Conceptualisation et emploi du passé composé et de l'imparfait en français langue étrangère (L3) au Sri Lanka : l'impact du singhalais langue maternelle (L1) et de l'anglais langue seconde (L2)

Résumé: Notre étude chevauche deux domaines de recherche quasi indissociables : ceux de la linguistique et de la didactique des langues. Comme l'indique le sujet, elle examine la conceptualisation et l'emploi de deux notions aspecto-temporelles du français (le passé composé et l'imparfait), sous l'impact des connaissances grammaticales déjà acquises sur deux autres langues : le singhalais et l'anglais. Notre recherche relève des domaines de la psycholinguistique, de la linguistique acquisitionnelle et de la linguistique comparative. Toutefois, dans le cadre de cette étude, nous examinons ces notions grammaticales françaises et leurs équivalents présumés dans les deux autres langues comme étant des concepts relevant des langues à statuts sociaux spécifiques [à savoir, langue maternelle (L1), langue seconde (L2) et langue étrangère (L3)], dans un contexte particulier d'enseignement/apprentissage et d'acquisition de langue [à savoir, le contexte d'enseignement/apprentissage et d'acquisition du français langue étrangère (FLE) au Sri Lanka]. En ce sens, notre étude est également liée aux domaines de la sociolinguistique et de la didactique des langues, notamment, étrangères. Ce qui pourrait probablement distinguer cette recherche des autres, c'est qu'elle aborde certaines questions linguistiques et didactiques peu étudiées jusqu'ici. Entre autres, l'influence de deux langues sur l'enseignement/apprentissage d'une L3, l'enseignement/apprentissage des langues dans des contextes exolingues et le rôle des transferts dans la conceptualisation des notions grammaticales. Pourtant, lorsque nous avons choisi le contexte d'apprentissage du FLE au Sri Lanka comme terrain de recherche, nous avons également visé d'autres objectifs : examiner les systèmes verbaux de trois langues dont l'imbrication n'a pas encore été objet d'étude ; examiner le système verbal aspecto-temporel peu explicité du singhalais à la lumière des descriptions linguistiques occidentales ; vérifier certains préjugés concernant les liens de proximité et de distance entre les trois langues choisies et étudier les causes de ces préjugés. Notre corpus provient de plusieurs classes de FLE au Sri Lanka. Le public observé était constitué d'adolescents ou d'adultes bilingues ayant le singhalais en L1 et l'anglais en L2. Les cours choisis se distinguaient les uns des autres par plusieurs critères, mais travaillaient tous sur les notions du passé composé et de l'imparfait. A la conclusion de notre étude, nous avons constaté qu'un nombre important de nos hypothèses initiales se sont avérées véridiques. A titre d'exemples, les transferts entre les langues premières et la langue cible sont récurrents et non négligeables chez l'écrasante majorité des apprenants exolingues observés, et parfois, même chez leurs enseignants; si ces apprenants recourent à ces langues pour étayer leur apprentissage, ni leurs enseignants ni leurs manuels provenant de l'étranger ne les guident dans ce travail; les transferts ayant l'anglais pour origine l'emportent considérablement sur ceux provenant du singhalais. De même, suite à l'analyse contrastive des trois systèmes verbaux aspecto-temporels et à l'analyse du corpus, nous avons également eu un résultat imprévu : contrairement à une représentation répandue chez les apprenants singhalais, il existe des points convergents entre leur L1 et le français ; du moins, au niveau de l'emploi de certains temps du passé. Un fait dont on était jusqu'ici ignorants mais dont on peut sûrement profiter dans les cours de FLE au Sri Lanka. Suite à ces observations et à la fin de notre thèse, nous avons fait quelques recommandations didactiques afin d'améliorer les conditions d'enseignement/apprentissage des langues étrangères, au Sri Lanka et ailleurs. Abstract: Our research is related to the fields of both linguistics and didactics, two research areas which are almost inseparable. As the title shows, the thesis examines the issue of conceptualizing and using of two grammatical (aspectual and temporal) concepts of the French language (le passé composé and l'imparfait), under the influence of previously acquired grammatical knowledge of two other languages: Sinhalese and English. Thus, our research is linked to the domains of psycholinguistics, acquisitional linguistics and comparative linguistics. However, within the framework of this study, we will consider the above-mentioned two French grammatical concepts and their presumed equivalents in the other two languages as concepts belonging to three languages with specific social status [i.e. first language (L1), second language (L2) and foreign language (L3)], taught/learnt/acquired in a particular language teaching/learning context [the context of teaching/learning of French as a foreign language (FFL) in Sri Lanka]. In that sense, our study is also associated with the fields of sociolinguistics and language teaching, especially foreign language teaching. What could probably make this study outstanding is that it studies certain linguistic and didactic issues which have not yet been studied. For example, it examines, among other issues, the following: the influence of two languages (i.e. mother tongue -L1 & second language -L2) on the teaching/learning process of a third language (i.e. foreign language- L3); foreign language teaching and learning in an exolingual context (where the target language is not spoken outside the classroom); the role of language transfers in the process of grammatical notion conceptualization. However, in selecting the FFL teaching/learning context in Sri Lanka as our field of research, we had further objectives in mind : i.e. 1) studying the verb systems of three languages whose combination has never been studied before ; 2) studying the aspectual-temporal formation of the Sinhalese verb system (which is hardly taught explicitly) in the light of the linguistic descriptions of dominant European languages; 3) verifying certain preconceived ideas regarding the proximity and the distance between the three chosen languages, and 4) studying the causes for these preconceptions. Our corpus is obtained from a number of FFL classes in Sri Lanka. The observed student groups consisted of bilingual adolescents and adults whose first language (L1) was Sinhalese and the second language (L2) was English. The observed classes differed in many ways but in each of those classes, a common factor was that the students had been learning some aspect of the two grammatical concepts, le passé composé and l'imparfait. Having completed our study, we now see that a considerable number of our initial hypotheses are proven correct. For example, in the exolingual French language teaching/learning context in Sri Lanka where we carried out our research, language transfers between the first and target languages were recurrent and numerous in the work of the greater majority of the observed language learners, and even their teachers; these transfers were so frequent that they could hardly be ignored during the teaching/learning process ; although learners turned to their first languages to facilitate the learning process of a new language, neither their teachers, nor their text books helped them in this task; the transfers originating from English were far too numerous than those originating from Sinhalese; however, contrary to the popular belief among many Sinhalese learners of French, the contrastive analysis of the three aspectual-temporal verb systems and the study of our corpus helped us in proving that there are common linguistic features between the Sinhalese and the French languages ; at least, when it comes to using some of their past tenses. This is a fact which had been ignored up to now but which could probably be used to improve French teaching/learning in Sri Lanka. Taking all observations into account, we made some pedagogical recommendations in the concluding part of our thesis with the view of improving foreign language teaching/learning in Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.

