Constructions in French ed. by Myriam Bouveret, Dominique Legallois (review)

did not use them systematically. Following a Minimalist account of TAM in the L2, Ayoun concludes that successful Anglophone learners of L2 French acquire several functional categories (Agreement Phrase, Tense Phrase, Mood Phrase), the appropriate mapping of the [perfective] feature on verbal morphology, the indicative-subjunctive distinction, and other features. The volume concludes with a section on “pedagogical implications” that, unexpectedly, is actually devoted more toward giving a general overview of SLA and pedagogical theories, rather than making specific suggestions for improving learners’ intake with respect to TAM issues. The suggestions that are made, on the other hand, offer common-sense advice to educators: TAM is best taught, Ayoun argues, by giving clear, explicit instruction using appropriate terminology; by relating TAM to universal concepts of time, temporality, and discourse; by relating new content to learners’ existing knowledge of TAM in their L1; and by appealing to metalinguistic knowledge. The volume is of great use on three levels. First, it provides a straightforward, thorough, and systematic rundown of the differences and similarities in TAM between English and French, thereby offering value to educators and linguists interested in reviewing or deepening their familiarity with this area. Second, the original study reported in the volume is impressive in its scope, and the volume handily sidesteps the long-term limitations of chaining itself to a current theoretical model of generative syntax by providing large amounts of descriptive data that are relevant to any syntactic-theory-neutral approach to second language acquisition . Finally, the section on SLA theory and pedagogy is a good primer on these topics, although it is largely unrelated to the rest of the volume. Northern Illinois University Robert V. Reichle Bouveret, Myriam, and Dominique Legallois, eds. Constructions in French. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2012. ISBN 978-90-2720435-6. Pp. 287. $149. More than a collection of essays on the applications of Construction Grammar to French language data, this volume creates a platform for transatlantic meta-linguistic discourse and presents a state-of-the-art of cognitive linguistics in France. The ten chapters are preceded by an introductory account that contextualizes the Gallic linguistic landscape. It establishes the historic preference for lexical studies with regard to a (formerly) hesitant and relatively belated relationship with the North American Construction Grammar currents. The contributors to this volume offer a view of diverse (mostly European) approaches to adopting a construction model of analysis. What they share, whether considering grammatical units at a syntactic, pragmatic, and/or semantic level, is the holistic tenet that language is a collection of constructions, which are conventionalized form-meaning pairings. They also embrace usage-based and corpus-driven methodologies. These substantial contributions contain rigorous analyses, a reliance on the important role of evidence and tests, clear examples, and 286 FRENCH REVIEW 88.2 Reviews 287 meaningful contextualization.Across the chapters,the primary common NorthAmerican influences include Adele Goldberg, Ronald Langacker, Charles Fillmore, Paul Kay, and Knud Lambrecht. These scholars’ works are deftly intermingled with theories and papers developed within the French linguistic tradition. Constructionist and cognitive analytical tools in the volume, such as coercion, idiomaticity, appropriation, (syntactic) frames, taxonomic relations, inheritance, productivity, and grammaticalization, are applied to issues in French syntax, lexicon, and first and second language acquisition. Collectively, the authors demonstrate that Construction Grammar is an effective framework for analyzing specific constructions such as faire partie de, c’est de la bombe, histoire de, and se faire V-er. They also show its usefulness for analyzing demonstrative, predicational, and (di)transitive constructions (among others). The readership of this volume is ostensibly limited to formal linguists on either side of the Atlantic, whether they have an interest in French, Construction Grammar, or both. To conclude by borrowing constructionist terminology, while the component parts of this landmark book are certainly worthy stand-alone reads, its composite structure merits attention to its entirety. University of Missouri, Kansas City Lindsy L. Myers Courcelles, Dominique, et Vincent Martines Peres, éd. Pour une histoire comparée des traductions. Paris: École des Chartes, 2012. ISBN 978-2-35723-024-8. Pp. 231. 25 a. The outcome of two conferences, this volume juxtaposes translation projects from different periods to stress the impact of translation on the development...