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Ayoun, D. (in press). The Second Language Acquisition of French Tense, Aspect, Mood and Modality. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Temporal-aspectual systems have a great potential of informing our understanding of the developing competence of second language learners. So far, the vast majority of empirical studies investigating L2 acquisition have largely focused on past temporality, neglecting the acquisition of the expression of the present and future temporalities with rare exceptions (aside from ESL learners), leaving unanswered the question of how the investigation of different types of temporality may inform our understanding of the acquisition of temporal, aspectual and mood systems as a whole. This monograph addresses this question by focusing on three main objectives: (a) to contribute to the already impressive body of research in the L2 acquisition of tense, aspect and mood/modality from a generative perspective, and in so doing, to present a more complete picture of the processes of L2 acquisition in general; (b) to bridge the gap between linguistic theory and L2 acquisition; (c) to make empirical findings more accessible to language instructors by proposing concrete pedagogical applications. |
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Ayoun, D. (2008)(Ed.). Studies in French Applied Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Studies in French Applied Linguistics invites the reader to adopt a broad perspective on applied linguistics, illustrating the multifaceted work researchers are conducting in so many various, inter-connected subfields. The five chapters of the first part are dedicated to the first and second language acquisition of French in various contexts: first language acquisition by normal children from a generative perspective and by children with Specific Language Impairment; second language acquisition in immersion settings, from a neurological approach to phonology and natural language processing and CALL. The six chapters of the second part explore the contribution of French in various subfields of applied linguistics such as an anthropological approach to literacy issues in Guadeloupean Kreyol, literacy issues in new technologies, phonological and lexical innovations in the banlieues, French in North Africa, language planning and policy in Quebec, as well as the emerging field of forensic linguistics from an historical perspective. |
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Ayoun, D. (2007)(Ed.). French Applied Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. This state-of-the-art volume
on French Applied Linguistics includes two
introductory chapters, the first summarizes the past, present and
future of French in applied linguistics, and the second reviews the
history of French from a sociolinguistic perspective. The six chapters
of the first part cover the core aspects of the second language
acquisition of French: Phonology, semantics/syntax, syntax/morphology,
pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and grammatical gender. The seven
chapters of the second part explore the contribution of French in
various subfields of applied linguistics such as language ideology and
foreign language pedagogy, corpus linguistics, and French Sign
Language. A chapter studies the role of affective variables on language
learning, while another investigates natural language and lexical
creativity. The chapters on creole studies and applied linguistics in
West Africa address issues in first and second language acquisition in
complex sociolinguistic and political contexts. The last chapter serves
as an epilogue focusing on Louisiana, a region rich in linguistic
history.
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Ayoun,
D. & Salaberry, R. (2005)(Eds.). Tense
and Aspect in Romance Languages: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.This volume presents a
state-of-the-art descriptive and explanatory
analysis of the second language development of Romance tense-aspect
systems. It contains new experimental data from adult French, Catalan,
Portuguese learners, and Italian children learners. Standing research
questions are addressed and pedagogical implications for foreign
language classrooms are proposed arguing that there are possible
commonalities in the instructional sequences of tense-aspect
development in Romance languages. The first chapter presents an
overview of current theoretical approaches and a summary of empirical
findings. The following four chapters introduce new empirical data from
a variety of theoretical perspectives (e.g., the Aspect Hypothesis, the
UG/Minimalist framework). Chapter 5 proposes practical pedagogical
approaches for the foreign language classroom based on empirical
findings. The last chapter summarizes and discusses these findings in
order to start elaborating a more comprehensive model of the
development of tense-aspect marking in the Romance languages.
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Ayoun,
D. (2003). Parameter-setting
in Language Acquisition. London: Continuum Press. This book provides a broad overview of parameter-setting theory in first and second language acquisition and refines the theory by revisiting and challenging the traditional assumptions that underlie it, based on cross-linguistic language data that cover a range of syntactic and phonological phenomena. From an historical perspective on parameter-setting theory to an introduction to its role in computational linguistics, neurolinguistics, and language change, the reader will find a critique of the most commonly made arguments, as well as an index of all the syntactic, phonological, lexical, and morphological parameters presented in the literature to date. A closer look at the theory itself addresses the following questions: What does a parameter-setting approach to language acquisition entail? What are the underpinnings of the theory? What issues and problems remain to be solved? The empirical studies carried out to test the null subject parameter and verb movement parameter are reviewed to re-examine long-standing theoretical assumptions as well as the learnability implications for first and second language acquisition |