具体描述
内容简介
This book aims to investigate structural priming in L2 learners with a focus on Chinese College-level EFL(English as a Foreign Language)learners’ production of English dative constructions.Specifically,it is intended to address three issues: 1)whether structural priming occurs in L2 production; 2)whether L2 structural priming has a long-term effect and consequently affects the pattern of subsequent production of syntactic constructions; and 3)whether and to what extent the short-term and the long-term effect of L2 structural priming are mediated by linguistic and psycholinguistic factors.The overarching goal of the present study is to explore whether and under what conditions structural priming has a role to play in L2 learning of grammar constructions,thereby enriching our understanding of the psycholinguistic process involved in L2 learning.For this purpose,four empirical st udies were conduct ed.
Experiments 1 and 2 were designed to probe the short-term effect of structural priming,that is,whether structural priming occurs when the prime sentence immediately precedes the target sentence.One hundred and thirty-two Chinese EFL learners who represented two English proficiency levels(intermediate vs.advanced)participated in the experiments,72 for Experiment 1 and 60 for Experiment 2.Experiment 1 employed a written sentence completion task whereas Experiment 2 a spoken picture description task.The results show that structural priming did occur with both the prepositional dative(PD)and the double object dative(DO)constructions,and that the L2 learners,regardless of their language proficiency,were more likely to reuse a particular construction(PD/DO)in the target responses if it had been previously produced in the prime sentences.Moreover,the magnitude of structural priming was found to be modulated by L2 proficiency.The advanced learners exhibited stronger priming effects for the DO construction than their intermediate counterparts.However,no evidence was obtained for the proficiency effect on the priming of the PD construction.Furthermore,the priming effects gave rise to between-verb variations.That is,verbs which are more strongly associated with a construction were more likely to be primed into the construction and resist the priming of the alternative construction.In addition,the results derived from Experiment 1 were basically consistent with those from Experiment 2,in spite of the employment of different tasks in the two experiments.This suggests that syntactic priming in L2 production is robust and reliable rather than task-specific.Of interest is that,compared with the sentence completion task,the priming effects in the picture description task were stronger.
Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the long-term effect of structural priming in L2 production by means of written sentence completion tasks.In the first part of each experiment,learners’ experience of producing the PD and DO constructions was manipulated in ways that enabled them to produce a particular proportion of PD and DO constructions.Then the learners were given the opportunity to produce either the PD or DO construction without being provided with further primes.The experiments yielded four major findings.Firstly,syntactic priming in L2 production has produced a long-term effect.The L2 learners’ experience of producing the DO construction earlier in the experiment increased the rates at which the construction was produced later in the experiment compared with the baseline condition.Nevertheless,there is a lack of evidence for the long-term priming effect on the production of the PD construction.Secondly,the long-term priming effect is modulated by the relative frequency with which each construction is produced earlier in the experiment.It turned out that the experience strongly skewed towards the DO construction significantly increased the likelihood of producing the construction and at the same time suppressed the production of the competing PD construction.Thirdly,the frequency effect on the subsequent production of the dative constructions persists even across the changing tasks.Finally,the long-term effect is insusceptible to the temporary distribution of the tokens of each construction within the experiment.
The findings of the present study have empirically verified the occurrence of structural priming in L2 production and confirmed its potentially beneficial role in L2 learning of grammar constructions.More generally,the findings suggest that the implicit learning from usage accentuated by the usage-based theories is also operative in L2 acquisition.
