SUBORDINATION AND COORDINATION PITFALLS IN L2 FRENCH WRITING

Abstract

This study investigates syntactic challenges faced by second-language learners of French. It specifically 
focuses on the production of coordinated and subordinated clauses. While these structures are essential 
for achieving advanced linguistic proficiency and narrative cohesion, they represent significant zones 
of “grammatical friction” due to their complex rules of symmetry, mood selection, and pronoun usage. 
Through a corpus-based error analysis of written compositions of 30 university-degree students of 
French between the sessions 2022 and 2025 in Akwa Ibom State University, this study identifies and 
categorizes recurring errors, such as faulty parallelism in co-ordination, the omission of repeated 
prepositions, and incorrect mood sequencing in dependent clauses. Findings suggest that many of these 
errors stem from inter-language interference (L1 transfer) and cognitive overload, where the learner 
prioritizes lexical choice over structural integrity. The result indicates that errors in subordination 
persist longer in the learner’s development than coordination errors, suggesting a higher level of 
syntactic maturity required for the former. The study concludes by proposing pedagogical shifts, 
emphasizing the need for “logic-based” grammar instruction to move beyond simple sentence 
construction toward mastery of complex French syntax.