Introduction
French
has several different levels of language. It varies from vocabulary,
grammatical structure to verbs. Native speakers most of the time unconsciously
use the appropriate level according to the situation. Therefore, French language
learners have to take into account of it in studying French.
Three
dimensions of variation
Spoken/written language
Formality
Social level of the speaker
Formality
and social background are the two different aspects. Those who usually speak in
an uneducated way, for example, can speak formally.
ex) at an interview, on official documents
The
grammatical structure differs depending on the region.
ex) In South France, they say <Je suis 騁>
in taking 黎re as an auxiliary verb.
Vocabulary
can change forms more easily than grammatical elements.
ex) language des jeunes/cites/banlieues
verlan, which means to put the former part
of the word after the latter half.
femme
> meuf
using non conjugated verbs
Different
levels of language
soign courant familier populaire
The highest level is soign and the
lowest is populaire. These terms are relative to each other; there is no
absolute definition. Soign can be called soutenu, cultiv, chatn or litt駻aire.
Courant can be commun or standard.
Two
different points of view towards language variation
Normative view to consider all things out
of standard French as a mistake
Purist those who are not positive to
variation because it can break the language heritage
Descriptivist view to consider variation as
a natural evolution, normal to change. Like many university researchers.
Fran軋is
avanc
French native speakers who know the
difficulties of their own language don稚 speak 殿ppropriately. You have to
show standard usage of French to learners. They have a tendency to avoid 菟opulaire
level. They are not sure at which level they have to speak, depending on the
age, familiarity, etc. Practically, they had better speak like others with you
on the same situation.
The
way of research
There
are a lot of objects to study. The following are the ways of researching.
1)
Library research
not enough documents
hard
to get latest data
images
like TV of radio as an available device
2)
Fieldwork
research under all the situations: every age,
sex, social background, etc.
by interviews or questionnaires
Many
researches are necessary to know the present situation. I would like to make
use of this research for the study of French language education in Japan, which
I have always been interested in.
Bibliography
Dictionnaire
Royal fran軋is-japonais 1998,
Obunsha
Colloquial
French Grammar 2000
Rodney Ball, Blackwell
Publishers
La
grammaire du fran軋is parl