目录
Contents
序
前言
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Orientation
1.2 Structural Priming:The Target of Research
1.3 Rationale
1.3.1 Theoretical Values
1.3.2 Pedagogical and Methodological Values
1.4 Key Research Questions
1.5 Structure of the Book
Chapter 2 L2 Learning of Grammar Constructions:A Usagebased Perspective
2.1 Defining the Usage-based ModelContents
序
前言
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Orientation
1.2 Structural Priming:The Target of Research
1.3 Rationale
1.3.1 Theoretical Values
1.3.2 Pedagogical and Methodological Values
1.4 Key Research Questions
1.5 Structure of the Book
Chapter 2 L2 Learning of Grammar Constructions:A Usagebased Perspective
2.1 Defining the Usage-based Model
2.2 Constructions
2.2.1 What Is Construction
2.2.2 Construction as a Prototype Category
2.2.3 Schematization and Entrenchment
2.2.4 Type Frequency vs. Token Frequency
2.3 The Usage-based Perspe+ctive of Construction Learning
2.3.1 Associative Learning Mechanisms
2.3.2 The Connectionist Models
2.3.3 L1 Acquisition vis-à-vis L2 Acquisition
2.4 Problems with the Usage-based Perspective of SLA
2.5 Summary
Chapter 3 Syntactic Priming and Language Learning
3.1 An Overview of Syntactic Priming
3.1.1 Representational Underpinning of Syntactic Priming
3.1.2 Techniques in Syntactic Priming Research
3.2 Mechanisms of Syntactic Priming
3.2.1 The Activation Account
3.2.2 Syntactic Priming as a Form of Implicit Learning
3.2.3 Strengthening of Message-to-syntax Mappings
3.3 Constraints on Syntactic Priming Effects
3.3.1 Constraints on Short-term Effects
3.3.2 Constraints on Long-term Effects
3.4 Application of Syntactic Priming to Language Acquisition
3.4.1 Syntactic Priming in Children
3.4.2 Syntactic Priming in L2 Learners
3.5 Summary
Chapter 4 Exploring Syntactic Priming in L2 Production:Issues and Predictions
4.1 Target Structure of the Study:English Dative Constructions
4.1.1 A Sketch of English Dative Constructions
4.1.2 Constraints on Dative Alternation
4.1.3 Interaction between Verbs and Constructions
4.1.4 A Contrastive Analysis of English and Chinese Dative Constructions
4.1.5 Empirical SLA Studies on Dative Alternation
4.2 Synthesizing Syntactic Priming with L2 Learning of Grammar Constructions
4.3 Issues and Predictions Concerning Syntactic Priming in L2 Production
4.3.1 Possibility of the Occurrence of Syntactic Priming in L2 Production
4.3.2 Factors Constraining the Short-term Effect of Syntactic Priming
4.4 Persistence of Syntactic Priming in L2 Production
4.4.1 The Long-term Effect of Syntactic Priming
4.4.2 Factors Affecting the Long-term Effect
4.5 Research Questions and Hypotheses
4.6 Summary
Chapter 5 Syntactic Priming in L2 Learners
5.1 Experiment 1
5.1.1 Method
5.1.2 Results and Discussion
5.2 Experiment 2
5.2.1 Method
5.2.2 Results and Discussion
5.2.3 An Omnibus Analysis of Experiments 1 and 2
5.3 Experiment 3
5.3.1 Method
5.3.2 Results and Discussion
5.4 Experiment 4
5.4.1 Method
5.4.2 Results and Discussion
5.5 Summary
Chapter 6 General Discussion and Conclusions
6.1 Characterizing Syntactic Priming in L2 Production
6.1.1 Short-term Effect of Syntactic Priming
6.1.2 Influences on the Short-term Effect
6.1.3 The Long-term Effect of Syntactic Priming
6.2 Conclusions
6.2.1 A Recapitulation of Major Findings
6.2.2 Implications for L2 Pedagogy
6.2.3 Limitations of the Current Study and Directions for Further Research
References
Appendix 1 Stimuli Used in Experiment 1
Appendix 2 Primes Used in Experiment 2
Appendix 3 Samples of the Pictures Used in Experiment 2
Appendix 4 Stimuli Used in Experiments 3 and 4
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Linguistic Constructions in the Complexity/Schematicity Continuum―Adapted from Roehr(2005)
Figure 5.1 Production of Targets by Prime
Figure 5.2 Interaction between Prime Type and Target for the Intermediate Group
Figure 5.3 Interaction between Prime Type and Target for the Advanced Group
Figure 5.4 Production of DO Target by Verb in the Baseline
Figure 5.5 Production of DO Targets in Each Prime Condition by Verb(for Intermediates)
Figure 5.6 Production of DO Targets in Each Prime Condition by Verb(for Advanced Learners)
Figure 5.7 The Sequence of the Events in the Picture Description Task
Figure 5.8 Production of Targets by Prime Type
Figure 5.9 Interaction as a Function of Prime Type* Target for the Intermediate Group
Figure 5.10 Interaction as a Function of Prime Type* Target for the Advanced Group
Figure 5.11 Interaction of Prime Type by Proficiency Level on the Production of DO Target
Figure 5.12 Interaction of Prime Type by Proficiency Level on the Production of PD Target
