When Grammar Makes Sense: Apprehension of Conditional Modalities by Hebrew-Speakers Learning French as a Foreign Language in an Academic Context Cover Image

Quand une grammaire fait sens : appréhension de la valeur modale du conditionnel par les apprenants hébréophones de FLE en contexte universitaire
When Grammar Makes Sense: Apprehension of Conditional Modalities by Hebrew-Speakers Learning French as a Foreign Language in an Academic Context

Author(s): Silvia Adler, Isabelle Dotan
Subject(s): Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Foreign languages learning
Published by: Komisja Nauk Filologicznych Oddziału Polskiej Akademii Nauk we Wrocławiu
Keywords: conditional modality; French as a foreign language; L1 (source language) – L2 (target language) discrepancies; TAM (tense-aspect-mood); Hebrew;

Summary/Abstract: In line with our previous work on L1 (Hebrew, as the source language)/L2 (French, as the target language) TAM (time-aspect-mood) discrepancies in FFL classes in Israel – for instance, divergences related to the past tense system – the present paper pursues the study of the conditional mood, especially the study of the semantics related to its modalities. If Hebrew-speaking learners of FFL assimilate effectively theoretical aspects relevant to conditional modalities, they struggle to put this knowledge into practice. The reason is that, just like for indicative compound tenses expressing an extra level of completion or anteriority, Hebrew uses lexical denotation (adverbial expressions) instead of morphological devices. While reviewing the discrepancies between L1 and L2 relevant to the use of linguistic modality, this paper aims at rendering accessible – through a metaphorization of modality by means of linguistic approximation – French conditional modalities to Hebrew-speaking students, for whom the most natural option of meaning expression is the use of lexical components instead of verbal morphology.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 9
  • Page Range: 11-22
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: French