - 15.30 Tuesday\t10.30 - 12.30 Tessa Osborne - English courses Wednesday\t12.00 - 14.00 Thursday\t11.00 - 13.00   New courses Specific English and French courses - Exam preparation/ We are now offering specific courses in English and French leading to a recognised external examination (e.g. Cambridge, DELF, DALF). If you are interested in following one of these courses and have at least an upper intermediate level of English or French, please enrol through the following link:  English courses French courses Or contact: Tessa Osborne 72957 (English courses) Lucette Fournier 73483 (French courses) Language Training Nathalie Dumeaux Tel. 78144 nathalie.dumeaux@cern.ch

  2. Language Training

    CERN Multimedia

    HR Department

    2009-01-01

    PermanenceA "permanence" for language Training has been set up. If anyone has a question or requires information on any aspect of English or French training please come to our office 5 4-016 at the following times. Lucette Fournier French courses Monday 13.30 - 15.30 Tuesday\t10.30 - 12.30 Tessa Osborne English courses Wednesday\t12.00 - 14.00 Thursday\t11.00 - 13.00 New courses Specific English and French courses - Exam preparation/ We are now offering specific courses in English and French leading to a recognised external examination (e.g. Cambridge, DELF and BULATS). If you are interested in following one of these courses and have at least an upper intermediate level of English or French, please enrol through the following link: http://English courses http://French courses Or contact: Tessa Osborne 72957 (English courses) Lucette Fournier 73483 (French courses) Language Training Nathalie Dumeaux Tel. 78144 mailto:nathalie.dumeaux@cern.ch

  3. Au Courant: Teaching French Vocabulary and Culture Using the Mass Media. Language in Education: Theory and Practice 65.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berwald, Jean-Pierre

    This volume outlines potential uses of many of the topics associated with daily newspapers, music, film, theater, and sports for vocabulary development and grammar review in French language instruction. The emphasis is on the advantage of using authentic, current materials prepared for the general public but somewhat familiar to students. The…

  4. Approaching French Language Literature in Canadian Studies

    OpenAIRE

    Mansfield, Charlie

    2005-01-01

    This book forms a self-study pack and teaching guide to help English speakers start using computers and the web to support their studies of French Canadian Literature, song, film and multimedia. Readers will need access to the Internet so that they can experience ‘Electronic Encounters’ with Canadian media in French and English. The approach is underpinned with ideas drawn from the analysis of travel writing.

  5. English-French Cognate Dictionary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammer, Petra; Monod, Madeleine

    This dictionary contains a word list of 10,993 English-French cognates (words with the same or similar spelling and meaning in both languages), including some loan words from other languages. A systematic review of the Larousse "Dictionnaire Moderne Francais--Anglais" (1960) provided this list of cognates. Deceptive cognates, or words…

  6. Foreign Language Teachers' Language Proficiency and Their Language Teaching Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Heather; Conway, Clare; Roskvist, Annelies; Harvey, Sharon

    2013-01-01

    Teachers' subject knowledge is recognized as an essential component of effective teaching. In the foreign language context, teachers' subject knowledge includes language proficiency. In New Zealand high schools, foreign languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish) have recently been offered to learners earlier in their schooling,…

  7. Design and Delivery of Multiple Server-Side Computer Languages Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Shouhong; Wang, Hai

    2011-01-01

    Given the emergence of service-oriented architecture, IS students need to be knowledgeable of multiple server-side computer programming languages to be able to meet the needs of the job market. This paper outlines the pedagogy of an innovative course of multiple server-side computer languages for the undergraduate IS majors. The paper discusses…

  8. Teaching the Anxiety of Learning a Foreign Language That Influences High School Students in Learning French as a Second Foreign Language "The Case of Denizli"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusçu, Ertan

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine the reasons of anxiety levels of high school students who learn French as a second foreign language. The sample of the study consisted of four hundred fifty-six students from two high schools in Denizli province in 2015-2016 academic year. In this study, the effects of variables such as learners' gender,…

  9. The multiple languages in the daily of the children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristiane Januário Gonçalves

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The language permeates the work in the infantile education and with the game and the interaction, constitutes one of the axes of the pedagogic action close to the children. When we spoke in language it is common we send ourselves to the verbal language and writing that, without a doubt, is fundamental for the infantile development, however, some pedagogic proposals end up just prioritizing those two language forms in the work with the children, in detriment of another possibilities.So, they end up depriving them of new existences and new experiences that favor the amplification of their knowledge. In that sense, they exist proposed in infantile education that have been looking for to just overcome the most restricted understanding of language as oral and writing, trying to enlarge it face to the perception that the child communicates and expressed himself by means of multiple languages, “a hundred languages”, as writes Loris Malaguzzi in his poetry. The content of that article seeks to present and to promote the reflection on some of the multiple present languages in the children's expression. It approaches the importance and the possibilities of working those communication forms and expression as possible languages in the small children's education.

  10. Infant and Newborn Development - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... List of All Topics All Infant and Newborn Development - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Arabic (العربية) Chinese, Simplified (Mandarin dialect) (简体中文) Chinese, Traditional (Cantonese dialect) ( ...

  11. Disaster Preparation and Recovery - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... MedlinePlus Search Search MedlinePlus GO GO About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Health Topics Drugs & Supplements Videos & Tools You Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Disaster Preparation and Recovery URL of this page: https:// ...

  12. Effectiveness of a Heritage Educational Program for the Acquisition of Oral and Written French and Tahitian in French Polynesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nocus, Isabelle; Guimard, Philippe; Vernaudon, Jacques; Paia, Mirose; Cosnefroy, Olivier; Florin, Agnes

    2012-01-01

    The research examines the effects of a bilingual pedagogical program (French/Tahitian) on the acquisition of oral and written French as well as the Tahitian language itself in primary schools in French Polynesia. 125 children divided into an experimental group (partially schooled in Tahitian for 300 min per week) and a control group (schooled in…

  13. [A study on English loan words in French plastic surgery].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansson, E; Tegelberg, E

    2014-10-01

    The French language is less and less used as an international scientific language and many French researchers publish their work in English. Nowadays, Annales de Chirurgie Plastique Esthétique is the only international plastic surgical journal published completely in French. The use of English loan words in French plastic surgery has never been studied. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency and types of English loan words in French plastic surgery. A corpus consisting of all the articles in a number of Annales de Chirurgie Plastique Esthethique, chosen by default, was created. The frequency of English loan words was calculated and the types of words were analysed. The corpus contains 367 (0.8%) English loan words. Most of them are non-integrated loan words and calques. The majority of the plastic surgical loan words describe surgical techniques. The French plastic surgical language seems to be influenced by English. The usage of loan words does not always follow the recommendations and the usage is sometimes ambiguous. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  14. Do Students Share the Same Experience in an Online Language Exchange Programme?--The Chinese-French eTandem Case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szilas, Jue Wang; Zhang, Ling; Berger, Claudia

    2013-01-01

    This article presents the findings of an eTandem Chinese-French exchange course during two academic years, the year 2010-2011 when the course was not credited, and the year 2011-2012 when the course was credited in one university but not in the other. It focuses on the students' perspective about the language exchange experience. The participants…

  15. Drinking Water - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... dialect)) PDF Centers for Disease Control and Prevention French (français) Expand Section Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - English HTML Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - français (French) HTML Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Haitian ...

  16. Kantian Grammar Applied to French, English, Danish and Some Other Languages

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korzen, Hanne

    2015-01-01

    Many linguists refer to Kant, but they do not really seem to take him seriously. I will try to show that a Little closer look at Kant's cognitive model might yield insight into certain important aspects of the syntacticsemantic constitution of the sentence in different languages. I will also show...... hand. In a series of publications, I have investigated the French interrogative word pourquoi ('why'), which, contrary to the other interrogative words, cannot be followed by stylistic inversion, and I have tried to explain why pourquoi, which functions as a causal adjunct, behaves differently from...... a different degree of attachment to the verb, and I have created a sentence model which seem to fit nicely into Kant's cognitive model. This might indicate that we are dealing with something universal....

  17. Ethno-linguistic peculiarities of French Canadian and English ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    When English Canadian and French Canadian phraseology is compared, the greater role of religion in the French Canadian community is evident, rather than in English Canadian; the influence of the Canadian variant of the English language on the Canadian variant of French is clearly expressed. With all the differences, ...

  18. Acquisition of Complement Clitics and Tense Morphology in Internationally Adopted Children Acquiring French

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier, K.; Genesee, F.; Kasparian, K.

    2012-01-01

    The present study examined the language development of children adopted from China to examine possible early age effects with respect to their use of complement clitics, lexical diversity and verb morphology. We focused on these aspects of French because they distinguish second language learners of French and native French-speaking children with…

  19. Food Safety - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... dialect)) PDF Centers for Disease Control and Prevention French (français) Expand Section Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - ... Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - français (French) HTML ... Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Haitian Creole (Kreyol ayisyen) Expand Section Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - ...

  20. The relation between language and arithmetic in bilinguals: insights from different stages of language acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amandine eVan Rinsveld

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Solving arithmetic problems is a cognitive task that heavily relies on language processing. One might thus wonder whether this language-reliance leads to qualitative differences (e.g. greater difficulties, error types, etc. in arithmetic for bilingual individuals who frequently have to solve arithmetic problems in more than one language. The present study investigated how proficiency in two languages interacts with arithmetic problem solving throughout language acquisition in adolescents and young adults. Additionally, we examined whether the number word structure that is specific to a given language plays a role in number processing over and above bilingual proficiency. We addressed these issues in a German-French educational bilingual setting, where there is a progressive transition from German to French as teaching language. Importantly, German and French number naming structures differ clearly, as two-digit number names follow a unit-ten order in German, but a ten-unit order in French. We implemented a transversal developmental design in which bilingual pupils from grades 7, 8, 10, 11, and young adults were asked to solve simple and complex additions in both languages. The results confirmed that language proficiency is crucial especially for complex addition computation. Simple additions in contrast can be retrieved equally well in both languages after extended language practice. Additional analyses revealed that over and above language proficiency, language-specific number word structures (e.g. unit-ten vs. ten-unit also induced significant modulations of bilinguals’ arithmetic performances. Taken together, these findings support the view of a strong relation between language and arithmetic in bilinguals.

  1. On Recursive Modification in Child L1 French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yves Roberge

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates nominal recursive modification (RM in the L1 acquisition of French. Although recursion is considered the fundamental property of human languages, recursive self-embedding is found to be difficult for children in a variety of languages and constructions. Despite these challenges, the acquisition of RM proves to be resilient; acquirable even under severely degraded input conditions. From a minimalist perspective on the operations of narrow syntax, recursive embedding is essentially the application of a sequence of Merge operations (Chomsky 1995; Trotzke and Zwart 2014; therefore, given the universality of Merge, we do not expect to find cross-linguistic differences in how difficult recursion is. But if the challenging nature of recursion stems from factors which might differ from language to language, we expect different outcomes cross-linguistically. We compare new data from French to existing English data (Pérez-Leroux et al. 2012 in order to examine to what extent language-specific properties of RM structures determine the acquisition path. While children’s production differs significantly from their adult’s counterparts, we find no differences between French-speaking and English-speaking children. Our findings suggest that the challenging nature of recursion does not stem from the grammar itself and that what shapes the acquisition path is the interaction between universal properties of language and considerations not specific to language, namely computational efficiency.

  2. French-language version of the World Health Organization quality of life spirituality, religiousness and personal beliefs instrument

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mandhouj Olfa

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A valid assessment of spirituality and religiousness is necessary for clinical and research purposes. We developed and assessed the validity of a French-language version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs Instrument (WHOQOL-SRPB. Methods The SRPB was translated into French according to the methods recommended by the WHOQOL group. An Internet survey was conducted in 561 people in 2010, with follow-up 2 weeks later (n = 231, 41%, to assess reliability, factor structure, social desirability bias and construct validity of this scale. Tests were performed based on item-response theory. Results A modal score of 1 (all answers=”not at all” was observed for Faith (in 34% of participants, Connectedness (27%, and Spiritual Strength (14%. All scales had test-retest reliability coefficients ≥0.7. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were high for all subscales (0.74 to 0.98 and very high (>0.9 for three subscales (Connectedness, Spiritual Strength and Faith. Scores of Faith, Connectedness, Spiritual Strength and Meaning of Life were higher for respondents with religious practice than for those who had no religious practice. No association was found between SRPB and age or sex. The Awe subscale had a low information function for all levels of the Awe latent trait and may benefit from inclusion of an additional item. Conclusions The French language version of the SRPB retained many properties of the original version. However, the SRPB could be improved by trimming redundant items. The strength of SRPB relies on its multinational development and validation, allowing for cross-cultural comparisons.

  3. French-language version of the World Health Organization quality of life spirituality, religiousness and personal beliefs instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background A valid assessment of spirituality and religiousness is necessary for clinical and research purposes. We developed and assessed the validity of a French-language version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs Instrument (WHOQOL-SRPB). Methods The SRPB was translated into French according to the methods recommended by the WHOQOL group. An Internet survey was conducted in 561 people in 2010, with follow-up 2 weeks later (n = 231, 41%), to assess reliability, factor structure, social desirability bias and construct validity of this scale. Tests were performed based on item-response theory. Results A modal score of 1 (all answers=”not at all”) was observed for Faith (in 34% of participants), Connectedness (27%), and Spiritual Strength (14%). All scales had test-retest reliability coefficients ≥0.7. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were high for all subscales (0.74 to 0.98) and very high (>0.9) for three subscales (Connectedness, Spiritual Strength and Faith). Scores of Faith, Connectedness, Spiritual Strength and Meaning of Life were higher for respondents with religious practice than for those who had no religious practice. No association was found between SRPB and age or sex. The Awe subscale had a low information function for all levels of the Awe latent trait and may benefit from inclusion of an additional item. Conclusions The French language version of the SRPB retained many properties of the original version. However, the SRPB could be improved by trimming redundant items. The strength of SRPB relies on its multinational development and validation, allowing for cross-cultural comparisons. PMID:22515747

  4. Ten Projects to Involve Your Students Directly in French.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Lent, Peter C.

    1981-01-01

    Proposes 10 activities to provide French classes of all levels with a broad spectrum of language projects involving direct and active use of French including students polling each other, skits based on television commercials, geographical "show and tell," cooking French dishes, writing a monthly newspaper, and field trips. (BK)

  5. Negation in Near-Native French: Variation and Sociolinguistic Competence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donaldson, Bryan

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated how adult second language (L2) speakers of French with near-native proficiency realize verbal negation, a well-known sociolinguistic variable in contemporary spoken French. Data included 10 spontaneous informal conversations between near-native speakers of French and native speakers (NSs) closely acquainted with them.…

  6. Exploring a different approach to teaching French | Thomas | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article questions the traditional approaches to French teaching based on literature and suggests ways to improve the French language component at South African universities by incorporating task-based learning within the context of French for Specific Purposes into the curriculum. Using a project run at the Nelson ...

  7. But Do They Speak French? A Comparison of French Immersion Programs in Immersion Only and English/Immersion Settings. Research Report 79-01.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkin, Michael

    Students' use of French in unsupervised classroom situations and outside the classroom was investigated in immersion center schools (all students are involved in French immersion programs) and dual track schools (French immersion programs co-exist with regular English language programs). A total of 414 students in grades 3 and 4 were observed…

  8. French language space science educational outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schofield, I.; Masongsong, E. V.; Connors, M. G.

    2015-12-01

    Athabasca University's AUTUMNX ground-based magnetometer array to measure and report geomagnetic conditions in eastern Canada is located in the heart of French speaking Canada. Through the course of the project, we have had the privilege to partner with schools, universities, astronomy clubs and government agencies across Quebec, all of which operate primarily in French. To acknowledge and serve the needs of our research partners, we have endeavored to produce educational and outreach (EPO) material adapted for francophone audiences with the help of UCLA's department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (EPSS). Not only will this provide greater understanding and appreciation of the geospace environment unique to Quebec and surrounding regions, it strengthens our ties with our francophone, first nations (native Americans) and Inuit partners, trailblazing new paths of research collaboration and inspiring future generations of researchers.

  9. The African Storybook and Language Teacher Identity in Digital Times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stranger--Johannessen, Espen; Norton, Bonny

    2017-01-01

    The African Storybook (ASb) is a digital initiative that promotes multilingual literacy for African children by providing openly licenced children's stories in multiple African languages, as well as English, French, and Portuguese. Based on Darvin and Norton's (2015) model of identity and investment, and drawing on the Douglas Fir Group's (2016)…

  10. On national flags and language tags: Effects of flag-language congruency in bilingual word recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grainger, Jonathan; Declerck, Mathieu; Marzouki, Yousri

    2017-07-01

    French-English bilinguals performed a generalized lexical decision experiment with mixed lists of French and English words and pseudo-words. In Experiment 1, each word/pseudo-word was superimposed on the picture of the French or UK flag, and flag-word congruency was manipulated. The flag was not informative with respect to either the lexical decision response or the language of the word. Nevertheless, lexical decisions to word stimuli were faster following the congruent flag compared with the incongruent flag, but only for French (L1) words. Experiment 2 replicated this flag-language congruency effect in a priming paradigm, where the word and pseudo-word targets followed the brief presentation of the flag prime, and this time effects were seen in both languages. We take these findings as evidence for a mechanism that automatically processes linguistic and non-linguistic information concerning the presence or not of a given language. Language membership information can then modulate lexical processing, in line with the architecture of the BIA model, but not the BIA+ model. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Folk Tale as a Tool for the Teaching of French Grammar: The Case ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Apart from the use of songs, teaching aids and text books in a French language teaching class, folk tale could be used to teach grammar, composition or any aspect of the French language. It makes for easy understanding of the language and improves the students' fluency in class. Bruno sees it as an alphabet primer ...

  12. Does Year 12 French Improve Proficiency? Student Views and Student Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Anne L.

    1994-01-01

    Discusses the attitudes of students concerning the benefit of Year 12 foreign language courses to the development of their oral and aural proficiency in the target language, i.e., French. While most students felt that their ability to speak and understand spoken French had improved as a result of the course, some expressed dissatisfaction with…

  13. Cognate Awareness in French Immersion Students: Contributions to Grade 2 Reading Comprehension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Pasquarella, Adrian; Chen, Xi; Deacon, S. Hélène

    2016-01-01

    Cognate awareness is the ability to recognize the cognate relationship between words in two etymologically related languages. The current study examined the development of cognate awareness and its contribution to French (second language) reading comprehension among Canadian French immersion children. Eighty-one students were tested at the end of…

  14. French for Specific Purposes: The Hawaiian Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benouis, Mustapha

    1986-01-01

    Describes the development of and the reaction to a course in Business French at the University of Hawaii. Its success, coupled with its recognition by state and academic officials, brought about the initiation of similar courses in other languages and the development of French for travel industry management majors. (SED)

  15. The multiple intelligence theory for the teaching of languages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Encarnación Carrillo García

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available In the following essay we analyse the Multiple Intelligence Theory of Howard Gardner focus on the teaching of languages, in order to describe its main points, such us: its description; the types of intelligences explained in it; and the activities, that some authors describe, for developing this theory in the teaching and learning language context.

  16. Youth Language as a Transnational Phenomenon: The Case of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study sets out to enquire if the French language could be seen as a youth language in Nigeria. It adopts conventional approaches to youth language studies and carries out an empirical study on how the French language has fared amongst Nigerians since it became the country's second official language in 1996.

  17. The Concept of the Interculture in Time: (Intercultural Topics in Textbooks of French as a Foreign Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meta Lah

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the concept of interculturality as used in foreign language didactics. In accordance with the definition of interculturality given in the first part of the article, two categories are included in the analysis – two “levels” of culture, each of them bearing a different name in literature, namely high and popular culture. Various textbooks used for teaching French as a foreign language in Slovenia in both the past and present were chosen for the analysis of topics that cover a fairly long period of time – among them the textbooks by two Slovenian authors: Južnič (1938 and Grad (1954, as well as some generally-used French textbooks, such as Cours de langue et de civilisation françaises (1953, Le nouveau sans frontières (1988 and Nouveau rond point (2011. The article is based on the hypothesis that high culture is more likely to be present in the older textbooks, which are based on traditional methods, whereas in modern textbooks more popular, everyday topics can be found. It is also presumed that topics in modern textbooks are, compared to their more traditional counterparts, introduced in an intercultural manner which could encourage students to compare the culture of the foreign country with their own. Both hypotheses are partly confirmed. In Slovenian textbooks there are very few culture-based topics. On the other hand, they are present in all French textbooks, regardless of the methodology. It is true that Mauger introduces more high culture than the others and that the intercultural topics are presented only in the most recent textbook. In all the others, it is exclusively the culture of the target country that is introduced.

  18. On the Ways of Lexicalization of French épigone ‘follower, imitator’ (in Addition to the Article by E. Dupraz and S. Leroy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitry V. Spiridonov

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the history of the French word épigone ‘follower, imitator’ as well as some general questions of historical and etymological description of the French derivatives from “ancient proper names”. The author maintains that for this type of words it is often possible to suggest multiple ways of lexicalization, the semantic development of the deonym resulting inter alia from semantic loans, either direct or inverse, between living languages under intense contact.

  19. Juggling Languages: A Case Study of Preschool Teachers' Language Choices and Practices in Mauritius

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auleear Owodally, Ambarin Mooznah

    2012-01-01

    Mauritius is a linguistically diverse island: most people on the island are native speakers of Mauritian Creole, a French-lexified Creole; English is the written medium of instruction in primary schools and French is taught as a compulsory subject. The discontinuity between the home language and the school languages is viewed as problematic by…

  20. Perception of Cultural Concept “Wine” in French Evaluational World View

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Полина Гарриевна Логинова

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on analysis of idiomatic expressions such as proverbs and sayings in French language within two semantic groups such as «man’s spiritual reality» and «wine as interpretation of folk wisdom». Their semantic features are discussed as well as their role in french evaluational world view. The author attempts to illustrate the peculiarities of cultural mentality and national character of French people within their attitude to wine as a cultural value. The author also focuses on intricacies of language and touches the difficulties of translation and interpretation of phraseological units that occur in the present study due to the absence of similar connotations in Russian culture. The language units that are exposed in the paper and cited as examples were taken for analysis from up-to-date dictionaries, foreign research scientific works and were also kindly provided by native speakers. Idiomatic expressions that include cultural concept «wine» in French language represent the interpretation of outworld fixed in collective consciousness that incarnates historical and cultural values. Wine culture in France is very ancient that is why language units related to concept «wine» represent profound linguistic material that is worth of being analyzed within the frame of language and culture as well as within the scope of intercultural communication.

  1. Probing smoking craving with a multidimensional approach: validation of the 12-item French-language version of the Questionnaire on Smoking Urges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dethier V

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Vincent Dethier,1 Alexandre Heeren,1,2 Laurence Galanti,3 Pierre Philippot,1 Joël Billieux1 1Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; 2National Fund for Scientific Research, Brussels, Belgium; 3Department of Clinical Biology, Mont-Godinne University Hospital, Yvoir, Belgium Background: The current study examined the psychometric properties of the 12-item French-language version of the Questionnaire on Smoking Urges (QSU-12, a widely used multidimensional measure of cigarette craving. Methods: Daily smokers (n=230 completed the QSU-12, the Fägerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, and items about addiction-related symptoms. Additional participants (n=40 completed the QSU-12 and the Fägerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence and were assessed for expired carbon monoxide. Results: Consistent with studies validating the English version of the scale, confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor solution in the French version of the scale. Good scale and subscales reliabilities were observed, and convergent validity was evidenced through relationships with dependence and addiction-related symptoms. Conclusion: The French-language version of the QSU-12 is an adequate instrument to assess the multidimensional construct of craving in both research and clinical practice. Keywords: tobacco, smoking, nicotine, craving, measurement model, psychometrics, confirmatory factor analyses, carbon monoxide, addiction

  2. Acquiring Orthographic Processing through Word Reading: Evidence from Children Learning to Read French and English

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasquarella, Adrian; Deacon, Helene; Chen, Becky X.; Commissaire, Eva; Au-Yeung, Karen

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the within-language and cross-language relationships between orthographic processing and word reading in French and English across Grades 1 and 2. Seventy-three children in French Immersion completed measures of orthographic processing and word reading in French and English in Grade 1 and Grade 2, as well as a series of control…

  3. Language Multiplicity and Dynamism: Emergent Bilinguals Taking Ownership of Language Use in a Hybrid Curricular Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

    2017-01-01

    This study explores the impact of hybrid instructional spaces on the purposeful and expansive use of translanguaging practices. Utilizing technology, the study explores the role of multimodality in bilinguals' language multiplicity and dynamism. The research addresses: (a) how do emergent bilinguals in dual language programs deploy their full…

  4. The Adult Learner of French in an Anglophone Setting | Kwofie ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Unlike most other papers which are devoted to the discussion of the problems of normal French language teaching / learning in anglophone settings, this paper examines specifically the anglophone adult learner of French, his needs and objectives. The paper provides a brief history of the introduction of French into Africa, ...

  5. Inclusion of Students with Special Education Needs in French as a Second Language Programs: A Review of Canadian Policy and Resource Documents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhling, Stefanie; Mady, Callie

    2017-01-01

    This article describes a document analysis of policy and resource documents pertaining to inclusion of students with special education needs (SSEN) in Canadian French as a Second Language (FSL) programs. By recognizing gaps and acknowledging advancements, we aim to inform current implementation and future development of inclusive policy. Document…

  6. General and professionnal French courses

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. These courses are open to everyone working on the CERN site and to their spouses.   Oral Expression This course is aimed at students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their oral communication skills. Activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays, etc. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our web site or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896 - language.training@cern.ch).

  7. General and professionnal French courses

    CERN Multimedia

    2013-01-01

    The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. These courses are open to everyone working on the CERN site and to their spouses.   Oral Expression This course is aimed at students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. The next session will take place from 27 January to 4 April 2014. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our web site or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896 - language.training@cern.ch).

  8. English borrowings in the French financial discourse as a feature of national character

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Наталья Сергеевна Найдёнова

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available English, being by far the most dominant language in modern business communications, makes an undeniable impact on other languages, which are in contact with it. French financial discourse characterised by an array of English borrowings is one of the examples of this phenomenon. This article analyzes how this trend coexists with such features of the national character of the French as patriotism, pride of their country and language.

  9. Cambridge IGCSE and international certificate French foreign language

    CERN Document Server

    Grime, Yvette; Thacker, Mike

    2013-01-01

    This brand-new Student Book provides a grammar-led approach with extensive exam preparation that will help you develop independent, culturally aware students of French ready for the exam. The book is written to the latest Cambridge International Examinations syllabus by experienced teachers. Extensive use of French reflects the style of the exams and, with specific advice and practice, it helps students use the acquired skills to their best ability. Topics on Francophone cultures are integrated throughout to ensure students gain the cultural awareness that is at the heart of this qualification

  10. Reliability and validity of the French-Canadian version of the scoliosis research society 22 questionnaire in France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lonjon, Guillaume; Ilharreborde, Brice; Odent, Thierry; Moreau, Sébastien; Glorion, Christophe; Mazda, Keyvan

    2014-01-01

    Outcome study to determine the internal consistency, reproducibility, and concurrent validity of the French-Canadian version of the Scoliosis Research Society 22 (SRS-22 fcv) patient questionnaire in France. To determine whether the SRS-22 fcv can be used in a population from France. The SRS-22 has been translated and validated in multiple countries, notably in the French-Canadian language in Quebec, Canada. Use of SRS-22 fcv seems appropriate for evaluating adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in France. However, French-Canadian French is noticeably different from the French spoken in France, and no study has investigated the use of a French-Canadian version of a health-quality questionnaire in another French population. The methods used for validating the SRS-22 fcv in Quebec were adopted for use with a group of 200 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis and 60 healthy adolescents in France. Reliability and reproducibility were measured by the Cronbach α and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), construct validity by factorial analysis, concurrent validity by the Short-Form of the survey, and discriminant validity by analysis of variance and multivariate linear regression. In France, the SRS-22 fcv showed good global internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.87, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92), a coherent factorial structure, and high correlation coefficients between the SRS-22 fcv and Short-Form of the survey (P < 0.001). However, reliability and validity were slightly less than that for the instrument's original validation and the validation of the SRS-22 fcv in Quebec. These differences could be explained by language and cultural differences. The SRS-22 fcv is relevant for use in France, but further development and validation of a specific French questionnaire remain necessary to improve the assessment of functional outcomes of adolescents with scoliosis in France. N/A.

  11. Validation of a French language version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronneau Jacques

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background An English language oral health-related negative impact scale for 0–5 year old infants (the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale [ECOHIS] has recently been developed and validated. The overall aim of our study was to validate a French version of the ECOHIS. The objectives were to investigate the scale's: i internal consistency; ii test-retest reliability; iii convergent validity; and iv discriminant validity. Methods Data were collected from two separate samples. Firstly, from 398 parents of children aged 12 months, recruited to a community-based intervention study, and secondly from 94 parents of 0–5 year-old children attending a hospital dental clinic. In a sub-sample of 101 of the community-based group, the scale was distributed a second time two weeks after initial evaluation. Internal consistency was evaluated through generation of Cronbach's alpha, test-retest reliability through intra-class-correlation coefficients (ICC, convergent validity through comparing scale total scores with a global evaluation of oral health and discriminant validity through investigation of differences in total scale scores between the community- and clinic-based samples. Results Cronbach's alpha for both the child and family impact sections was 0.79, and for the whole scale was 0.82. The ICC was 0.95. Mean ECOHIS scores for parents rating their child's oral health as "relatively poor", "good" and "very good" were 10.8, 3.4 and 2.7 respectively. In the community- and clinic-based samples, the mean ECOHIS scores were 3.7 and 4.9 respectively. Conclusion These results suggest this French language version of the ECOHIS is valid.

