CROSS-LINGUISTIC PRIMING EFFECTS DURING THE COMPREHENSION OF THE PASSIVE VOICE: TWO PRIMES ARE ENOUGH

Angeli, Natália Pinheiro De; Mota, Mailce Borges

doi:10.5007/2175-8026.2023.e94718

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Artigos • Ilha Desterro 76 (3) • Sep-Dec 2023 • https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2023.e94718 copy

CROSS-LINGUISTIC PRIMING EFFECTS DURING THE COMPREHENSION OF THE PASSIVE VOICE: TWO PRIMES ARE ENOUGH

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The present study investigated cross-linguistic structural priming effects from L1 to L2 during the comprehension of the passive voice in a group of 35 Brazilian Portuguese-English (BP-EN) late bilinguals. A 4 x 2 experimental design was implemented that included a four levels within-subjects Condition variable and a between-subjects Proficiency variable (Intermediate vs. Advanced). Results show that, regardless of proficiency, participants read target sentences faster in both experimental conditions when compared to the control conditions. Noticeably, cross-linguistic structural priming effects were observed even in the absence of translation equivalents. That is, both abstract and lexically mediated structural cross-linguistic effects were observed. These findings indicate that late bilinguals at intermediate and advanced levels of proficiency have a shared syntactic system between their L1 and L2.

Keywords
structural priming; bilingual language processing; comprehension; Brazilian-Portuguese; residual activation

CEFR BROAD LEVEL	CEFR LEVEL	PARTICIPANTS

Proficient user	C2	6
Proficient user	C1	13
Independent user	B2	11
Independent user	B1	5

Sentence	Mean
O atleta foi lançado pela cama elástica.	3
A árvore foi plantada pela sua avô.	4
A roseira foi quebrada pela chuva forte.	4

Sentence	Mean
The surfer was lifted by the wave.	3,5
The ball was thrown by the player.	4
The mother was surprised by her daughter.	4

Condition	Prime	Target
Experimental Condition 1 (CE1)	A faca foi lavada pela cozinheira chefe.. [The knife was washed by the main cook.]	The girl was washed by the water.
Control Condition 1 (CC1)	A parada brusca jogou o passageiro longe. [The sudden stop threw the passenger far.]	The ball was thrown by the player.
Experimental Condition 2 (CE2)	O show foi visto pela criança animada. [The show was watched by the excited child.]	The baby was fed by the lady.
Control Condition 2 (CC2)	A brisa suave mecheu as folhas verdes. [The soft breeze moved the green leaves.]	The piano was carried by the pianist.

Condition	Mean	SD
Experimental Condition 1 (CE1)	345.53	162.14
Control Condition 1 (CC1)	363.37	186.38
Experimental Condition 2 (CE2)	340.04	165.23
Control Condition 2 (CC2)	356.76	178.35

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Bloco B- 405, CEP: 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil, Tel.: (48) 37219455 / (48) 3721-9819 - Florianópolis - SC - Brazil
E-mail: ilha@cce.ufsc.br

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Natália Pinheiro De Angeli is a PhD candidate in English Language Studies in the Graduate Program in English (PPGI) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). She also holds a master’s degree in English Language Studies (PPGI, 2022) and a BA in English (UFSC, 2019). Her current research interests include bilingualisminduced neural plasticity, bilingual language processing, language and cognitive control nataliapinheirod@gmail.com.