Developing effective oral communication remains a central goal for foreign language learners, particularly within multilingual contexts such as Ghana, where French is often acquired as a third language (L3). However, L3 oral production is frequently perceived as disfluent and marked by hesitation phenomena, such as pauses, fillers, and repetitions, which are commonly interpreted as indicators of linguistic deficiency. Drawing on Dörnyei’s (1995) classification of communication strategies, this study challenges this deficit-oriented perspective by conceptualizing hesitation markers as functional time-gaining strategies that support speech production. Grounded in Levelt et al.’s (1999) model of lexical access and its adaptation to second and third language contexts by Segalowitz (2010), this paper adopts a psycholinguistic approach to examine how learners manage real-time speech production under cognitive constraints. Specifically, the study aims to identify the types of hesitation markers used by L3 learners of French and compare their use across two communicative tasks with differing cognitive demands. Using a qualitative design, data were collected from ten second-year undergraduate students of French at a public university in Ghana. The study employed task-based oral activities and retrospective interviews to capture both performance and learner reflections. Findings indicate that hesitation markers function as strategic resources that facilitate lexical retrieval, planning, and message organization. These strategies were more frequent in cognitively demanding tasks, such as picture-based narration, than in routine tasks like self-introduction. Importantly, their use was associated with successful message completion rather than communication breakdown. The study thus highlights the cognitive value of time-gaining strategies in L3 productions.

Authors:
Ekua Mensimah Thompson Kwaffo, Ashesi University, Ghana

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Mensimah Thompson Kwaffo is a lecturer at Ashesi University in Ghana where she teaches French as a Foreign Language (FFL) as well as other humanities courses at the undergraduate level.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mensimah-thompson-kwaffo-phd-7988bb69/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mensimah-Thompson-Kwaffo

Additional website of interest
https://ashesi.edu.gh/faculty-profile/ekua-mensimah-thompson-kwaffo/

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