The morphology of the verbal system of the French in the test of functionalism of André Martinet and the Neokhalilian theory of Abderrahman Hadj-Salah. Some thoughts on an application compared in French didactics.

Abstract

One of the major difficulties inherent to the learning of the French language resides in its verbal system. At the formal level, the learner faces a verbal structure both rich in morphological variations and complex, and at the semantic level – except for the «simple past» which has a value of completed time – various meanings for each of the time values of the system which alternates, according to the context, with the verbal modality of «aspect» in total opposition to them. We shall deal only with the formal structure of the French verbal system, pointing out that when the French pupil handles the verbal morphology of his language, and meets difficulties, which are inherent to the system, the Algerian pupil will have to face, in addition, the interaction within his linguistic conscience with specificities, which characterize his language. Here again, we shall not complicate the picture by considering the
sociolinguistic aspect which determines it. In a first stage, the French verbal system will be introduced, as it appears in André Martinet’s Grammaire Fonctionnelle du Français, and in a second stage, will be put to the test of Abderrahmane Hadj-Salah’s neo-khalilian theory.Our reflexion will thus stem from these two points of view on this particular aspect of French grammar. Linguistic: it allows us to compare two traditions of thought about the same object: French. Didactic: hence, we can create and construct learning processes, which will certainly prove to be more adequate.