Negation in Near-Native French: Variation and Sociolinguistic Competence

This study investigated how adult second language (L2) speakers of French with near native proficiency realize verbal negation, a well-known sociolinguistic variable in contemporary spoken French. Data included 10 spontaneous informal conversations between near-native speakers of French and native speakers (NSs) closely acquainted with them. Although some near-native speakers retained ne more frequently than their interlocutors, others produced ne at rates indistinguishable from the NSs. A variationist analysis of 1,877 examples of negation revealed that the near-native speakers had largely acquired the relevant linguistic and sociostylistic factors that condition NS use, although an important subset of the near-native speakers did not vary their ne use according to whether the negation appears in a lexicalized or nonlexicalized phrase. The results contribute to understanding L2 near-nativeness, specifically with respect to sociolinguistic competence in adult learners.