Isabelle Négro

Subject-verb agreement with present and imperfect tenses: A developmental study from 2nd to 7th grade

In French, a verb always agrees in number with its subject. The agreement rule is regularly applied. However, in specific conditions, agreement errors occur. These errors consist in agreeing the verb with the local noun, instead of with the first occurring noun, which is the subject, when two nouns differing in number precede the verb. Currently, one of the most powerful hypotheses to explain this kind of errors suggests that subject-verb agreement errors result from a temporary overload in working memory. In this regard, a developmental study, combined with an analysis of the differences between tenses of the French indicative has been led. We hypothesized a decrease of agreement errors with children’s grades and that the agreement with the imperfect tense may have a lesser cognitive cost than the agreement with the present. The objective of this work was thus to study the management of subject-verb agreement in children from 2nd to 7th grades (between the age of 7 and 12), for the present and the imperfect. The results confirmed that the imperfect is acquired more rapidly than the present. The cognitive cost of the agreement would be lower with the imperfect than with the present. These data were analyzed in the framework of the knowledge development model proposed by Anderson (1983).RésuméEn français, un verbe s’accorde toujours en nombre avec son sujet. Cette règle d’accord est régulièrement appliquée. Toutefois, dans certaines conditions, des erreurs d’accord surviennent. Ces erreurs consistent, lorsque deux noms différant en nombre précèdent le verbe, à accorder le verbe avec le nom préverbal, au lieu du nom sujet. Actuellement, une des hypothèses retenues prédit que les erreurs d’accord sujet-verbe résulteraient d’une surcharge temporaire en mémoire de travail. Dans cette perspective, une étude développementale, complétée par une analyse des différences entre temps de l’indicatif a été conduite. Les hypothèses principales de ce travail prédisent une baisse des erreurs d’accord avec l’âge et que l’accord avec l’imparfait devrait être moins coûteux que l’accord au présent. L’objectif de ce travail est donc d’étudier la gestion de l’accord sujet-verbe chez des enfants âgés de 7 à 12 ans, au présent et à l’imparfait. Les résultats confirment la rapidité de l’acquisition des flexions verbales de l’imparfait comparativement au présent. L’accord à l’imparfait serait donc d’un moindre coût cognitif. Ces données sont interprétées dans le cadre du modèle de développement des connaissances proposé par Anderson (1983).

Subject-verb agreement errors in written productions: A study of French children and adults

This experiment was designed to simulate the conditions for subject-verb agreement errors, which are rarely but regularly observed in highly educated adults. Twenty-four adults and 24 children (12 years old) were orally presented with sentences to write. The sentences were in the French past indicative (the “imperfect” tense) and were of two types, asfollows: Noun 1 [subject of the verb]+Verb 1+Noun 2 [object of the verb] and(Adverbial phrase)+Pronoun 1+Pronoun 2+Verb 2+ (adverbial phrase). The adverbial phrase appeared either at the beginning or the end of the sentence. The conditions were the following: Noun 1 (and Pronoun 1) and Noun 2 (and Pronoun 2) were either matched or mismatched in number, and the sentences were either followed or not by a series of five words to be memorized. Most adults made errors when the two pronouns differed in number. But, in contrast to the results of studies using the present indicative, the extra cognitive load (the word series) did not lead to more errors. The children also made errors when the two pronouns differed, and did so whatever the cognitive load. The position of the adverbial phrase did not influence the error ratio. With the imperfect tense, it seems that making the verb number agree with its subject cannot be considered as a cognitively automatic and effortless activity, even for adults.

The role of language skills in learning to read : The case of bilingualism in French overseas departments

This study aims to explain how the practice of two languages (French and Creole) in French overseas departments affects the first educational competencies acquired by children. The students’ performance in both languages was investigated at the beginning of kindergarten, and their reading capacities were measured at the end of Grade 1. The data analysis shows that the practice of Creole has no negative impact on success at reading in French. Furthermore, it appears that the students who performed the best in reading were those who were either more competent in French than in Creole, or those who were equally competent in both languages, according to their assessed reading competence. Thus, also discussed is the necessity of early exposure to a languages written code and the contribution that bilingualism makes to learning processes of reading.