Sprachunsicherheit(en)

  • Hervé ADAMI (Université de Lorraine)
    Processes of adult language security: social trajectories and learning paths
    2014, Vol. XIX-2, pp. 71-83

    Certain adults, migrants or native French speakers, suffer from language insecurity, i.e. they have repertoires that are incomplete or are too unvaried to deal efficiently with the different communications situations they participate in, in particular those that fall outside the usual limits of their interactions. The duration and the scale of recent economic and social changes mean that there is little scope for these people in the labour market, and they are socially marginalized. Some of these people participate in integration or insertion initiatives that sometimes include language training. The authors define language insecurity according to this situation and they show how it can be useful for analysing the reality it describes and for suggesting solutions in adulte ducation.


  • Valérie LANGBACH (Formabilis)
    Spoken interaction and professional insertion: analysis of collaborative discourse in low qualified native speakers
    2014, Vol. XIX-2, pp. 85-95

    Contrary to scholastic failure, the question of language insecurity in adult native speakers has not attracted much attention. Beyond the obvious political and ideological debates, the question for research is to understand whether increased linguistic mastery can allow speakers to communicate in an efficient manner with any given interlocutors. Analysis of collaborative discourse in low educated native speakers shows that, as well as lexical and syntactic issues, problems linked to interaction can appear that impede the flow of exchanges. These give rise to collaborative discourse construction practices that require numerous readjustments and conversational negotiations.