Beyond syntactic priming: Evidence for activation of alternative syntactic structures

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARINA VASILYEVA ◽  
HEIDI WATERFALL
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Transitive Action ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Syntactic Form ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTPriming methodology was previously used to investigate children's ability to represent abstract syntactic forms. Existing evidence indicates that following exposure to a particular syntactic structure (such as the passive voice), English-speaking children increase their production of that structure with new lexical items. In the present work, we utilize priming methodology to explore whether exposure to passive primes may increase children's production of sentences that have a different structure but share a similar purpose in discourse. We report three studies, two involving English- and Russian-speaking children, and a third involving Russian-speaking adults. Unlike English, Russian offers a variety of syntactic forms that emphasize the patient of a transitive action, thus fulfilling the discourse function of the passive. We found that English speakers increased the use of the particular syntactic form presented in the prime, whereas Russian speakers increased their production of several different syntactic forms used to emphasize the patient of the action.

scholarly journals Syntactic Priming Effects and their Underlying Mechanisms in Language Production and Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1370
Author(s):  
Reza Raissi ◽  
Neda Hedayat ◽  
Fakhereh Kazemirad
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship

Exposure to a syntactic structure influences the way we process a similar syntactic structure in language production and comprehension in what has been called ‘syntactic priming’. Syntactic priming is a robust phenomenon which can be observed in spoken and written production, with a range of syntactic constructions in laboratory tasks and naturally occurring samples of speech, in many languages, and also across languages within the same speaker. It has been used as a vehicle for exploring language production, language comprehension, and the relationship between them. Research in syntactic priming has made it the dominant means of investigating the processes involved in language production and comprehension. Some researchers propose that there are distinct mechanisms underlying the production and comprehension of syntactic structures; however, other researchers suggest that the same mechanisms underlie syntactic priming in production and comprehension. Thus, the mechanisms underlying syntactic priming effects in production and comprehension are still under debate. Moreover, although a fairly large body of research has addressed syntactic priming in production or in comprehension, there are few studies that consider and compare priming effects in both of these modalities. Therefore, the current study reviews the literature on syntactic priming in production and contrasts these findings to those in comprehension. It also provides an overview of syntactic priming effects and mechanisms underlying these effects in both production and comprehension.

scholarly journals C-34 An Investigation into the Multicultural Properties of the Clock Drawing Test: Findings from a Russian-speaking Sample

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1063
Author(s):  
N Coolbrith ◽  
D Gold ◽  
R Cobb ◽  
I Piryatinksy
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Neurocognitive Disorder ◽  
Contingency Analysis ◽  
Clock Drawing Test ◽  
Clock Drawing ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Drawing Test ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract Objective The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a screening instrument for cognitive impairment known for its quick and easy administration style. Studies have examined if different qualitative errors on the CDT discriminate cognitive impairment from normal aging. Moreover, current research has investigated qualitative errors on the CDT in various populations (i.e. Brazil, Japan, Korea). To the best of the authors’ knowledge however, there has been no previous research on qualitative errors seen on the CDT within Russian-speaking populations. To address this gap, the present study examined qualitative errors committed on the CDT by native Russian-speakers compared to English-speaking counterparts. Method Data was retrospectively collected from a sample comprised of 13 Russian-speaking immigrants and 29 English-speakers. All participants were seen for neuropsychological testing at an outpatient clinic in eastern Massachusetts and diagnosed with major neurocognitive disorder. Results Contingency analysis revealed no significant differences in qualitative errors when comparing Russian-speakers with major neurocognitive disorder to English-speakers diagnosed with the same. Conclusions Due to similar frequencies of qualitative errors between these groups, these results suggest that the CDT may have broad utility for assessing gross cognitive functioning regardless of a patient’s native language or cultural background.

scholarly journals Prosody and Processing: Comprehension and Production of Topic-Comment and Subject-Predicate Structures in Brazilian Portuguese / Prosódia e processamento: compreensão e produção de estruturas de tópico e de sujeito no português brasileiro

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1601
Author(s):  
Andressa Christine Oliveira da Silva ◽  
Aline Alves Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Reading Technique ◽  
The Subject

