Corpora as input and output: the example of the French discourse markers 'bon' and 'bien'

Abstract

This article presents some of the results of the DiCoi project, which aims to create didactic material from oral corpora of French and to study the development of the interaction competence of learners of L2 French in vocational training for manual trades. We describe the main lines of a didactic intervention on the discourse markers bon and bien and then the production of these markers in the longitudinal (two years) corpus DiCoi, including free interactions between peers. The results show that the use of bien is more productive than that of bon, as well as an increase in the frequency and diversity of the functions of the two markers among learners. The discussion returns to the use of corpora as input and output.