Etude expérimentale sur le traitement de l'accord sujet-verbe en nombre en FLE

This experimental study adapts a usage-based perspective on L2 acquisition (Bybee 2008; Ellis 2008) and focuses on the production of French subject-verb (SV) agreement in number (singular vs. plural). Previous studies show that the acquisition of this agreement is a long and gradual process in L2 French (Bartning & Schlyter 2004; Prévost 2009; Michot 2015). This study examines the influence of different internal and external factors on the production of SV agreement in L2 learners. More specifically, we investigate the role played by the learners' proficiency level, the input frequency of specific verb forms and the impact of written stimuli on spoken language production. Data from 42 Swedish learners and 21 French native speakers was collected through an elicited imitation test. Results show that the proficiency level of the learners as well as the type of stimuli (spoken or written) had a significant impact of the production of SV agreement in the imitation test. However, the token frequency of individual verb forms in the input did not seem to influence the use of number agreement in the L2 learners.