Abstract: This paper explores the influence of prosody in the processes of comprehension and production of sentences in Brazilian Portuguese with topic-comment syntactic structure and sentences with subject-predicate syntactic structure, in active or passive voice. Three experimental activities were carried out, one production task and two comprehension tasks. Experiment 1 consisted of a perception task with the ABX technique, and it aimed to test if hearers recognize prosodic differences between topicalized Determinant Phrases (DPs) and DPs in subject position. Experiment 2 consisted of a sentence elicitation task with Cross-modal naming technique and it aimed to investigate whether Portuguese native speakers produce a subject-predicate structure or a topic-comment structure in contexts that favor the occurrence of these syntactic structures in speech. Experiment 3 consisted of a comprehension task with Self-paced listening and reading technique and it aimed to investigate whether prosodic characteristics of a DP, in topic or subject position, can guide hearers during the processing in order to distinguish between these two syntactic categories. From the comprehension/perception perspective, the results of the experiments 1 and 3 indicated that speakers recognize the prosodic differences between the topicalized DPs and the subject DPs, and use such characteristics during linguistic processing. From the production perspective, the results of experiment 2 revealed that speakers are able to produce sentences consistent with topic-comment and subject-predicate syntactic structures when the context favors the occurrence of one of them. Nevertheless, the results also reveal a preference for the subject-predicate structure over the topic-comment structure in BP.Keywords: prosody-syntax; topic-comment; subject-predicate.Resumo: Este trabalho investiga a influência da prosódia nos processos de compreensão e produção de sentenças com elementos topicalizados, do tipo tópico-comentário, e sentenças com a estrutura de sujeito-predicado, na voz ativa ou passiva, do Português Brasileiro. Aplicaram-se três atividades experimentais, uma tarefa de produção e duas de compreensão. O Experimento 1 consistiu em um teste de percepção com a técnica ABX, cujo objetivo foi testar se ouvintes reconhecem as diferenças prosódicas entre Determinant Phrases (DPs) topicalizados e DPs em posição de sujeito não topicalizado. O Experimento 2 consistiu em um teste de elicitação de frases com imagens do tipo Cross-modal naming, cujo objetivo foi investigar se em contextos que favorecem a ocorrência de estruturas de sujeito ou de estruturas topicalizadas, os falantes produzem frases consistentes com tais estruturas sintáticas. O Experimento 3 consistiu em uma tarefa de compreensão, com a técnica Self-paced listening and reading, cujo objetivo foi investigar se as características prosódicas de um DP, em posição de tópico ou de sujeito, conseguem guiar o processamento linguístico dos ouvintes na distinção entre essas duas categorias sintáticas. Na compreensão/percepção, os resultados dos experimentos indicaram que os falantes reconhecem as diferenças prosódicas entre os DPs topicalizados e os DPs em posição de sujeito, e utilizam tais características durante o processamento linguístico. Na produção, os resultados revelaram que os falantes produzem frases consistentes com estruturas sintáticas de tópico e de sujeito quando o contexto favorece o aparecimento delas, entretanto, apontam para uma preferência da estrutura de sujeito como default no PB.Palavras-chave: prosódia-sintaxe; tópico-comentário; sujeito-predicado.

Building Syntactic Structures in Speaking: A Bilingual Exploration

2003 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. A. Meijer ◽  
Jean E. Fox Tree
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Target Sentence ◽  
Recall Task ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Syntactic Form ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Distraction Task

Abstract. In a series of three experiments we investigated syntactic priming using a sentence recall task. Participants read and memorized a target sentence for later recall. After reading a prime sentence and engaging in a distraction task, they were asked to produce the target sentence aloud. Earlier investigations have shown that this task is sensitive to a syntactic priming effect. That is, the syntactic form of the prime sentence sometimes influences the syntactic form of the recalled target. In this paper we report on a variation on this task, using Spanish-English bilingual participants. In the first two experiments we replicated the prepositional phrase priming effect using English target sentences and Spanish prime sentences. In the final experiment we investigated two additional syntactic forms, using Spanish target sentences and English prime sentences. Implications for models of syntax generation and bilingual speech production are discussed.

scholarly journals Self-priming in production: evidence for a hybrid model of syntactic priming

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Leigh Jacobs ◽  
Sun-Joo Cho ◽  
Duane Watson
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Model ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Syntactic Structures

Syntactic priming in language production is the increased likelihood of using a recently encountered syntactic structure. In this paper, we examine two theories of why speakers can be primed: error-driven learning accounts (Bock, Dell, Chang, & Onishi, 2007; Chang, Dell, & Bock, 2006) and activation-based accounts (Reitter et al., 2011; Pickering & Branigan, 1998). Both theories predict that speakers should be primed by the syntactic choices of others, but only activation-based accounts predict that speakers should be able to prime themselves. Here we test whether speakers can be primed by their own productions in three behavioral experiments and find evidence of structural persistence following both comprehension and speakers’ own productions. We also find that comprehension-based priming effects are larger for rarer syntactic structures than for more common ones, which is most consistent with error-driven accounts. Because neither error-driven accounts nor activation-based accounts fully explain the data, we propose a hybrid model.