Figure 5.13 Production of DO Target as a Function of Prime Type* Task
Figure 5.14 Production of PD Target as a Function of Prime Type* Task
Figure 5.15 Production of Targets in the Priming Phase by Exposure Condition
Figure 5.16 Production of Targets by Production Phase
List of Tables
Table 2.1 English Argument Structure Constructions
Table 3.1 Summary of L2 Syntactic priming Studies Targeting Dative Constructions
Table 4.1 Examples of Force-dynamic Relation
Table 4.2 Classification of Verbs according to the Semantic Compatibility
Table 4.3 Collexemes Distinguishing between the Ditransitive and the To-dative
Table 4.4 Test Verbs of the Present Study
Table 5.1 Grouping of Participants Based on Years of L2 English Learning and Scores on English Proficiency Test
Table 5.2 Frequencies of Occurrence of Responses in the Prime Conditions
Table 5.3 Mean Proportions of Targets by Prime* Proficiency Level
Table 5.4 Results of the Mixed Repeated Measures MANOVA
Table 5.5 Pairwise Comparisons of the Mean Proportions of Targets by Prime Type
Table 5.6 Effect of Prime Type* Proficiency Level on the Production of DO and PD Targets
Table 5.7 Pairwise Comparisons of the Means of Targets by Prime Type* Proficiency Level
Table 5.8 Pairwise Comparisons of Relative Proportions of Targets by Prime Type
Table 5.9 Pairwise Comparisons of the Means of Targets as a Function of Proficiency Level
Table 5.10 Pairwise Comparisons of OT Targets between the Prime Conditions
Table 5.11 Production of Targets by Verb in the Baseline Condition
Table 5.12 Exemplification of the Null Hypothesis H0
Table 5.13 Observed vs. Expected Frequencies for Verbs as a Function of Prime Type
Table 5.14 Grouping of Participants Based on Years of L2 English Learning and Scores on English Proficiency Test
Table 5.15 Frequencies of Each Type of Responses by Prime Condition* Proficiency Level
Table 5.16 Production of Targets as a Function of Prime Type* Proficiency Level
Table 5.17 Results of the Mixed Repeated Measures ANOVA
Table 5.18 Pairwise Comparisons of the Mean Proportions of Targets by Prime Type
Table 5.19 Pairwise Comparisons of Relative Proportions of Targets by Prime Type
Table 5.20 Summary of Results for an Omnibus Analysis of Experiments 1 and 2
Table 5.21 Design Structure for Experiment 3
Table 5.22 Raw Frequencies of Targets of Each Category
Table 5.23 Means of Targets as a Function of Production Phase* Exposure Condition
Table 5.24 Pairwise Comparisons of Targets by Production Phase
Table 5.25 Results of the MONOVA Test on the Production of PD and DO Targets in the Priming Phase as a Function of Exposure Condition
Table 5.26 Post hoc Tests of the Effect of Exposure Condition(Tukey)on the Production of PD and DO Targets in the Priming Phase
Table 5.27 Pairwise Comparisons of the Means of PD and DO Targets in Each Exposure Condition
Table 5.28 Production of Targets as a Function of Exposure Condition* Production Phase
Table 5.29 Results of the MANOVA Test on the Production of DO and PD Targets as a Function of Exposure Condition
Table 6.1 Production of DO Targets Following DO Primes by Trials
精彩书摘
《结构启动及第二语言语法构式学习:以中国学习者产出英语双及物构式为例》:
Sentence recall tasks (Potter & Lombardi, 1998) are preferred when the priming research is on the structures that are difficult to elicit through picture description or sentence completion (e.g., Chang et al., 2003; Fox Tree & Meijer, 1999; Griffin & Weinstein-Tull, 2003; Lombardi & Potter, 1992; Potter & Lombardi, 1990, 1998).In the technique, partiapants silently read a sentence on the computer screen which is presented one word at a time.Subsequently they perform a distracter task and repeat the original sentence aloud.Given the difficulty associated with remembering the surface structure, the high speed of presentation and the intervening distracter task, participants often change the structure of the sentence when they recall it.So the condihons of the task are manipulated so as to determine what factors lead participants to incorrectly recall or paraphrase the target constructions.A detailed description of the technique is referred to Potter & Lombardi (1998).
The novel confederate scripting distinguishes itself from other techniques in that it explores syntactic priming in dyadic interaction rather than targets individual speakers (e.g., Branigan, Pickering & Cleland, 2000; Hartsuiker et al., 2004; McDonough, 2006).The technique was invented by Branigan and colleagues to investigate whether speakers tend to produce the syntactic form which they just heard their interlocutors use, that is, whether speakers also CO-ordinate syntactic structure in dialogue.
