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Subjectivity in a Second Language – Conveying the Expression of Self . Alan J. E. Wolf (2006 )

Subjectivity in a Second Language – Conveying the Expression of Self . Alan J. E. Wolf (2006 ). Peter Lang: Contemporary studies in descriptive linguistics. Ala(i)n Wolf, currently lectures at the University of East Anglia. From UEA website: Biography

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Subjectivity in a Second Language – Conveying the Expression of Self . Alan J. E. Wolf (2006 )

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  1. Subjectivity in a Second Language – Conveying the Expression of Self. Alan J. E. Wolf (2006) Peter Lang: Contemporary studies in descriptive linguistics

  2. Ala(i)n Wolf, currently lectures at the University of East Anglia • From UEA website: • Biography • Born in France, native speaker of French • Education: • BA Philosophy and English Literature, University of York • PhD in Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge.  • Teaching: • English and French • Translation Studies • Pragmatics (University of Sheffield, University of East Anglia • Translator of academic texts.

  3. Two Main purposes of the book • To examine how native and non-native (English mother-tongue) speakers of French use subjectivity markers • in personal narratives • in argumentative discourse • To consider the implications for teaching a foreign language

  4. Subjectivity - definition • For his definition of subjectivity, Wolf draws on Benveniste (1966: 259) ‘the speaker’s ability to present himself as a subject’ • For anglo-saxon readership, he proposes the following definintion : • ‘the expression of subjectivity in language is the speaker’s expression of himself or herself in his/her “énonciation”

  5. Markers of subjectivity analysed in the book • Personal pronouns : especially je, on, nous • Verbal collocations je crois, je pense... : • intra diegetic je vs. extra-diegetic je • modalisers: « franchement c’est inacceptable » • verb forms (e.g. imparfait vs. passé composé)

  6. Data collection: Participants • 18 Non Native Speakers: • undergraduates (French BA) at the University of Cambridge • age range 18-22 (11 private school, 7 state school) • 7 Native speakers • recruited from among local language assistants (Cambridge area) • age range 23-25

  7. Data collection : narratives • one-to-one interviews with researcher in students’ college rooms • time chosen by the students to suit themselves, rather than the investigator • Students told they were not being tested • Elicitation question: ‘Could you tell me a story in French of something interesting or amusing that has happened to you?’ • One week later, students retell the story in English

  8. Data collection : role plays • one-to-one role plays with native French speaker NS = shop assistant, NNS = customer. (different speaker from control group) • 4 NS/NS dyads as control group (8 speakers) • subjects asked to complain in a shop – they want their money back on a faulty swimsuit. • Role-plays video recorded

  9. Data - narratives • 36 narratives were collected from English participants, of which: • 18 were in L2 French • 18 were in L1 English • 7 narratives were collected from French participants (all L1 French)

  10. Data – role plays • FrL1 (unknown to FrL2) and FrL2 pairs (L1 plays shop assistant) • Video recorded (different situation from narratives)

  11. NS and NSS use of ‘je/I’ in narratives • … no significant differences in overall usage (about 3 words per hundred were ‘je’ or ‘I’ in the narratives of each set of respondents) • … no significant difference in the breakdown of usage between NS English and NNS French (i.e. the anglophones)

  12. Intra and Extra-diegetic ‘je/I’ • Intra-diegetic ‘je’ - ‘speakers represent the world from the point of view of the hero participating in the represented event’ (Bakhtin 1981) • ‘Je suis partie vers le 8ème arrondissement’ • Extra-diegetic ‘je’ (the teller’s ‘je’ who remains outside the represented world) • Je pense, je crois, etc

  13. Anglophones: NS English vs. NNS French • No significant difference (p=0.317) • But…

  14. Anglophones vs. Francophones: NNS French vs NS French • Significant difference: Fisher’s exact test p = 0.0007 (from http://graphpad.com) • i.e. The NNS subjects use a significantly higher proportion of extra-diegetic ‘je’ than do the NS French subjects

  15. NS French: No occurrences of ‘je + affective verb’ • NNS Examples: • « j’espère que vous l’avez trouvée (the story) amusant… » • «je me sens de plus en plus intégrée (en France) » • NS Examples: • « c’est toujours impressionnant de voir en vrai comme ça quelqu’un qui a fait quelque chose de remarquable » • « je trouve ça assez rigolo comme histoire » • Wolf’s conclusion: NS’s « expression of likes and dislikes is presented as if it were a matter of having attitudes to propositional content and , in this sense, they come across as impersonal and distant. » (p. 85)

  16. The use of ‘on’ and ‘nous’ in the narratives • NS and NNS usage of ‘on’ and ‘nous’ differs considerably:

  17. Exemples: je+affective verb • NNS: • j’espère que vous l’avez trouvée amusant et informatif • j’adore la nourriture • je me sens de plus en plus intégrée • NS: • C’est toujours impressionnant de voir en vrai... • je trouve ça assez rigolo

  18. Argumentative discourse: explicit modalisation • NNS: • je veux mon argent oui • NNS: je voudrais avoir mon argentNS: vous souhaitez être remboursé? • je suis sûre que vous devez avoir des informations sur ce que vous avez vendu aujourd’hui (NS more likely to use: vous devez bien avoir...) • NNS: je ne crois pas que ce sera normal qu’elle change tellement de couleurNS: c’est du coton+ si c’est normalNNS: je crois pas+ je suis pas d’accord parce que je je crois que c’est pas une façon+ c’est pas une façon de voir les choses que je peux comprendre • NS: • je veux absolument être remboursée • je veux bien un autre modèle • j’estime que au prix où je l’ai acheté+ il n’y a aucune raison • j’estime que la moindre des choses c’est d’être remboursée

  19. Exemples: epistemic extra-diegetic je • NNS: • j’ai dû mettre les lettres dans les enveloppes pour tous les clients + du garage je crois que j’aurais dû + que j’ai fait à mille lettres et c’était + je crois que c’est la chose la plus ennuyeuse que j’ai jamais faite ... je crois parce que c’était si ennuyeux • NS: more frequently used with subordinators • on était arrivé euh+ je crois que c’était à Paddington • Ben voilà+ je crois que+ je t’ai tout dit de ce que j’ai fait...

  20. Exemples: ‘on’ and ‘nous’ • NNS: • nous sommes pris le déjeuner+ nous sommes couchés et vers treize heures du matin+ nous nous sommes levés et après un heure de préparation nous sommes quittés le refuge • quand je parlais avec les autres français+j’avais des difficultés à me faire comprendre euhm +on + on me demandait souvent +ce que c’était que je voulais dire+ et on riait souvent+ on ridiculisait mon accent • NS: • on a dormi à la gare+ on s’est fait réveiller par les gardes avec les chiens le matin+c’était super on puait+ on pouvait pas se laver donc on est restés+ on a fait un Macdo + le tour de la ville + le Reichstag+un tour dans Berlin Est et on s’est tiré.

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