Approche socioconstructiviste pour l’enseignement-apprentissage du lexique spécialisé : apport du corpus dans la conception d'activités lexicales

Abstract During their training, Translation students are asked to work on texts related to specific areas (e.g. legal and scientific texts). Such texts contain a lexicon that a future translators need to master to communicate accurately knowledge related to a field, even if they are not expert. However, previous studies (Binon and Verinde 2004, Cazevieille 2007) have revealed that the lexicon does not occupy the place that it should in translator training. The research undertaken for this thesis describes the methods developed for the teaching and learning of the specialized lexicon. We aim to assist learners to develop their ability: 1) to understand and distinguish the meaning of terms in context; 2) to use the most appropriate term according to a specific context. In addition, we intend to provide teaching tools to teachers.  This study focuses on the problems related to polysemy and (near-) synonymy that arise in specialized texts. We focus on the lexicon related to the domain of water pollution.  Based on a social constructivist approach (Bruner 1960, Vygotski 1997), we have developed methods and strategies leading the learner to solve problems through reflection and research, and by interacting with his peers and the teacher. This way, the student develops his lexical knowledge in an autonomous way. As the meaning of a term is constructed in context (Bourigault and Slodzian 1999), we consider it important to lead the learner to thoroughly examine the other elements of the context that provide information on its meaning. After defining the different types of these meaning indicators or contextual clues that appear in knowledge-rich contexts, we have developed strategies based on context observation and analysis in order to identify these clues. By recognizing them accurately, the learner is able to distinguish the meanings of terms and to understand their context of use. Subsequently, adopting a corpus-based approach (Beeby et al. 2009, Marco van Lawick   2009), we have created tasks and activities regarding polysemy and (near-) synonymy using the contexts contained in the corpus. These activities are designed according to the task-based approach (Hurtado 2008): the learner is asked to reflect on and analyze the problems in order to identify solutions according to the context. Afterwards, we conducted an experiment in a Terminology course with translation undergraduate students in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our lexical activities. This study also allowed us to measure the effectiveness of our context analysis strategies.  The experiment involved two groups, the experimental group and the control group. Each group carried out lexical activities under different conditions. The context analysis strategies were explained to the experimental group before the realization of the tasks, but not to the control group. The data analysis from the lexical activities indicates better results for the experimental group. Indeed, the comparison of the averages between the two groups shows a significant difference [tobs (2.468) > critical value (2.365); ddl = 7; p-value (0.04294) < 0.05]: the experimental group’s average (91.4) is considerably higher than the control group’s average (76.75). Finally, the data collected from a feedback questionnaire shows that, overall, the experimental group has a very positive impression regarding the effectiveness of the lexical activities and the strategies applied to analysis.  Keywords: Teaching and learning, social constructivism, task-based approach, specialized lexicon, corpus-based approach, polysemy, (quasi-)synonymy, lexical activities, water pollution

Keyphrases: Teaching and learning, Social constructivism, Task-based approach, Specialized lexicon, Corpus-based approach, Polysemy, (quasi-)synonymy, Lexical activities, Water pollution