Is structural priming between different languages a learning effect? Modelling priming as error-driven implicit learning

Abstract

To test whether error-driven implicit learning can explain cross-language structural priming, we implemented three different models of bilingual sentence production: Spanish-English, verb-final Dutch-English, and verb-medial Dutch-English. With these models, we conducted simulation experiments that all revealed clear and strong cross-language priming effects.One of these experiments included structures with different word order between the two languages. This enabled us to distinguish between the error-driven learning account of structural priming and an alternative hybrid account which predicts that identical word order is required for cross-language priming. Cross-language priming did occur in our model between structures with different word order. This is in line with results from behavioural experiments.The results of the three experiments reveal varying degrees of evidence for stronger within-language priming than cross-language priming. This is consistent with results from behavioural studies.Overall, our findings support the viability of error-driven implicit learning as an account of cross-language structural priming.

The production preferences and priming effects of Dutch passives in Arabic/Berber–Dutch and Turkish–Dutch heritage speakers

“…If on the other hand combinatorial nodes are connected rather than shared between languages, betweenlanguage priming effects should be weaker than within-language priming effects (at least if one assumes the architecture of Pickering & Branigan, 1998: in which multiple verbs within a language share their combinatorial nodes), as priming resulting from the repeated use of one combinatorial node is stronger than priming resulting from co-activated nodes (due to activation loss between input and output nodes). Several studies found stronger within-language priming than between-language priming (e.g., Bernolet, Hartsuiker & Pickering, 2013;Cai, Pickering, Yan & Branigan, 2011), and a recent simulation model also suggested that this is the case (Khoe, Tsoukala, Kootstra & Frank, 2021).…”

Shared syntax and cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children: Evidence from between- and within-language priming

“…For example, Kantola and Van Gompel (2011) found that the Swedish-English bilinguals in their study were primed at comparable rates in their English, irrespective of whether the prime was in their L1 (i.e., Swedish) or L2 (see also Hartsuiker, Beerts, Loncke, Desmet, & Bernolet, 2016;Schoonbaert et al, 2007). There are however several studies which have found stronger within-language than between-language priming (Bernolet et al, 2013;Khoe, Tsoukala, Kootstra, & Frank, 2021;Travis, Cacoullos, & Kidd, 2017). For example, Cai et al (2011) reported on two experiments with Cantonese-Mandarin bilinguals using the dative alternation.…”