  12. Morphological assimilation of borrowed terminology (on the example of terminological units, borrowed from French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaneeva Anna Vitalievna

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The study of morphological assimilation is an important and mandatory problem as far as the native speaker media will be comfortable using the term of the borrowing language in the flow of speech, without considering the specific grammatical forms, largely determines its subsequent semantic assimilation, its incorporation into a particular terminology system. The analysis clearly shows the place of French borrowings in the morphological system of the Russian language, helps to identify the most significant differences between the structures of the two languages. At the same time it suggests that many French terminology borrowings morphologically assimilated fairly well, there were some groups in the Russian language, which transformed morphologically French elements falling into Russian. This makes borrowings more smooth, and loan word, provided that it actually meets the needs of the language - receptor in the host language adapts quickly and easily absorbed by native speakers

  13. Transition in Modern Foreign Languages: A Longitudinal Study of Motivation for Language Learning and Second Language Proficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Courtney, Louise

    2017-01-01

    The current longitudinal study examines the similarities and differences between primary and secondary foreign language curricula and pedagogy along with the development of motivation for language learning and second language proficiency. Data from 26 English learners of French (aged 10-11) were collected across three times points over a 12-month…

  14. “Gallia and Gaul, French and Welsh” (MWW, 3.1.89: Transposing Shakespeare’s ‘Favourite’ Foreign Accents into French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lacroix Mylène

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The Merry Wives of Windsor has long been compared to a great babel of languages. The play contains a smattering of Spanish, Italian and Dutch and even a whole scene dedicated to the mistranslation of Latin. A large part of the play’s humour also heavily relies on the foreign accents of two characters: the French Doctor Caius and the Welsh parson Sir Hugh Evans. If Christopher Luscombe’s 2008/2010 production of The Merry Wives at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London bears testimony to the success of cross-language and accent-based comedy as a source of laughter on today’s English stage, it seems rather implausible, at first sight, that French translations, adaptations and stagings of these accents and linguistic idiosyncrasies should be greeted with the same degree of hilarity. Indeed, how should the Welsh and French accents, both representing real stumbling blocks for French-speaking translators of the play, be transposed into French? What translation strategies can the latter devise? And to what extent can some of those strategies be said to be politically correct? Focusing on Shakespeare’s ‘favorite’ (predominant accents and the significance and impact of such linguistic comedy, I shall examine the question of their problematic translation through the analysis and comparison of a number of translations and stagings of The Merry Wives of Windsor into French.

  15. French in Lesotho schools forty years after independence ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Most independent African states are now, like Lesotho, about forty years old. What has become of foreign languages such as French that once thrived under colonial rule albeit mostly in schools targeting non-indigenous learners? In Lesotho French seems to be the preserve of private or “international” schools. Can African ...

  16. Active offer of health services in French in Ontario: Analysis of reorganization and management strategies of health care organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmanova, Elina; Bonneville, Luc; Bouchard, Louise

    2018-01-01

    The availability of health services in French is not only weak but also inexistent in some regions in Canada. As a result, estimated 78% of more than a million of Francophones living in a minority situation in Canada experience difficulties accessing health care in French. To promote the delivery of health services in French, publicly funded organizations are encouraged to take measures to ensure that French-language services are clearly visible, available, easily accessible, and equivalent to the quality of services offered in English. This study examines the reorganization and management strategies taken by health care organizations in Ontario that provide health services in French. Review and analysis of designation plans of a sample of health care organizations. Few health care organizations providing services in French have concrete strategies to guarantee availability, visibility, and accessibility of French-language services. Implementation of the active offer of French-language services is likely to be difficult and slow. The Ontario government must strengthen collaboration with health care organizations, Francophone communities, and other key actors participating in the designation process to help health care organizations build capacities for the effective offer of French-language services. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. A search engine to access PubMed monolingual subsets: proof of concept and evaluation in French.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffon, Nicolas; Schuers, Matthieu; Soualmia, Lina Fatima; Grosjean, Julien; Kerdelhué, Gaétan; Kergourlay, Ivan; Dahamna, Badisse; Darmoni, Stéfan Jacques

    2014-12-01

    PubMed contains numerous articles in languages other than English. However, existing solutions to access these articles in the language in which they were written remain unconvincing. The aim of this study was to propose a practical search engine, called Multilingual PubMed, which will permit access to a PubMed subset in 1 language and to evaluate the precision and coverage for the French version (Multilingual PubMed-French). To create this tool, translations of MeSH were enriched (eg, adding synonyms and translations in French) and integrated into a terminology portal. PubMed subsets in several European languages were also added to our database using a dedicated parser. The response time for the generic semantic search engine was evaluated for simple queries. BabelMeSH, Multilingual PubMed-French, and 3 different PubMed strategies were compared by searching for literature in French. Precision and coverage were measured for 20 randomly selected queries. The results were evaluated as relevant to title and abstract, the evaluator being blind to search strategy. More than 650,000 PubMed citations in French were integrated into the Multilingual PubMed-French information system. The response times were all below the threshold defined for usability (2 seconds). Two search strategies (Multilingual PubMed-French and 1 PubMed strategy) showed high precision (0.93 and 0.97, respectively), but coverage was 4 times higher for Multilingual PubMed-French. It is now possible to freely access biomedical literature using a practical search tool in French. This tool will be of particular interest for health professionals and other end users who do not read or query sufficiently in English. The information system is theoretically well suited to expand the approach to other European languages, such as German, Spanish, Norwegian, and Portuguese.

  18. A Comparison of Motivation and the Process of Teaching in French Language Classes for Children and for Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarina Paternost

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Motivation of pupils and the question of how to motivate them seems to be the main issue of language teachers. As a French language teacher of both, children and adults, I have acquired quite some experiences in the past seven years of teaching in different language schools. These experiences are a great help in preparing my courses. However, as there is no established curricula in the language schools, which is quite a difference in comparison to public elementary and high schools, every teacher is expected to create his or her particular curriculum. This means literature, topics and matters that course will cover have to be selected by the teacher, and the teacher prepares all the handouts. If the level of satisfaction differs from the expectations of the pupils, they will most likely refuse to participate in the future. Because of that the question of motivation remains one of the main issues in terms of language teaching. The aim of the article is the comparison of the methods of raising motivation among the pupils I teach in two differentlanguage schools. The first group is mainly focused on children and the second group is focused on adults. Key words: motivation, course, grammar, reading comprehension, listening comprehension

  19. LAST-Q: Adaptation and normative data for the Language Screening Test in a French-Canadian population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Monetta

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Most researchers and clinicians agree that early detection of aphasia after stroke will help to predict future outcome (see Laska et al., 2007 and to allow for a better recovery by combining early and intensive speech therapy with early neural reorganization (see Salter et al., 2006. However, most standard aphasia tests are inadequate for assessment in acute stroke. The recently developed Language Screening Test (LAST; Flamand-Roze et al., 2011 can be used for early detection of signs of aphasia in acute post-stroke patients. The goal of the present study was to adapt and to establish normative data for the LAST in the French-Canadian population of Quebec according to age and education. Methods: The first step was to adapt the LAST to the French-Canadian linguistic context by (1 assessing its surface validity, and (2 verifying with a local language expert the relevance of the selected items. After this first step, the final version of the test (LAST-Q was developed. The final LAST-Q comprises 5 subtests: picture naming, repetition, automatic speech, word picture matching and verbal instructions. Patients have 5 seconds to answer each question, and the answers are scored as either 1 or 0. As in the original LAST, two parallel versions of the LAST-Q (versions a and b, for patient test-retest, were developed. The second step was to norm the LAST-Q (a and b with a sample of 50 French-Canadian normals. Participants were divided into four groups according to their (a age (40 to 60 years old and 60 to 80, and (b educational level (≤11 and ≥12 years of education. Results. As expected, a perfect score was obtained for all people from both groups of ages and both educational levels but only for one of the two versions of the LAST-Q. The scores of the second version seemed influenced by the educational level (i.e. only individuals with high level of education obtained a 15/15 final score while low level education individuals obtained heterogeneous

  20. Access to special education for exceptional students in French immersion programs: An equity issue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nancy Wise

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Exceptional pupils enrolled in Canadian French immersion programs rarely have access to the same range of special education programs and services that are available to students in the regular English program. More often than not, students with special needs are encouraged to transfer to English programs to access necessary support services. This counselling-out process perpetuates the elitist status commonly attributed to French immersion programs. From a critical pedagogy perspective, this inquiry examines the lack of incentive on the part of multiple French immersion stakeholders to accommodate students with special needs. It further attempts to unveil the myths created by these stakeholders to better understand this discriminatory educational practice. The impact of federal and provincial funding models on access to special education programs and services is discussed, and the application of funding allocations by English-language district school boards is explored. The inquiry concludes with recommendations to promote more inclusionary practices.

  1. Language and executive functioning in the context of specific language impairment and bilingualism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laloi, A.

    2015-01-01

    The present thesis has investigated how French-speaking monolingual and bilingual children with SLI (specific language impairment) performed on various tasks examining language and executive functioning (EF) abilities, in comparison to monolingual and bilingual peers without SLI. Language was

  2. Language training

    CERN Multimedia

    2015-01-01

    If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn a language, there is no excuse any more.    You can attend one of our English or French courses and you can practise the language with a tandem partner!   General & Professional French courses The next General & Professional French course will start on 26 January. These collective courses aim to bring participants who have at least level A1 to higher levels (up to C2). Each level consists of a combination of face-to-face sessions (40 hours) with personal work (20 hours) following a specially designed programme. A final progress test takes place at the end of the term. Please note that it is mandatory to take the placement test. Please sign up here. French courses for beginners The aim of this course is to give some basic skills to beginners in order to communicate in simple everyday situations in both social and professional life. These courses can start at any time during the year, as soon as a group of beg...

  3. Learning French in Western Australia: A Hedonistic Journey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celine DOUCET

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available When learning a language, motivation and emotions are central to the learning process and have considerable importance in learning. In Australia, despite the growing economic impact of its Asian neighbours and the great physical distance to France, French remains one of the most taught languages in various educational settings at different levels, and it appeals to many Australians. This review focuses on the motivations of West Australian adult learners of French. The aim of this paper is to explore students’ motivation and emotions towards their learning of French in Western Australia, teachers’ perceptions of these feelings, and how they are reflected in their teaching practice. Applying a qualitative approach, fifty students and six teachers from two universities in Perth as well as the Alliance Française de Perth, completed questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews. This study shows that French is mostly learned for enjoyment, personal gratification and cultural appreciation, rather than for necessity or professional reasons. The analysis of the survey results clearly portrayed the intrinsic value most students perceived in learning French. Teachers are well aware of these positive emotions, and need to establish how best to harness this passion in their teaching practices in order to maximize learning outcomes.

  4. Predicting growth in English and French vocabulary: The facilitating effects of morphological and cognate awareness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Angelo, Nadia; Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Chen, Xi

    2017-07-01

    The present study investigated the contribution of morphological and cognate awareness to the development of English and French vocabulary knowledge among young minority and majority language children who were enrolled in a French immersion program. Participating children (n = 75) were assessed in English and French on measures of morphological awareness, cognate awareness, and vocabulary knowledge from Grades 1 to 3. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate linear trends in English and French vocabulary growth for minority and majority language children and to identify metalinguistic contributions to Grade 1 and Grade 3 English and French vocabulary performance and rate of growth. Results demonstrated a similar pattern of prediction for both groups of children. English and French morphological awareness and French-English cognate awareness significantly predicted concurrent and longitudinal vocabulary development after controlling for nonverbal reasoning, phonological awareness, and word identification. The contributions of morphological awareness to English vocabulary and cognate awareness to French vocabulary strengthened between Grades 1 and 2. These findings highlight the emerging importance of morphological and cognate awareness in children's vocabulary development and suggest that these metalinguistic factors can serve to broaden the vocabulary repertoire of children who enter school with limited language proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. Descriptions of Selected Career-Related College Language Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knodel, Arthur J.; And Others

    1977-01-01

    Seven courses or programs at different colleges emphasizing specific career applications of languages are described. They include: Technical French; Spanish for Law Enforcement and Correctional Personnel; Executive German; Proyecto Desarrollo Economico; Spanish for Medical Professions; Elements of Foreign Language, and Business French and Business…

  6. The Economics and Politics of Louisiana’s Latest French Renaissance

    OpenAIRE

    Degrave, Jérôme

    2014-01-01

    Louisiana French is dying. With fewer than 160,000 speakers and an extremely limited trans-generational transmission, the language of the Cajuns is fast disappearing although the main facets of their culture – food and music – continue to enjoy international fame. This paradox is not the only one: Louisiana is the only state in the USA which took the trouble to endow itself with a public agency meant to defend and diffuse a minority language, namely French. Created in 1968 by an act of the Lo...

  7. Effect of benzylaminopurine on in vivo multiplication of French plantain

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    SARAH

    2014-02-28

    Feb 28, 2014 ... of French plantain (Musa spp. AAB) cv. ... Figure 1: Plant and fruit appearance of French plantain cv. "Itoke Sege" .... Control of lethal browning of tissue culture plantlets of ... Research Workshop on Food Security,. Morogoro ...

  8. The development of determiners in the context of French-English bilingualism: a study of cross-linguistic influence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hervé, Coralie; Serratrice, Ludovica

    2018-05-01

    This paper reports the preliminary results of a study examining the role of structural overlap, language exposure, and language use on cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in bilingual first language acquisition. We focus on the longitudinal development of determiners in a corpus of two French-English children between the ages of 2;4 and 3;7. The results display bi-directional CLI in the rate of development, i.e., accelerated development in English and a minor delay in French. Unidirectional CLI from English to French was instead observed in the significantly higher rate of ungrammatical determiner omissions in plural and generic contexts than in singular specific contexts in French. These findings suggest that other language-internal mechanisms may be at play. They also lend support to the role of expressive abilities on the magnitude of this phenomenon.

  9. The Ever-Increasing Demand For (And Reliance On) French And ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    French strategic bilingualism and the role they have assigned to African languages in these countries. It ends with a few suggestions/recommendations on how the functional status of African languages could be enhanced through interventionist ...

  10. Age-related sensitive periods influence visual language discrimination in adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weikum, Whitney M; Vouloumanos, Athena; Navarra, Jordi; Soto-Faraco, Salvador; Sebastián-Gallés, Núria; Werker, Janet F

    2013-01-01

    Adults as well as infants have the capacity to discriminate languages based on visual speech alone. Here, we investigated whether adults' ability to discriminate languages based on visual speech cues is influenced by the age of language acquisition. Adult participants who had all learned English (as a first or second language) but did not speak French were shown faces of bilingual (French/English) speakers silently reciting sentences in either language. Using only visual speech information, adults who had learned English from birth or as a second language before the age of 6 could discriminate between French and English significantly better than chance. However, adults who had learned English as a second language after age 6 failed to discriminate these two languages, suggesting that early childhood exposure is crucial for using relevant visual speech information to separate languages visually. These findings raise the possibility that lowered sensitivity to non-native visual speech cues may contribute to the difficulties encountered when learning a new language in adulthood.

  11. Nigerian creative writing in French: Challenges and prospects ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nigerian creative writing in French is a recent phenomenon compared to Francophone or Lusophone literature. Since the publication of Ola Balogun's Sango suivi de le Roi elephant (1968), Nigerians have shown their creative abilities in a language, which is their second foreign language after English. This paper, seeks to ...

  12. Balanced bilinguals favor lexical processing in their opaque language and conversion system in their shallow language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buetler, Karin A; de León Rodríguez, Diego; Laganaro, Marina; Müri, René; Nyffeler, Thomas; Spierer, Lucas; Annoni, Jean-Marie

    2015-11-01

    Referred to as orthographic depth, the degree of consistency of grapheme/phoneme correspondences varies across languages from high in shallow orthographies to low in deep orthographies. The present study investigates the impact of orthographic depth on reading route by analyzing evoked potentials to words in a deep (French) and shallow (German) language presented to highly proficient bilinguals. ERP analyses to German and French words revealed significant topographic modulations 240-280 ms post-stimulus onset, indicative of distinct brain networks engaged in reading over this time window. Source estimations revealed that these effects stemmed from modulations of left insular, inferior frontal and dorsolateral regions (German>French) previously associated to phonological processing. Our results show that reading in a shallow language was associated to a stronger engagement of phonological pathways than reading in a deep language. Thus, the lexical pathways favored in word reading are reinforced by phonological networks more strongly in the shallow than deep orthography. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Asymmetrical Switch Costs in Bilingual Language Production Induced by Reading Words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peeters, David; Runnqvist, Elin; Bertrand, Daisy; Grainger, Jonathan

    2014-01-01

    We examined language-switching effects in French-English bilinguals using a paradigm where pictures are always named in the same language (either French or English) within a block of trials, and on each trial, the picture is preceded by a printed word from the same language or from the other language. Participants had to either make a language…

  14. Le Francais quand meme (French Nonetheless).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delautier, Jean-Marie

    1983-01-01

    Political, attitudinal, and administrative problems of teaching compulsory foreign languages in Colombia are described and discussed from the point of view of a French teacher in a system characterized by confusion and lack of student interest. (MSE)

  15. LANGUAGE TRAINING

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an "application for training" form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz tel. 73127 language.training@cern.ch FRENCH TRAINING General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 January to 02 April 2004. These courses are open to all persons working on the Cern site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz: Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 January to 02 April 2004. This course is designed for people wi...

  16. LANGUAGE TRAINING

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    If you wish to participate in one of the following courses, please discuss with your supervisor and apply electronically directly from the course description pages that can be found on the Web at: http://www.cern.ch/Training/ or fill in an "application for training" form available from your Divisional Secretariat or from your DTO (Divisional Training Officer). Applications will be accepted in the order of their receipt. LANGUAGE TRAINING Françoise Benz tel. 73127 language.training@cern.ch FRENCH TRAINING General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 26 January to 02 April 2004. These courses are open to all persons working on the Cern site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training or contact Mrs. Benz : Tel. 73127. Writing Professional Documents in French The next session will take place from 26 January to 02 April 2004. This course is designed for peop...

  17. Frequent errors in the use of French in the economic domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ARMASAR Ioana Paula

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the didactic teaching-learning process of the specifically economic discourse in French, a first objective could be represented by the discovery of the difficult structures, which favor the appearance of interferences between Romanian and general French, the errors coming in particular from the usual language in the specialized language. The analysis of the most common errors in the use of French by native Romanian students could be a starting point, by the addition of the psycholinguistic dimension, in the thoroughgoing study of the complex process of teaching - learning. The prevention of the frequent errors by the speakers in the use of French while learning it can be done by the teacher's direct recommendations and by the selection and orientation of the educational material that s/he organized and based on clear criteria, oriented towards the needs and interests of his/ her students.

  18. Adaptation and validation of the patient assessment of chronic illness care in the French context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krucien, Nicolas; Le Vaillant, Marc; Pelletier-Fleury, Nathalie

    2014-06-19

    Chronic diseases are major causes of disability worldwide with rising prevalence. Most patients suffering from chronic conditions do not always receive optimal care. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) has been developed to help general practitioners making quality improvements. The Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) questionnaire was increasingly used in several countries to appraise the implementation of the CCM from the patients' perspective. The objective of this study was to adapt the PACIC questionnaire in the French context and to test the validity of this adaptation in a sample of patients with multiple chronic conditions. The PACIC was translated into French language using a forward/backward procedure. The French version was validated using a sample of 150 patients treated for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and having multiple chronic co-morbidities. Several forms of validity were analysed: content; face; construct; and internal consistency. The construct validity was investigated with an exploratory factorial analysis. The French-version of the PACIC consisted in 18 items, after merging two pairs of items due to redundancy. The high number of items exhibiting floor/ceiling effects and the non-normality of the ratings suggested that a 5-points rating scale was somewhat inappropriate to assess the patients' experience of care. The construct validity of the French-PACIC was verified and resulted in a bi-dimensional structure. Overall this structure showed a high level of internal consistency. The PACIC score appeared to be significantly related to the age and self-reported health of the patients. A French-version of the PACIC questionnaire is now available to evaluate the patients' experience of care and to monitor the quality improvements realised by the medical structures. This study also pointed out some methodological issues about the PACIC questionnaire, related to the format of the rating scale and to the structure of the

  19. Speaking two languages with different number naming systems: What implications for magnitude judgments in bilinguals at different stages of language acquisition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Rinsveld, Amandine; Schiltz, Christine; Landerl, Karin; Brunner, Martin; Ugen, Sonja

    2016-08-01

    Differences between languages in terms of number naming systems may lead to performance differences in number processing. The current study focused on differences concerning the order of decades and units in two-digit number words (i.e., unit-decade order in German but decade-unit order in French) and how they affect number magnitude judgments. Participants performed basic numerical tasks, namely two-digit number magnitude judgments, and we used the compatibility effect (Nuerk et al. in Cognition 82(1):B25-B33, 2001) as a hallmark of language influence on numbers. In the first part we aimed to understand the influence of language on compatibility effects in adults coming from German or French monolingual and German-French bilingual groups (Experiment 1). The second part examined how this language influence develops at different stages of language acquisition in individuals with increasing bilingual proficiency (Experiment 2). Language systematically influenced magnitude judgments such that: (a) The spoken language(s) modulated magnitude judgments presented as Arabic digits, and (b) bilinguals' progressive language mastery impacted magnitude judgments presented as number words. Taken together, the current results suggest that the order of decades and units in verbal numbers may qualitatively influence magnitude judgments in bilinguals and monolinguals, providing new insights into how number processing can be influenced by language(s).

  20. The Effect of English Language on Multiple Choice Question Scores of Thai Medical Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phisalprapa, Pochamana; Muangkaew, Wayuda; Assanasen, Jintana; Kunavisarut, Tada; Thongngarm, Torpong; Ruchutrakool, Theera; Kobwanthanakun, Surapon; Dejsomritrutai, Wanchai

    2016-04-01

    Universities in Thailand are preparing for Thailand's integration into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by increasing the number of tests in English language. English language is not the native language of Thailand Differences in English language proficiency may affect scores among test-takers, even when subject knowledge among test-takers is comparable and may falsely represent the knowledge level of the test-taker. To study the impact of English language multiple choice test questions on test scores of medical students. The final examination of fourth-year medical students completing internal medicine rotation contains 120 multiple choice questions (MCQ). The languages used on the test are Thai and English at a ratio of 3:1. Individual scores of tests taken in both languages were collected and the effect of English language on MCQ was analyzed Individual MCQ scores were then compared with individual student English language proficiency and student grade point average (GPA). Two hundred ninety five fourth-year medical students were enrolled. The mean percentage of MCQ scores in Thai and English were significantly different (65.0 ± 8.4 and 56.5 ± 12.4, respectively, p English was fair (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.41, p English than in Thai language. Students were classified into six grade categories (A, B+, B, C+, C, and D+), which cumulatively measured total internal medicine rotation performance score plus final examination score. MCQ scores from Thai language examination were more closely correlated with total course grades than were the scores from English language examination (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.73 (p English proficiency score was very high, at 3.71 ± 0.35 from a total of 4.00. Mean student GPA was 3.40 ± 0.33 from a possible 4.00. English language MCQ examination scores were more highly associated with GPA than with English language proficiency. The use of English language multiple choice question test may decrease scores

  1. Balanced bilinguals favor lexical processing in their opaque language and conversion system in their shallow language

    OpenAIRE

    Buetler, Karin A.; Rodríguez, Diego de León; Laganaro, Marina; Müri, René; Nyffeler, Thomas; Spierer, Lucas; Annoni, Jean-Marie

    2016-01-01

    Referred to as orthographic depth, the degree of consistency of grapheme/phoneme correspondences varies across languages from high in shallow orthographies to low in deep orthographies. The present study investigates the impact of orthographic depth on reading route by analyzing evoked potentials to words in a deep (French) and shallow (German) language presented to highly proficient bilinguals. ERP analyses to German and French words revealed significant topographic modulations 240–280 ms po...

  2. New Tools in an Old Trade: Teachers Talk About Use of the Internet in the Teaching of French as a Second or Foreign Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Elizabeth

    2002-01-01

    Presents findings of a study of teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning French as a second or foreign language using the Internet. An international, online discussion list and an open-ended questionnaire provided an opportunity for teachers to talk about their experiences with the new tools of the Internet. Challenges related to the teaching…

  3. Perceptions of French Slang: L'Autre Face de la Medaille. (The Other Side of the Coin.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ensz, Kathleen Y.

    1986-01-01

    Native French speakers (N=56) were critical of French slang expressions spoken by French youths. A previous study found that the native speakers considered Americans' use of the same slang even less acceptable, suggesting the need for careful consideration of teaching such terms in French-language classrooms. (Author/CB)

  4. The Language Question in Cameroon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Echu, George

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca. While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background. This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones, thereby compromising national unity. The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on

  5. Exposure to Multiple Languages Enhances Communication Skills in Infancy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liberman, Zoe; Woodward, Amanda L.; Keysar, Boaz; Kinzler, Katherine D.

    2017-01-01

    Early exposure to multiple languages can enhance children's communication skills, even when children are effectively monolingual (Fan, Liberman, Keysar & Kinzler, 2015). Here we report evidence that the social benefits of multilingual exposure emerge in infancy. Sixteen-month-old infants participated in a communication task that required…

  6. Alors, la chanson francaise? (And So, the French Song?)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvet, Louis Jean

    1977-01-01

    The introductory article in an issue devoted to songs as a teaching device. The article deals with English and American rock, folk and pop music. It makes the point that learning a language is also learning the culture of the people who speak the language. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

  7. Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piven, J; Palmer, P; Landa, R; Santangelo, S; Jacobi, D; Childress, D

    1997-07-25

    Several studies have suggested that the genetic liability for autism may be expressed in non-autistic relatives of autistic probands, in behavioral characteristics that are milder but qualitatively similar to the defining features of autism. We employ a variety of direct assessment approaches to examine both personality and language in parents ascertained through having two autistic children (multiple-incidence autism parents) and parents of Down syndrome probands. Multiple-incidence autism parents had higher rates of particular personality characteristics (rigidity, aloofness, hypersensitivity to criticism, and anxiousness), speech and pragmatic language deficits, and more limited friendships than parents in the comparison group. The implications of these findings for future genetic studies of autism are discussed.

  8. From Life in a French Town to the Artificial Heart: An Approach to the Teaching of Scientific French.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Margaret E.

    1988-01-01

    Describes the experiences of one instructor in designing and implementing a short course in scientific French for upper level students majoring in applied biology at Glasgow College. Materials used and aspects of scientific language chosen are briefly discussed. (LMO)

  9. [The medical French-speaking world].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gouazé, André

    2002-01-01

    Medicine has always been and remains the most solid base of the French-speaking world which was born in Africa and Indochina with the admirable action of "colonial" military physicians, the implantation of the Pasteur Institutes and the emergence of resulting overseas medical schools. Obviously, we are referring to the French-speaking medical world. Since the first International Conference of the Deans of French-Speaking Medical Schools in Abidjan in 1981, today medical schools from 40 French-speaking countries participate. The conference undertakes co-operative medical school initiatives in a multi-lateral spirit, comprised by concrete, practical actions to assist universities in developing countries strive for excellence. These actions, which are conducted with the help of both institutional (AUF, MAE, WHO, UNESCO) and private partners mainly concentrate on promoting medical education of medicine, the evaluation of medical schools, the development of scientific and technical information and training teachers in the methodology of scientific clinical research and in public health. For the future, the Conference has three important objectives, to assist in training researchers and consequently in the development of research centres in emerging countries, to promote continuing medical education in rural areas far from medical schools by taking advantage of modern computer technology, and finally to open horizons toward other communities which speak other languages, and first of all, towards non French-speaking countries who live in a French-speaking environment.

  10. Validation of the French version of the BACS (the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia) among 50 French schizophrenic patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bralet, Marie-Cécile; Falissard, Bruno; Neveu, Xavier; Lucas-Ross, Margaret; Eskenazi, Anne-Marie; Keefe, Richard S E

    2007-09-01

    Schizophrenic patients demonstrate impairments in several key dimensions of cognition. These impairments are correlated with important aspects of functional outcome. While assessment of these cognition disorders is increasingly becoming a part of clinical and research practice in schizophrenia, there is no standard and easily administered test battery. The BACS (Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia) has been validated in English language [Keefe RSE, Golberg TE, Harvey PD, Gold JM, Poe MP, Coughenour L. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia: reliability, sensibility, and comparison with a standard neurocognitive battery. Schizophr. Res 2004;68:283-97], and was found to be as sensitive to cognitive dysfunction as a standard battery of tests, with the advantage of requiring less than 35 min to complete. We developed a French adaptation of the BACS and this study tested its ease of administration and concurrent validity. Correlation analyses between the BACS (version A) and a standard battery were performed. A sample of 50 stable schizophrenic patients received the French Version A of the BACS in a first session, and in a second session a standard battery. All the patients completed each of the subtests of the French BACS . The mean duration of completion for the BACS French version was 36 min (S.D.=5.56). A correlation analysis between the BACS (version A) global score and the standard battery global score showed a significant result (r=0.81, p<0.0001). The correlation analysis between the BACS (version A) sub-scores and the standard battery sub-scores showed significant results for verbal memory, working memory, verbal fluency, attention and speed of information processing and executive functions (p<0.001) and for motor speed (p<0.05). The French Version of the BACS is easier to use in French schizophrenic patients compared to a standard battery (administration shorter and completion rate better) and its good psychometric properties suggest

  11. Building Bridges of Understanding with the French-Speaking People in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT. Language Research Center.