Validity, reliability and responsiveness of the French language translation of the Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI).

BACKGROUND: The WOSI (Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index) is a self-administered quality of life questionnaire designed to be used as a primary outcome measure in clinical trials on shoulder instability, as well as to measure the effect of an intervention on any particular patient. It is validated and is reliable and sensitive. As it is designed to measure subjective outcome, it is important that translation should be methodologically rigorous, as it is subject to both linguistic and cultural interpretation. OBJECTIVE: To produce a French language version of the WOSI that is culturally adapted to both European and North American French-speaking populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A validated protocol was used to create a French language WOSI questionnaire (WOSI-Fr) that would be culturally acceptable for both European and North American French-speaking populations. Reliability and responsiveness analyses were carried out, and the WOSI-Fr was compared to the F-QuickDASH-D/S (Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand-French translation), and Walch-Duplay scores. RESULTS: A French language version of the WOSI (WOSI-Fr) was accepted by a multinational committee. The WOSI-Fr was then validated using a total of 144 native French-speaking subjects from Canada and Switzerland. Comparison of results on two WOSI-Fr questionnaires completed at a mean interval of 16 days showed that the WOSI-Fr had strong reliability, with a Pearson and interclass correlation of r=0.85 (P=0.01) and ICC=0.84 [95% CI=0.78-0.88]. Responsiveness, at a mean 378.9 days after surgical intervention, showed strong correlation with that of the F-QuickDASH-D/S, with r=0.67 (P<0.01). Moreover, a standardized response means analysis to calculate effect size for both the WOSI-Fr and the F-QuickDASH-D/S showed that the WOSI-Fr had a significantly greater ability to detect change (SRM 1.55 versus 0.87 for the WOSI-Fr and F-QuickDASH-D/S respectively, P<0.01). The WOSI-Fr showed fair correlation with the Walch-Duplay. DISCUSSION: A French-language translation of the WOSI questionnaire was created and validated for use in both Canadian and Swiss French-speaking populations. This questionnaire will facilitate outcome assessment in French-speaking settings, collaboration in multinational studies and comparison between studies performed in different countries. TYPE OF STUDY: Multicenter cohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

The use of mannan antigen and anti-mannan antibodies in the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis: recommendations from the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia.