Similarities in the Syntactic Structure of the German and Croatian Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Manuela Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
German Language ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Subordinate Clauses

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyse any potential similarities between the Croatian and German language and present them adopting a contrastive approach with the intent of simplifying the learning process in regards to the German syntactic structure for Croatian German as foreign language students. While consulting articles and books on the theories and methods of foreign language teaching, attention is usually drawn to differences between the mother tongue and the foreign language, especially concerning false friends etc. The same applies to textbooks, workbooks and how teachers behave in class. Thus, it is common practice to deal with the differences between the foreign language and the mother tongue but less with similarities. This is unfortunate considering that this would likely aid in acquiring certain grammatical and syntactic structures of the foreign language. In the author's opinion, similarities are as, if not more, important than differences. Therefore, in this article the existence of similarities between the Croatian and German language will be examined closer with a main focus on the segment of sentence types. Special attention is drawn to subordinate clauses as they play an important role when speaking and/or translating sentences from Croatian to German and vice versa. In order to present and further clarify this matter, subordinate clauses in both the German and Croatian language are defined, clarified and listed to gain an oversight and to present possible similarities between the two. In addition, the method to identify subordinate clauses in a sentence is explained as well as what they express, which conjunctions are being used for each type of subordinate clause in both languages and where the similarities and/or differences between the two languages lie.

scholarly journals Orthorexia nervosa and Instagram: exploring the Russian-speaking conversation around #opтopeкcия

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Zemlyanskaya ◽  
Martina Valente ◽  
Elena V. Syurina
Keyword(s):  
Orthorexia Nervosa ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Level Of Evidence ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Global North ◽  
Harmful Content ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Comparative Content ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Informative Text

AbstractThis mixed-methods study explored the conversation around orthorexia nervosa (ON) on Instagram from a Russian-speaking perspective. Two quantitative data sources were implemented; a comparative content analysis of posts tagged with #opтopeкcия (n = 234) and #orthorexia (n = 243), and an online questionnaire completed by Russian-speakers (n = 96) sharing ON-related content on Instagram. Additionally, five questionnaire participants were interviewed, four of which identified with having (had) ON. Russian-speakers who share ON-related content on Instagram are primarily female, around their late-twenties, and prefer Instagram over other platforms. They describe people with ON as obsessed with correct eating, rather than healthy or clean eating. Instagram appears to have a dual effect; it has the potential to both trigger the onset of ON and encourage recovery. Positive content encourages a healthy relationship with food, promotes intuitive eating, and spread recovery advice. Harmful content, in turn, emphasizes specific diet and beauty ideals. Russian-speaking users mainly post pictures of food, followed by largely informative text that explains what ON is, and what recovery may look like. Their reasons for posting ON-related content are to share personal experiences, support others in recovery, and raise awareness about ON. Two main target audiences were people unaware of ON and people seeking recovery support. The relationship between ON and social media is not strictly limited to the global north. Thus, it may be valuable to further investigate non-English-speaking populations currently underrepresented in ON research.Level of evidence: Level V, descriptive study.

“Subject-predicate predicate sentences” in modern Mandarin Chinese: A Cardiff Grammar approach

Linguistics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei He
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Syntactic Structures

AbstractThis study investigates “subject-predicate predicate sentences” (“S-P P sentences”) in modern Mandarin Chinese from a Cardiff Grammar approach with the aim of answering three main questions: (i) What is/are the functional syntactic structure(s) of the sentences to be considered in the study? (ii) What is/are the semantic motivation(s) for the structure(s)? (iii) What is/are the contextual constraints on the structure(s)? The study is guided by three basic principles: (a) language is multifunctional; (b) meaning is primary while form is the realization of meaning; and (c) different strands of meaning are realized by a single syntactic structure. Further, the study utilizes the concepts of Theme and Subject within the Cardiff Grammar in order to analyze and discuss the generally acknowledged seven types of “S-P P sentences”. The results show that only one type is truly S-P P and another type only in one sense, whereas no other types can be categorized as such. All the syntactic structures are conditioned by a different set of distinctive semantic features and contextual factors.

scholarly journals Can Google Translate Rewire Your L2 English Processing?

Digital ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Natália Resende ◽  
Andy Way
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Web Based ◽  
English Syntax

In this article, we address the question of whether exposure to the translated output of MT systems could result in changes in the cognitive processing of English as a second language (L2 English). To answer this question, we first conducted a survey with 90 Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers with the aim of understanding how and for what purposes they use web-based MT systems. To investigate whether MT systems are capable of influencing L2 English cognitive processing, we carried out a syntactic priming experiment with 32 Brazilian Portuguese speakers. We wanted to test whether speakers re-use in their subsequent speech in English the same syntactic alternative previously seen in the MT output, when using the popular Google Translate system to translate sentences from Portuguese into English. The results of the survey show that Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers use Google Translate as a tool supporting their speech in English as well as a source of English vocabulary learning. The results of the syntactic priming experiment show that exposure to an English syntactic alternative through GT can lead to the re-use of the same syntactic alternative in subsequent speech even if it is not the speaker’s preferred syntactic alternative in English. These findings suggest that GT is being used as a tool for language learning purposes and so is indeed capable of rewiring the processing of L2 English syntax.

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