scholarly journals Evidence for robust abstract syntactic representations in production before age three

2020 ◽  
pp. 014272372090591
Author(s):  
Anouschka Foltz ◽  
Karolin Knopf ◽  
Kristina Jonas ◽  
Petra Jaecks ◽  
Prisca Stenneken
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Young Age ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Priming Process

This study investigated whether we can find reliable comprehension-to-production syntactic priming effects in children aged 2;0 to 2;11 and how phonological working memory and sentence production skills relate to the syntactic priming process. A finding of reliable syntactic priming effects would provide strong evidence that children’s syntactic representations are abstracted over individual lexical items. To test children at this young age, they were primed with simple and early-acquired transitive (e.g., tickling (a) baby) and unergative intransitive (e.g., running) syntactic structures. Children aged 2;7 to 2;11, primed with alternating prime structures, revealed a reliable syntactic priming effect. In addition, phonological working memory (moderated by age) and sentence production skills positively affected transitive productions. Children aged 2;0 to 2;6, primed either with alternating or cumulative prime structures, showed no priming effect. Together, the data indicate that children have robust abstract syntactic representations for the tested structures before age three and that both phonological working memory and production skills relate to children’s syntactic priming behavior, albeit in different ways.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Children's syntactic-priming magnitude: lexical factors and participant characteristics

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 932-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANOUSCHKA FOLTZ ◽  
KRISTINA THIELE ◽  
DUNJA KAHSNITZ ◽  
PRISCA STENNEKEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Rc Structures ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Syntactic Skills ◽  
Participant Characteristics

ABSTRACTThis study examines whether lexical repetition, syntactic skills, and working memory (WM) affect children's syntactic-priming behavior, i.e. their tendency to adopt previously encountered syntactic structures. Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children were primed with prenominal (e.g. the yellow cup) or relative clause (RC; e.g. the cup that is yellow) structures with or without lexical overlap and performed additional tests of productive syntactic skills and WM capacity. Results revealed a reliable syntactic-priming effect without lexical boost in both groups: SLI and TD children produced more RCs following RC primes than following prenominal primes. Grammaticality requirements influenced RC productions in that SLI children produced fewer grammatical RCs than TD children. Of the additional measures, WM positively affected how frequently children produced dispreferred RC structures, but productive syntactic skills had no effect. The results support an implicit-learning account of syntactic priming and emphasize the importance of WM in syntactic priming tasks.

Masked Translation Priming Effects With Highly Proficient Simultaneous Bilinguals

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Andoni Duñabeitia ◽  
Manuel Perea ◽  
Manuel Carreiras
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
The Other ◽  
Memory Organization ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Bilingual Memory ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Masked Translation Priming

One essential issue for models of bilingual memory organization is to what degree the representation from one of the languages is shared with the other language. In this study, we examine whether there is a symmetrical translation priming effect with highly proficient, simultaneous bilinguals. We conducted a masked priming lexical decision experiment with cognate and noncognate translation equivalents. Results showed a significant masked translation priming effect for both cognates and noncognates, with a greater priming effect for cognates. Furthermore, the magnitude of the translation priming was similar in the two directions. Thus, highly fluent bilinguals do develop symmetrical between-language links, as predicted by the Revised Hierarchical model and the BIA+ model. We examine the implications of these results for models of bilingual memory.

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222199113
Author(s):  
Sarah Sok ◽  
Hye Won Shin ◽  
Juhyun Do
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Comprehension Tests ◽  
Reading Comprehension Tests

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ ( n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

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