    This book attempts to provide cultural information that will enable an American to communicate effectively with French-speaking people of Europe. The book discusses differences between American and French culture in such areas as food, laws, customs, religion, language, dress, and basic attitudes. Background information is given on France,…

  12. Translation of the Leisure Satisfaction Scale into French: a validation study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lysyk, Mary; Brown, G Ted; Rodrigues, Erika; McNally, Julie; Loo, Kim

    2002-01-01

    Few standardized instruments are available for clients who speak languages other than English. The purpose of the study was to present and describe the process of translating an English standardized assessment into another language. Using the translation/validation methodologies described by Haccoun (1987) and Vallerand (1989), the Leisure Satisfaction Scale (LSS) was translated into French and then statistically validated. All correlations between both language versions of the LSS were found to be significant at the 0.01 level. Confirmatory factor analysis results were positive. Study findings indicate that the Haccoun (1987) and Vallerand (1989) methodologies provide clinicians with another option for ensuring culturally sensitive and relevant evaluations. Further research is needed to globally assess the measurement properties of the French version of this instrument.

  13. Learner Differences among Children Learning a Foreign Language: Language Anxiety, Strategy Use, and Multiple Intelligences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hui-ju; Chen, Ting-Han

    2014-01-01

    This study mainly investigates language anxiety and its relationship to the use of learning strategies and multiple intelligences among young learners in an EFL educational context. The participants were composed of 212 fifth- and sixth-graders from elementary schools in central Taiwan. Findings indicated that most participants generally…

  14. Foreign Language Teaching and Learning in the Netherlands 1500-2000: An Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilhelm, Frans

    2018-01-01

    The Netherlands are quite unique in that the Dutch have always learned various foreign languages. Until 1940, French was the most important foreign language. Between roughly 1870 and 1970, Dutch learners in grammar schools and higher secondary schools were even obliged to learn three foreign languages: French, German and English. Since 1970,…

  15. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese? Code Choice and Austrian Export

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavric, Eva; Back, Bernhard

    2009-01-01

    This article deals with how "export oriented Austrian companies effect code choice in their business relationships with customers from Romance language speaking countries". The focus lies on the most widespread Romance languages, therefore on French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese speaking customers.The question of code choice in export…

  16. Teaching and learning of French: Imperative for educational ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Development and Management Review ... of French Language Teaching and Learning as a veritable tool for educational ... field of human endeavour, be it commerce, science, technology, culture, diplomacy and so on.

  17. The Category of Time in English, Russian and French Phraseology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena A. Makleeva

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In the paper we make an attempt to analyze linguistic and cultural descriptions of phraseological units of English, Russian and French reflecting the category of time. In the study of each language about 200 of phraseological units associated with the category of time were taken, which were divided into 5 groups representing different phraseo-semantic concepts. We have carried out a semantic analysis of the data of phraseological units identified by national-cultural peculiarities of expression of time category. The results can be used in the practice of teaching English, Russian and French as foreign languages, in courses on linguistics, and are also taken into account compiling dictionaries.

  18. French Immersion Experience and Reading Skill Development in At-Risk Readers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruk, Richard S.; Reynolds, Kristin A. A.

    2012-01-01

    We tracked the developmental influences of exposure to French on developing English phonological awareness, decoding and reading comprehension of English-speaking at-risk readers from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Teacher-nominated at-risk readers were matched with not-at-risk readers in French immersion and English language programs. Exposure to spoken…

  19. Language Proficiency and Cultural Identity as Two Facets of the Acculturation Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kmiotek Łukasz

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article describes a cross-cultural study comparing bicultural identity of first generation Poles and high school students in the Rhône Alpes region (France, as well as French language university students in Poland. Studies show that two components, language and identity, are related. This article intends to answer questions regarding the relationship between the migrant’s bicultural identity and language proficiency. Bilingualism is operationalized as (i listening comprehension and (ii bidirectional translation. The results do not confirm that there is a relation between bilingual skills and identification with shared French and Polish values. Cultural identity appears to be inversely related to country of residence: Polish identity is strongest amongst immigrant youth in France and French identity is strongest amongst Polish students of French language and culture. These identities run in opposite direction to language competencies. The results suggest internalization of one of the cultures' negative stereotypes towards the other or towards itself.

  20. The Internet, Language Learning, And International Dialogue: 
Constructing Online Foreign Language Learning Websites

    OpenAIRE

    KARTAL, Erdogan; UZUN, Levent

    2015-01-01

    In the present study we call attention to the close connection between languages and globalization, and we also emphasize the importance of the Internet and online websites in foreign language teaching and learning as unavoidable elements of computer assisted language learning (CALL). We prepared a checklist by which we investigated 28 foreign language teaching websites (4 from each of seven languages including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish). The participants ...

  1. Family Language Policy and School Language Choice: Pathways to Bilingualism and Multilingualism in a Canadian Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavkov, Nikolay

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on a survey with 170 school-age children growing up with two or more languages in the Canadian province of Ontario where English is the majority language, French is a minority language, and numerous other minority languages may be spoken by immigrant or Indigenous residents. Within this context the study focuses on minority…

  2. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE THEORY AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING:A BRAIN-BASED PERSPECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jane Arnold

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory is presented as a cognitive perspective on intelligence which has profound implications for education in general. More specifically, it has led to the application of eight of these frames to language teaching and learning. In this chapter, we will argue in favour of the application of MIT to the EFL classroom, using as support some of the major insights for language teaching from brain science.

  3. [In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy in dermatology: a proposal concerning French terminology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanitakis, J; Bahadoran, P; Braun, R; Debarbieux, S; Labeille, B; Perrot, J-L; Vabres, P

    2013-11-01

    Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a recently introduced non-invasive imaging technique allowing real-time examination of the skin in vivo. Whereas a substantial literature concerning RCM exists in English, so far there is no official terminology in French, despite the fact that an ever-growing number of French-speaking dermatologists now use this new imaging technique. The aim of the present study is to propose a French terminology for RCM in order to allow French-speaking dermatologists to communicate in a precise and homogeneous language on this topic. A group of French-speaking dermatologists with solid experience of RCM, members of the Non-invasive Cutaneous Imaging group of the French Society of Dermatology, endeavored to suggest terms in French concerning RCM. Each group member dealt with a specific paragraph. The members exchanged comments via email and the terminology was finalized during a meeting of the group members in Paris in June 2012. Descriptive terms referring to the RCM aspects of normal and diseased skin were proposed. Some of these already existed, being used in routine dermatopathology, while other specific terms were created or adapted from the English terminology. This terminology will allow French-speaking dermatologists using RCM to communicate their findings in a homogeneous language. It may be enriched in the future by the introduction of additional terms describing new aspects of both normal and, especially, diseased skin. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  4. Perfectionnement des enseignants des ecoles de langue francaise: Identification et evaluation des besoins (The Improvement of Teachers in French-Language Schools: Identification and Evaluation of Needs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poirier, Pierre; And Others

    A research project was undertaken to make an inventory of the needs in the training and professional development of directors, assistant directors, and teachers in elementary and secondary French-language schools in Ontario. The report is divided into three sections and a conclusion. The first chapter reviews the literature on the evaluation of…

  5. Language Affirmation and Positive Psychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmieri, Nicholas V.

    2008-01-01

    The author shares his experience as a professor teaching effective interpersonal relationships for the power of language or voice affirmation. When he was teaching a class that included students whose first language was Spanish, French, or Creole, the author requested his student to speak in native language during a presentation on the topic of…

  6. New Ways to Learn a Foreign Language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Robert A., Jr.

    This text focuses on the nature of language learning in the light of modern linguistic analysis. Common linguistic problems encountered by students of eight major languages are examined--Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Russian. The text discusses the nature of language, building new language habits, overcoming…

  7. The Work of Ideology: Examining Class, Language Use, and Attitudes among Moroccan University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakrani, Brahim; Huang, Jason L.

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates overt language attitudes and linguistic practices among French-taught university students in Morocco, showing the relationship between language behavior and attitudes. The results reveal a class-based divide in respondents' patterns of language use, in their support of the French monolingual sanitized classroom, and in…

  8. The role of teacher in motivating pupils to learn french in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darja Premrl

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available French language teachers in Slovene elementary and high schools think that the teachers must motivate pupils with different approaches to work in the classroom. They also estimate that if the student isn't motivated to work in the classroom, teacher's effort could improve the motivation. Teachers, therefore, believe in their work, in their knowledge and competences to present French language to the pupils in the way they enjoy studying it, and that their way of work improves interest for the knowledge/learning of French language. Nevertheless, 78 % of teachers involved in this research think that a workshop about motivation with the examples from the good practice could be of great use to them. The analysis shows that teachers like to use student's book in their work and that they most often motivate pupils with their own excitement about the topic. The fact is that the motivation is a dynamic process which changes in time and in place. Teacher is a part of that process, but he/she is not the only one responsible for its outcome.

  9. Dyslexia in a French-Spanish bilingual girl: behavioural and neural modulations following a visual attention span intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdois, Sylviane; Peyrin, Carole; Lassus-Sangosse, Delphine; Lallier, Marie; Démonet, Jean-François; Kandel, Sonia

    2014-04-01

    We report the case study of a French-Spanish bilingual dyslexic girl, MP, who exhibited a severe visual attention (VA) span deficit but preserved phonological skills. Behavioural investigation showed a severe reduction of reading speed for both single items (words and pseudo-words) and texts in the two languages. However, performance was more affected in French than in Spanish. MP was administered an intensive VA span intervention programme. Pre-post intervention comparison revealed a positive effect of intervention on her VA span abilities. The intervention further transferred to reading. It primarily resulted in faster identification of the regular and irregular words in French. The effect of intervention was rather modest in Spanish that only showed a tendency for faster word reading. Text reading improved in the two languages with a stronger effect in French but pseudo-word reading did not improve in either French or Spanish. The overall results suggest that VA span intervention may primarily enhance the fast global reading procedure, with stronger effects in French than in Spanish. MP underwent two fMRI sessions to explore her brain activations before and after VA span training. Prior to the intervention, fMRI assessment showed that the striate and extrastriate visual cortices alone were activated but none of the regions typically involved in VA span. Post-training fMRI revealed increased activation of the superior and inferior parietal cortices. Comparison of pre- and post-training activations revealed significant activation increase of the superior parietal lobes (BA 7) bilaterally. Thus, we show that a specific VA span intervention not only modulates reading performance but further results in increased brain activity within the superior parietal lobes known to housing VA span abilities. Furthermore, positive effects of VA span intervention on reading suggest that the ability to process multiple visual elements simultaneously is one cause of successful

  10. Foreign Language Houses: Identities in Transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bown, Jennifer; Dewey, Dan P.; Martinsen, Rob A.; Baker, Wendy

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the lived experience of students participating in foreign language houses to improve their skills in Russian, French, or Japanese. American students residing in apartments with other language learners and a native-speaking resident facilitator were required to speak with one another exclusively in the target language and…

  11. Links that speak: the global language network and its association with global fame.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronen, Shahar; Gonçalves, Bruno; Hu, Kevin Z; Vespignani, Alessandro; Pinker, Steven; Hidalgo, César A

    2014-12-30

    Languages vary enormously in global importance because of historical, demographic, political, and technological forces. However, beyond simple measures of population and economic power, there has been no rigorous quantitative way to define the global influence of languages. Here we use the structure of the networks connecting multilingual speakers and translated texts, as expressed in book translations, multiple language editions of Wikipedia, and Twitter, to provide a concept of language importance that goes beyond simple economic or demographic measures. We find that the structure of these three global language networks (GLNs) is centered on English as a global hub and around a handful of intermediate hub languages, which include Spanish, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, and Chinese. We validate the measure of a language's centrality in the three GLNs by showing that it exhibits a strong correlation with two independent measures of the number of famous people born in the countries associated with that language. These results suggest that the position of a language in the GLN contributes to the visibility of its speakers and the global popularity of the cultural content they produce.

  12. Language Use along the Urban Street in Senegal: Perspectives from Proprietors of Commercial Signs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiohata, Mariko

    2012-01-01

    Senegal adopted French as the country's sole official language at the time of independence in 1960, since when the language has been used in administration and other formal domains. Similarly, French is employed throughout the formal education system as the language of instruction. Since the 1990s, however, government has mounted an ambitious…

  13. “i am speaking french but i am thinking in english”: an analysis of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    For this study, first and second year students of French from the .... the study of. French to working standard --- will also become compulsory in second cycle ... to be carried out in the local languages to using English only right from Primary 1.

  14. Technology for French Learning: A Mismatch between Expectations and Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karabulut, Aliye; Levelle, Kimberly; Li, Jinrong; Suvorov, Ruslan

    2012-01-01

    The qualitative study reported in this article explored the use of technology for language learning in a third-year French class at a public university in the Midwest of the USA. To address the need for a more holistic study of technology for language learning (Basharina, 2007; Thorne, 2003), an Activity Theory framework was employed to…

  15. Chomsky-Schützenberger parsing for weighted multiple context-free languages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias Denkinger

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available We prove a Chomsky-Schützenberger representation theorem for multiple context-free languages weighted over complete commutative strong bimonoids. Using this representation we devise a parsing algorithm for a restricted form of those devices.

  16. Corporate Language: The Blind Spot of Language Policy? Reflections on France's Loi Toubon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saulière, Jérôme

    2014-01-01

    This article looks at France's Loi Toubon, which mandates the use of French in private companies, to illustrate how macro-level language planning reaches a dead end if it fails to consider local contexts and involve micro-level agents. The motivations, limitations and contradictions of France's language policy in relation to companies are…

  17. Living Language: Self-Assessment, Oral Production, and Domestic Immersion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolosic, Haley N.; Brantmeier, Cindy; Strube, Michael; Hogrebe, Mark C.

    2016-01-01

    With 24 adolescent students enrolled in a French language summer camp, the present study examines the relationship between self-assessment and oral production in French, interpreting results through a framework of individual learning variables. Participants were surrounded by French inside and outside the classroom. Self-assessment was measured…

  18. Brain correlates of constituent structure in sign language comprehension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Antonio; Limousin, Fanny; Dehaene, Stanislas; Pallier, Christophe

    2018-02-15

    During sentence processing, areas of the left superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus and left basal ganglia exhibit a systematic increase in brain activity as a function of constituent size, suggesting their involvement in the computation of syntactic and semantic structures. Here, we asked whether these areas play a universal role in language and therefore contribute to the processing of non-spoken sign language. Congenitally deaf adults who acquired French sign language as a first language and written French as a second language were scanned while watching sequences of signs in which the size of syntactic constituents was manipulated. An effect of constituent size was found in the basal ganglia, including the head of the caudate and the putamen. A smaller effect was also detected in temporal and frontal regions previously shown to be sensitive to constituent size in written language in hearing French subjects (Pallier et al., 2011). When the deaf participants read sentences versus word lists, the same network of language areas was observed. While reading and sign language processing yielded identical effects of linguistic structure in the basal ganglia, the effect of structure was stronger in all cortical language areas for written language relative to sign language. Furthermore, cortical activity was partially modulated by age of acquisition and reading proficiency. Our results stress the important role of the basal ganglia, within the language network, in the representation of the constituent structure of language, regardless of the input modality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Minority populations in Canadian second language education

    CERN Document Server

    Arnett, Katy

    2013-01-01

    This book broadens the study of second language learning in Canada beyond the examination of majority populations in French immersion to highlight lessons learned from studies of minority populations learning languages in Canada.

  20. Learn French In A Hurry Grasp the Basics of Francais Tout De Suite

    CERN Document Server

    Lawless, Laura

    2010-01-01

    Sure, you can blurt out Merci! and Oui! Oui! and Garcon! as well as the next tourist, but in truth your French lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. That just won't do if you're touring the City of Light or sunning in Tahiti or ordering a la carte in a Montreal cafe. Whether you're traveling to a French-speaking country or learning French for business, this pocket-sized primer is your passeport to one of the world's most beautiful-and useful-languages. Learn French in a Hurry features:Common French phrases (days of the week, numbers, letters)Pronunciation and conjugation tips and tricksGrammar made

  1. Index of French nuclear literature: IBM 360 programmes for preparing the permuted index of French titles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chonez, Nicole

    1968-12-01

    This report contains the assembly list, the flow chart and some comments about each of the IBM 360 assembler language programmes used for preparing one of the subject indexes contained in the bibliographical bulletin entitled: 'Index de la Litterature nucleaire francaise'; this bulletin has been produced by the French C.E.A. since 1968. Only the processing phases from the magnetic tape file of the bibliographical references, assumed correct, to the printing out of the permuted index obtained with the French titles of the documents on the tape are considered here. This permuted index has the peculiarity of automatically regrouping synonyms and certain grammatical variations of the words. (author) [fr

  2. Students and Teachers' Reasons for Using the First Language within the Foreign Language Classroom (French and English) in Central Mexico (Razones de alumnos y maestros sobre el uso de la primera lengua en el salón de lenguas extranjeras (francés e inglés) en el centro de México)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mora Pablo, Irasema; Lengeling, M. Martha; Rubio Zenil, Buenaventura; Crawford, Troy; Goodwin, Douglas

    2011-01-01

    The present study explores the use of the first language in a context of foreign language teaching. This qualitative research presents the classroom practice and points of view of French and English teachers and students within a public educational institute in central Mexico using the techniques of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.…

  3. Acquisition of speech rhythm in a second language by learners with rhythmically different native languages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ordin, Mikhail; Polyanskaya, Leona

    2015-08-01

    The development of speech rhythm in second language (L2) acquisition was investigated. Speech rhythm was defined as durational variability that can be captured by the interval-based rhythm metrics. These metrics were used to examine the differences in durational variability between proficiency levels in L2 English spoken by French and German learners. The results reveal that durational variability increased as L2 acquisition progressed in both groups of learners. This indicates that speech rhythm in L2 English develops from more syllable-timed toward more stress-timed patterns irrespective of whether the native language of the learner is rhythmically similar to or different from the target language. Although both groups showed similar development of speech rhythm in L2 acquisition, there were also differences: German learners achieved a degree of durational variability typical of the target language, while French learners exhibited lower variability than native British speakers, even at an advanced proficiency level.

  4. La direction generale des relations culturelles et l'enseignement du francais sur les ondes (The Office of Cultural Relations and the Teaching of French by Radio-Television).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francais dans le Monde, 1980

    1980-01-01

    Outlines the means employed by the French Cultural Relations Office to support the teaching of the French language by foreign radio and television networks. Support includes: the assistance of French professionals; the production and publication of audiovisual aids, language courses, and teachers' guides; and equipment and training for its…

  5. Reimagining Society in 18th Century French Literature

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgård, Jonas Ross

    of interpersonal interaction flourished in the rich generic landscape of late eighteenth century French literature. These works of literature, the forgotten as well as the canonized ones, continuously intervened in that burgeoning social imaginary within which the struggle to define the happiness of all took place.......The French revolutionary shift from monarchical to popular sovereignty came clothed in a new political language, a significant part of which was a strange coupling of happiness and rights. In Old Regime ideology, Frenchmen were considered subjects who had no need of understanding why what...

  6. OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY AND CHILD FOREIGN ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Foreign language education, particularly in French, has taken root in Kenyan ... interest and potential in foreign language education at this young stage of life. ... Since independence, the Kenyan government has set up several education ...

  7. Insurance dictionary. German-English-French-Greek. Versicherungswoerterbuch. Deutsch-Englisch-Franzoesisch-Griechisch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mueller-Lutz, H L [ed.

    1984-01-01

    Special technical terms used in the world of insurance can hardly be found in general dictionaries. This is a gap which the 'Insurance dictionary' now presented is designed to fill. In view of its supplementary function, the number of terms covered is limited to 1200. To make this dictionary especially convenient for ready reference, only the most commonly used translations are given for each key word in any of the four languages. This dictionary is subdivided into four parts, each containing the translation of the selected terms in the three other languages. To further facilitate the use of the booklet, paper of different colours was used for the printing of the German, English, French and Greek sections. The present volume was developed from a Swedish insurance dictionary (Fickordbok Foersaekring), published in 1967, which - with Swedish as the key language- offers English, French and German translations of the basic insurance terms.

  8. News from the Library: Language learners, don't forget the Library!

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Library

    2013-01-01

    Vous essayez d'apprendre l'anglais ? Are you trying to learn French? The Library is there to support your efforts!   We strive to keep our language books collection up to date and we offer a selection of new books (grammars, workbooks, books for special terminology within many fields, writing guides). A great thanks to the Language Training colleagues who helped us in the selection process. If you are attending a language course - whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner - we have plenty to offer you. New English language books. New French language books. Your feedback is welcome! Please contact us by e-mail.

  9. “I am speaking French but I am thinking in English”: An analysis of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    We consider how learners of French as a Foreign Language in the University of Ghana seem to fall, either consciously or unconsciously, on the English Language ... how the teacher of a foreign language class can take advantage of these productions to improve his teaching and also improve learning by his/her students.

  10. Foreign Language Education Levels in the Dutch Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oud-de Glas, Maria; Peels, Fons

    1991-01-01

    Reports on levels of foreign language education and foreign language competence among Dutch students, discussing the sharp decline in the teaching of French and German, a lack of foreign language training in technical education, where it is most needed, and the limitations of the data collected regarding foreign language attainment in the…

  11. An Empirical Examination of the Association between Multiple Intelligences and Language Learning Self-Efficacy among TEFL University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moafian, Fatemeh; Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza

    2015-01-01

    The current study investigated the association between multiple intelligences and language learning efficacy expectations among TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) university students. To fulfill the aim of the study, 108 junior and senior TEFL students were asked to complete the "Multiple Intelligence Developmental Assessment…

  12. Implementation of multiple intelligences theory in the English language course syllabus at the University of Nis Medical School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakić-Mirić, Natasa

    2010-01-01

    Theory of multiple intelligences (MI) is considered an innovation in learning the English language because it helps students develop all eight intelligences that, on the other hand, represent ways people understand the world around them, solve problems and learn. They are: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinaesthetic, musical/rhythmic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. Also, by focusing on the problem-solving activities, teachers, by implementing theory of multiple intelligences, encourage students not only to build their existing language knowledge but also learn new content and skills. The objective of this study has been to determine the importance of implementation of the theory of multiple intelligences in the English language course syllabus at the University of Nis Medical School. Ways in which the theory of multiple intelligences has been implemented in the English language course syllabus particularly in one lecture for junior year students of pharmacy in the University of Nis Medical School. The English language final exam results from February 2009 when compared with the final exam results from June 2007 prior to the implementation of MI theory showed the following: out of 80 junior year students of pharmacy, 40 obtained grade 10 (outstanding), 16 obtained grade 9 (excellent), 11 obtained grade 8 (very good), 4 obtained grade 7 (good) and 9 obtained grade 6 (pass). No student failed. The implementation of the theory of multiple intelligences in the English language course syllabus at the University of Nis Medical School has had a positive impact on learning the English language and has increased students' interest in language learning. Genarally speaking, this theory offers better understanding of students' intelligence and greater appreciation of their strengths. It provides numerous opportunities for students to use and develop all eight intelligences not just the few they excel in prior to enrolling in a

  13. Improving information retrieval with multiple health terminologies in a quality-controlled gateway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soualmia, Lina F; Sakji, Saoussen; Letord, Catherine; Rollin, Laetitia; Massari, Philippe; Darmoni, Stéfan J

    2013-01-01

    The Catalog and Index of French-language Health Internet resources (CISMeF) is a quality-controlled health gateway, primarily for Web resources in French (n=89,751). Recently, we achieved a major improvement in the structure of the catalogue by setting-up multiple terminologies, based on twelve health terminologies available in French, to overcome the potential weakness of the MeSH thesaurus, which is the main and pivotal terminology we use for indexing and retrieval since 1995. The main aim of this study was to estimate the added-value of exploiting several terminologies and their semantic relationships to improve Web resource indexing and retrieval in CISMeF, in order to provide additional health resources which meet the users' expectations. Twelve terminologies were integrated into the CISMeF information system to set up multiple-terminologies indexing and retrieval. The same sets of thirty queries were run: (i) by exploiting the hierarchical structure of the MeSH, and (ii) by exploiting the additional twelve terminologies and their semantic links. The two search modes were evaluated and compared. The overall coverage of the multiple-terminologies search mode was improved by comparison to the coverage of using the MeSH (16,283 vs. 14,159) (+15%). These additional findings were estimated at 56.6% relevant results, 24.7% intermediate results and 18.7% irrelevant. The multiple-terminologies approach improved information retrieval. These results suggest that integrating additional health terminologies was able to improve recall. Since performing the study, 21 other terminologies have been added which should enable us to make broader studies in multiple-terminologies information retrieval.

  14. "Nous" versus "on": Pronouns with First-Person Plural Reference in Synchronous French Chat

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Compernolle, Remi A.

    2008-01-01

    This article explores variation in the use of the pronouns "nous" and "on" for first-person plural reference in a substantial corpus of French-language Internet chat discourse. The results indicate that "on" is nearly categorically preferred to "nous," which is in line with previous research on informal spoken French. A qualitative analysis of…

  15. [Bioethics and the French speaking world: an answer to globalization].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byk, Christian

    2009-01-01

    Are we able, today, to take a step closer to bringing together the French speaking world and bioethics by realizing that their association could provide a profound view of the current evolution of our world characterized by what is referred to as globalization? Could we be even more ambitious and register the specificity of the rapport between the French speaking world and bioethics confronted with this global phenomenon of deconstruction/reconstruction of the planetary order by setting as its path a dynamic balance, which is an integral part of the use of the French language and cultural diversity, a central point in a truly pluridisciplinary and pluralist bioethics?

  16. Multiple Grammars and the Logic of Learnability in Second Language Acquisition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roeper, Tom W

    2016-01-01

    The core notion of modern Universal Grammar is that language ability requires abstract representation in terms of hierarchy, movement operations, abstract features on words, and fixed mapping to meaning. These mental structures are a step toward integrating representational knowledge of all kinds into a larger model of cognitive psychology. Examining first and second language at once provides clues as to how abstractly we should represent this knowledge. The abstract nature of grammar allows both the formulation of many grammars and the possibility that a rule of one grammar could apply to another grammar. We argue that every language contains Multiple Grammars which may reflect different language families. We develop numerous examples of how the same abstract rules can apply in various languages and develop a theory of how language modules (case-marking, topicalization, and quantification) interact to predict L2 acquisition paths. In particular we show in depth how Germanic Verb-second operations, based on Verb-final structure, can apply in English. The argument is built around how and where V2 from German can apply in English, seeking to explain the crucial contrast: "nothing" yelled out Bill/(*)"nothing" yelled Bill out in terms of the necessary abstractness of the V2 rule.

  17. Interlingual Encounter in Pierre Garnier and Niikuni Seiichi's French-Japanese Concrete Poetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Elaine S.

    2015-01-01

    In the latter half of the 1960s, without meeting each other and without knowing each other's language, French poet Pierre Garnier and Japanese poet Niikuni Seiichi [Japanese characters omitted] collaborated to create French-Japanese concrete poems. This essay examines the interlingual encounters in the two poets' bilingual poems that facilitate…

  18. Using Multiple Intelligences To Improve Retention in Foreign Language Vocabulary Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Virginia B.

    The report describes an experiment for increasing retention of foreign language vocabulary by using multiple intelligence approaches and memory enhancement tools. The targeted population was approximately 100 seventh- and eighth-grade Latin students. Student difficulty with vocabulary retention had been ascribed to the teacher's emphasis on…

  19. Brain responses in 4-month-old infants are already language specific.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friederici, Angela D; Friedrich, Manuela; Christophe, Anne

    2007-07-17

    Language is the most important faculty that distinguishes humans from other animals. Infants learn their native language fast and effortlessly during the first years of life, as a function of the linguistic input in their environment. Behavioral studies reported the discrimination of melodic contours [1] and stress patterns [2, 3] in 1-4-month-olds. Behavioral [4, 5] and brain measures [6-8] have shown language-independent discrimination of phonetic contrasts at that age. Language-specific discrimination, however, has been reported for phonetic contrasts only for 6-12-month-olds [9-12]. Here we demonstrate language-specific discrimination of stress patterns in 4-month-old German and French infants by using electrophysiological brain measures. We compare the processing of disyllabic words differing in their rhythmic structure, mimicking German words being stressed on the first syllable, e.g., pápa/daddy[13], and French ones being stressed on the second syllable, e.g., papá/daddy. Event-related brain potentials reveal that experience with German and French differentially affects the brain responses of 4-month-old infants, with each language group displaying a processing advantage for the rhythmic structure typical in its native language. These data indicate language-specific neural representations of word forms in the infant brain as early as 4 months of age.

  20. Linguistic Effects of Globalization: A Case Study of French for Specific Purposes (FSP) in Kenyan Vocational Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulenda, Mubalama

    2013-01-01

    The study of French for Specific Purposes (FSP) is a topical subject in this era of globalization. Kenya requires people who can communicate in French in the various specialized areas. It has become crucial in Kenya to respond to the French language needs of students learning tourism and hospitality among other domains which have already shown an…

  1. Evaluation and comparison of epidural analgesia in labour related information on French and English-speaking websites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espitalier, Fabien; De Lamer, Sabine; Barbaz, Mathilde; Laffon, Marc; Remérand, Francis

    2018-01-31

    The medical information on the Internet is better in English than in other languages. The information about Epidural Analgesia In Labour (EAIL) available on French-speaking websites is of poor quality. The quality of the information about EAIL should be better in English, but there is no comparison available. This study has assessed and compared the quality of the information about EAIL available on French and English-speaking websites. Keywords "epidural", "épidurale" and/or "péridurale" were used in the French, Canadian and American Google ® and Yahoo ® search engines. Two independent assessors assessed the 20 first websites for each engine search. They used an evaluation form created from French, Canadian and American recommendations. This form assessed the structure quality (Structure Score/25) and the medical information quality (Medical Information Score/30) of the websites. The addition of both scores gives the Global Score (/55). Seventy-one websites were assessed, 39 French-speaking and 32 English-speaking websites. Structure, Medical Information and Global Scores (expressed as mean (SD)) were respectively 11 (4), 13 (5), 24 (8) for the French-speaking websites and 11 (4), 12 (4), 23 (7) for the English-speaking websites. There was no statistical significant difference between both languages. Information about EAIL available on French and English-speaking websites is of poor quality and there is no difference in the information quality, whatever the language. A consideration on Internet medical information improvement is needed. A high quality dedicated website should be created and broadcasted. Copyright © 2018 Société française d'anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  2. Negritude: A New Dimension in the French Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, Keith Q.