INTRODUCTION: Timely diagnosis of invasive candidiasis (IC) remains difficult as the clinical presentation is not specific and blood cultures lack sensitivity and need a long incubation time. Thus, non-culture-based methods for diagnosing IC have been developed. Mannan antigen (Mn) and anti-mannan antibodies (A-Mn) are present in patients with IC. On behalf of the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia, the performance of these tests was analysed and reviewed. METHODS: The literature was searched for studies using the commercially available sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Platelia™, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) for detecting Mn and A-Mn in serum. The target condition of this review was IC defined according to 2008 European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycoses Study Group criteria. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) were calculated for Mn, A-Mn and combined Mn/A-Mn testing. RESULTS: Overall, 14 studies that comprised 453 patients and 767 controls were reviewed. The patient populations included in the studies were mainly haematological and cancer cases in seven studies and mainly intensive care unit and surgery cases in the other seven studies. All studies but one were retrospective in design. Mn sensitivity was 58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 53-62); specificity, 93% (95% CI, 91-94) and DOR, 18 (95% CI 12-28). A-Mn sensitivity was 59% (95% CI, 54-65); specificity, 83% (95% CI, 79-97) and DOR, 12 (95% CI 7-21). Combined Mn/A-Mn sensitivity was 83% (95% CI, 79-87); specificity, 86% (95% CI, 82-90) and DOR, 58 (95% CI 27-122). Significant heterogeneity of the studies was detected. The sensitivity of both Mn and A-Mn varied for different Candida species, and it was the highest for C. albicans, followed by C. glabrata and C. tropicalis. In 73% of 45 patients with candidemia, at least one of the serological tests was positive before the culture results, with mean time advantage being 6 days for Mn and 7 days for A-Mn. In 21 patients with hepatosplenic IC, 18 (86%) had Mn or A-Mn positive test results at a median of 16 days before radiological detection of liver or spleen lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Mn and A-Mn are useful for diagnosis of IC. The performance of combined Mn/A-Mn testing is superior to either Mn or A-Mn testing.

β-Glucan antigenemia assay for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections in patients with hematological malignancies: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies from the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL-3).

BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are life-threatening complications in patients with hemato-oncological malignancies, and early diagnosis is crucial for outcome. The compound 1,3-β-D-glucan (BG), a cell wall component of most fungal species, can be detected in blood during IFI. Four commercial BG antigenemia assays are available (Fungitell, Fungitec-G, Wako, and Maruha). This meta-analysis from the Third European Conference on Infections in Leukemia (ECIL-3) assessed the performance of BG assays for the diagnosis of IFI in hemato-oncological patients. METHODS: Studies reporting the performance of BG antigenemia assays for the diagnosis of IFI (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Mycoses Study Group criteria) in hemato-oncological patients were identified. The analysis was focused on high-quality cohort studies with exclusion of case-control studies. Meta-analysis was performed by conventional meta-analytical pooling and bivariate analysis. RESULTS: Six cohort studies were included (1771 adult patients with 414 IFIs of which 215 were proven or probable). Similar performance was observed among the different BG assays. For the cutoff recommended by the manufacturer, the diagnostic performance of the BG assay in proven or probable IFI was better with 2 consecutive positive test results (diagnostic odds ratio for 2 consecutive vs one single positive results, 111.8 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 38.6-324.1] vs 16.3 [95% CI, 6.5-40.8], respectively; heterogeneity index for 2 consecutive vs one single positive results, 0% vs 72.6%, respectively). For 2 consecutive tests, sensitivity and specificity were 49.6% (95% CI, 34.0%-65.3%) and 98.9% (95% CI, 97.4%-99.5%), respectively. Estimated positive and negative predictive values for an IFI prevalence of 10% were 83.5% and 94.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Different BG assays have similar accuracy for the diagnosis of IFI in hemato-oncological patients. Two consecutive positive antigenemia assays have very high specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Because sensitivity is low, the test needs to be combined with clinical, radiological, and microbiological findings.

Language and syntactic impairment following stroke in late bilingual aphasics.

PURPOSE: Bilingual aphasia generally affects both languages. However, the age of acquisition of the second language (L2) seems to play a role in the anatomo-functional correlation of the syntactical/grammatical processes, thus potentially influencing the L2 syntactic impairment following a stroke. The present study aims to analyze the influence of late age of acquisition of the L2 on syntactic impairment in bilingual aphasic patients. METHODS: Twelve late bilingual participants (speaking French as L2 and either English, German, Italian or Spanish as L1) with stroke-induced aphasia participated in the study. The MAST or BAT aphasia batteries were used to evaluate overall aphasia score. An auditory syntactic judgement task was developed and used to test participants syntactic performance. RESULTS: The overall aphasia scores did not differ between L1 and L2. In a multiple case analysis, only one patient had lower scores in L2. However, four patients presented significantly lower performances in syntactic processing in the late L2 than in their native language (L1). In these four patients the infarct was localized, either exclusively or at least partially, in the pre-rolandic region. CONCLUSION: This pilot study suggests that, in late bilingual aphasics, syntactic judgment abilities may be more severely impaired in L2, and that this syntactic deficit is most likely to occur following anterior lesions.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors beta/delta: emerging roles for a previously neglected third family member.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors alpha, beta/delta and gamma are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. They mediate the effects of fatty acids and their derivatives at the transcriptional level, and are considered to be lipid sensors that participate in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Compared with the alpha and gamma peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor isotypes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta functions have long remained an enigma. In this review, we focus on emerging knowledge about peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta activation and roles. RECENT FINDINGS: We review recent data that suggest key roles in basic cell functions, such as proliferation, differentiation and survival, and in embryonic development and lipid metabolism in peripheral tissues. SUMMARY: The newly unveiled roles of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta in important basic cell functions certainly justify a further exploration of its potential as a therapeutic target in pathologies such as metabolic syndrome X or skin diseases.