Conceptualisation étendue du temps topique dans les narrations des apprenants sinophones en français langue étrangère

In this article, we address the question of the conceptualization of time for Chinese learners with French as their second language. We take into account the differences between the grammatical expression of temporality in French and in Chinese, and propose the following hypothesis : influenced by their first language which does not mark temporality systematically, Chinese learners conceptualize an extended topic time and re-organize the chronology of the events presented in the stimulus. This hypothesis was tested by means of French data from two groups of Chinese learners at different proficiency levels recorded in People’s Republic of China and in France, and and the data were compared to that of of a native Chinese speaker. We also analyze whether this conceptualization changes with the development of morphology. This study contributes to our understanding of the early acquisition of simultaneity, and the flexibility of temporal marking in Chinese learners’ data.