    1974-01-01

    Discusses how the study of negritude writings, put in the proper perspective, can help to show the futile nature of racial discrimination, the beauty of African and Caribbean culture, the contribution of the black man to world civilization, and the universality of the French language. (Author/JM)

  3. The Role of Colloquial French in Communication and Implications for Language Instruction. CAL-ERIC/CLL Series on Languages and Linguistics, No. 56.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonin, Therese M.

    1978-01-01

    A study was conducted to determine the extent to which listening comprehension is impaired when students are confronted with the colloquial use of French, as opposed to its formal use. It was found that amoung 128 prospective French teachers who participated in the study, there existed a low comprehension level of colloquial French, a discrepancy…

  4. Experience with a second language affects the use of fundamental frequency in speech segmentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broersma, Mirjam; Cho, Taehong; Kim, Sahyang; Martínez-García, Maria Teresa; Connell, Katrina

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates whether listeners’ experience with a second language learned later in life affects their use of fundamental frequency (F0) as a cue to word boundaries in the segmentation of an artificial language (AL), particularly when the cues to word boundaries conflict between the first language (L1) and second language (L2). F0 signals phrase-final (and thus word-final) boundaries in French but word-initial boundaries in English. Participants were functionally monolingual French listeners, functionally monolingual English listeners, bilingual L1-English L2-French listeners, and bilingual L1-French L2-English listeners. They completed the AL-segmentation task with F0 signaling word-final boundaries or without prosodic cues to word boundaries (monolingual groups only). After listening to the AL, participants completed a forced-choice word-identification task in which the foils were either non-words or part-words. The results show that the monolingual French listeners, but not the monolingual English listeners, performed better in the presence of F0 cues than in the absence of such cues. Moreover, bilingual status modulated listeners’ use of F0 cues to word-final boundaries, with bilingual French listeners performing less accurately than monolingual French listeners on both word types but with bilingual English listeners performing more accurately than monolingual English listeners on non-words. These findings not only confirm that speech segmentation is modulated by the L1, but also newly demonstrate that listeners’ experience with the L2 (French or English) affects their use of F0 cues in speech segmentation. This suggests that listeners’ use of prosodic cues to word boundaries is adaptive and non-selective, and can change as a function of language experience. PMID:28738093

  5. Anglo-Americanisms in the French Sporting Vocabulary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosoff, Gary H.

    1981-01-01

    Singles out sports as the area where the influence of Anglo-American culture on the French language has been most pronounced, illustrating the means by which these exchanges have taken place over the years. In particular, discusses the changes in meaning, form, and function that loan words have undergone in the process. (Author/MES)

  6. Monolingual or bilingual intervention for primary language impairment? A randomized control trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thordardottir, Elin; Cloutier, Geneviève; Ménard, Suzanne; Pelland-Blais, Elaine; Rvachew, Susan

    2015-04-01

    This study investigated the clinical effectiveness of monolingual versus bilingual language intervention, the latter involving speech-language pathologist-parent collaboration. The study focuses on methods that are currently being recommended and that are feasible within current clinical contexts. Bilingual children with primary language impairment who speak a minority language as their home language and French as their second (n=29, mean age=5 years) were randomly assigned to monolingual treatment, bilingual treatment, and no-treatment (delayed-treatment) conditions. Sixteen sessions of individual language intervention were offered, targeting vocabulary and syntactic skills in French only or bilingually, through parent collaboration during the clinical sessions. Language evaluations were conducted before and after treatment by blinded examiners; these evaluations targeted French as well as the home languages. An additional evaluation was conducted 2 months after completion of treatment to assess maintenance of gains. Both monolingual and bilingual treatment followed a focused stimulation approach. Results in French showed a significant treatment effect for vocabulary but no difference between treatment conditions. Gains were made in syntax, but these gains could not be attributed to treatment given that treatment groups did not improve more than the control group. Home language probes did not suggest that the therapy had resulted in gains in the home language. The intervention used in this study is in line with current recommendations of major speech-language pathology organizations. However, the findings indicate that the bilingual treatment created through collaboration with parents was not effective in creating a sufficiently intense bilingual context to make it significantly different from the monolingual treatment. Further studies are needed to assess the gains associated with clinical modifications made for bilingual children and to search for effective ways

  7. Gauging the impact of gender grammaticization in different languages : application of a linguistic-visual paradigm

    OpenAIRE

    Sato, Sayaka; Gygax, Pascal M.; Gabriel, Ute

    2016-01-01

    Employing a linguistic-visual paradigm, we investigated whether the grammaticization of gender information impacts readers’ gender representations. French and German were taken as comparative languages, taking into account the male gender bias associated to both languages, as well as the comparative gender biases associated to their plural determiners (French: les [generic] vs. German: die [morphologically feminine]). Bilingual speakers of French and German had to judge whether a pair of faci...

  8. Teaching French Conversation: A Lesson from the Fourteenth Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonin, Therese; Wilburn, Josette

    1977-01-01

    A description of "La Maniere de langage," a fourteenth century manual which skillfully blended the teaching of functional language usage with an introduction to French culture and social customs. The treatise incorporated many insights we have from psychology, sociolinguistics and cultural anthropology. (AMH)

  9. Teaching French from a Francophone Perspective: The Inclusion of Francophone Countries Other than France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Matthew Paul

    In an effort to expand the teaching of culture related to the French language, a high school French teacher undertook a project to teach francophone culture in countries other than France. The report begins with an extensive discussion and review of literature concerning the extent and diversity of the francophone world, the role of cultural…

  10. Annotated Bibliography of Materials for Elementary Foreign Language Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobb, Fred

    An annotated bibliography contains about 70 citations of instructional materials and materials concerning curriculum development for elementary school foreign language programs. Citations are included for Arabic, classical languages, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Items on exploratory language courses and general works on…

  11. Profiling Mobile English Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrne, Jason; Diem, Robert

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to use an app-embedded survey to profile language learner demographics. A total of 3,759 EFL language learners from primarily eight L1 backgrounds (French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Thai) responded to the survey embedded within a popular English grammar app. This app has over 500,000…

  12. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY – A MILESTONE INNOVATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NIŠ MEDICAL SCHOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataša Bakić-Mirić

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Theory of multiple intelligences is considered an innovation in both teaching and learning English language because it helps students develop all the eight intelligences that are grouped as verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. The aforementioned intelligences are thought to represent ways in which individuals understand and perceive the world, solve problems and learn. Correspondingly, by focusing on the problem solving activities, teachers, by implementing theory of multiple intelligences encourage students not only to build-up their existing language knowledge but also learn new content and skills. The implementation of the theory of multiple intelligences in teaching the English language at the University of Niš Medical School has had a positive impact on learning English language and increased students' interest in language learning. Genarally speaking, this theory offers a better understanding of students’ intelligence and a greater appreciation of their strengths. It provides numerous opportunities for students to use and develop all the eight intelligences not just the few they excel in prior to enrolling a university or college.

  13. The Power of Students’ Subjectivity Processes in Foreign Language acquisition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bojsen, Heidi

    2015-01-01

    of the students in reading and communicating in French and German as part of their academic learning process (Bojsen 2012). In this framework we are already on new ground within the established practice of FL teaching and learning in Denmark as this practice has traditionally been confined to language courses...... and degrees and diplomas in particular foreign languages. However in this case, the students are not inscribed as students of foreign languages. Their subjectivity process is thus not that of a student of French or German, but rather of pedagogy, cultural studies, economics, development studies or other...

  14. L'alternance de code de deux enseignants de francais dans l'enseignement assiste par ordinateur de niveau debutant de langue seconde (Codeswitching in Two French as a Second Language Teachers, Beginning Level, in Computer Assisted Instruction).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Alan M.

    2002-01-01

    Investigates the code switching of two French teachers in a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment. Highlights the importance of the social dynamic and technical aspects of teachers' codeswitching behaviors. (Author/VWL)

  15. Links that speak: The global language network and its association with global fame

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ronen, Shahar; Gonçalves, Bruno; Hu, Kevin Z.; Vespignani, Alessandro; Pinker, Steven; Hidalgo, César A.

    2014-01-01

    Languages vary enormously in global importance because of historical, demographic, political, and technological forces. However, beyond simple measures of population and economic power, there has been no rigorous quantitative way to define the global influence of languages. Here we use the structure of the networks connecting multilingual speakers and translated texts, as expressed in book translations, multiple language editions of Wikipedia, and Twitter, to provide a concept of language importance that goes beyond simple economic or demographic measures. We find that the structure of these three global language networks (GLNs) is centered on English as a global hub and around a handful of intermediate hub languages, which include Spanish, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, and Chinese. We validate the measure of a language’s centrality in the three GLNs by showing that it exhibits a strong correlation with two independent measures of the number of famous people born in the countries associated with that language. These results suggest that the position of a language in the GLN contributes to the visibility of its speakers and the global popularity of the cultural content they produce. PMID:25512502

  16. Language Tasks Using Touch Screen and Mobile Technologies: Reconceptualizing Task-Based CALL for Young Language Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellerin, Martine

    2014-01-01

    This article examines how the use of mobile technologies (iPods and tablets) in language classrooms contributes to redesigning task-based approaches for young language learners. The article is based on a collaborative action research (CAR) project in Early French Immersion classrooms in the province of Alberta, Canada. The data collection included…

  17. Native language predictors of foreign language proficiency and foreign language aptitude.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparks, Richard L; Patton, Jon; Ganschow, Leonore; Humbach, Nancy; Javorsky, James

    2006-06-01

    Fifty-four students were tested at specific time intervals over 10 years to determine best native language (NL) predictors of oral and written foreign language (FL) proficiency and FL aptitude. All participants completed two years of Spanish, French, or German. Each was administered measures of NL literacy, oral language, and cognitive ability in elementary school. A measure of FL aptitude was administered at the beginning of ninth grade and FL proficiency was evaluated at the end of the 10th grade. Among the variables, NL literacy measures were the best predictors of FL proficiency, and NL achievement and general (verbal) intelligence were strong predictors of FL aptitude. Results suggest that indices of NL literacy as early as first grade are related to FL proficiency and FL aptitude nine and 10 years later. Findings provide strong support for connections between L1 and L2 skills, and for speculation that "lower level" skills in phonological processing are important for written language development and oral proficiency in a FL.

  18. Effect of Constructivist Teaching Method on Students' Achievement in French Listening Comprehension in Owerri North LGA of Imo State, Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uwalaka, A. J.; Offorma, G. C.

    2015-01-01

    The study investigated the effect of constructivist teaching method on students' achievement in French listening comprehension in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. Achievement in French listening comprehension over the years has been discouraging. The conventional method of teaching French Language has not improved the…

  19. Considering a Lexicographic Plan for Gabon within the Gabonese Language Landscape

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugues Steve Ndinga-Koumba-Binza

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available

    ABSTRACT: This article raises a number of questions that should be dealt with in drawing up a lexicographic plan for Gabon. For which of the Gabonese languages should lexicographic units be established? This question entrains the issue of inventorying the Gabonese languages and their standardization as well as the issue of language planning for Gabon. What is the status of those foreign languages widely spoken in Gabon? What about French? Should Gabon keep importing its French dictionaries from France, or should the Gabonese compile their own French dictionaries, including French words and expressions exclusively used in Gabon? Finally, after trying to answer these questions, a number of suggestions are made for the establishment of a lexicographic plan for Gabon.

    Keywords: GABONESE LANGUAGE LANDSCAPE (GLL, LEXICOGRAPHIC PLAN FOR GABON, LANGUAGE DIVERSITY, LANGUAGE POLICY, LANGUAGE STANDARDIZATION, GABONESE LEXICOGRAPHY, NATIONAL LANGUAGE, NATIVE LANGUAGES, FOREIGN LANGUAGES

    *****

    OPSOMMING: Die oorweging van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen binne die Gaboenese taallandskap. Hierdie artikel bring 'n aantal vrae ter sprake waaraan aan-dag gegee moet word by die opstel van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen. Vir watter Gaboenese tale moet leksikografiese eenhede gestig word? Hierdie vraag bring die kwessie van die inventari-sering van die Gaboenese tale en hul standaardisering ter sprake, asook die kwessie van taalbe-planning vir Gaboen. Wat is die status van daardie vreemde tale wat algemeen in Gaboen gepraat word? Wat van Frans? Moet Gaboen voortgaan om sy Franse woordeboeke uit Frankryk in te voer, of moet hy sy eie Franse woordeboeke saamstel, met insluiting van Franse woorde en uitdrukkings wat uitsluitlik in Gaboen gebruik word? Ten slotte, nadat geprobeer is om hierdie vrae te beant-woord, word 'n aantal voorstelle gemaak vir die totstandbrenging van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen.

    Sleutelwoorde: GABOENESE

  20. Does training make French speakers more able to identify lexical stress?

    OpenAIRE

    Schwab, Sandra; Llisterri, Joaquim

    2013-01-01

    This research takes the stress deafness hypothesis as a starting point (e.g. Dupoux et al., 2008), and, more specifically, the fact that French speakers present difficulties in perceiving lexical stress in a free-stress language. In this framework, we aim at determining whether a prosodic training could improve the ability of French speakers to identify the stressed syllable in Spanish words. Three groups of participants took part in this experiment. The Native group was composed of 16 speake...

  1. French participation in the world energy council

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carouge, Ch.; Roussely, F.; Francony, M.; Ailleret, F.; Bosseboeuf, D.; Moisan, F.; Villaron, Th.

    1999-01-01

    The Revue de l'Energie is presenting the most influential French interventions at the 17. Congress of the World Energy Council held in September 1998 in Houston, (USA). These represent only part of French participation in the congress since a total of 16 individuals from France took part in the various sessions. Their presentations cover very varied topics and are one of the things that testify to the interest that our energy industries have in the works and operations of the WEC. Some other figures also bear witness to this interest: 184 French congress members, which is one of the largest delegations after that of the United States, the host country of the congress; 11 technical presentation, covering a wide range of subjects: from the nuclear reactor of the future to the use of bagasse (cane trash) for the production of electricity, from the underground storage of natural gas to the production of extra-heavy crude petroleum. The technical exhibition associated to the Congress was a great success and there again the French presence was able to make its mark: five exhibitors were gathered in the France of 600 m 2 , the most sizeable non-American national area.But French participation in the work of the WEC is not limited to congresses. The French Energy Council [Conseil francais de l'Energie] is careful to ensure its presence both in the formal proceedings of the WEC and within the studies undertaken under its three-year programme. This active French presence is also essential in order to defend the official English-French bilingualism of the World Energy Council. In spite of the good will of the organizers and the support of the general secretary's office in London, the Houston Congress showed how difficult it was to maintain the use of the French language on English-speaking territory. This is a difficult task, one that has to be undertaken anew each time, but one that France and other French-speaking nations have decided to pursue to the end. (authors)

  2. Correspondence Theory and Phonological Blending in French

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Scott

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Though less productive than rival word-formation processes like compounding and affixation, blending is still a rich source of neologisms in French. Despite this productivity, however, blends are often seen by scholars as unpredictable, uninteresting, or both. This analysis picks up where recent studies of blending have left off, using Correspondence Theory and a bundle of segmental constraints to deal with this phenomenon as it pertains to French. More specifically, it shows that blending is the result of a single output standing in correspondence with two or more other outputs, and that we do not need to refer to prosodic information, which is crucial in accounts of blending in languages with lexical stress like English, to account for the process in French. The analysis also differs from previous studies in that it locates blending exclusively within the phonology, leaving its morphological and semantic characteristics to be handled by other processes in the grammar.

  3. French effort in field NDT nuclear plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saglio, R.

    1983-12-01

    For the in-service inspection of nuclear generating stations, the French Atomic Commission has built up a program first to increase the defect detection probability, secondly to increase the reliability and recently to improve the characterization of defects. Focused Ultrasound and multiple frequency eddy current techniques, developped by French Atomic Energy Commission are well known. In this paper we will present the latest developments made in relation with defect characterization

  4. Language and memory abilities of internationally adopted children from China: evidence for early age effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delcenserie, Audrey; Genesee, Fred

    2014-11-01

    The goal of the present study was to examine if internationally adopted (IA) children from China (M = 10;8) adopted by French-speaking families exhibit lags in verbal memory in addition to lags in verbal abilities documented in previous studies (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). Tests assessing verbal and non-verbal memory, language, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development were administered to thirty adoptees. Their results were compared to those of thirty non-adopted monolingual French-speaking children matched on age, gender, and socioeconomic status. The IA children scored significantly lower than the controls on language, verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and verbal long-term memory. No group differences were found on non-verbal memory, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development, suggesting language-specific difficulties. Despite extended exposure to French, adoptees may experience language difficulties due to limitations in verbal memory, possibly as a result of their delayed exposure to that language and/or attrition of the birth language.

  5. The validation of a French-language version of the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) and its extension to a population aged 55 and over

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Ingrand, Isabelle

    2012-04-30

    AbstractBackgroundSeveral studies have shown the influence of the perceptions of aging on the cognitive functioning and the mental and physical health of older people. These relationships have not to date been studied in France where validated instruments are lacking. The primary objective of this study was to validate a French-language version of the Aging Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) in the French general population aged 65 and over. The secondary objective was to study the stability of the dimensions of this instrument among participants aged 55 to 64.MethodsThe study was proposed to the cohort of the Observatoire Régional du Vieillissement (OPREVI) (observatory of aging), located in a small town in Poitou-Charentes (western France). An anonymous questionnaire including the APQ was sent by mail to inhabitants aged 55 and over. The original English language APQ was described with adults aged 65 and older. It has 32 items distributed on 7 dimensions: timeline chronic and cyclical, positive and negative consequences, positive and negative control and emotional representations.Results656 adults participated in this survey (286 men, 370 women). Among those aged 65 and over (n = 394), the seven-factor structure estimated by confirmatory factor analysis was coherent with original findings. Internal consistency as evaluated by Cronbach alpha, was between 0.83 for consequences negative and 0.52 for control negative. Several dimensions were strongly correlated. Among participants aged 55 to 64 (n = 262), the same factorial model yielded an acceptable fit. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis concluded to approximate factorial invariance between the two age groups with a null delta in comparative fit index.ConclusionThis study among French people aged 65 and over, added further evidence of the multidimensional structure of the French version of the APQ which is superimposed to the dimensions of the original Irish version. The same factorial structure

  6. Language differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the process of subvocal rehearsal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thorn, A S; Gathercole, S E

    2001-06-01

    Language differences in verbal short-term memory were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, bilinguals with high competence in English and French and monolingual English adults with extremely limited knowledge of French were assessed on their serial recall of words and nonwords in both languages. In all cases recall accuracy was superior in the language with which individuals were most familiar, a first-language advantage that remained when variation due to differential rates of articulation in the two languages was taken into account. In Experiment 2, bilinguals recalled lists of English and French words with and without concurrent articulatory suppression. First-language superiority persisted under suppression, suggesting that the language differences in recall accuracy were not attributable to slower rates of subvocal rehearsal in the less familiar language. The findings indicate that language-specific differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the subvocal rehearsal process. It is suggested that one source of language-specific variation might relate to the use of long-term knowledge to support short-term memory performance.

  7. The Devil’s Colors: A Comparative Study of French and Nigerian Folktales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Françoise Ugochukwu

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available This study, largely based on five separate published collections, compares French and Nigerian folktales––focusing mainly on French Dauphiné and Nigerian Igboland––to consider the role color plays in encounters with supernatural characters from diverse color backgrounds. A study in black, white/red, and green, the paper compares the naming of colors in the two languages and illustrates their usage as a tool to communicate color-coded values. Nigeria’s history, religious beliefs, and language development offer additional clues to what at first appears to be fundamental differences in cultural approach. Attempting to trace the roots of this color-coding, the study also considers the impact of colonization on oral literature and traditional art forms.

  8. LEARNING HOW TO LEARNA LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Language training; tel. 78582

    2001-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. Languages: French and English. Length: 3 days, 7 hours per day. Dates: 4, 5, 6 March 2002. Price: 460 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training

  9. To what extent are Canadian second language policies evidence-based? Reflections on the intersections of research and policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummins, Jim

    2014-01-01

    THE PAPER ADDRESSES THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN RESEARCH FINDINGS AND CANADIAN EDUCATIONAL POLICIES FOCUSING ON FOUR MAJOR AREAS: (a) core and immersion programs for the teaching of French to Anglophone students, (b) policies concerning the learning of English and French by students from immigrant backgrounds, (c) heritage language teaching, and (d) the education of Deaf and hard-of hearing students. With respect to the teaching of French, policy-makers have largely ignored the fact that most core French programs produce meager results for the vast majority of students. Only a small proportion of students (languages, preferring instead to leave uncorrected the proposition that acquisition of languages such as American Sign Language by young children (with or without cochlear implants) will impede children's language and academic development. The paper reviews the kinds of policies, programs, and practices that could be implemented (at no additional cost) if policy-makers and educators pursued evidence-based educational policies.

  10. The making of corporate identities through a plural corporate language. A comparative study on French and Italian Food companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Margherita Mattioda

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The present study analyzes the linguistic and cultural dimensions which emerge from international companies working in those economic and social contexts, which are, at present, more cash-like and uncertain. The multilingual communication adopted by such companies is the result of their position on the market and of their own identity and culture. It also reveals an ongoing process of negotiation between several elements: a language identity source, which highlights the origins, history, geographic, social and cultural affiliation (national, regional, and professional, a target otherness, which may be more or less defined (by country or in relation to a universal extent and which is increasingly multicultural, and a ‘source otherness’, which arises from considering “soi-même comme un autre” to communicate extensively. The present study will shed light on some communicative choices at both language and culture levels in the corporate sites of some Italian and French food companies (Lavazza, Ferrero, Barilla, Lactalis, Fleury-Michon, Bonduelle, Bomgrain. The aim is to identify specific (“connotative” items that in some way denote cultural permeability, a layer between convention and “hybridization”.

  11. 1001 easy French phrases

    CERN Document Server

    McCoy, Heather

    2010-01-01

    The perfect companion for tourists and business travelers in France and other places where the French language is spoken, this book offers fast, effective communication. More than 1,000 basic words, phrases, and sentences cover everything from asking directions and renting a car to ordering dinner and finding a bank.Designed as a quick reference tool and an easy study guide, this inexpensive and easy-to-use book offers completely up-to-date terms for modern telecommunications, idioms, and slang. The contents are arranged for quick access to phrases related to greetings, transportation, shoppin

  12. Jeu de cartes or Jeu Descartes: Business Cards in a French Course for the Professions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gegerias, Mary

    This paper discusses the use of French business cards in a college-level French language and culture course for professionals. Among other assignments, students were each given a different card and asked to speak about the design of their card, the business represented, idiomatic expressions and historical allusions on the card, and the use of…

  13. Current Approaches to the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett, Martin T.; And Others

    Five papers presented at a language conference are compiled in this report. They include: (1) "Le Francais au Pot-Pourri," or "Adapting the 'Open-Classroom' to the Teaching of Foreign Languages," (2) "We Can Teach Anyone to Speak French," (3) "The Use of Puppetry in the Teaching of Foreign Languages," (4) "A New Perspective for Integrated Foreign…

  14. Language Policy, Multilingual Education, and Power in Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samuelson, Beth Lewis; Freedman, Sarah Warshauer

    2010-01-01

    The evolution of Rwanda's language policies since 1996 has played and continues to play a critical role in social reconstruction following war and genocide. Rwanda's new English language policy aims to drop French and install English as the only language of instruction. The policy-makers frame the change as a major factor in the success of social…

  15. English in the French Workplace: Realism and Anxieties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deneire, Marc

    2008-01-01

    The adoption of English as a corporate language in an increasingly large number of French companies has provoked various reactions ranging from enthusiastic embrace to strong rejection based on anxiety and cultural protectionism. This paper is an attempt to understand these reactions based on a stratified study of the extent to which English has…

  16. LEARNING HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Moniek Laurent

    2002-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. Languages: French and English. Length: 3 days, 7 hours per day. Dates: 4, 5, 6 March 2002. Price: 460 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training   Language Training Moniek Laurent Tel. 78582 moniek.laurent@cern.ch

  17. Gaining Competence in Communication and Culture through French Advertisements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doering, E. Jane

    1993-01-01

    Printed advertisements from magazines and billboards, stored on slides, are recommended as fertile sources of cultural information for French language instruction. They create a simultaneous visual impact on all students, are easily stored and used, can be kept current, and promote communicative activities in the classroom. (11 references) (MSE)

  18. Le Français et le processus d'intégration en Afrique (French and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    It is necessary to emphasize that France and the French language remain in the vanguard of integration efforts in Africa. From colonization era till present day, functional integration organizations, engineered by language and communication contents, had emerged and continue to emerge in francophone Africa for better ...

  19. Transfer effects in learning a second language grammatical gender system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sabourin, Laura; Stowe, Laurie A; de Haan, Ger J

    In this article second language (L2) knowledge of Dutch grammatical gender is investigated. Adult speakers of German, English and a Romance language (French, Italian or Spanish) were investigated to explore the role of transfer in learning the Dutch grammatical gender system. In the first language

  20. Burns - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Translations Russian (Русский) Expand Section Burn Care - Русский (Russian) Bilingual ... Health Information Translations Characters not displaying correctly on this page? See language display issues . Return to the MedlinePlus Health Information ...

  1. A Cross-Linguistic Study of the Development of Gesture and Speech in Zulu and French Oral Narratives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolas, Ramona Kunene; Guidetti, Michele; Colletta, Jean-Marc

    2017-01-01

    The present study reports on a developmental and cross-linguistic study of oral narratives produced by speakers of Zulu (a Bantu language) and French (a Romance language). Specifically, we focus on oral narrative performance as a bimodal (i.e., linguistic and gestural) behaviour during the late language acquisition phase. We analyzed seventy-two…

  2. Cost-Effectiveness of Treatments for Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A French Societal Perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Chevalier

    Full Text Available The paper aimed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER at the public published price for delayed-release dimethyl fumarate versus relevant Multiple Sclerosis disease-modifying therapies available in France in June 2015.The economic model was adapted to the French setting in accordance with the Haute Autorité de Santé guidelines using a model previously developed for NICE. A cohort of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients was simulated over a 30-year time horizon. Twenty one health states were taken into account: Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS 0-9 for Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients, EDSS 0-9 for Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis patients, and death. Estimates of relative treatment efficacy were determined using a mixed-treatment comparison. Probabilities of events were derived from the dimethyl fumarate pivotal clinical trials and the London Ontario Dataset. Costs and utilities were extracted from the published literature from both the payer and societal perspectives. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the model results.From both perspectives, dimethyl fumarate and interferon beta-1a (IFN beta-1a 44 mcg were the two optimal treatments, as the other treatments (IFN beta-1a 30 mcg, IFN beta-1b 250 mcg, teriflunomide, glatiramer acetate, fingolimod were dominated on the efficiency frontier. From the societal perspective, dimethyl fumarate versus IFN beta-1a 44 mcg incurred an incremental cost of €3,684 and an incremental quality-adjusted life year (QALY of 0.281, corresponding to an ICER of €13,110/QALY.Despite no reference threshold for France, dimethyl fumarate can be considered as a cost-effective option as it is on the efficiency frontier.

  3. Cost-Effectiveness of Treatments for Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A French Societal Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevalier, Julie; Chamoux, Catherine; Hammès, Florence; Chicoye, Annie

    2016-01-01

    The paper aimed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) at the public published price for delayed-release dimethyl fumarate versus relevant Multiple Sclerosis disease-modifying therapies available in France in June 2015. The economic model was adapted to the French setting in accordance with the Haute Autorité de Santé guidelines using a model previously developed for NICE. A cohort of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients was simulated over a 30-year time horizon. Twenty one health states were taken into account: Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 0-9 for Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients, EDSS 0-9 for Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis patients, and death. Estimates of relative treatment efficacy were determined using a mixed-treatment comparison. Probabilities of events were derived from the dimethyl fumarate pivotal clinical trials and the London Ontario Dataset. Costs and utilities were extracted from the published literature from both the payer and societal perspectives. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the model results. From both perspectives, dimethyl fumarate and interferon beta-1a (IFN beta-1a) 44 mcg were the two optimal treatments, as the other treatments (IFN beta-1a 30 mcg, IFN beta-1b 250 mcg, teriflunomide, glatiramer acetate, fingolimod) were dominated on the efficiency frontier. From the societal perspective, dimethyl fumarate versus IFN beta-1a 44 mcg incurred an incremental cost of €3,684 and an incremental quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of 0.281, corresponding to an ICER of €13,110/QALY. Despite no reference threshold for France, dimethyl fumarate can be considered as a cost-effective option as it is on the efficiency frontier.

