The Growth of Complexity and Accuracy in L2 French: Past observations and recent applications of developmental stages

This chapter addresses the question of the growth of accuracy and complexity in L2 French from the perspective of developmental sequences of morphosyntax, developmental stages and linguistic profiling. We examine the systematic growth of morphosyntactic features expressed by the learner during the acquisition process (sequences). Furthermore, we investigate the relatedness of different developmental phenomena over time (stages). The six developmental stages for L2 French proposed by Bartning & Schlyter (2004) are presented and exemplified and new results are added to the already detailed description of the development of the grammatical system in L2 French of Swedish learners. In addition, we present some recent applications of the model of Bartning and Schlyter, published after 2004. This model has proved to be a useful and practical tool of assessment of general language proficiency in L2 French and, consequently, the stages of morphosyntactic development have been used as independent measures in a number of studies that are briefly summarized in this chapter