The Impact of Moroccan Arabic on the Acquisition of French C’est-Cleft Constructions

Abstract

This study explores how Moroccan Arabic (MA) learners acquire French c’est-cleft constructions, emphasizing both syntactic accuracy and pragmatic appropriateness. A quantitative, quasi-experimental approach was employed with 132 MA learners (levels A2–C1) and 33 native French speakers who completed acceptability judgment tasks evaluating cleft use in contrastive and new-information contexts. The findings highlight substantial difficulties for MA learners, notably their frequent acceptance of non-standard cleft structures missing essential elements or pragmatically unsuitable forms. These issues arise primarily from negative L1 transfer, as MA does not have equivalent cleft structures and instead uses more flexible word-order patterns. Learners often overlooked discourse constraints, particularly failing to properly differentiate between subject and object clefts in new-information contexts. Results support the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), indicating persistent challenges at the syntax–discourse interface even among advanced learners. Nevertheless, increased proficiency and greater exposure to French significantly enhanced learners' accuracy. The study emphasizes the complexity involved in mastering interface-related structures and advocates targeted instruction combined with extensive authentic exposure to foster near-native competence in French clefts among MA learners.