  4. Let's all speak together! Exploring the masking effects of various languages on spoken word identification in multi-linguistic babble.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gautreau, Aurore; Hoen, Michel; Meunier, Fanny

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed to characterize the linguistic interference that occurs during speech-in-speech comprehension by combining offline and online measures, which included an intelligibility task (at a -5 dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and 2 lexical decision tasks (at a -5 dB and 0 dB SNR) that were performed with French spoken target words. In these 3 experiments we always compared the masking effects of speech backgrounds (i.e., 4-talker babble) that were produced in the same language as the target language (i.e., French) or in unknown foreign languages (i.e., Irish and Italian) to the masking effects of corresponding non-speech backgrounds (i.e., speech-derived fluctuating noise). The fluctuating noise contained similar spectro-temporal information as babble but lacked linguistic information. At -5 dB SNR, both tasks revealed significantly divergent results between the unknown languages (i.e., Irish and Italian) with Italian and French hindering French target word identification to a similar extent, whereas Irish led to significantly better performances on these tasks. By comparing the performances obtained with speech and fluctuating noise backgrounds, we were able to evaluate the effect of each language. The intelligibility task showed a significant difference between babble and fluctuating noise for French, Irish and Italian, suggesting acoustic and linguistic effects for each language. However, the lexical decision task, which reduces the effect of post-lexical interference, appeared to be more accurate, as it only revealed a linguistic effect for French. Thus, although French and Italian had equivalent masking effects on French word identification, the nature of their interference was different. This finding suggests that the differences observed between the masking effects of Italian and Irish can be explained at an acoustic level but not at a linguistic level.

  5. Doctoral Degrees Granted in Foreign Languages in the United States: 1993.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benseler, David P.; Lannoch, Martha Calvert

    1994-01-01

    Findings are reported from the annual survey of doctoral degrees granted in foreign languages, literatures, cultures, linguistics, and foreign language education in the following categories: African, Asian, French, Germanic, Italian, Near and Middle Eastern, Slavic, and Spanish languages/literatures; classics; comparative literature; theoretical…

  6. The comparability of English, French and Dutch scores on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F: an assessment of differential item functioning in patients with systemic sclerosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Kwakkenbos

    Full Text Available The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F is commonly used to assess fatigue in rheumatic diseases, and has shown to discriminate better across levels of the fatigue spectrum than other commonly used measures. The aim of this study was to assess the cross-language measurement equivalence of the English, French, and Dutch versions of the FACIT-F in systemic sclerosis (SSc patients.The FACIT-F was completed by 871 English-speaking Canadian, 238 French-speaking Canadian and 230 Dutch SSc patients. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure in the three samples. The Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause (MIMIC model was utilized to assess differential item functioning (DIF, comparing English versus French and versus Dutch patient responses separately.A unidimensional factor model showed good fit in all samples. Comparing French versus English patients, statistically significant, but small-magnitude DIF was found for 3 of 13 items. French patients had 0.04 of a standard deviation (SD lower latent fatigue scores than English patients and there was an increase of only 0.03 SD after accounting for DIF. For the Dutch versus English comparison, 4 items showed small, but statistically significant, DIF. Dutch patients had 0.20 SD lower latent fatigue scores than English patients. After correcting for DIF, there was a reduction of 0.16 SD in this difference.There was statistically significant DIF in several items, but the overall effect on fatigue scores was minimal. English, French and Dutch versions of the FACIT-F can be reasonably treated as having equivalent scoring metrics.

  7. Symbolic Codes of Communication in the Victorian Era: The Language of Flowers in John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina PĂTRAȘCU

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available John Fowles’s love of nature is illustrated by the great variety of landscapes and flowers present everywhere throughout his fiction. His interest goes well beyond that of a mere admirer of flowers as it is proved by his knowledge of their names and species and by his great ability to describe and use them as symbols, as carriers of meaning. In all his six novels, Fowles makes extensive references to flowers and their symbolism and The French Lieutenant’s Woman is no exception in this sense. The present article aims to prove that the language of flowers as a form of symbolic communication was very much used in the Victorian era, which Fowles reconstructs minutely. At the same time, the close analysis of the text will reveal that the novelist uses flowers as a symbolic code of communication with his readers so as to disclose the hidden nature of his characters. The focus is placed on decoding the language of flowers, as there is no systematic approach to it in the critical writings on Fowles’s fiction.

  8. The Concurrent Development of Spelling Skills in Two Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joy, Rhonda

    2011-01-01

    The study reported on in this paper investigated the concurrent development of spelling in children learning two languages. The study compared over time and between languages the types of spelling errors made in English as a first language and French as a second. Fortyseven grade one English-speaking children completed an English and French…

  9. Psychometric properties of the 7-item game addiction scale among french and German speaking adults

    OpenAIRE

    Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Rothen, Stephane; Achab, Sophia; Thorens, Gabriel; Zullino, Daniele; Gmel, Gerhard

    2016-01-01

    Background The 7-item Game Addiction Scale (GAS) is a used to screen for addictive game use. Both cross cross-linguistic validation and validation in French and German is needed in adult samples. The objective of the study is to assess the factorial structure of the French and German versions of the GAS among adults. Methods Two samples of men from French (N?=?3318) and German (N?=?2665) language areas of Switzerland were assessed with the GAS, the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Brief ...

  10. Workshop | Diversity in Language | 6 October

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    The Diversity team, in collaboration with the Translation and Minutes group (DG-TM), has organised a workshop entitled “Rédiger en français sans exclure: questions de genre”, inviting us to think about the use of non-discriminatory language in French in terms of gender.   Natalie Garde, from the French Translation section, will give a presentation on the pragmatic solutions that the section has adopted, in an interactive workshop that will take place on Monday, 6 October, 2014 from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in Room 4-3-006 (Theory department auditorium). Language can exclude and also hide certain realities. Following a heightened awareness of this fact, new ways of using language that aim to make women more visible are beginning to appear. Sometimes, though, we can get a little lost. Should we say “une femme ingénieur” or “une ingénieure”, for example? Is it logical to speak of ...

  11. Languages on the screen: is film comprehension related to the viewers' fluency level and to the language in the subtitles?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavaur, Jean-Marc; Bairstow, Dominique

    2011-12-01

    This research aimed at studying the role of subtitling in film comprehension. It focused on the languages in which the subtitles are written and on the participants' fluency levels in the languages presented in the film. In a preliminary part of the study, the most salient visual and dialogue elements of a short sequence of an English film were extracted by the means of a free recall task after showing two versions of the film (first a silent, then a dubbed-into-French version) to native French speakers. This visual and dialogue information was used in the setting of a questionnaire concerning the understanding of the film presented in the main part of the study, in which other French native speakers with beginner, intermediate, or advanced fluency levels in English were shown one of three versions of the film used in the preliminary part. Respectively, these versions had no subtitles or they included either English or French subtitles. The results indicate a global interaction between all three factors in this study: For the beginners, visual processing dropped from the version without subtitles to that with English subtitles, and even more so if French subtitles were provided, whereas the effect of film version on dialogue comprehension was the reverse. The advanced participants achieved higher comprehension for both types of information with the version without subtitles, and dialogue information processing was always better than visual information processing. The intermediate group similarly processed dialogues in a better way than visual information, but was not affected by film version. These results imply that, depending on the viewers' fluency levels, the language of subtitles can have different effects on movie information processing.

  12. Teaching Culture and Language through the Multiple Intelligences Film Teaching Model in the ESL/EFL Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Ellen

    2014-01-01

    This paper will demonstrate how to enhance second language (L2) learners' linguistic and cultural competencies through the use of the Multiple Intelligences Film Teaching (MIFT) model. The paper will introduce two ideas to teachers of English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). First, the paper shows how L2 learners learn linguistic and…

  13. Dictionary of high-energy physics English, German, French, Russian

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sube, R.

    1987-01-01

    This volume contains nearly 4500 entries from branches of high-energy physics including cosmic radiation, elementary particles, elementary particle detection and measurement, field theories, and particle accelerators. Each English entry is numbered and followed by corresponding terms in the other languages. Alphabetical indexes of the German, French, and Russian terms are included

  14. The Concept of Competence in the French-Language Education Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayotte-Beaudet, Jean-Philippe

    2013-01-01

    The author reports on an exploratory study to establish a semantic base for the concept of competence in the French-speaking literature on education. Doing so will make it possible to identify neighbouring concepts or notions that researchers can use to determine definitions and applications for the concept. The research team found only one…

  15. LEARNING HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Language Training; Tel. 73127; Andrée Fontbonne; Tel. 72844

    2001-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. Languages: French and English. Length: 3 days, 7 hours per day. Dates: 4, 5, 6 March 2002. Price: 460 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training

  16. LEARNING HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Language Training; Tel. 73127; Andrée Fontbonne; Tel. 72844

    2001-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. Languages: French and English. Length: 3 days, 7 hours per day. Dates: 5, 6, 7 November 2001. Price: 460 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages: http://cern.ch/Training

  17. Validation of an Adapted French Form of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in Four Francophone Countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Claire S.; Broonen, Jean-Paul; Stauffer, Sarah D.; Hamtiaux, Armanda; Pouyaud, Jacques; Zecca, Gregory; Houssemand, Claude; Rossier, Jerome

    2013-01-01

    This study presents the validation of a French version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in four Francophone countries. The aim was to re-analyze the item selection and then compare this newly developed French-language form with the international form 2.0. Exploratory factor analysis was used as a tool for item selection, and confirmatory factor…

  18. From soldier to marshal: the origin of the ranks of the French army

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyadsky V.G.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available this article discusses one of the fragments of the lexical system of the French language – the origin of terms denoting military ranks in the armed forces of France. The etymological analysis is carried out in close connection with the concrete historical situation which gave rise to the need of such language units. The author outlines the practical basis of the comparative study of the ways of lexical designation of ranks in the major European languages, including Russian.

  19. What do children with specific language impairment do with multiple forms of DO?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, Mabel L; Blossom, Megan

    2013-02-01

    This study was designed to examine the early usage patterns of multiple grammatical functions of DO in children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Children's use of this plurifunctional form is informative for evaluation of theoretical accounts of the deficit in SLI. Spontaneous uses of multiple functions of DO were analyzed in language samples from 89 children: 37 children with SLI, ages 5;0-5;6 (years;months); 37 age-equivalent children; and 15 language-equivalent children, ages 2;8-4;10. Proportion correct and types of errors produced were analyzed for each function of DO. Children with SLI had significantly lower levels of proportion correct auxiliary DO use compared to both control groups, with omissions of the DO form as the primary error type. Children with SLI had near-ceiling performance on lexical DO and elliptical DO, similar to both control groups. Plurifunctionality is not problematic: Children acquire each function of DO separately. Grammatical properties of the function, rather than surface properties of the form, dictate whether children with SLI will have difficulty using the word. Overall, these results support the extended optional infinitive account of SLI and the use of auxiliary DO omissions as part of a clinical marker for SLI.

  20. The French TV Commercial as a Pedagogical Tool in the Classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Katherine

    1987-01-01

    Use of French television commercials as a pedagogical tool has a great advantage over "two-dimensional" advertisements because they provide authentic and current spoken language which is often reinforced by repetitions and musical tunes as well as visual slogans on the screen. (CB)

  1. Automated words stability and languages phylogeny

    OpenAIRE

    Petroni, Filippo; Serva, Maurizio

    2009-01-01

    The idea of measuring distance between languages seems to have its roots in the work of the French explorer Dumont D'Urville (D'Urville 1832). He collected comparative words lists of various languages during his voyages aboard the Astrolabe from 1826 to1829 and, in his work about the geographical division of the Pacific, he proposed a method to measure the degree of relation among languages. The method used by modern glottochronology, developed by Morris Swadesh in the 1950s (Swadesh 1952), m...

  2. Cooking verbs and metaphor Contrastive study of Greek and French

    OpenAIRE

    Tsaknaki, Olympia

    2016-01-01

    The present cross-linguistic study deals with cooking verbs in Greek and French in the light of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. It intends to explore uniformity and diversity in metaphorical conceptualizations and the lexical choices they underlie. It also discusses the significance of metaphor awareness in foreign language teaching.

  3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS OFFERED IN TURKISH UNIVERSITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bengül CETINTAS

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available n this study, the departments of philology and teaching, which take place in higher education programs in Turkey and give education in foreign language, have been examined. 23 different languages are offered to philology students who wants to attend to faculty of literature. Students can prefer classical languages besides modern languages. However, English, German, French, Arabic and Japanese are offered to the students of teaching department. To teach another foreign language, pedagogical formation is also required.This study focuses on the departments of German Language Teaching and German Language and Literature. From this point, the place and the importance of other philology and foreign language teaching departments in Turkish higher education have been examined.

  4. Beyond stuttering: Speech disfluencies in normally fluent French-speaking children at age 4.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclercq, Anne-Lise; Suaire, Pauline; Moyse, Astrid

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish normative data on the speech disfluencies of normally fluent French-speaking children at age 4, an age at which stuttering has begun in 95% of children who stutter (Yairi & Ambrose, 2013). Fifty monolingual French-speaking children who do not stutter participated in the study. Analyses of a conversational speech sample comprising 250-550 words revealed an average of 10% total disfluencies, 2% stuttering-like disfluencies and around 8% non-stuttered disfluencies. Possible explanations for these high speech disfluency frequencies are discussed, including explanations linked to French in particular. The results shed light on the importance of normative data specific to each language.

  5. English and French courses

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn a language, there is no excuse anymore!   You can attend one of our English or French courses and you can practise the language with a tandem partner! Cours d’anglais général et professionnel La prochaine session se déroulera du 3 mars au 27 juin 2014. Ces cours s’adressent à toute personne travaillant au CERN ainsi qu’à leur conjoint. Pour vous inscrire et voir tout le détail des cours proposés, consultez nos pages web : http://cern.ch/Training. Oral Expression The next session will take place from 3 March to 27 June 2014. This course is intended for people with a good knowledge of English who want to enhance their speaking skills. There will be an average of 8 participants in a class. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. depending on the needs of the students. Writing Profe...

  6. Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions about Strategies which Promote Proficiency in Second Language Writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monique Bournot-Trites

    2003-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract We examined the perceptions and suggestions of French immersion students regarding their progress in written production in French. Fifty-seven French immersion students were interviewed about two comparable compositions they had written in Grades 5 and 7 and asked about the differences they observed between the two. Students talked about what they had learned and which teaching and learning strategies they had found most effective. The students’ teachers from Grades 5 through 7 were also interviewed about the progress they had noticed in the two compositions. Findings suggest that French immersion students have a high degree of language awareness, understanding what contributes to their writing abilities. These include the benefits of grammar work, reading and vocabulary, and the transfer of first language writing skills.

  7. Posture verbs in French-speaking CLIL and non-CLIL learners of Dutch

    OpenAIRE

    Hiligsmann, Philippe; Spinhayer, Camille; Josse, Amélie; Eurosla 26 Conference

    2016-01-01

    Recent research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has confirmed that CLIL learners clearly outperform non-CLIL learners (Dalton-Puffer 2011). Although lexicon has often received pride of place in CLIL research, it is striking that studies have rarely been pushed beyond the word level. This paper therefore investigates the acquisition of Dutch posture verb constructions (PVs) in French-speaking (non-)CLIL learners. As in other Germanic languages, Dutch frequently uses compulso...

  8. The Comparability of English, French and Dutch Scores on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F): An Assessment of Differential Item Functioning in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwakkenbos, Linda; Willems, Linda M.; Baron, Murray; Hudson, Marie; Cella, David; van den Ende, Cornelia H. M.; Thombs, Brett D.

    2014-01-01

    Objective The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy- Fatigue (FACIT-F) is commonly used to assess fatigue in rheumatic diseases, and has shown to discriminate better across levels of the fatigue spectrum than other commonly used measures. The aim of this study was to assess the cross-language measurement equivalence of the English, French, and Dutch versions of the FACIT-F in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Methods The FACIT-F was completed by 871 English-speaking Canadian, 238 French-speaking Canadian and 230 Dutch SSc patients. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure in the three samples. The Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause (MIMIC) model was utilized to assess differential item functioning (DIF), comparing English versus French and versus Dutch patient responses separately. Results A unidimensional factor model showed good fit in all samples. Comparing French versus English patients, statistically significant, but small-magnitude DIF was found for 3 of 13 items. French patients had 0.04 of a standard deviation (SD) lower latent fatigue scores than English patients and there was an increase of only 0.03 SD after accounting for DIF. For the Dutch versus English comparison, 4 items showed small, but statistically significant, DIF. Dutch patients had 0.20 SD lower latent fatigue scores than English patients. After correcting for DIF, there was a reduction of 0.16 SD in this difference. Conclusions There was statistically significant DIF in several items, but the overall effect on fatigue scores was minimal. English, French and Dutch versions of the FACIT-F can be reasonably treated as having equivalent scoring metrics. PMID:24638101

  9. Language and "Psychological Race": Leopold de Saussure on French in Indochina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, John E.

    2000-01-01

    Suggests that certain features of race as defined in the work of Gustave Le Bon and Leopold de Saussure (on the psychology of French colonization) may survive in Ferdinand de Saussure's concept of "langue," adapted and transformed by Saussure's more modernist concept of history. (Author/VWL)

  10. Language Equality in International Cooperation. Esperanto Documents, New Series, No. 21.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harry, Ralph; Mandel, Mark

    The policies of the United Nations with regard to the six official languages have left holes in the fabric of international cooperation. Maintaining language services in all six languages has proved to be an impossibility because of the scarcity of trained interpreters and translators between, for instance, Chinese and Arabic. English, French, and…

  11. Success Strategies for Linguistically Competent Healthcare: The Magic Bullets and Cautionary Tales of the Active Offer of French-Language Health Services in Ontario.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmanova, Elina; Bouchard, Louise; Bonneville, Luc

    2018-01-01

    An active offer of French-language health services (FLHS) was introduced in several Canadian provinces to help create an environment that will anticipate the needs of Francophones in their community and will stimulate the demand for services in French. For the active offer to be implemented, changes in how health services are organized and managed at both organizational and system levels must be introduced. In this perspective paper, we identify several success strategies and potential pitfalls with regards to the implementation of the active offer of FLHS primarily at the level of healthcare organization. Our recommendations are based on a recent health services research study exploring reorganization and management strategies for the delivery of the active offer of FLHS in Ontario and insights from a focus group with healthcare administrators conducted as part of this research. We propose a ";wrap-around strategy" called organizational health literacy to help reorient organizational culture and improve management and sustainability of the active offer of FLHS. These strategies have relevance for advocates and professionals working to promote an active offer of FLHS, including healthcare administrators, human resource professionals, quality-improvement specialists and others. © 2018 Longwoods Publishing.

  12. Affective norms for 720 French words rated by children and adolescents (FANchild).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monnier, Catherine; Syssau, Arielle

    2017-10-01

    FANchild (French Affective Norms for Children) provides norms of valence and arousal for a large corpus of French words (N = 720) rated by 908 French children and adolescents (ages 7, 9, 11, and 13). The ratings were made using the Self-Assessment Manikin (Lang, 1980). Because it combines evaluations of arousal and valence and includes ratings provided by 7-, 9-, 11-, and 13-year-olds, this database complements and extends existing French-language databases. Good response reliability was observed in each of the four age groups. Despite a significant level of consensus, we found age differences in both the valence and arousal ratings: Seven- and 9-year-old children gave higher mean valence and arousal ratings than did the other age groups. Moreover, the tendency to judge words positively (i.e., positive bias) decreased with age. This age- and sex-related database will enable French-speaking researchers to study how the emotional character of words influences their cognitive processing, and how this influence evolves with age. FANchild is available at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine_Monnier/contributions .

  13. The CAM-ICU has now a French "official" version. The translation process of the 2014 updated Complete Training Manual of the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit in French (CAM-ICU.fr).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chanques, Gérald; Garnier, Océane; Carr, Julie; Conseil, Matthieu; de Jong, Audrey; Rowan, Christine M; Ely, E Wesley; Jaber, Samir

    2017-10-01

    Delirium is common in Intensive-Care-Unit (ICU) patients but under-recognized by bed-side clinicians when not using validated delirium-screening tools. The Confusion-Assessment-Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) has demonstrated very good psychometric properties, and has been translated into many different languages though not into French. We undertook this opportunity to describe the translation process. The translation was performed following recommended guidelines. The updated method published in 2014 including introduction letters, worksheet and flowsheet for bed-side use, the method itself, case-scenarios for training and Frequently-Asked-Questions (32 pages) was translated into French language by a neuropsychological researcher who was not familiar with the original method. Then, the whole method was back-translated by a native English-French bilingual speaker. The new English version was compared to the original one by the Vanderbilt University ICU-delirium-team. Discrepancies were discussed between the two teams before final approval of the French version. The entire process took one year. Among the 3692 words of the back-translated version of the method itself, 18 discrepancies occurred. Eight (44%) lead to changes in the final version. Details of the translation process are provided. The French version of CAM-ICU is now available for French-speaking ICUs. The CAM-ICU is provided with its complete training-manual that was challenging to translate following recommended process. While many such translations have been done for other clinical tools, few have published the details of the process itself. We hope that the availability of such teaching material will now facilitate a large implementation of delirium-screening in French-speaking ICUs. Copyright © 2017 Société française d'anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). All rights reserved.

  14. Functional Connectivity Changes in Second Language Vocabulary Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saidi, Ladan Ghazi; Perlbarg, Vincent; Marrelec, Guillaume; Pelegrini-Issac, Melani; Benali, Habib; Ansaldo, Ana-Ines

    2013-01-01

    Functional connectivity changes in the language network (Price, 2010), and in a control network involved in second language (L2) processing (Abutalebi & Green, 2007) were examined in a group of Persian (L1) speakers learning French (L2) words. Measures of network integration that characterize the global integrative state of a network (Marrelec,…

  15. Using arcade games to engage students in the learning of foreign and mother languages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelina Moura

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available It is imperative to continue thinking about and reinventing education because mobile technologies and the Web are redefining where, when and from whom we learn. Authors from different study fields have recognised the multiple possibilities of video games for language learning and for interdisciplinary use. Education can benefit from the potential of these artefacts if properly integrated into the educational process. This article describes a language learning experience based on electronic games – of the ARCADE type. This research has been carried out in order to study the learning of vocabulary, grammar and other school curriculum in Portuguese and French classes, both in Elementary and Vocational Education. The results show that video games have a positive impact on motivation for learning and cognitive development. Students’ perceptions show that ARCADE games were helpful in improving vocabulary and language skills. Interest in these games was the same for boys and girls, however further studies are needed.

  16. Dictionary of high-energy physics in English, German, French and Russian

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sube, R.

    1987-01-01

    The dictionary contains approximately 5,000 entries in each of the four languages covered (English, German, French and Russian). This dictionary provides a comprehensive collection of terms used in high-energy physics. The terms were compiled from specialized literature, including the most recent reports from research institutes and proceedings of conferences. The dictionary uses the approved lexicographical system of the other dictionaries. To each entry is added the special field from which the term derives and further information that may help in understanding the correct meaning of the term. The alphanumeric arrangement allows the user to translate from any of the four languages into any of the other languages included

  17. The new French Development aid towards French-speaking Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Konate, Sindou Michel

    2013-01-01

    This project is focused on French president François Hollande new policy initiation around French Development assistance issue, particularly to French speakingAfrica South of the Sahara. President Hollande wishes to distance himself from the practices of his predecessors on French Public Development Assistance toward its former African colonies This project is focused on French president François Hollande new policy initiation around French Development assistance issue, particularly to Fre...

  18. LEARNING HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Language Training; Tel. 73127; Andrée Fontbonne; Tel. 72844

    2001-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. Languages: French and English. Length: 3 days, 7 hours per day. Dates: 7, 8, 9 March 2001. Price: 462 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages: http://training.web.cern.ch/Training/LANG/lang0_F.html

  19. A Conceptual Schema Language for the Management of Multiple Representations of Geographic Entities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friis-Christensen, A.; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Nytun, J.P.

    2005-01-01

    Multiple representation of geographic information occurs when a real-world entity is represented more than once in the same or different databases. This occurs frequently in practice, and it invariably results in the occurrence of inconsistencies among the different representations of the same...... entity. In this paper, we propose an approach to the modeling of multiply represented entities, which is based on the relationships among the entities and their representations. Central to our approach is the Multiple Representation Schema Language that, by intuitive and declarative means, is used...... to specify rules that match objects representing the same entity, maintain consistency among these representations, and restore consistency if necessary. The rules configure a Multiple Representation Management System, the aim of which is to manage multiple representations over a number of autonomous...

  20. From Home to School: Bridging the Language Gap in Mauritian Preschools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auleear Owodally, Ambarin Mooznah

    2010-01-01

    Most Mauritian children face a language challenge as they leave their homes and start school. While most Mauritian children speak a French-lexified Creole as home language, the Mauritian primary education programme promotes English as the main language of literacy and the only written medium of instruction. In such a context, the preschool has the…

  1. Language profiles in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A community sample using multiple assessment instruments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevill, Rose; Hedley, Darren; Uljarević, Mirko; Sahin, Ensu; Zadek, Johanna; Butter, Eric; Mulick, James A

    2017-11-01

    This study investigated language profiles in a community-based sample of 104 children aged 1-3 years who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) diagnostic criteria. Language was assessed with the Mullen scales, Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition, and Vineland-II parent-report. The study aimed to determine whether the receptive-to-expressive language profile is independent from the assessment instrument used, and whether nonverbal cognition, early communicative behaviors, and autism spectrum disorder symptoms predict language scores. Receptive-to-expressive language profiles differed between assessment instruments and reporters, and Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition profiles were also dependent on developmental level. Nonverbal cognition and joint attention significantly predicted receptive language scores, and nonverbal cognition and frequency of vocalizations predicted expressive language scores. These findings support the administration of multiple direct assessment and parent-report instruments when evaluating language in young children with autism spectrum disorder, for both research and in clinical settings. Results also support that joint attention is a useful intervention target for improving receptive language skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Future research comparing language profiles of young children with autism spectrum disorder to children with non-autism spectrum disorder developmental delays and typical development will add to our knowledge of early language development in children with autism spectrum disorder.

  2. Dyslexia subtypes in languages differing in orthographic transparency:English, French and Spanish / Subtipos de dislexia en lenguas que difieren en la transparencia ortográfica: inglés, francés y español

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliane Sprenger-Charolles

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The existence of dissociated profiles in developmental dyslexia (the phonological profile with a selective deficit of the phonological reading route, and the surface profile with a selective deficit of the lexical reading route versus mixed profiles (with both deficits remains a major theoretical and clinical issue, along with the prevalence of these profiles and the variation in that prevalence across languages with different degrees of orthographic transparency. These issues are examined in a review of studies conducted in English, French and Spanish in which subtyping was established using either the classical method or the regression method. The most reliable results were those obtained with the classical method: (1 the most prevalent profile is the mixed profile; (2 the prevalence of dissociated profiles differs across languages and measures, phonological profiles being more frequent in the accuracy-based English studies than in the accuracy-based French and Spanish studies, and less frequent in the accuracy-based than in the latency-based French and Spanish studies. These last findings probably reflect a measurement issue, as it is easy to use the phonological reading route in transparent orthographies: in these cases, reading speed must be used to detect phonological deficits. These results are not consistent with the idea that clear-cut subtypes can be detected in developmental dyslexia.

  3. The role of Gallo in the identity of Upper-Breton school pupils of the language variety and their parents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nolan, John Shaun

    2008-01-01

    is of a positive nature for many respondents, but particularly for the younger generation. However, this identity role does not necessarily require it to be spoken and Gallo, which has up to recent years been socially marginalised in favour of Breton and French, may find a place for itself in Brittany's identity......Whilst recent studies have provided pivotal insights into the relationship between Bretons and the principle languages of Brittany, Breton and French, this paper aims to shed light on the relationship between Brittany's northern French near language (Oïl) variety, Gallo, and the identity...... historically subject to a highly negative linguistic culture in both the French and Breton language contexts, for many respondents Gallo is perceived as continuing to play a role in their identity. This role, whilst it is restricted to the Upper-Breton region, tradition, the countryside and the family...

  4. L'evaluation de la competence linguistique des membres des ordres professionnels au Quebec (The Quebec Region Evaluation of Professional Personnel's Language Proficiency).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gareau, Claude

    1981-01-01

    Describes a testing program designed to assess the French language proficiency of professionals desiring to practice in the Quebec region. Discusses the criteria used for the construction, administration, and scoring of the tests in compliance with the 1977 French language legislation. (MES)

  5. Reassessing gallo as a regional language in France

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nolan, John Shaun

    2011-01-01

    emancipation is to be socio-politically acceptable, some degree of care has to be exercised in the manner in which it is presented and what facets are emphasized in the French context. Indeed, through their long established activism in favor of regional languages in the education system, regional language...... movements and not least the Gallo movement are already well-positioned to promote one of the main and most compelling arguments for contemporary language emancipation: this is that an active knowledge of two or more languages, including a regional language, is beneficial to the individual and to society...

  6. Making Meaning with Multimedia in Secondary English Language Arts: A Multiple Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahoney, Kerrigan Rose

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this multiple case study was to learn about how secondary English language arts (ELA) teachers help students to make meaning with multimedia. The study focused on how and why teachers plan and implement meaning-making learning experiences. The cases represent the experiences and perspectives of five ELA teachers who use digital and…

  7. The role of the left inferior parietal lobule in second language learning: An intensive language training fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbeau, Elise B; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Chen, Jen-Kai; Soles, Jennika; Berken, Jonathan; Baum, Shari; Watkins, Kate E; Klein, Denise

    2017-04-01

    Research to date suggests that second language acquisition results in functional and structural changes in the bilingual brain, however, in what way and how quickly these changes occur remains unclear. To address these questions, we studied fourteen English-speaking monolingual adults enrolled in a 12-week intensive French language-training program in Montreal. Using functional MRI, we investigated the neural changes associated with new language acquisition. The participants were scanned before the start of the immersion program and at the end of the 12 weeks. The fMRI scan aimed to investigate the brain regions recruited in a sentence reading task both in English, their first language (L1), and in French, their second language (L2). For the L1, fMRI patterns did not change from Time 1 to Time 2, while for the L2, the brain response changed between Time 1 and Time 2 in language-related areas. Of note, for the L2, there was higher activation at Time 2 compared to Time 1 in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) including the supramarginal gyrus. At Time 2 this higher activation in the IPL correlated with faster L2 reading speed. Moreover, higher activation in the left IPL at Time 1 predicted improvement in L2 reading speed from Time 1 to Time 2. Our results suggest that learning-induced plasticity occurred as early as 12 weeks into immersive second-language training, and that the IPL appears to play a special role in language learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. FOREIGN LANGUAGE OFFERINGS AND ENROLLMENTS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS, FALL 1965.

