Speaking about the past in English as a Foreign Language

This study investigates how French secondary school learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)(14 year-olds, levels A1+ to B1+) develop the ability to refer to the past during social interactions. Based on a corpus of video-recorded peer interactions, our cross-sectional study integrates tools from an enunciative theory (theory of predicative and enunciation operations) and conversation analysis for second language acquisition. We identified key stages in the acquisition of past tense forms, from reliance on adverbials and verb stems to the use of more complex past verb forms. Our findings align with Klein and Perdue’s Basic Variety concept ( 1997 ), suggesting a ‘natural’ interlanguage development, even in tutored settings where a different linguistic progression is implemented in the programme of instruction. By valuing learner productions and focusing on interactional dynamics, our research highlights the natural progression in EFL learners’ use of various forms when referring to the past, contributing to a deeper understanding of their linguistic development and providing empirical support for the view that grammar emerges from social interaction.