Our doctoral colleague Leonardo Contreras Roa, who currently holds an ATER position at the University of Lille, on Friday, December 6, 2019 defended his doctoral dissertation entitled Prosody and Language Learning. A contrastive study of the interlanguage of French and Spanish speaking English learners. Leonardo’s dissertation was supervised by Marie-Claude Le Bot, Professor Emeritus of Universities and former director of LIDILE. Leonardo was awarded an ARED research grant by the Brittany Region.
Abstract
This thesis applies the analytical framework of the situational discourse. A corpus of 157 travel narratives about Thailand in an online discussion forum is analyzed. The travel experiences are shared by 119 non-professional speakers who will be considered here as “amateur writers”. The linguistic analysis of this study focuses on the reformulation processes that allow speakers to (better) share their travel experience with members of the discussion community. The analysis is grouped under three scenarios. 1) Explanatory reformulation employs four linguistic processes: definition, comparison, translation, and listing. It allows to describe the unique discovery of the country. 2) Corrective reformulation addresses a progressive (“ou plutôt”) or substitutive (“X, non Y”) movement, the use of the connectors “en fait” and “enfin”, and the identical repetition. These methods help to correct the first formulation by giving a more adequate one considered to be part of the practical information for the interlocutors. 3) Concluding reformulation explores the uses of the “bref” and “finalement” connectors. Under the conclusive value of these connectors, the speakers can reinterpret the preceding elements by giving a summary or a synthesis which can help the interlocutors to prepare their own journey. Finally, the thesis also demonstrates how “amateur writers” regularly assume the role of experts/professionals in order to legitimize their narrative through these reformulation processes.
The thesis jury was chaired by Daniel Hirst, Professor Emeritus, University of Aix-Marseille. The other members of the jury were Sophie Herment, Professor of Universities, University of Aix-Marseille; Fabián Santiago Vargas, Associate Professor, University of Paris 8; and Margarita Muñoz García, Associate Professor, University of Rennes 2.
The jury unanimously congratulated the quality of Leonardo’s work and the strong contributions to the scientific community.
Congratulations, Leonardo !