    Science.gov (United States)

    RUTIMANN, HANS; TEAGUE, CAROLINE

    THIS REPORT ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENROLLMENTS, THE EIGHTH IN A SERIES PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, SHOWS THE LANGUAGE ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS (GRADES 7 TO 12) WHICH, IN 1965, WAS 85.8 PERCENT ENROLLED IN SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, RUSSIAN, AND ITALIAN, 13.9 PERCENT ENROLLED IN LATIN, AND 0.3 PERCENT IN "OTHER" LANGUAGES. THREE BASIC…

  9. External and Internal Conditionality of Language Borrowing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Лилия Михайловна Букина

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article looks at the factors that condition borrowings in language. The exposure of borrowings in the language system is based on precise differentiation of intralinguistic and extralinguistic factors. The theoretical basis for this study were the works of Russian and foreign scientists (Bagana Zh., Breiter M.A., Crystal D., Kryisin L.P., et al who were interested in such diversified phenomena as borrowings, in general, and in particular the reasons for them. Research is being conducted on the basis of the French language, certain illustrative units derived empirically in the process of researching these French websites: http://www.linternaute.com, http://www.elle.fr, http://www.wuzz.fr, http://www.eurosport.fr, etc. Borrowing can occur on all levels of language, but we considered the factors that facilitate borrowing and assimilation in the recipient language of lexical borrowings. The research is aimed at considering points of view of different linguists on the problem of borrowing into the recipient language and revealing similarities and differences in the views of scientists. Notwithstanding the fact that external reasons are acting as stimuli for borrowing, there are many linguistic research works that highlight their importance in the appearance and customization of foreign words in the recipient language. Intralinguistic factors dominate in the process of adopting a foreign word into the vocabulary of another language. Psychological factors play one of the key roles in the appearance of borrowings, as language contact is performed when bilingual speakers who have separate linguistic identities communicate. During the research the following methods were used: continuous sampling method, descriptive and analytical method, method of semantic analysis, method of comparison and contrasting.

  10. Scandinavian Mass Communication Research: Publications in English, French and German.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordic Documentation Center for Mass Communication Research, Aarhus (Denmark).

    This update to the bibliographies from Nordicom edited in 1975 and 1976 lists publications on mass communications research from Denmark, Finland, and Norway, that have appeared in one or more of the three languages--English, French, or German. Materials are listed for each country separately, arranged by author (or title if there is no author),…

  11. Facebook for informal language learning: Perspectives from tertiary language students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonie Alm

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the use of Facebook for out-of-class, informal language learning. 190 New Zealand university language students (Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Spanish completed an anonymous online questionnaire on (1 their perceptions of Facebook as a multilingual environment, (2 their online writing practices and (3 their views on the educational value of their experiences. Findings indicate that language students are using a range of Facebook features to expose themselves to the languages they study (L2 and to communicate in their L2 with native speaker Facebook friends. The use of the social networking site varied according to proficiency-levels of the participants (beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, strength of social ties with native speaker Facebook friends and personal attitudes towards the site. Learning experiences on Facebook were not perceived as useful for the formal language learning context which suggests the need for bridging strategies between informal and formal learning environments.

  12. Gastrointestinal Bleeding - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Translations Russian (Русский) Expand Section Hemoccult Test - Русский (Russian) Bilingual ... Health Information Translations Characters not displaying correctly on this page? See language display issues . Return to the MedlinePlus Health Information ...

  13. Speaking in Multiple Languages: Neural Correlates of Language Proficiency in Multilingual Word Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Videsott, Gerda; Herrnberger, Barbel; Hoenig, Klaus; Schilly, Edgar; Grothe, Jo; Wiater, Werner; Spitzer, Manfred; Kiefer, Markus

    2010-01-01

    The human brain has the fascinating ability to represent and to process several languages. Although the first and further languages activate partially different brain networks, the linguistic factors underlying these differences in language processing have to be further specified. We investigated the neural correlates of language proficiency in a…

  14. New Perspectives on the History of American Sign Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Emily; Delaporte, Yves

    2011-01-01

    Examinations of the etymology of American Sign Language have typically involved superficial analyses of signs as they exist over a short period of time. While it is widely known that ASL is related to French Sign Language, there has yet to be a comprehensive study of this historic relationship between their lexicons. This article presents…

  15. French validation of the internet addiction test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khazaal, Yasser; Billieux, Joël; Thorens, Gabriel; Khan, Riaz; Louati, Youssr; Scarlatti, Elisa; Theintz, Florence; Lederrey, Jerome; Van Der Linden, Martial; Zullino, Daniele

    2008-12-01

    The main goal of the present study is to investigate the psychometric properties of a French version of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and to assess its relationship with both time spent on Internet and online gaming. The French version of the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) was administered to a sample of 246 adults. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were carried out. We discovered that a one-factor model of the IAT has good psychometric properties and fits the data well, which is not the case of a six-factor model as found in previous studies using exploratory methods. Correlation analysis revealed positive significant relationships between IAT scores and both the daily duration of Internet use and the fact of being an online player. In addition, younger people scored higher on the IAT. The one-factor model found in this study has to be replicated in other IAT language versions.

  16. English and Mauritian Creole: A Reflection on How the Vocabulary, Grammar and Syntax of the Two Languages Create Difficulties for Learners

    OpenAIRE

    Kobita Kumari Jugnauth

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the various linguistic reasons that cause Mauritian students to experience difficulties while learning English. As Mauritius is a former British and French colony, most Mauritians are bilinguals. Both English and French are compulsory subjects up to Cambridge O’Level. English is the official language and also the language of instruction but French is much more widely used and spoken. Also Mauritian Creole is the mothertongue of the majority of Maurit...

  17. Communicative teaching of French in upper secondary education and the improvement of pupils' interactive speaking proficiency through peer feedback

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rentrop, J.; Haenen, J.P.P.; de Graaff, R.

    2011-01-01

    Language teachers experience great difficulties in stimulating their students to speak the target language. In the Netherlands, this is certainly the case for French. Much time and energy are needed from the part of the teachers in order to engage their students in interactive speaking learning

  18. Can Faces Prime a Language?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woumans, Evy; Martin, Clara D; Vanden Bulcke, Charlotte; Van Assche, Eva; Costa, Albert; Hartsuiker, Robert J; Duyck, Wouter

    2015-09-01

    Bilinguals have two languages that are activated in parallel. During speech production, one of these languages must be selected on the basis of some cue. The present study investigated whether the face of an interlocutor can serve as such a cue. Spanish-Catalan and Dutch-French bilinguals were first familiarized with certain faces, each of which was associated with only one language, during simulated Skype conversations. Afterward, these participants performed a language production task in which they generated words associated with the words produced by familiar and unfamiliar faces displayed on-screen. When responding to familiar faces, participants produced words faster if the faces were speaking the same language as in the previous Skype simulation than if the same faces were speaking a different language. Furthermore, this language priming effect disappeared when it became clear that the interlocutors were actually bilingual. These findings suggest that faces can prime a language, but their cuing effect disappears when it turns out that they are unreliable as language cues. © The Author(s) 2015.

  19. Language Learner Beliefs from an Attributional Perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Gabillon, Zehra

    2013-01-01

    International audience; This qualitative study, aimed to analyze eight French-speaking learners' beliefs about English and English language learning. The data were obtained via semi-structured interviews. The study drew on Weiner's attribution theory of achievement motivation and Bandura's self-efficacy theory. The novelty about this research is the employment of an attributional analysis framework to study and explain the learners' stated beliefs about English and English language learning.

  20. Ways of Expressing Apologies and Thanks in French and Japanese Personal Emails: a Comparison of Politeness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    - Шанталь Клодель

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the ways in which politeness is used in French and Japanese personal emails (i.e. from one person to another. The data for the study consist of 411 emails from both communities and regrouped by criteria such as the correspondents’ gender, age and relationship (close vs distant; hierarchical vs equal. Two widely studied acts, very present in the French and Japanese data, namely thanking and apologising, are analysed. First of all, the notion of politeness is examined as it is understood in French and Japanese cultures, followed by a discussion of the positioning adopted by the various established approaches to this notion. This leads us to reconsider the concept of face as it is understood in Europe and Asia, the notion of discernment (Ide and the theory of the territory of information (Kamio, as well as to re-examine the approach of politeness in the light of recent research findings. Following this overview, the paper proposes a framework where a distinction between politeness and civility is advocated. In this perspective, the means used to express politeness ( politeness in its broader meaning are based on personal choices: either due to politeness (in a specific meaning or according to social obligations ascribable to civility. More specifically, politeness (in it specific meaning in one side is linked to personal choice. In French for instance, this can result from language used: formal language vs common language ( convier vs inviter ; verbal choices (conditional verbs instead of indicative tenses: je voudrais vs je veux ; syntax (inversion of the subject or not in questions, etc. In Japanese, politeness can be detected through the choice to use of the suffix desu ( kawaii desu ( it is cute when neutral or common language could be suitable ( kawaii ( it is cute . In the other side, civility refers to the obligation to respect social norms. In French, the speaker may have to use the pronoun of address vous (vs tu as

  1. Blended Learning and Disciplinarity: Negotiating Connections in French Studies in Regional Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Neil; Rolls, Alistair

    2012-01-01

    In this article, we outline the challenges facing French Studies in regional Australian universities resulting from an increasingly vocational curriculum and doubts about the cost-effectiveness of language learning in higher education. These pressures have resulted in a process of discipline restructuring and significant cuts in the numbers of…

  2. Towards a Sociolinguistically Responsive Pedagogy: Teaching Second-Person Address Forms in French

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Compernolle, Remi A.

    2010-01-01

    This article presents a sociolinguistically responsive model of pedagogy situated within existing sociocultural and communicative approaches to language learning and teaching. The specific focus of the discussion is on the French pronouns of address, "tu" and "vous". The article reviews previous research on second-person address in educational and…

  3. Liaison Acquisition, Word Segmentation and Construction in French: A Usage-Based Account

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevrot, Jean-Pierre; Dugua, Celine; Fayol, Michel

    2009-01-01

    In the linguistics field, liaison in French is interpreted as an indicator of interactions between the various levels of language organization. The current study examines the same issue while adopting a developmental perspective. Five experiments involving children aged two to six years provide evidence for a developmental scenario which…

  4. A Loud yet Hardly Audible Voice : Urban Youth Language in “Street Literature”

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Linn, Stella; Sepp, Arvi; Humblé, Philippe

    2016-01-01

    Conference abstract: Recent years have seen the appearance of a new use of language in the French postcolonial novel: the French urban youth vernacular or français contemporain des cités (FCC). This linguistic variety allows underprivileged youths from the banlieues to express their rebellion

  5. Language and Play in Students with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairments or Deaf-Blindness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pizzo, Lianna; Bruce, Susan M.

    2010-01-01

    This article investigates the relationships between play and language development in students with multiple disabilities and visual impairments or deaf-blindness. The findings indicate that students with higher levels of communication demonstrate more advanced play skills and that the use of play-based assessment and exposure to symbolic play are…

  6. Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macleod, Andrea An; Fabiano-Smith, Leah; Boegner-Pagé, Sarah; Fontolliet, Salomé

    2013-02-01

    Parents often turn to educators and healthcare professionals for advice on how to best support their child's language development. These professionals frequently suggest implementing the 'one-parent-one-language' approach to ensure consistent exposure to both languages. The goal of this study was to understand how language exposure influences the receptive vocabulary development of simultaneous bilingual children. To this end, we targeted nine German-French children growing up in bilingual families. Their exposure to each language within and outside the home was measured, as were their receptive vocabulary abilities in German and French. The results indicate that children are receiving imbalanced exposure to each language. This imbalance is leading to a slowed development of the receptive vocabulary in the minority language, while the majority language is keeping pace with monolingual peers. The one-parent-one-language approach does not appear to support the development of both of the child's languages in the context described in the present study. Bilingual families may need to consider other options for supporting the bilingual language development of their children. As professionals, we need to provide parents with advice that is based on available data and that is flexible with regards to the current and future needs of the child and his family.

  7. Anatomical variability in the cortical representation of first and second language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehaene, S; Dupoux, E; Mehler, J; Cohen, L; Paulesu, E; Perani, D; van de Moortele, P F; Lehéricy, S; Le Bihan, D

    1997-12-01

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess inter-subject variability in the cortical representation of language comprehension processes. Moderately fluent French-English bilinguals were scanned while they listened to stories in their first language (L1 = French) or in a second language (L2 = English) acquired at school after the age of seven. In all subjects, listening to L1 always activated a similar set of areas in the left temporal lobe, clustered along the left superior temporal sulcus. Listening to L2, however, activated a highly variable network of left and right temporal and frontal areas, sometimes restricted only to right-hemispheric regions. These results support the hypothesis that first language acquisition relies on a dedicated left-hemispheric cerebral network, while late second language acquisition is not necessarily associated with a reproducible biological substrate. The postulated contribution of the right hemisphere to L2 comprehension is found to hold only on average, individual subjects varying from complete right lateralization to standard left lateralization for L2.

  8. State-of-the-art in the development of the Lokono language

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rybka, K.

    2015-01-01

    Lokono is a critically endangered Northern Arawakan language spoken in the peri- coastal areas of the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana). Today, in every Lokono village there remains only a small number of elderly native speakers. However, in spite of the ongoing language loss, across the

  9. Teaching French Transformational Grammar by Means of Computer-Generated Video-Tapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Alfred; Thomas, Jean Jacques

    This paper describes a pilot program in an integrated media presentation of foreign languages and the production and usage of seven computer-generated video tapes which demonstrate various aspects of French syntax. This instructional set could form the basis for CAI lessons in which the student is presented images identical to those on the video…

  10. Can an Interactive Digital Game Help French Learners Improve Their Pronunciation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Walcir; Rueb, Avery; Grimshaw, Jennica

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the effects of the pedagogical use of an interactive mobile digital game, Prêt à Négocier (PàN), on improving learners' pronunciation of French as a Second Language (FSL), using three holistic measures: comprehensibility, fluency, and overall pronunciation. Two groups of FSL learners engaged in different types of game-playing…

  11. Teaching and Learning French--A Tale of Desire in the Humanities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, Catriona

    2017-01-01

    This article considers the way we talk about learning and teaching the humanities in higher education in the UK. By using the tools of the arts and humanities within the scholarship of learning and teaching, and examining a personal perspective, the author explores the transformational impact of French language learning and teaching. Close textual…

  12. To What Extent Are Canadian Second Language Policies Evidence-Based? Reflections on the Intersections of Research and Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jim eCummins

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the intersections between research, ideology, and Canadian educational policies focusing on four major areas: (a core and immersion programs for the teaching of French to Anglophone students, (b policies concerning the learning of English and French by students from immigrant backgrounds, (c heritage language teaching, and (d the education of Deaf and hard-of hearing students. With respect to the teaching of French, policy-makers have largely ignored the fact that most core French programs produce meager results for the vast majority of students. Only a small proportion of students (< 10% attend more effective alternatives (e.g. French immersion and Intensive French programs. With respect to immigrant-background students, a large majority of teachers and administrators have not had opportunities to access the knowledge base regarding effective instruction for these students nor have they had opportunities for pre-service or in-service professional development regarding effective instructional practices. Educational policies have also treated the linguistic resources that children bring to school with, at best, benign neglect. In some cases (e.g., Ontario school systems have been explicitly prohibited from instituting enrichment bilingual programs that would promote students’ bilingualism and biliteracy. Finally, with respect to Deaf students, policy-makers have ignored overwhelming research on the positive relationship between academic success and the development of proficiency in natural sign languages, preferring instead to perpetuate the falsehood that acquisition of languages such as American Sign Language by young children (with or without cochlear implants will impede children’s language and academic development. The paper reviews the kinds of policies, programs, and practices that could be implemented (at no additional cost if policy-makers and educators pursued evidence-based educational policies.

  13. The decline of official language minorities in Quebec and English Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaujot, R P

    1982-01-01

    "This paper considers the evolution of French outside of Quebec and the English in Quebec.... The total historical set of national data on ethnicity, mother tongue, knowledge of official languages and home language [is first presented]. The 120 year stability showing French at around 30 percent of the national total is a function of compensating factors including high French fertility and high English immigration. During the 1960s both of these demographic supports disappeared and thus mobility across linguistic lines has become a particularly sensitive issue. "The picture with regard to French outside of Quebec has changed rather radically in the last thirty-five years. For instance, there was one French child to every nine in 1941 and one to every twenty-one children in 1976. While the English of Quebec were once represented in various parts of the province, their strength is now largely limited to the Montreal metropolitan area which includes 76 percent of the English mother tongue group. Outside of Montreal, the English amounted to 7.9 percent of Quebec's population in 1941 and 5.6 percent in 1976. The paper concludes with a discussion of the social factors that underlie these trends and their relevance to the models of institutional and territorial bilingualism." (summary in FRE) excerpt

  14. The Importance of Games in Teaching Foreign Languages to Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alpar, Melek

    2013-01-01

    In teaching French as a foreign language, there is a constant development from traditional methods to action-oriented approaches. This development has arisen as a result of students' needs and of innovations in technology. Particularly in the last decade, there has been increasing interest in teaching foreign languages to children. Because of…

  15. Science &Language Teaching in Hands-on Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gehlert, Sylvia

    2002-01-01

    As announced in the paper presented in Toulouse, a trinational teacher training program addressing school teachers from France, Germany and Italy on teaching foreign languages together with science and history through Space related projects has been implemented and launched successfully. Supported by the French Ministry of Education (Académie de Nice), the bigovernmental French-German Youth Office (Office franco- allemand pour la Jeunesse) and the European Space Agency the first session was held in Cannes in October 2001 and brought together 36 language, science and history teachers, 12 from each country. Through different workshops, presentations and visits this five-day training encounter initiated the participants with Space activities and exploration as well as offering them back-up information on astronomy. It gave them furthermore the opportunity of improving their linguistic skills and of exchanging their teaching experience. The program was highly welcomed by all the participants who will meet this year in Germany for the second session devoted to establishing together bi- or trinational projects for future class encounters based on the same subjects. My paper will deal with the results of the program which have been beyond expectation and will encourage us to continue this pluridisciplinary approach of language &science teaching and extend it to other language combinations.

  16. Natural language computing an English generative grammar in Prolog

    CERN Document Server

    Dougherty, Ray C

    2013-01-01

    This book's main goal is to show readers how to use the linguistic theory of Noam Chomsky, called Universal Grammar, to represent English, French, and German on a computer using the Prolog computer language. In so doing, it presents a follow-the-dots approach to natural language processing, linguistic theory, artificial intelligence, and expert systems. The basic idea is to introduce meaningful answers to significant problems involved in representing human language data on a computer. The book offers a hands-on approach to anyone who wishes to gain a perspective on natural language

  17. L'Onomatopee dans la classe de francais (Onomatopoeia in the French Class).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunet, Jean-Paul

    1988-01-01

    Onomatopoeia is overlooked in many French grammar courses but plays a key role in everyday speech. Classification according to the feelings communicated stresses their importance. Students enjoy learning the sounds produced by animals in a second language and discovering the abundance of onomatopoeia in songs, commercials, comic books, and slang.…

  18. Do Questions Written in the Target Language Make Foreign Language Listening Comprehension Tests More Difficult?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filipi, Anna

    2012-01-01

    The Assessment of Language Competence (ALC) certificates is an annual, international testing program developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research to test the listening and reading comprehension skills of lower to middle year levels of secondary school. The tests are developed for three levels in French, German, Italian and…

  19. Every Classroom's a Stage: Theatrical Contributions to Language and Literature Teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waterson, Karolyn

    A discussion of use of theater in second language instruction describes one teacher's experience using French masterpieces in the language class. Illustrations are drawn from Racine's seventeenth-century classical tragedy "Andromaque." Five individual and group activities are described that are referred to as the Circle, the Interpreter, the…

  20. Do Korean L2 learners have a "foreign accent" when they speak French? Production and perception experiments on rhythm and intonation

    OpenAIRE

    Grandon , Bénédicte; Yoo , Hiyon

    2014-01-01

    International audience; French and Korean are two languages with similar prosodic characteristics as far as rhythm and intonation are concerned. In this paper, we present the results of production and perception tests where we describe the prosodic characteristics of Korean L2 learners of French. Our aim is to analyze the impression of "foreign accent" for two prosodic components (intonation and rhythm) of speech produced by Korean L2 learners of French and the perception of this "accent" by ...

  1. Towards a Repertoire-Building Approach: Multilingualism in Language Classes for Refugees in Luxembourg

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalocsányiová, Erika

    2017-01-01

    This contribution examines how the diverse language resources that teachers and learners bring to the classroom can support the process of language learning. It draws on a range of linguistic ethnographic data collected at a French language course that was attended mostly by Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Luxembourg. Drawing on the analysis of…

  2. Intonational Division of a Speech Flow in the Kazakh Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazarbayeva, Zeynep M.; Zhalalova, Akshay M.; Ormakhanova, Yenlik N.; Ospangaziyeva, Nazgul B.; Karbozova, Bulbul D.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to analyze the speech intonation of the French, Kazakh, English and Russian languages. The study considers intonation component functions (of melodics, duration, and intensity) in poetry and language spoken. It is defined that a set of prosodic means are used in order to convey the intonational specifics of sounding…

  3. LEARNING HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE

    CERN Multimedia

    Formation en Langues; Andrée Fontbonne - Tél. 72844; Language Training; Françoise Benz - Tel. 73127; Andrée Fontbonne - Tel. 72844

    2000-01-01

    This bilingual seminar is for anyone who would like to develop learning strategies and skills for learning a foreign language. It is particularly recommended for those wishing to sign up for a 3-month self-study session in the Resource Centre. Languages: French and English. Length: 5 hours a day for one week. Dates: 27 November to December 2000. Price: 490 CHF per person (for a group of 8 people). If you are interested, please enrol through our Web pages.

  4. Writing in learning/teaching in French (study case- freshmen “Alexander Xhuvani” University students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonarda Myslihaka

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Writing plays an important role in teaching and learning foreign languages. Students that can write in a foreign language have to verify their grammar, lexical and semantic performance and it is the role of the teacher to assess if students have learned rules correctly. This is both important for their reading and speaking skills and in general students are tested through a writing test. Writing is now an object of research and it is generally accepted that teaching/ learning cannot be performed out of the communicative acts. Students are required to produce and interpret different documents such as leaflets, journal articles etc. in a foreign language, in this case in French. The idea is that if you want to own the writing competency, you have to know very well both the lingual and contextual structure. This paper is a based on a research conducted with the first year students, studying French at the “Alexander Xhuvani” University, Elbasan, Albania, taking in consideration the lingual, psychological and social factors that affect writing. From the conclusions was clear that students had difficulties in writing due to their limited lingual competencies that leads them to orthographical mistakes etc. We also noted that students are eager to acquire this competency because learning a language through writing does not merely mean to learn syntax but it also requires a de – contextualization and creating a chance for students to get in touch with everyday language texts.

  5. France and The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Dilemma without Solution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ella V. Ermakova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available There are more than seven thousand of unique languages nowadays, that reflect the uniqueness of the living conditions, the worldview and cultural traditions of different peoples. According to UNESCO, 75 languages in Europe and Asia Minor and about 115 languages in the United States over the past five centuries have been lost. The regional or minority languages are part of the national heritage and play leading role in the process of national identity as bearers and guarantors of national culture and national identity, that is why the value of regional languages is constantly increasing. However, the danger of the growth of nationalism and separatism makes politicians wary of measures to protect the national languages. The article deals with the political debate in France around the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, adopted by the Council of Europe on 25 June 1992, which purpose was to protect the historical regional languages of the EU, some of which are in danger of eventual extinction.. The author provides analysis of the historical preconditions of the current debate as well as of the stance taken by the French leadership on this issue. The study is based on a set of scientific methods and approaches - the principle of scientific objectivity and system of historical research. The main methods are problematic and historical-comparative analysis, classification and comparison of the political and historical concepts. Modern France de jure firmly follows linguistic traditions laid down by previous regimes, as defined in its constitution as the principles of the indivisibility of the Republic and the unity of the French people. According to Article 2 of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, French language is the only official. However, in addition to the French 75 languages are being spoken all over the Overseas Departments and Territories of France, including 24 languages of the indigenous population of

  6. Data extraction from machine-translated versus original language randomized trial reports: a comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balk, Ethan M; Chung, Mei; Chen, Minghua L; Chang, Lina Kong Win; Trikalinos, Thomas A

    2013-11-07

    Google Translate offers free Web-based translation, but it is unknown whether its translation accuracy is sufficient to use in systematic reviews to mitigate concerns about language bias. We compared data extraction from non-English language studies with extraction from translations by Google Translate of 10 studies in each of five languages (Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish). Fluent speakers double-extracted original-language articles. Researchers who did not speak the given language double-extracted translated articles along with 10 additional English language trials. Using the original language extractions as a gold standard, we estimated the probability and odds ratio of correctly extracting items from translated articles compared with English, adjusting for reviewer and language. Translation required about 30 minutes per article and extraction of translated articles required additional extraction time. The likelihood of correct extractions was greater for study design and intervention domain items than for outcome descriptions and, particularly, study results. Translated Spanish articles yielded the highest percentage of items (93%) that were correctly extracted more than half the time (followed by German and Japanese 89%, French 85%, and Chinese 78%) but Chinese articles yielded the highest percentage of items (41%) that were correctly extracted >98% of the time (followed by Spanish 30%, French 26%, German 22%, and Japanese 19%). In general, extractors' confidence in translations was not associated with their accuracy. Translation by Google Translate generally required few resources. Based on our analysis of translations from five languages, using machine translation has the potential to reduce language bias in systematic reviews; however, pending additional empirical data, reviewers should be cautious about using translated data. There remains a trade-off between completeness of systematic reviews (including all available studies) and risk of

  7. Repetitions in French Belgian Sign Language (LSFB) and Flemish Sign Language (VGT) narratives and conversations

    OpenAIRE

    Notarrigo, Ingrid; Meurant, Laurence; Van Herreweghe, Mieke; Vermeerbergen, Myriam

    2016-01-01

    Repetition was described in the nineties by a limited number of sign linguists: Vermeerbergen & De Vriendt (1994) looked at a small corpus of VGT data, Fisher & Janis (1990) analysed “verb sandwiches” in ASL and Pinsonneault (1994) “verb echos” in Quebec Sign Language. More recently the same phenomenon has been the focus of research in a growing number of signed languages, including American (Nunes and de Quadros 2008), Hong Kong (Sze 2008), Russian (Shamaro 2008), Polish (Flilipczak and Most...

  8. French Immersion Research in Canada: Recent Contributions to SLA and Applied Linguistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swain, Merrill

    2000-01-01

    Discusses two questions: (1) What has the recent research conducted in French immersion programs in Canada contributed to understanding of second language acquisition?; and (2) What has it contributed to the broader field of applied linguistics? Considers research in the coming decade, and discusses obstacles that may be faced in Canada in…

  9. Reading in Japanese as a Second Language : A Review of Empirical Research

    OpenAIRE

    堀場, 裕紀江; ホリバ, ユキエ; YUKIE, HORIBA

    2003-01-01

    During the past few decades the Japanese language has grown to be a popular second or foreign language (L2), and research on reading and learning of Japanese as L2 has started to appear in major academic journals and books in the fields of applied linguistics, second language acquisition, second/foreign language education, along with the more commonly researched languages such as English, Spanish and French. In this article. I will first describe theoretical assumptions used in L2 reading res...

  10. Single-Center Study Investigating Foreign Language Acquisition at School in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults With Uni- or Bilateral Cochlear Implants in the Swiss German Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beeres-Scheenstra, Renske; Ohnsorg, Claudia; Candreia, Claudia; Heinzmann, Sybille; Castellanos, Susana; De Min, Nicola; Linder, Thomas E

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate foreign language acquisition at school in cochlear implant patients. Cohort study. CI center. Forty three cochlear implants (CI) patients (10-18 yr) were evaluated. CI nonusers and patients with CI-explantation, incomplete datasets, mental retardation, or concomitant medical disorders were excluded. Additional data (type of schooling, foreign language learning, and bilingualism) were obtained with questionnaires. German-speaking children with foreign tuition language (English and/or French) at school were enrolled for further testing. General patient data, auditory data, and foreign language data from both questionnaires and tests were collected and analyzed. Thirty seven out of 43 questionnaires (86%) were completed. Sixteen (43%) were in mainstream education. Twenty-seven CI users (73%) have foreign language learning at school. Fifteen of these were in mainstream education (55%), others in special schooling. From 10 CI users without foreign language learning, one CI user was in mainstream education (10%) and nine patients (90%) were in special schooling. Eleven German-speaking CI users were further tested in English and six additionally in French. For reading skills, the school objectives for English were reached in 7 of 11 pupils (64%) and for French in 3 of 6 pupils (50%). For listening skills, 3 of 11 pupils (27%) reached the school norm in English and none in French. Almost 75% of our CI users learn foreign language(s) at school. A small majority of the tested CI users reached the current school norm for in English and French in reading skills, whereas for hearing skills most of them were not able to reach the norm.

