Gender Assignment in French: The Hierarchy of Rules and the Chronology of Acquisition  

Oleh:

Surridge, Marie E.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching vol. 31 no. 2 (May 1993), page 77-96.

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan PKBB Nomor Panggil: 405/IRA/31 Non-tandon: tidak ada Tandon: 1

Lihat Detail Induk

Isi artikel

This article summarizes knowledge acquired in recent years about the system of gender assignment in French, bringing it together with information about the ways in which the gender assignment system helps in the acquisition of gender by native speakers of French. A hierarchical relationship governs the application of apparently confusing and to some extent conflicting rules for gender assignment. Native speakers, however, normally acquire strata of vocabulary in an approximate chronological order such that these systems of rules for gender, based on different types of linguistic features, are acquired sequentially. The use of structures and adjectives which mark gender strongly, combined with insistence on accuracy in the use of genders, ensures that native speakers internalize the information necessary for assignment. Allowing gender errors to persist in the early stages will prevent the second language learner from acquiring this information. Gender accuracy should therefore be encouraged by teacher and text-book strategies favouring structures which require the marking of gender. Teachers also need to be in a position to answer students' questions about the assignment system, since the knowledge that gender is not 'arbitrary' provides invaluable encouragement in a task which may otherwise appear hopeless.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali