French EFL learners' use of the passive voice in academic writing : a corpus-based study

Details

Supervisors

Paquot, Magali

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation générale

Abstract

As English has become the main language of academia, meeting the requirements of academic writing constitutes a challenge for many non-native speakers of English, especially when it comes to conventionalized features such as the passive voice. This MA dissertation aims to offer insights into the use of the passive voice in French EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learner academic writing. A tripartite comparison is conducted between three corpora of academic prose representing respectively expert writing, native novice writing, and non-native novice writing (i.e. learner writing). Different angles of approach are adopted in order to shed some light on the areas of difficulty shared by both novice populations and on the ones specific to learners. More precisely, the passive frequency, the lexical preferences and the recurrent constructions associated with the passive are examined, and two passive verbs are analyzed in context. The study reveals the importance of three variables affecting the use of the passive: the writers’ status, the L1 background, and the text type. As far as the writers’ status is concerned, it appears that both novice groups have difficulties with the typical frequencies of passive verbs, and show a lack of diversity in their use of the passive. A feature observed among EFL learners is their preference for the more direct modal auxiliaries. The second variable, i.e. L1 background, affects the passive frequency, the frequency of one type of verbal complementation, and the use of the passive verb "considered". The text type can also explain several tendencies observed in the use of the passive, such as the overuse of this grammatical voice by EFL learners. By contrast, the proficiency level of higher intermediate to advanced French EFL learners does not appear to have an impact on the passive frequency. A number of pedagogical suggestions are also offered. The latter deal with the aspects of the passive that should arguably be emphasized in L2 pedagogy, and with the ones that should be ignored. It is argued that teachers and teaching materials should provide more exercises adapted to the lack of diversity of learners, to their inappropriate use of modal auxiliaries, and to their mother tongue.