  11. Broken English, broken bones? Mechanisms linking language proficiency and occupational health in a Montreal garment factory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premji, Stéphanie; Messing, Karen; Lippel, Katherine

    2008-01-01

    Language barriers are often cited as a factor contributing to ethnic inequalities in occupational health; however, little information is available about the mechanisms at play. The authors describe the multiple ways in which language influences occupational health in a large garment factory employing many immigrants in Montreal. Between 2004 and 2006, individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 women and 10 men from 14 countries of birth. Interviews were conducted in French and English, Canada's official languages, as well as in non-official languages with the help of colleague-interpreters. Observation within the workplace was also carried out at various times during the project. The authors describe how proficiency in the official languages influences occupational health by affecting workers' ability to understand and communicate information, and supporting relationships that can affect work-related health. They also describe workers' strategies to address communication barriers and discuss the implications of these strategies from an occupational health standpoint. Along with the longer-term objectives of integrating immigrants into the linguistic majority and addressing structural conditions that can affect health, policies and practices need to be put in place to protect the health and well-being of those who face language barriers in the short term.

  12. Bilingualism yields language-specific plasticity in left hemisphere's circuitry for learning to read in young children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasińska, K K; Berens, M S; Kovelman, I; Petitto, L A

    2017-04-01

    How does bilingual exposure impact children's neural circuitry for learning to read? Theories of bilingualism suggests that exposure to two languages may yield a functional and neuroanatomical adaptation to support the learning of two languages (Klein et al., 2014). To test the hypothesis that this neural adaptation may vary as a function of structural and orthographic characteristics of bilinguals' two languages, we compared Spanish-English and French-English bilingual children, and English monolingual children, using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy neuroimaging (fNIRS, ages 6-10, N =26). Spanish offers consistent sound-to-print correspondences ("phonologically transparent" or "shallow"); such correspondences are more opaque in French and even more opaque in English (which has both transparent and "phonologically opaque" or "deep" correspondences). Consistent with our hypothesis, both French- and Spanish-English bilinguals showed hyperactivation in left posterior temporal regions associated with direct sound-to-print phonological analyses and hypoactivation in left frontal regions associated with assembled phonology analyses. Spanish, but not French, bilinguals showed a similar effect when reading Irregular words. The findings inform theories of bilingual and cross-linguistic literacy acquisition by suggesting that structural characteristics of bilinguals' two languages and their orthographies have a significant impact on children's neuro-cognitive architecture for learning to read. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  13. A Serious Game for Second Language Acquisition in a Virtual Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Perez-Beltrachini

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present I-FLEG, a 3D language game designed for interactively learning French as a second language. I-FLEG differs from previous computer-aided language learning (CALL approaches in that it combines a situated, language learning environment with advanced artificial intelligence and natural language generation techniques which support user adaptivity and the automatic, context-aware generation of learning material. In addition, because it is integrated in a 3D virtual reality environment, IFLEG naturally supports e-learning and facilitates the collection of test data.

  14. Use of French, Attitudes and Motivations of French Immersion Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van der Keilen, Marguerite

    1995-01-01

    Compares the degree to which pupils in the French immersion and regular English school programs speak French and initiate contact with French people. Attitudes and motivations were significantly more positive, and social tolerance and self-rated competency in French were much higher in the immersion than in English program subjects. (29…

  15. C’est trop auch! The Translation of Contemporary French Literature Featuring Urban Youth Slang

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Linn, Stella

    2016-01-01

    The French post-colonial novel has recently been witnessing the emergence of urban youth language or français contemporain des cités (Goudaillier 2001). This linguistic variety allows underprivileged youths from multi-ethnic suburbs to rebel against authority by deliberately violating standard

  16. A vos marques! an accelerated French course

    CERN Document Server

    Andrews, Alison; Tippett-Spirtou, Sandy

    2012-01-01

    A Vos Marques! is an introductory course for students taking French as an option alongside their main degree course. It has been developed specifically for false beginners: students who have a slight acquaintance with the language.The course comprises a student's book, teacher's book and three 60-minute audio cassettes and, through fifteen chapters, follows the progress of an English-speaking student studying in Paris, whose achievements are designed to reflect those of the course user.Special features include:* activities involving pair and group work* an aid to self-

  17. The colours in Lithuanian and French proverbs

    OpenAIRE

    Kosova, Svetlana; Klanauskaitė, Paula

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the article is a comparison of Lithuanian and French proverbs by choosing the names of colours as the main aspect. This is to some extent a new way of analysing proverbs with colour as the key word. Seven main aspects of proverbs are mentioned in the article supported by an analysis and comparison of proverbs in both languages. Two different dictionaries have been used for the research: K. Grigas, L. Kudirkienė, R. Kašetienė, G. Radvilas ir D. Zaikauskienė Lietuvių P...

  18. Aptitude, Phonological Memory, and Second Language Proficiency in Nonnovice Adult Learners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hummel, Kirsten M.

    2009-01-01

    This study explores the relationship between aptitude, phonological memory (PM), and second language (L2) proficiency in nonnovice adult learners of English as an L2. Native speakers of French (N = 77) enrolled in a university Teaching English as a Second Language program were the participants in the study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed…

  19. Genesis and Evolution of the Romance-Germanic Language Border in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Durme, Luc

    2002-01-01

    Discusses various language border theories for the Belgian-Northern French area, and summarizes the results of 40 years of research into the development of the Romance-Germanic language border at large. Suggests that a late Roman Latin-Germanic opposition has functioned as a direct predisposition for the early medieval Romance-Germanic language…

  20. Neuroimaging of language processes: fMRI of silent and overt lexical processing and the promise of multiple process imaging in single brain studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borowsky, R.; Owen, W.J.; Wile, T.L.; Friesen, C.K.; Martin, J.L.; Sarty, G.E.

    2005-01-01

    To implement and evaluate a multiple-process functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm designed to effectively and efficiently activate several language-related regions for use with neurosurgical patients. Both overt and covert response conditions were examined. The fMRI experiments compared the traditional silent word-generation condition versus an overt one as they engage frontal language regions (Experiment 1) and silent versus overt semantic association conditions as they engage multiple language processing regions (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 the overt condition yielded greater magnitude of activation, but not volume of activation, in the left inferior frontal and insular cortices than did the silent condition for most, but not all, participants. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the activation of multiple established language processing regions (ie, orthographic, phonological and semantic) can be achieved in a significant number of participants, particularly under overt semantic association conditions and that such activation varies in predictable ways. The traditional silent response condition cannot be considered as equivalent to the overt response condition during word generation or semantic association. The multiple-process imaging method introduced here was sensitive to processing robust orthographic, phonological, and semantic regions, particularly under the overt response condition. (author)

  1. Language Learning Enhanced by Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and the Underlying Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Yongjun; Song, Hongwen; Liu, Xiaoming; Tang, Dinghong; Chen, Yue-e; Zhang, Xiaochu

    2017-01-01

    Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have increased in popularity among children, juveniles, and adults since MMORPGs’ appearance in this digital age. MMORPGs can be applied to enhancing language learning, which is drawing researchers’ attention from different fields and many studies have validated MMORPGs’ positive effect on language learning. However, there are few studies on the underlying behavioral or neural mechanism of such effect. This paper reviews the educational app...

  2. Letter to the god of love (1399: the first literary quarrel set up by a woman to be found in the French language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Ascenção Ferreira Apolonia

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Letter to the god of love (1399 is the first literary quarrel surprisingly set up by a woman to be found in the French language. Christine de Pizan goes to the palace court to stand for women by replying against the misogyny present in Roman de la rose [The Romance of the Rose]. It is our aim to analyze Christine de Pizan’s discourse in the Middle Ages context. Due to the long time elapsed from that context and ours, we have included some biographical and historical data. She makes herself heir of the Courts of love in which ladies took on the role of magistrates. The letter carries the force of a sentence passed by a judge who has completed judging the offence, culminating with the instruction that the verdict shall be executed. From the magistrate do the teaching role, Christine carries on the Christian civilizing process by proposing new forms of relationship between men and women. The outstanding quality of the author is seen in her ability to conduct the contention and in bringing to light the sophisms included in her opponent’s thesis. In accordance with the scholastic dialectical method, she gives the floor to her opponents but is the one who rules the polyphony.The Letter moves beyond the Court setting to reach the French society, gaining supporters and enemies.

  3. Contemporary Cinema in Language Learning: From Linguistic Input to Intercultural Insight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pegrum, Mark; Hartley, Linda; Wechtler, Veronique

    2005-01-01

    Foreign-language cinema has generally been relegated to a minor role in language education. This paper reports on and analyses the results of a survey of attitudes towards foreign film among UK university students of French, German and Spanish. The findings reveal students' limited exposure to and relative lack of familiarity with non-anglophone…

  4. State-of-the-Art in the Development of the Lokono Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rybka, Konrad

    2015-01-01

    Lokono is a critically endangered Northern Arawakan language spoken in the pericoastal areas of the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana). Today, in every Lokono village there remains only a small number of elderly native speakers. However, in spite of the ongoing language loss, across the three Guianas as well as in the Netherlands, where a…

  5. Investigating Key Psychometric Properties of the French Version of the Early Years Evaluation-Teacher Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurie, Robert; Sloat, Elizabeth

    2016-01-01

    This research investigates key psychometric properties of the French Early Years Evaluation-Teacher Assessment measure designed to systematically assess kindergarten children across five social and academic developmental domains: awareness of self and environment, social skills and behaviour, cognitive abilities, language and communication, and…

  6. Une Experience d'enseignement du francais par ordinateur (An Experiment in Teaching French by Computer).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bougaieff, Andre; Lefebvre, France

    1986-01-01

    An experimental program for university summer students of French as a second language that provided a computer resource center and a variety of courseware, authoring aids, and other software for student use is described and the problems and advantages are discussed. (MSE)

  7. The French, German, and Spanish sound of eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arboleda, Ana M; Arce-Lopera, Carlos

    2017-12-01

    A set of onomatopoeic expressions for eating fruits and vegetables is compared across subjects whose native language is Spanish, French, or German. Subjects chose the onomatopoeia that best represented the sound of eating a fruit or vegetable (celery, banana, strawberry, passion fruit, mango, apple, orange, and tomato). Results show there are onomatopoeias that have a higher frequency of response in one language compared to the others. Thus, it is possible to assume that depending on the language there is a better way to express haptic and auditory information associated to fruit and vegetable consumption. Moreover, and considering the three languages, results show there are three categories of responses based on the relative strength of the material (strong and medium strength, and soft). Thus, there is some consistency in the onomatopoeias that represent the sound of eating a fruit or a vegetable. To conclude, results differ by language, but they are consistent within a category of sound. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Using Extra-Linguistic Material for Mandarin-French Verbal Constructions Comparison

    OpenAIRE

    Magistry, Pierre; Prevot, Laurent; Cheung, Hintat; Shiao, C.Y; Desalle, Yann; Gaume, Bruno

    2009-01-01

    International audience; Systematic cross-linguistic studies of verbs syntactic-semantic behaviors for ty-pologically distant languages such as Mandarin Chinese and French are difficult to conduct.Such studies are nevertheless necessary due to the crucial role that verbal constructions playin the mental lexicon. This paper addresses the problem by combining psycho-linguisticsand computational methods. Psycho-linguistics provides us with a bilingual corpus that fea-tures verbal construction ass...

  9. Willingness To Communicate, Social Support, and Language Learning Orientations of Immersion Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacIntyre, Peter D.; Baker, Susan C.; Clement, Richard; Conrod, Sarah

    2001-01-01

    Hypothesized that orientations toward language learning (L2) as well as social support would influence students willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language. Grade 9 L2 students of French immersion participated in the study. Results showed endorsement of all five orientations (travel, job related, friendship with Francophones, personal…

  10. Differences in Language Proficiency and Learning Strategies among Immigrant Women to Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamuti-Trache, Maria; Anisef, Paul; Sweet, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Immigrant women to Canada face unique challenges in gaining mastery of English or French, the country's two official languages. The study focuses on differences "among women" with respect to pre-migration and post-migration characteristics that position them differently with respect to language learning in the social contexts where they…

  11. Will They Ever Speak with Authority? Race, Post-Coloniality and the Symbolic Violence of Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahim, Awad

    2011-01-01

    Intersecting authority-language-and-symbolic power, this article tells the story of a group of continental Francophone African youth who find themselves in an urban French-language high school in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Through their narrative, one is confronted by the trauma of one's own language being declared an illegitimate child, hence…

  12. The Spanish Language in Californian Colleges and Universities

    OpenAIRE

    Buzatu, Anamaría

    2013-01-01

    Spanish is considered the second familiar language in California due to its Californian history, our state’s proximity to Mexico and other Latin American countries, continuous Hispanic immigration, and the size of its Hispanic population, which surpasses that of all other states. This article analyzes the number of enrollment in Spanish courses during 2010–2011 academic year and then compared to the ones from other Romance languages (Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian & Catalan) taught at ...

  13. Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa - Vol ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    INCORPORATING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (FFL) IN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF KENYA · EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT. Teresa Atieno Otieno, 1-11 ...

  14. French validation of the Foot Function Index (FFI).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pourtier-Piotte, C; Pereira, B; Soubrier, M; Thomas, E; Gerbaud, L; Coudeyre, E

    2015-10-01

    French validation of the Foot Function Index (FFI), self-questionnaire designed to evaluate rheumatoid foot according to 3 domains: pain, disability and activity restriction. The first step consisted of translation/back translation and cultural adaptation according to the validated methodology. The second stage was a prospective validation on 53 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who filled out the FFI. The following data were collected: pain (Visual Analog Scale), disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire) and activity restrictions (McMaster Toronto Arthritis questionnaire). A test/retest procedure was performed 15 days later. The statistical analyses focused on acceptability, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and Principal Component Analysis), test-retest reproducibility (concordance coefficients), external validity (correlation coefficients) and responsiveness to change. The FFI-F is a culturally acceptable version for French patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.85 to 0.97. Reproducibility was correct (correlation coefficients>0.56). External validity and responsiveness to change were good. The use of a rigorous methodology allowed the validation of the FFI in the French language (FFI-F). This tool can be used in routine practice and clinical research for evaluating the rheumatoid foot. The FFI-F could be used in other pathologies with foot-related functional impairments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  15. French Courses

    CERN Multimedia

    2012-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. The next session will take place from 28 January to 5 April 2013. Oral Expression This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. The next session will take place from 28 January to 5 April 2013. Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. The next session will take place from 28 January to 5 April 2013. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister.

  16. Unsuccessful Study Habits in Foreign Language Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Phillip D.; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.

    This study determined which study habits would distinguish successful from unsuccessful foreign language learners. Participants were 219 college students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds enrolled in either Spanish, French, German, or Japanese classes. The students completed the Study Habits Inventory and the Background Demographic Form.…

  17. The Development of Language and Reading Skills in the Second and Third Languages of Multilingual Children in French Immersion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berube, Daniel; Marinova-Todd, Stefka H.

    2012-01-01

    The relationship between first language (L1) typology, defined as the classification of languages according to their structural characteristics (e.g. phonological systems and writing systems), and the development of second (L2) and third (L3) language skills and literacy proficiency in multilingual children was investigated in this study. The…

  18. TERMINOLOGICAL ISSUES ON FOREIGN LANGUAGES LEARNING AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS TO PERFORMANCE OF THE SECRETARY PROFESSIONALS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Aparecida Oliveira Silva

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate specific linguistic issues of the technical language in French and English languages starting from the selection and analysis of newspapers articles about the financial area. The objective was to present examples of authentic texts in the referred languages for those who work at the secretarial area as well as for professionals who need to deal with technical foreign language. This research, which is qualitative-based, started from the exploitation and analysis of articles taken from newspapers written in French and English. The articles were analyzed taking into account theoretical basis from Terminology studies. The investigation was done in three phases: (a investigation of theoretical aspects concerning the terminology and its applications, (b a brief characterization of newspaper texts organization. (c selection and analysis of terms and expressions of the selected texts. The results showed lexical and semantic equivalences of terms as well as writing features of both languages, besides specific terminological issues, which permitted a better understanding of the language used in the financial area.

  19. The effectiveness of foreign-language display in advertising for congruent versus incongruent products

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hornikx, J.M.A.; Meurs, W.F.J. van; Hof, R.-J.

    2013-01-01

    Advertising often confronts consumers with foreign languages, such as German or French in the U.S., but little is known about the circumstances under which this is effective. The linguistic theory of foreign-language display claims that the congruence with the product is the essential element in its

  20. (En)Countering Language Ideologies: Language Policing in the Ideospace of Facebook

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phyak, Prem

    2015-01-01

    This paper takes language policing as an ideospace, a space where multiple language ideologies are constructed and contested. Drawing on critical language policy and linguistic anthropology, it unravels how participants in a Nepalese Facebook group construct and reproduce language ideologies that both challenge and impose homogeneity and…

  1. Can pluralistic approaches based upon unknown languages enhance learner engagement and lead to active social inclusion?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahm, Rebecca

    2017-08-01

    One way to foster active social inclusion is to enable students to develop a positive attitude to "foreignness". Creating a situation where mainstream students are less wary of foreign languages and cultures, and where newcomers feel their linguistic background is being valued, provides favourable conditions for the inclusion of these newcomers in the classroom and in society. However, language classrooms in French schools rarely take any previously acquired linguistic knowledge into account, thus unconsciously contributing to the rift between multilingual learners (e.g. 1st- and 2nd-generation immigrant children, refugees, children of parents with different mother tongues) and French learners. Native French learners' first experience of learning another language is usually when English is added as a subject to their curriculum in primary school. In some schools in France, English lessons now include the simulation of multilingual situations, designed in particular for the French "quasi-monolingual" students to lose their fear of unknown languages and "foreignness" in general. But the overall aim is to help both groups of learners become aware of the positive impact of multilingualism on cognitive abilities. However, to achieve long-term effects, this awareness-raising needs to be accompanied by maximum engagement on the part of the students. This article explores an instructional strategy termed Pluralistic Approaches based upon Unknown Languages (PAUL), which was designed to develop learning strategies of quasi-monolingual students in particular and to increase learner engagement more generally. The results of a small-scale PAUL study discussed by the author seem to confirm an increase in learner engagement leading to an enhancement of learning outcomes. Moreover, PAUL seems indeed suitable for helping to prepare the ground for social inclusion.

  2. Biofuel processes to be developed by French biotechnology company, Biomethodes

    OpenAIRE

    Trulove, Susan

    2008-01-01

    Bioméhodes, a French biotechnology company in Evry, has signed an exclusive and worldwide option-to-license agreement with Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) for multiple technologies for converting biomass to bioethanol and biohydrogen.

  3. Role de la societe dans l'acquisition et le maintien du francais par les eleves franco-ontariens (The Role of Society in the Acquisition and Maintenance of French by Franco-Ontarian Students)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mougeon, Raymond; And Others

    1978-01-01

    An analysis of the social, educational and political factors in bilingual education and French language maintenance in Ontario. After the fourth grade, most Francophone children tend to speak English. Encouragement to use French must come from the social domain, beyond the school and the home. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

  4. Cross-language differences in cue use for speech segmentation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tyler, M.D.; Cutler, A.

    2009-01-01

    Two artificial-language learning experiments directly compared English, French, and Dutch listeners' use of suprasegmental cues for continuous-speech segmentation. In both experiments, listeners heard unbroken sequences of consonant-vowel syllables, composed of recurring three- and four-syllable

  5. Spinal Cord Diseases - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Information Translations Russian (Русский) Expand Section Myelogram - Русский (Russian) Bilingual ... Health Information Translations Characters not displaying correctly on this page? See language display issues . Return to the MedlinePlus Health Information ...

  6. Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vervecken, Dries; Gygax, Pascal M.; Gabriel, Ute; Guillod, Matthias; Hannover, Bettina

    2015-01-01

    Recent studies from countries with grammatical gender languages (e.g., French) found both children and adults to more frequently think of female jobholders and to consider women’s success in male dominated occupations more likely when the jobs were described in pair forms (i.e., by explicit reference to male and female jobholders, e.g., inventeuses et inventeurs; French feminine and masculine plural forms for inventors), rather than masculine only forms (e.g., inventors). To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we systematically varied the gender connotation of occupations (males overrepresented, females overrepresented, equal share of males and females) and measured additional dependent variables, predicting that gender fair language would reduce the impact of the gender connotation on participants’ perceptions. In a sample of 222 adolescents (aged 12–17) from French speaking Switzerland, we found that pair forms attenuated the difference in the ascription of success to male and female jobholders in gendered occupations and attenuated the differential ascription of warmth to prototypical jobholders in male vs. female dominated jobs. However, no effect of language form on the ascription of competence was found. These findings suggest that language policies are an effective tool to impact gendered perceptions, however, they also hint at competence-related gender stereotypes being in decline. PMID:26441805

  7. Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents' perceptions of occupations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vervecken, Dries; Gygax, Pascal M; Gabriel, Ute; Guillod, Matthias; Hannover, Bettina

    2015-01-01

    Recent studies from countries with grammatical gender languages (e.g., French) found both children and adults to more frequently think of female jobholders and to consider women's success in male dominated occupations more likely when the jobs were described in pair forms (i.e., by explicit reference to male and female jobholders, e.g., inventeuses et inventeurs; French feminine and masculine plural forms for inventors), rather than masculine only forms (e.g., inventors). To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we systematically varied the gender connotation of occupations (males overrepresented, females overrepresented, equal share of males and females) and measured additional dependent variables, predicting that gender fair language would reduce the impact of the gender connotation on participants' perceptions. In a sample of 222 adolescents (aged 12-17) from French speaking Switzerland, we found that pair forms attenuated the difference in the ascription of success to male and female jobholders in gendered occupations and attenuated the differential ascription of warmth to prototypical jobholders in male vs. female dominated jobs. However, no effect of language form on the ascription of competence was found. These findings suggest that language policies are an effective tool to impact gendered perceptions, however, they also hint at competence-related gender stereotypes being in decline.

  8. Natural language processing tools for computer assisted language learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vandeventer Faltin, Anne

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper illustrates the usefulness of natural language processing (NLP tools for computer assisted language learning (CALL through the presentation of three NLP tools integrated within a CALL software for French. These tools are (i a sentence structure viewer; (ii an error diagnosis system; and (iii a conjugation tool. The sentence structure viewer helps language learners grasp the structure of a sentence, by providing lexical and grammatical information. This information is derived from a deep syntactic analysis. Two different outputs are presented. The error diagnosis system is composed of a spell checker, a grammar checker, and a coherence checker. The spell checker makes use of alpha-codes, phonological reinterpretation, and some ad hoc rules to provide correction proposals. The grammar checker employs constraint relaxation and phonological reinterpretation as diagnosis techniques. The coherence checker compares the underlying "semantic" structures of a stored answer and of the learners' input to detect semantic discrepancies. The conjugation tool is a resource with enhanced capabilities when put on an electronic format, enabling searches from inflected and ambiguous verb forms.

  9. Tradition, globalisation and language dilemma in education: African options for the 21st century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rwantabagu, Hermenegilde

    2011-08-01

    This paper addresses the dilemma of language in education in African countries with particular reference to Burundi. African languages are still marginalised by colonial languages such as French and English. Looking at other African countries in general and at the case of Burundi in detail, an analysis is made of the adopted policies aimed at promoting the use of the mother tongue as a basis for knowledge acquisition and cultural integration. Burundi has gone through a series of educational reforms both before and after gaining independence in 1962, with French and Kirundi competing as curricular teaching languages. After the integration of Burundi into the East African Community in July 2007, English and Kiswahili were added to the curriculum, complicating education policies. This article places particular emphasis on the contextual challenges that tend to impair the full implementation of the adopted policy reforms. The paper concludes by advocating for a multilingual approach in which the indigenous mother tongue serves as the basis for the acquisition of other languages in the curriculum.

  10. Translating the foundational model of anatomy into french using knowledge-based and lexical methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Merabti Tayeb

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA is the reference ontology regarding human anatomy. FMA vocabulary was integrated into the Health Multi Terminological Portal (HMTP developed by CISMeF based on the CISMeF Information System which also includes 26 other terminologies and controlled vocabularies, mainly in French. However, FMA is primarily in English. In this context, the translation of FMA English terms into French could also be useful for searching and indexing French anatomy resources. Various studies have investigated automatic methods to assist the translation of medical terminologies or create multilingual medical vocabularies. The goal of this study was to facilitate the translation of FMA vocabulary into French. Methods We compare two types of approaches to translate the FMA terms into French. The first one is UMLS-based on the conceptual information of the UMLS metathesaurus. The second method is lexically-based on several Natural Language Processing (NLP tools. Results The UMLS-based approach produced a translation of 3,661 FMA terms into French whereas the lexical approach produced a translation of 3,129 FMA terms into French. A qualitative evaluation was made on 100 FMA terms translated by each method. For the UMLS-based approach, among the 100 translations, 52% were manually rated as "very good" and only 7% translations as "bad". For the lexical approach, among the 100 translations, 47% were rated as "very good" and 20% translations as "bad". Conclusions Overall, a low rate of translations were demonstrated by the two methods. The two approaches permitted us to semi-automatically translate 3,776 FMA terms from English into French, this was to added to the existing 10,844 French FMA terms in the HMTP (4,436 FMA French terms and 6,408 FMA terms manually translated.

  11. Historical and Cultural Informativeness of French Phrasal Units with Component-dendronym

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taisiya I. Skorobogatova

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Research of national specificity of phraseology in a national language by distinguishing thematic groups of phraseological units and the analysis of their component composition becomes increasingly important in linguistic studies. This article is devoted to the analysis of the French phraseological units, which include dendronyms. Authors narrow notion of “dendronym” and use it only to refer to the names of trees. In French phraseological corpus authors identified 18 dendronyms, which are core components of the floral phrasal units: amandier (almond tree, cèdre (cedar, chêne (oak, cocotier (coconut palm, cyprès (cypress, figuier (fig tree, laurier (laurel tree, mûrier (mulberry, olivier (olive tree, orme (elm, osier (willow, palmier (palm, peuplier (poplar, platane (sycamore, poirier (pear, pommier (apple, prunier (plum, sapin (spruce, fir. The following list proves that the repertoire of dendronyms used to form French FU is not too wide. However, the authors confirmed the possibility to consider idioms-dendronym component as special items of historical and cultural memory.

  12. Experimental Study of Learning French in the Public Schools: Report #1, 1959-60.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toronto Board of Education (Ontario). Research Dept.

    An experiment in language instruction undertaken in Canadian junior high schools during the 1960-61 school year is reported in this study. The pilot project: (1) examines the phenomena of learning to comprehend and speak French through two different but direct modes of instruction; (2) compares by achievement tests the results of the two modes of…

  13. Pragmalinguistic characteristics of Biblical idiomatic expressions in Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, and English

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Елена Владимировна Реунова

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This article is a cross-cultural analysis of idiomatic expressions of biblical origin in five languages: Russian, Spanish, Italian, French and English. Biblical idioms are regarded as important phenomena which strongly influence different speech acts. The article discusses the most important structural and stylistic characteristics of these idioms and identifies and compares their substantive differences.

  14. Framing new research in science literacy and language use: Authenticity, multiple discourses, and the Third Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Carolyn S.

    2004-11-01

    This article presents a theoretical framework in the form of a model on which to base research in scientific literacy and language use. The assumption guiding the framework is that scientific literacy is comprised of the abilities to think metacognitively, to read and write scientific texts, and to apply the elements of a scientific argument. The framework is composed of three theoretical constructs: authenticity, multiple discourses, and Bhabha's Third Space. Some of the implications of the framework are that students need opportunities to (a) use scientific language in everyday situations; (b) negotiate readily among the many discourse genres of science; and (c) collaborate with teachers and peers on the meaning of scientific language. These ideas are illustrated with data excerpts from contemporary research studies. A set of potential research issues for the future is posed at the end of the article.

  15. French Foodscapes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hedegaard, Liselotte

    By exploring how local and regional products and uses of food interact with the changes in the French cuisine over time, this paper seeks to retrace the history of the French meal through meanings of place and time, terroir and savoir-faire. The study will be based on sources from early modern/modern history...... the destructuralisation of eating habits have been raised since the 1980s, but numerous studies emphasise that the traditional French meal is still playing an important role in everyday life in France. Despite regional variations, the general view of the structure of a traditional French meal as based on the succession...... of flavours and the accordance with wines is widespread. Such a comprehension means giving precedence to gastronomic reasons for determining the order of dishes. However, the French meal has not always been composed in the way it is today and the reasons for the composition have not always been gastronomic...

  16. French courses

    CERN Document Server

    HR Department

    2012-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 2nd May to 6th July 2012. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister.   Oral Expression This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test. The next session will take place from 2nd May to 6th July 2012.   Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test. The next session will take place from 2nd May to ...

  17. French courses

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    General and Professional French Courses The next session will take place from 29 April to 5 July 2013. These courses are open to all persons working on the CERN site, and to their spouses. For registration and further information on the courses, please consult our Web pages or contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (kerstin.fuhrmeister@cern.ch). Oral Expression This course is aimed for students with a good knowledge of French who want to enhance their speaking skills. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test. The next session will take place from 29 April to 5 July 2013. Writing professional documents in French These courses are designed for non-French speakers with a very good standard of spoken French. Suitable candidates should contact Kerstin Fuhrmeister (70896) in order to arrange an appointment for a test. The next session will take place from 29 April to 5 July...

