Professor Detey contributed a chapter – “Chapter 24. Acquiring phonetics and phonology” – in the Oxford Handbook of the French Language, edited by Prof. W. Ayres-Bennett (Cambridge University) and Prof. M. MacLaughlin (Berkeley University). This six-part chapter is dedicated to L2 French pronunciation acquisition. It starts with a summary of how L2 French phonetics-phonology acquisition is explored by researchers. The chapter then explores the French linguistic system, which is targeted by learners, taking into account the relationship between variation in the Francophone world and the diverse needs of students. The following sections offer a short overview of our knowledge of L2 phonetic-phonological education, in terms of psycholinguistic mechanisms and pedagogical approaches. A sociolinguistic perspective is then adopted in order to tackle the social dimension of the output, i.e. the ‘foreign accent’ in French. The chapter ends with some insights into the dialogue between researchers and educators to improve our understanding of both L2 French pronunciation acquisition processes and best educational practices.
