The Apposition in the Written Production of Lithuanian Learners in French

Abstract

Summary The acquisition of lexical competence is a complex process, because for learners, it is not enough to distinguish the form and meaning of a lexical element in order to know how to integrate it correctly into the language context. The skill also involves the understanding of the properties of lexical and grammatical combinatorics. The present analysis of the written production of Lithuanian learners of French as a Second Language (FSL) is based on an annotated corpus and focuses on apposition. The term refers to a noun to which it provides additional information on its quality or nature. Choosing apposition for the study is prompted its particular use for elucidation in French then makes it possible to compare its use by FSL learners of and native speakers. The use of apposition in L1 of the analysed level is not very frequent, which poses another question, namely, how Lithuanian learners convey information without apposition. We task ourselves with noting, the different uses of apposition in FSL learners’ writing and analysing their particularities and correspondences in native speakers’ use. Apposition, as NP (noun phrase) constituent, will be analysed syntactically, taking into account correct, erroneous or uncertain constructs. The learners’ writings serve to orient the didactic reflections towards the general use of apposition in the learners’ corpora and a better represent typical interlanguage constructions.