  18. French Society Abroad: The Popularization of French Dance throughout Europe, 1600-1750

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam Paul Rinehart

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the dissemination of French dance, dance notation, and dance music throughout Europe, and it explains the reasons why French culture had such an influence on other European societies from 1600-1750. First, the paper seeks to prove that King Louis XIV played a significant role in the outpour of French dance and the arts. Next, the paper discusses prominent French writers of dance notation who influenced the spread of French dance literature and training throughout Europe. Finally, the paper delineates European composers and their involvement in the development and production of French dance music. Using academic, peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and other scholarly sources, this paper seeks to accurately present the information in an orderly fashion. The paper contains visual evidence of dance and music notation to assist the reader in understanding the subject matter. Additionally, theories of contemporary authors as well as authors from the time period are discussed to present concrete evidence. The two main types of dance discussed in the paper are ballroom and court dances, which were prominent within the French royal court. One major finding of the research is the fact that French court and ballroom dances were specifically designed to communicate the power and prestige of King Louis XIV; consequently, other European countries were influenced to strive for similar prestige. Another finding is that many forms of French dance notation were translated and published in other countries, which increased the use of French dance throughout Europe. Musically, European composers such as Handel and Mozart included elements of French dance music in their compositions, and thus played a significant role in prevalence of French dance music throughout Europe. Overall, this paper proves that French dance received wide recognition due to political influence, availability of dance notation, and the involvement of prominent composers.

  19. Referent Salience Affects Second Language Article Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trenkic, Danijela; Pongpairoj, Nattama

    2013-01-01

    The effect of referent salience on second language (L2) article production in real time was explored. Thai (-articles) and French (+articles) learners of English described dynamic events involving two referents, one visually cued to be more salient at the point of utterance formulation. Definiteness marking was made communicatively redundant with…

  20. Health-related quality of life in children with dysphonia and validation of the French Pediatric Voice Handicap Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oddon, P A; Boucekine, M; Boyer, L; Triglia, J M; Nicollas, R

    2018-01-01

    voice disorders are common in the pediatric population and can negatively affect children's quality of life. The pediatric voice handicap Index (pVHI) is a valid instrument to assess parental perception of their children voice but it is not translated into French language. The aim of the present study was to adapt a French version of the pVHI and to evaluate its psychometric properties including construct validity, reliability, and some aspects of external validity. we performed a cross sectional study including 32 dysphonic children and 60 children with no history of voice problems between 3 and 12 years of age. The original pVHI was translated into French language according to forward-backward rules and then administered to parents or caregivers. Construct validity and internal consistency were explored using confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha. The questionnaire was filled twice to assess test-retest reliability using the intra-class correlation coefficient. The external validity was explored by comparing the French pVHI total and subscales scores between dysphonic and asymptomatic children. Correlations between the French pVHI and both the perceptual GRBAS scale and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) survey "Vécu et Santé Perçu de l'Adolescent et de l'Enfant" (VSP-Ap) were also performed. the structure of the French pVHI showed a good fit with excellent reliability (α = 0.929) and high test-retest reliability. Significant differences were found between the group of dysphonic children and the control group (p life in children with voice disorder. We recommend its use in the multidimensional protocols for assessing voice disorder in the pediatric population. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  1. (Re)-Introduction to French: Four Education Models to Revitalise an Endangered Group in Eastern Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cormier, Marianne; Bourque, Jimmy; Jolicoeur, Manon

    2014-01-01

    This study explores early francization models for a linguistic minority currently struggling to preserve its language. The French Acadians of New Brunswick, Canada, represent 30% of the province's total population, yet their numbers and their linguistic vitality are decreasing. New Brunswick has two public school systems: the English language…

  2. Short-Term Second Language and Music Training Induces Lasting Functional Brain Changes in Early Childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Sylvain; Lee, Yunjo; Janus, Monika; Bialystok, Ellen

    2015-01-01

    Immediate and lasting effects of music or second-language training were examined in early childhood using event-related potentials. Event-related potentials were recorded for French vowels and musical notes in a passive oddball paradigm in thirty-six 4- to 6-year-old children who received either French or music training. Following training, both…

  3. Second Language Word Learning through Repetition and Imitation: Functional Networks as a Function of Learning Phase and Language Distance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghazi-Saidi, Ladan; Ansaldo, Ana Ines

    2017-01-01

    Introduction and Aim : Repetition and imitation are among the oldest second language (L2) teaching approaches and are frequently used in the context of L2 learning and language therapy, despite some heavy criticism. Current neuroimaging techniques allow the neural mechanisms underlying repetition and imitation to be examined. This fMRI study examines the influence of verbal repetition and imitation on network configuration. Integration changes within and between the cognitive control and language networks were studied, in a pair of linguistically close languages (Spanish and French), and compared to our previous work on a distant language pair (Ghazi-Saidi et al., 2013). Methods : Twelve healthy native Spanish-speaking (L1) adults, and 12 healthy native Persian-speaking adults learned 130 new French (L2) words, through a computerized audiovisual repetition and imitation program. The program presented colored photos of objects. Participants were instructed to look at each photo and pronounce its name as closely as possible to the native template (imitate). Repetition was encouraged as many times as necessary to learn the object's name; phonological cues were provided if necessary. Participants practiced for 15 min, over 30 days, and were tested while naming the same items during fMRI scanning, at week 1 (shallow learning phase) and week 4 (consolidation phase) of training. To compare this set of data with our previous work on Persian speakers, a similar data analysis plan including accuracy rates (AR), response times (RT), and functional integration values for the language and cognitive control network at each measure point was included, with further L1-L2 direct comparisons across the two populations. Results and Discussion : The evidence shows that learning L2 words through repetition induces neuroplasticity at the network level. Specifically, L2 word learners showed increased network integration after 3 weeks of training, with both close and distant language

  4. The French experience

    CERN Document Server

    Bougard, Marie-Thérèse

    2003-01-01

    Developed for beginners, The French Experience 1 course book is designed to accompany the French Experience 1 CDs (9780563472582) but can also be used on its own to develop your reading and writing skills. You’ll gain valuable insights into French culture too.

  5. An 00 visual language definition approach supporting multiple views

    OpenAIRE

    Akehurst, David H.; I.E.E.E. Computer Society

    2000-01-01

    The formal approach to visual language definition is to use graph grammars and/or graph transformation techniques. These techniques focus on specifying the syntax and manipulation rules of the concrete representation. This paper presents a constraint and object-oriented approach to defining visual languages that uses UML and OCL as a definition language. Visual language definitions specify a mapping between concrete and abstract models of possible visual sentences, which carl subsequently be ...

  6. Between Bouillaud and Broca: An unknown Italian debate on cerebral localization of language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zago, Stefano; Lorusso, Lorenzo; Porro, Alessandro; Franchini, Antonia Francesca; Cubelli, Roberto

    2015-10-01

    From 1825 onward, Bouillaud began gathering clinical evidence to support the hypothesis that speech is located in the cerebral frontal lobes. His aim was to provide empirical proof to Gall's theory of a specific substratum of speech in the anterior region of the brain. A well-known discussion ensued inside the French school among supporters and detractors that went far beyond Broca's first report in 1861. Unknown is that Bouillaud's investigations on localization of articulated language also gave rise to a discussion in Italy in the same period. In particular, speech localization formed a central topic in the mid-19th century in Northern Italy mainly thanks to four physicians, Michelangelo Asson, Mosè Rizzi, Gaetano Strambio and Filippo Lussana, who reported on language-impaired patients and approached these cases in the light of Bouillaud's claims. Similarly to the French debate, the Italian medical community also included attacks and advocacies of the hypothesis of a precise localization of articulated language in the frontal lobes. However, they were mainly interested in investigating the anatomo-clinical relationships rather than in supporting Gall's organology. This Italian debate appears to be the first to have developed in the mid-19th century outside that of the French community. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. African languages and African studies librarianship: taking a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Most African educational systems are centred on imported languages such as English, French, and Portuguese. The emphasis in national publishing industries on producing books, journals and newspapers overwhelmingly in those tongues is also hard to justify. It is difficult to imagine a future African renaissance that does ...

  8. Language Learning Enhanced by Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and the Underlying Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongjun; Song, Hongwen; Liu, Xiaoming; Tang, Dinghong; Chen, Yue-e; Zhang, Xiaochu

    2017-01-01

    Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have increased in popularity among children, juveniles, and adults since MMORPGs’ appearance in this digital age. MMORPGs can be applied to enhancing language learning, which is drawing researchers’ attention from different fields and many studies have validated MMORPGs’ positive effect on language learning. However, there are few studies on the underlying behavioral or neural mechanism of such effect. This paper reviews the educational application of the MMORPGs based on relevant macroscopic and microscopic studies, showing that gamers’ overall language proficiency or some specific language skills can be enhanced by real-time online interaction with peers and game narratives or instructions embedded in the MMORPGs. Mechanisms underlying the educational assistant role of MMORPGs in second language learning are discussed from both behavioral and neural perspectives. We suggest that attentional bias makes gamers/learners allocate more cognitive resources toward task-related stimuli in a controlled or an automatic way. Moreover, with a moderating role played by activation of reward circuit, playing the MMORPGs may strengthen or increase functional connectivity from seed regions such as left anterior insular/frontal operculum (AI/FO) and visual word form area to other language-related brain areas. PMID:28303097

  9. Language Learning Enhanced by Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and the Underlying Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongjun; Song, Hongwen; Liu, Xiaoming; Tang, Dinghong; Chen, Yue-E; Zhang, Xiaochu

    2017-01-01

    Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have increased in popularity among children, juveniles, and adults since MMORPGs' appearance in this digital age. MMORPGs can be applied to enhancing language learning, which is drawing researchers' attention from different fields and many studies have validated MMORPGs' positive effect on language learning. However, there are few studies on the underlying behavioral or neural mechanism of such effect. This paper reviews the educational application of the MMORPGs based on relevant macroscopic and microscopic studies, showing that gamers' overall language proficiency or some specific language skills can be enhanced by real-time online interaction with peers and game narratives or instructions embedded in the MMORPGs. Mechanisms underlying the educational assistant role of MMORPGs in second language learning are discussed from both behavioral and neural perspectives. We suggest that attentional bias makes gamers/learners allocate more cognitive resources toward task-related stimuli in a controlled or an automatic way. Moreover, with a moderating role played by activation of reward circuit, playing the MMORPGs may strengthen or increase functional connectivity from seed regions such as left anterior insular/frontal operculum (AI/FO) and visual word form area to other language-related brain areas.

  10. Foreign Languages at the Pre-School Level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichmann, Raymond; Ford, James F.

    French was added to the early childhood curriculum at the New School in Fayetteville, Arkansas, after a review of the literature on the subject indicated potential beneficial effects of teaching foreign languages to young children. Some of the advantages to be gained by the children were greater readiness for school work in general, greater…

  11. Communicative Language Testing: Implications for Computer Based Language Testing in French for Specific Purposes

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Laborda, Jesús; López Santiago, Mercedes; Otero de Juan, Nuria; Álvarez Álvarez, Alfredo

    2014-01-01

    Current evolutions of language testing have led to integrating computers in FSP assessments both in oral and written communicative tasks. This paper deals with two main issues: learners' expectations about the types of questions in FSP computer based assessments and the relation with their own experience. This paper describes the experience of 23…

  12. Why Is an Application of Multiple Intelligences Theory Important for Language Learning and Teaching Speaking Ability?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boonma, Malai; Phaiboonnugulkij, Malinee

    2014-01-01

    This article calls for a strong need to propose the theoretical framework of the Multiple Intelligences theory (MI) and provide a suitable answer of the doubt in part of foreign language teaching. The article addresses the application of MI theory following various sources from Howard Gardner and the authors who revised this theory for use in the…

  13. So They Want Us to Learn French: Promoting and Opposing Bilingualism in English-Speaking Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayday, Matthew

    2015-01-01

    Since the 1960s, bilingualism has become a defining aspect of Canadian identity. And yet, fifty years after the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was formed and with over forty years of federal government funding and supports for second-language education, relatively few English Canadians speak or choose to speak French. What…

  14. Cognitive abilities underlying second-language vocabulary acquisition in an early second-language immersion education context: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolay, Anne-Catherine; Poncelet, Martine

    2013-08-01

    First-language (L1) and second-language (L2) lexical development has been found to be strongly associated with phonological processing abilities such as phonological short-term memory (STM), phonological awareness, and speech perception. Lexical development also seems to be linked to attentional and executive skills such as auditory attention, flexibility, and response inhibition. The aim of this four-wave longitudinal study was to determine to what extent L2 vocabulary acquired through the particular school context of early L2 immersion education is linked to the same cognitive abilities. A total of 61 French-speaking 5-year-old kindergartners who had just been enrolled in English immersion classes were administered a battery of tasks assessing these three phonological processing abilities and three attentional/executive skills. Their English vocabulary knowledge was measured 1, 2, and 3 school years later. Multiple regression analyses showed that, among the assessed phonological processing abilities, phonological STM and speech perception, but not phonological awareness, appeared to underlie L2 vocabulary acquisition in this context of an early L2 immersion school program, at least during the first steps of acquisition. Similarly, among the assessed attentional/executive skills, auditory attention and flexibility, but not response inhibition, appeared to be involved during the first steps of L2 vocabulary acquisition in such an immersion school context. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Vocabulary Teaching in Foreign Language via Audiovisual Method Technique of Listening and Following Writing Scripts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozavli, Ebubekir

    2017-01-01

    The objective is hereby study is to compare the effects of conventional and audiovisual methods on learning efficiency and success of retention with regard to vocabulary teaching in foreign language. Research sample consists of 21 undergraduate and 7 graduate students studying at Department of French Language Teaching, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of…

  16. ALLTALK™- A Windows Phone Messenger With Cross Language Communication For Customer Care Services

    OpenAIRE

    Akhil Abraham; Royston Pinto

    2014-01-01

    In day to day life, messengers or chatting applications provide facility for instant messaging over the internet. Exchange of messages takes place in universally used languages like English, French, etc. where both the users know how to communicate in a common language. Thus chatting on mobile phones is a luxury when both the parties involved know a common language. When any company wants to provide customer care services to its customer they use mediums like talking to the cu...

  17. English in Education Policy Shift in Senegal: From Traditional Pedagogies to Communicative Language Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diallo, Ibrahima

    2014-01-01

    Despite its allegiance to French, language-in-education planning in Senegal has given top priority to English in its education system. In the 1980s, policy-makers shifted English language teaching pedagogy from the Centre de Linguistique Appliquée de Dakar (CLAD) [Centre for Applied Linguistics of Dakar] teaching methods to Communicative Language…

  18. L'enseignement des langues et la realite canadienne (Language Teaching and the Canadian Context).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savard, Jean-Guy, Ed.

    These proceedings are the result of a recommendation of the Royal Commission on bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada that in second language education in Canada the emphasis should be on the Canadian milieu, not on the foreign language aspect of French and English. The following papers are presented here: (1) "Realite culturelle au Canada…

  19. French grammar and usage

    CERN Document Server

    Hawkins, Roger

    2015-01-01

    Long trusted as the most comprehensive, up-to-date and user-friendly grammar available, French Grammar and Usage is a complete guide to French as it is written and spoken today. It includes clear descriptions of all the main grammatical phenomena of French, and their use, illustrated by numerous examples taken from contemporary French, and distinguishes the most common forms of usage, both formal and informal.Key features include:Comprehensive content, covering all the major structures of contemporary French User-friendly organisation offering easy-to-find sections with cross-referencing and i

  20. Language specificity of lexical-phonological therapy in bilingual aphasia: A clinical and electrophysiological study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radman, Narges; Spierer, Lucas; Laganaro, Marina; Annoni, Jean-Marie; Colombo, Françoise

    2016-08-01

    Based on findings for overlapping representations of bilingual people's first (L1) and second (L2) languages, unilingual therapies of bilingual aphasia have been proposed to benefit the untrained language. However, the generalisation patterns of intra- and cross-language and phonological therapy and their neural bases remain unclear. We tested whether the effects of an intensive lexical-phonological training (LPT) in L2 transferred to L1 word production in a Persian-French bilingual stroke patient with Broca's aphasia. Language performance was assessed using the Bilingual Aphasia Test, a 144-item picture naming (PN) task and a word-picture verification (WPV) task. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during PN and WPV in both languages before and after an LPT in French on a wordlist from the PN task. After the therapy, naming improved only for the treated L2 items. The naming performance improved neither in the untrained L2 items nor in the corresponding items in L1. EEG analyses revealed a Language x Session topographic interaction at 540 ms post-stimulus, driven by a modification of the electrophysiological response to the treated L2 but not L1 items. These results indicate that LPT modified the brain networks engaged in the phonological-phonetic processing during naming only in the trained language for the trained items.

  1. La suffixation parasitaire en "o" dans le francais populaire (The "o" Suffix Formations in French Slang).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunet, Jean-Paul

    1980-01-01

    Analyzes the structure, origins and meanings of the "-o" formations in French slang, characterizing the social groups within which they have gained currency. Points out that this spoken language device usually has a purely expressive, connotational function and that numerous examples of the same formation are found in American English.…

  2. Validity of the language development survey in infants born preterm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaulieu-Poulin, Camille; Simard, Marie-Noëlle; Babakissa, Hélène; Lefebvre, Francine; Luu, Thuy Mai

    2016-07-01

    Preterm infants are at greater risk of language delay. Early identification of language delay is essential to improve functional outcome in these children. To examine the concurrent validity of Rescorla's Language Development Survey and the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) at 18months corrected age in preterm infants. Test accuracy study. 189 preterm infants born Language Development Survey, a parent-reported screening instrument, was administered in French concurrently with the Language Scales of the Bayley-III. Receiver-Operating-Characteristics curves were used to determine optimal cut-off score on the Language Development Survey to identify Bayley-III score language delay as per the Bayley-III. The optimal threshold was ≤10 words for both boys and girls. In girls, lowering the cut-off score decreased sensitivity (79%), but improved specificity (82%), thus lowering the number of false-positives. Our findings support using the Language Development Survey as an expressive language screener in preterm infants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Sign Language and Spoken Language for Children With Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth M; Hamel, Candyce; Stevens, Adrienne; Pratt, Misty; Moher, David; Doucet, Suzanne P; Neuss, Deirdre; Bernstein, Anita; Na, Eunjung

    2016-01-01

    Permanent hearing loss affects 1 to 3 per 1000 children and interferes with typical communication development. Early detection through newborn hearing screening and hearing technology provide most children with the option of spoken language acquisition. However, no consensus exists on optimal interventions for spoken language development. To conduct a systematic review of the effectiveness of early sign and oral language intervention compared with oral language intervention only for children with permanent hearing loss. An a priori protocol was developed. Electronic databases (eg, Medline, Embase, CINAHL) from 1995 to June 2013 and gray literature sources were searched. Studies in English and French were included. Two reviewers screened potentially relevant articles. Outcomes of interest were measures of auditory, vocabulary, language, and speech production skills. All data collection and risk of bias assessments were completed and then verified by a second person. Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to judge the strength of evidence. Eleven cohort studies met inclusion criteria, of which 8 included only children with severe to profound hearing loss with cochlear implants. Language development was the most frequently reported outcome. Other reported outcomes included speech and speech perception. Several measures and metrics were reported across studies, and descriptions of interventions were sometimes unclear. Very limited, and hence insufficient, high-quality evidence exists to determine whether sign language in combination with oral language is more effective than oral language therapy alone. More research is needed to supplement the evidence base. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  4. Invitation Refusals in Cameroon French and Hexagonal French

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farenkia, Bernard Mulo

    2015-01-01

    Descriptions of regional pragmatic variation in French are lacking to date the focus has been on a limited range of speech acts, including apologies, requests, compliments and responses to compliments. The present paper, a systematic analysis of invitation refusals across regional varieties of French, is designed to add to the research on…

  5. Language Experience Affects Grouping of Musical Instrument Sounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatara, Anjali; Boll-Avetisyan, Natalie; Agus, Trevor; Höhle, Barbara; Nazzi, Thierry

    2016-01-01

    Language experience clearly affects the perception of speech, but little is known about whether these differences in perception extend to non-speech sounds. In this study, we investigated rhythmic perception of non-linguistic sounds in speakers of French and German using a grouping task, in which complexity (variability in sounds, presence of…

  6. [The concept mapping of representations of the future of health services in French in linguistic minority].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchard, Louise

    2013-06-06

    In the context of institutional incompleteness affecting the official minority language communities, we examine how the Francophones in a minority context see the future of health services offered in French. The study is based on a participatory methodology: the concept mapping will serve to identify the conceptual universe of a given problem. From a master statement such as: "When I think about the future of health services in French, I think of ...", participants are invited to make as many statements as come to mind. These statements are then categorized individually and treated collectively through a multivariate analysis. The main themes emerging from the mapping exercise indicate the issues and challenges raised by the participants, namely the geographical context, specific needs, language rights, education and training, human resources, bilingualism and translation, the minority experience, active offer, the role of governmental bodies, community mobilization, collaboration and networking. The participatory approach that concept mapping allows is interesting in more than one way: its flexibility provides a space for both individual and collective reflection; it allows identification and structuring of the crucial dimensions of an issue; and the research outcomes are useful both to researchers and participants in guiding action and achieving goals. Social actors can therefore benefit from a collective dynamic to reflect on the foundations for the development and organization of health services in French.

  7. « D’abord comprendre, puis apprendre ». À propos des manuels de FLE du point de vue de l’intertextualité // "First to understand, then to learn". french language textbooks form the point of view of intertextuality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alena Prošková

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the following contribution is to present an original point of view on language textbook analyses influenced by approaches commonly applied in the domain of literary science to describing complicated relations which exist between different types of literary texts. Firstly we mention traditional approaches to pedagogic research used in textbook analyses in the Czech education environment and their restrictions. The second part of the contribution focuses on the possible applications of the concept and typology of intertextual (transtextual relations formulated by Gérard Genette in his work Palimpsestes : la Littérature au second degré to the analysis of texts and intertextual relations comprised in language textbooks. Finally we try to show how this approach to textbook analysis can enrich existing textbook research by providing concrete examples from the French language textbook Alter Ego + A2.

  8. Does Grammatical Gender Influence Perception? A Study of Polish and French Speakers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haertlé Izabella

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Can the perception of a word be influenced by its grammatical gender? Can it happen that speakers of one language perceive an object to have masculine features, while speakers of another language perceive the same object to have feminine features? Previous studies suggest that this is the case, and also that there is some supra-language gender categorisation of objects as natural/feminine and artefact/masculine. This study was an attempt to replicate these findings on another population of subjects. This is the first Polish study of this kind, comparing the perceptions of objects by Polish- and French-speaking individuals. The results of this study show that grammatical gender may cue people to assess objects as masculine or feminine. However, the findings of some previous studies, that feminine features are more often ascribed to natural objects than artifacts, were not replicated.

  9. What Is Your "First" Language in Bilingual Canada? A Study of Language Background Profiling at Publicly Funded Elementary Schools across Three Provinces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavkov, Nikolay

    2018-01-01

    Canada is a country with a complex linguistic and cultural landscape characterized by two official languages (English and French), a steady influx of immigrants, and a number of aboriginal communities. Within this rich local context, and in a broader global environment where bilingualism and multilingualism are increasingly recognized as a norm…

  10. Dictionary of high-energy physics English, German, French, Russian. Technik-Woerterbuch Hochenergiephysik - Englisch, Deutsch, Franzoesisch, Russisch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sube, R

    1987-01-01

    This volume contains nearly 4500 entries from branches of high-energy physics including cosmic radiation, elementary particles, elementary particle detection and measurement, field theories, and particle accelerators. Each English entry is numbered and followed by corresponding terms in the other languages. Alphabetical indexes of the German, French, and Russian terms are included.

  11. Cooperating or competing in three languages : Cultural accommodation or alienation?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gargalianou, Vasiliki; Urbig, D.; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of using foreign languages on cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma setting. The cultural accommodation hypothesis suggests that people are less cooperative in English, associated with the Anglophone cultural cluster, than in French,

  12. Cooperating or competing in three languages : Cultural accommodation or alienation?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gargalianou, Vasiliki; Urbig, Diemo; Van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

    2017-01-01

    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of using foreign languages on cooperative behavior in a prisoner's dilemma setting. The cultural accommodation hypothesis suggests that people are less cooperative in English, associated with the Anglophone cultural cluster, than in French,

  13. Rethinking and Reconfiguring English Language Education: Averting Linguistic Genocide in Cameroon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlous Muluh Nkwetisama

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The over 285 indigenous languages of Cameroon may be crushed by the English language. To ensure a sustainable linguistic ecological balance whose peace is undoubtedly threatened by the global imperialistic terrors of English colonialism, an overhaul of ELT practitioners is needed. The English language is taught and learned in Cameroon against a conflictual linguistic platform of French (the other official language of questionable equal status as English, Pidgin English and over 285 indigenous languages. Of these local languages, just about 40 are currently being used (taught in education at the different levels of education in the country. The aim of this paper was to examine the English language politics, practices and teaching. It thereafter evaluated English language teachers’ perception of the so called English Language Teaching Tenets. It also aimed at assessing the functional load of English and it ascertained the extent to which it was threatening the development of local languages as well as effective access to education in Cameroon.

  14. Facebook Posts as Complementary Teaching Material for a French University Course in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernard Montoneri

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A growing number of instructors use information and communications technology (ICT inside and outside the classroom to teach all kinds of programs, including language courses. In this study, the instructor used a traditional way of teaching (lecturing, text-book, conversation, no technology in the classroom, no social network during the first semester of academic year 2013-2014 (September-January in a French course for beginners in a Taiwan public university. During the second semester (February-June 2014, the teacher added the use of multimedia and Facebook to teach the same students. They joined a Facebook learning group, which they could access anytime during the second semester; they could post, view posts, like, and comment in French and sometimes English. They could not use their mother-tongue, Chinese. This study analyzes data from the first and second semester to measure students' learning progress and how the Facebook group might influence their motivation and change their behavior. Students were expected not only to improve their reading and writing skills, but to increase their knowledge of French culture.

  15. Set of CMS posters (multiple languages)

    CERN Multimedia

    Lapka, Marzena; Rao, Achintya

    2014-01-01

    14 A0 posters in English to be printed locally or displayed online. Purpose: science fairs, exhibitions, preparatory material for the CMS virtual visits, etc. Themes: CMS detector, sub-detectors, construction, lowering and installation, collaboration and physics. Available in many languages.

  16. The Language Environments of Exchange Students at some Scandinavian Universities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caudery, Tim; Petersen, Margrethe; Shaw, Philip

    Language Environments of Exchange Students at Scandinavian Universities One aspect of, and one reason for, the internationalisation of Scandinavian universities is the increasing number of exchange students and postgraduates from outside Scandinavia attending courses here. Few of these students...... are primarily motivated by a desire to learn the local language. In fact it is widely believed that many of them live in a lingua-franca English-speaking environment, so that Erasmus contributes to linguistic homogenisation rather than plurilingualism. This paper reports results of an ongoing study...... of the language environment and language learning experiences of some hundred (so far) Erasmus exchange students in two institutions in Sweden and two in Denmark. Subjects had French, German and Spanish as mother tongues. This design is intended to enable the identification of language/culturespecific factors...

  17. Unforgettable French Memory Tricks to Help You Learn and Remember French Grammar

    CERN Document Server

    Rice-Jones, Maria

    2010-01-01

    Unforgettable French uses memory tricks to teach and reinforce major points of rench grammar from the basics up to high school level, to learners of all ages. It may be used: by anyone who wishes to gain confidence in speaking French, as a evision aid, to consolidate the learner's grasp of grammatical points, to complement whatever French scheme you are using, and by French teachers at all levels, from elementary school through to adult. These tried-and-tested memory tricks help to explain "tri

  18. MEANING TRANSFER ANALYSIS OF BALINESE ARTS TERMS INTO ENGLISH AND FRENCH: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Putu Weddha Savitri

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available In order to show and promote Balinese culture to the incoming tourists, many specific terms, especially in arts terms, must be well translated. This paper aims at analyzing the meaning transfer of Balinese Arts Terms into English and French found in Tourism Promotion Book published by Bali Government Tourism Department in two languages versions. The analysis focused on the techniques or procedures applied in transferring Balinese art terms into English (TL1 and French (TL2. Besides, it is also to figure out the most common technique used by the translator in transferring the meanings. The findings showed that there are three techniques used to transfer the meaning of the SL into the TL 1, those are descriptive, transcription, and functional equivalence, meanwhile, there are three translation techniques: transcription, functional equivalence, and formal equivalence and one translation procedure: cultural equivalence used in transferring the SL meaning to TL 2. Transcription technique, usually called borrowing was mostly used by the translator in the meaning transfer from the SL to both the target languages in order to retain the SL meaning in the TL.

  19. L2 vs. L3 Initial State: A Comparative Study of the Acquisition of French DPs by Vietnamese Monolinguals and Cantonese-English Bilinguals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Yan-Kit Ingrid

    2005-01-01

    This paper compares the initial state of second language acquisition (L2A) and third language acquisition (L3A) from the generative linguistics perspective. We examine the acquisition of the Determiner Phrase (DP) by two groups of beginning French learners: an L2 group (native speakers of Vietnamese who do not speak any English) and an L3 group…

  20. Psychometric properties of the 7-item game addiction scale among french and German speaking adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Rothen, Stephane; Achab, Sophia; Thorens, Gabriel; Zullino, Daniele; Gmel, Gerhard

    2016-05-10

    The 7-item Game Addiction Scale (GAS) is a used to screen for addictive game use. Both cross cross-linguistic validation and validation in French and German is needed in adult samples. The objective of the study is to assess the factorial structure of the French and German versions of the GAS among adults. Two samples of men from French (N = 3318) and German (N = 2665) language areas of Switzerland were assessed with the GAS, the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ-50-cc). They were also assessed for cannabis and alcohol use. The internal consistency of the scale was satisfactory (Cronbach α = 0.85). A one-factor solution was found in both samples. Small and positive associations were found between GAS scores and the MDI, as well as the Neuroticism-Anxiety and Aggression-Hostility subscales of the ZKPQ-50-cc. A small negative association was found with the ZKPQ-50-cc Sociability subscale. The GAS, in its French and German versions, is appropriate for the assessment of game addiction among adults.