This project, co-funded by the Empiris Foundation, aims to describe the evolution of the use of five common verbs in French as a second language by young migrant students. Our analyses focus on the Corpus FrOMi, which brings together recordings of spontaneous oral productions by 10 beginner students in French on their first day of school over a period of four academic years. Our research question seeks to determine whether the early use of a verb in a coherent and continuous phonological unit (chunk) facilitates the creative, grammatically correct usage later in the acquisition process. For example, is the early use of ‘on l'a pas’ [õlapa] linked to the subsequent correct use of ‘on l'a’ + (pas) + ‘vu / pris...’ or ‘tu l'as’, ‘on (l) a’, ‘il a’, ‘elle a’? To answer this question, the production of the target verbs is analysed for each student by measuring the rate of correct usage for each of the verb forms, whether or not they are included in a phonological unit (chunk). This project is exploratory. We chose to follow the development of five verbs, which were produced by the students from the beginning of acquisition. We chose the verbs avoir, être, aller, faire and venir, which we will follow in 11 three-hour recordings.
We wish to explore our assumption and observe whether the early use of chunks promotes the correct subsequent use of isolated forms by learners. The results of this exploratory study will provide an empirical basis for the development of a larger study, which would also test didactic approaches to the use of chunks in the teaching of French as a second language.