Browsing by Author "Donaldson, Bryan"

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    Near-Native Sociolinguistic Competence in French: Evidence from Variable Future-Time Expression
    Gudmestad, Aarnes; Edmonds, Amanda; Donaldson, Bryan; Carmichael, Katie (Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, 2020)
    This study aims to advance the understanding of sociolinguistic competence among nearnative speakers and to further knowledge about the acquisition of variable structures. We conduct a quantitative analysis of variable future-time expression in informal conversations between near-native and native speakers of French. In addition to examining linguistic constraints that have been investigated in previous research, we build on prior work by introducing a new factor that enables us to consider the role that formality of the variants plays in the use of variable future-time expression. We conclude by comparing these new findings to those for the same dataset and other variable structures (namely, negation and interrogatives, Donaldson, 2016, 2017) and by advocating for more research that consists of multiple, complementary analyses of the same dataset.
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    On the role of the present indicative in variable future-time reference in Hexagonal French
    Gudmestad, Aarnes; Edmonds, Amanda; Donaldson, Bryan; Carmichael, Katie (University of Toronto Press, 2018)
    This study investigates variable future-time expression among native speakers of Hexagonal French who participated in informal conversations. The quantitative analysis is the first to examine the inflectional future, periphrastic future, and present indicative as separate forms in a single statistical model of French oral production. Results indicate that temporal distance and presence/absence of a temporal expression predict use of these verb forms. The second phase of the analysis focused on the use of the present indicative in future-time contexts. The examination of each instance of the present indicative shows that an immediate lexical temporal indicator is not necessary for this form to convey futurity and that future-time reference is often established at the discourse level and occasionally through apparent shared knowledge between the interlocutors. This investigation suggests the value of including the present indicative in the analysis of future-time reference in Hexagonal French in order to fully capture variation.