“Emily in Paris”: Personae and L2 French learners

Abstract We test the interaction of French dialect (‘Standard French’ vs. Senegalese), phenotype (Black vs. White), and formality of dress (informal vs. formal) on the recall ability of L1 English/L2 French college students. Participants heard a text produced by a “French Instructor” and completed an 11-item recall task. Subsequently, participants completed nine semantic differential scale ratings on attributes associated with the speaker they listened to. We hypothesized that students’ recall rates would be affected by the French Instructor persona they activate while completing this task. Each participant was exposed to a different speaker (phenotype*dialect*formality = 8 separate lists, between subjects). Results show that participants had significantly higher recall accuracy rates for White, ‘Standard French’ speakers. Factor analyses on the semantic differential scales revealed two latent factors that loaded on French Speaker and Perceived Personality. The factor scores of phenotype, dialect, and formality were significant for both latent variables, but in opposite directions. The results show the need for expanding the range of people included in the materials selected for teaching French as a second language.