An Empirical Study of French Fossilised Errors in the Writing of Advanced Learners at Nigerian Universities

Fossilisation, the persistent stabilisation of non-target-like linguistic forms despite continued exposure and instruction, represents a theoretically significant and practically challenging phenomenon in advanced second language acquisition. Its manifestation in the written French of advanced Nigerian university learners has not been empirically documented at scale. This study investigates the nature, frequency, and persistence of fossilised errors in the written French of final-year and postgraduate French students at four Nigerian universities: Bayero University Kano, University of Benin, University of Ibadan, and Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. A longitudinal error analysis design tracked written compositions from the same 96 student participants at three-monthly intervals over one academic year. Fossilised errors were operationally distinguished from developmental errors using the criteria of systematicity, persistence across time, and resistance to targeted corrective feedback. Error taxonomies covered morphology, syntax, lexis, and orthography. Results identify a core set of eleven fossilised error types, including subject-verb agreement in subordinate clauses, gender assignment for inanimate nouns, and use of the subjunctive, which were systematically present and unresponsive to corrective feedback across all four institutions. Students whose mother tongue was Yoruba and Igbo showed different fossilisation profiles, suggesting L1 influence in fossilisation pathways. The study recommends explicit grammar instruction targeted at identified fossilisation-prone structures and develops a remedial writing instruction protocol for advanced Nigerian French learners. Keywords: fossilisation, written French, error analysis, advanced learners, Nigerian universities