Material Use in Collaborative Dialogue by Japanese University Students Learning Future Tenses in French as a Foreign Language - A Discourse and Interaction Analysis

Oct 15, 2026

This article analyzes how experimental instructional material supports Japanese university first-year learners studying French as a foreign language in distinguishing the periphrastic future (PF) from the simple future (SF). A dyad used the material during a tense-choice task in short dialogues modeled on Galperin’s procedure, followed by discourse and interaction analysis of video excerpts. Results show the dyad could complete the task, and learners also transformed linguistic knowledge into metalinguistic resources, with partial internalization of targeted concepts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Classroom separation of grammar and communication

Rationale for tense choice tasks

Research goals and theoretical foundations

Analyzing Discourse and Interaction with the Material: Theory and Method

Material Use in Collaborative Dialogue by Japanese University Students Learning Future Tenses in French as a Foreign Language: A Discourse and Interaction Analysis Loïc Renoud Okayama University Abstract This article reports on the use of an experimental material to enable discrimination between the periphrastic future (PF) and simple future (SF) intended for initial level university students in Japan studying French as a Foreign Language. A dyad was filmed using the material in a task on tense choice in short dialogues modelled on Galperin’s procedure. A discourse and interaction analysis were then performed on excerpts of the videoed session where the participants interacted with the material. It was found that the material enabled the dyad to complete the task. Moreover, if the pragmatic effect of the SF was not fully grasped, the analysis nonetheless showed that the participants transformed the linguistic knowledge from the material into metalinguistic resources of their own, and that internalization of the targeted concepts occurred to some extent. Résumé Cet article rend compte de l’utilisation d’un matériel expérimental pour la discrimination entre le futur périphrastique (FP) et le futur simple (FS) destiné à des étudiants de niveau initial en Français Langue Étrangère à l’université au Japon. Un binôme d’apprenants a été filmé utilisant le matériel au cours d’une tâche sur le choix du temps dans de courts dialoguesinspirée de la procédure de Galperin. Ensuite, pour les séquences de la session durant lesquelles les participants ont interagi avec le matériel, une analyse du discours et des interactions a été réalisée. On a constaté que le matériel a permis au binôme de terminer latâche. En outre, si l’effet pragmatique du FS n’a pas été pleinement intégré, l’analyse acependant montré que les participants transformaient les connaissances linguistiques du matériel en ressources métalinguistiques qui leur étaient propres, et que l’intériorisation des concepts cibles se produisait dans une certaine mesure. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics: 25, 2 (2022) 71-102 CJAL * RCLA Renoud 72 Material Use in Collaborative Dialogue by Japanese University Students Learning Future Tenses in French as a Foreign Language: A Discourse and Interaction Analysis Introduction The present article reports on the analysis of the use by first-year university students in Japan of original material for Future tenses in French. This study seeks to answer two needs: reconciling a crucial domain of grammar—tenses—with language use and documenting how the material designed for this very purpose was used. For students studying French at university in Japan, grammar is, indeed, essentially a set of explicit rules unconnected with any situation of language use. In the first-year students’ schedule, grammar and communication are, significantly, split into two courses without any coordination most of the time: a grammar course and a conversation course, of 90 minutes each, over 15 weeks, resulting in a total course time of 90 hours over the year. In the textbooks for the grammar course, contents are presented from simple to complex, in isolation, and through guidance of metalinguistic descriptions in Japanese based on grammatical terminology from first-language education in France (Delbarre, 2014) . Next to the grammatical presentations, the exercises focus exclusively on morphological features. The two main Future tenses are no exception. For instance, students will not learn about the rationale of choice between “votre valise (your suitcase) va tomber”(go-PRS.3SG fall) and “votre valise tombera”(fall-FUT.3SG). Let us think of a simple task involving this choice, as in the following: Vous êtes monté(e) dans le train: -Attention, votre valise va tomber ! tombera ! You have boarded the train: -Watch out, your suitcase go-PRS.3SG fall! fall-FUT.3SG! In the example above, the so-called Go-Future “va tomber”, known as p

FAQs

What is the study’s main focus?

The study examines how an experimental material helps Japanese first-year university learners distinguish PF and SF future tenses in French, and how they use it during a collaborative tense-choice task.

How was the material used during the experiment?

A dyad of learners was filmed using the material in short dialogues designed for tense choice, modeled on Galperin’s procedure.

What did the analysis find about learners’ use of the material?

The material enabled the dyad to complete the task, and even when the pragmatic effect of SF was not fully grasped, learners converted the material’s linguistic knowledge into metalinguistic resources and internalized targeted concepts to some extent.

Oct 15, 2026

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