…… 前言/序言
结构启动与第二语言语法习得:一场认知与语料的双重探索 语言,特别是第二语言的习得,一直是语言学、心理学以及教育学领域经久不衰的研究热点。我们如何从零开始,逐步构建起对一门新语言的理解和运用能力?尤其是那些看似复杂、变幻莫测的语法结构,它们是如何在大脑中扎根,又如何在实际的语言产出中被灵活调用?本书的研究正是在这一深邃的领域中,聚焦于一个极具代表性的语言现象——双及物构式(Ditransitive Construction),并以此为切入点,深入剖析第二语言学习者,特别是中国学习者,在英语双及物构式学习过程中所经历的结构启动(Structural Priming)现象。 双及物构式,顾名思义,是指那些能够接纳两个宾语的动词所构成的句式,例如“She gave him a book”(她给了他一本书)。在这个结构中,“him”是间接宾语,“a book”是直接宾语。这一构式在英语中极为普遍,但也存在着一定的规则和变体,例如可以使用介词短语来替代直接宾语前的动词:“She gave a book to him”。掌握并灵活运用双及物构式,对于第二语言学习者来说,是实现语言能力飞跃的关键一步。然而,这一过程并非坦途,学习者往往会面临各种挑战,例如构式选择的困难、语序的混淆、以及对某些动词搭配的模糊认识。 本书的研究,正是要揭示在学习者大脑中,结构启动这一心理语言学现象是如何在双及物构式的习得过程中发挥作用的。结构启动,指的是在个体接触或加工过某一特定语法结构后,在不久的将来,该个体在生成或理解语言时,会更有可能再次使用或理解类似结构的倾向。这一现象,如同在学习者的思维中播下了一颗“结构种子”,一旦被激活,便会引导其语言产出朝着已激活的结构方向“生长”。 我们之所以选择中国学习者作为研究对象,是基于以下几方面的考量: 首先,中国学习者在英语学习中,面临着显著的语言类型学差异。汉语作为一门典型的分析语,其语法结构与英语(一门更为综合语)存在显著差异。例如,汉语的双及物动词在构式表达上与英语不尽相同,这可能导致中国学习者在迁移母语知识时产生干扰。其次,中国庞大的英语学习者群体,其学习经验和策略的多样性,为研究提供了丰富的样本。最后,对中国学习者进行深入研究,不仅有助于理解这一特定群体在双及物构式学习中的挑战与优势,更能为其他语言背景的学习者提供借鉴,并推动第二语言教学策略的优化。 本书的研究,将认知机制与语料分析相结合,力求从理论和实证两个层面,全面展现结构启动在第二语言语法构式学习中的作用。 在认知机制层面,我们将探讨结构启动的理论基础。我们不会局限于对结构启动现象的简单描述,而是将深入分析其可能存在的认知过程。例如,结构启动是否与工作记忆的激活、语义网络的连接、或是语言知识的表征方式有关?不同的研究模型,如激活-输出模型(Activation-Output Model)、构式语法框架(Construction Grammar Framework)等,将为我们理解学习者大脑中结构启动的运作提供理论支撑。我们还将考察不同类型的结构启动,例如,单纯的句法结构重复(Syntactic Priming)是否与更深层次的构式激活(Lexical-Conceptual Structure Priming)有所不同?例如,在接触了“V NP1 NP2”的句式后,学习者是否更容易产出其他具有相似语义特征的动词(如give, send, tell)所构成的双及物句,还是仅仅是倾向于重复使用“give”这个动词?这些都是我们将在认知层面深入探讨的问题。 在语料分析层面,我们将构建和分析大规模的中国学习者英语语料库。这些语料库将包含学习者在不同学习阶段、不同语境下的语言产出。通过对这些语料进行细致的标注和统计分析,我们将捕捉到结构启动的实际表现。例如: 结构重复的频率与类型: 我们将分析学习者在特定练习或交际任务中,对双及物构式的重复使用情况。例如,在教授了“give NP NP”结构后,是否会观察到学习者在接下来的写作或口语表达中,更多地使用该结构,而非其他变体? 构式转换的模式: 双及物构式存在着几种主要的构式转换,例如,主动语态和被动语态之间的转换,以及介词短语构式(如“give a book to him”)和直接宾语构式(如“give him a book”)之间的转换。我们将分析学习者在何种条件下,会倾向于使用哪种构式,以及结构启动是否能够引导学习者进行有效的构式转换。 词汇与构式的互动: 许多双及物动词具有特定的语义特征,并倾向于与特定的构式搭配。我们将考察结构启动是否能够影响学习者对这些词汇-构式关联的习得。例如,在接触了“teach NP NP”之后,学习者是否更倾向于将“teach”这个动词用于双及物语境? 错误模式的分析: 通过分析学习者在使用双及物构式时出现的错误,我们可以反推出其学习过程中可能存在的认知困难。结构启动的缺失或过度激活,都可能导致特定的错误模式。例如,某些特定类型的构式混淆,可能源于学习者对不同双及物动词背后语义框架的区分能力不足,而结构启动的引导又可能强化了错误的联结。 语料库与实验的结合: 我们将采用多种方法来收集和分析语料。除了大规模的真实语料库分析,我们还将设计并实施一系列实验。这些实验将直接检验结构启动的效应。例如,我们将采用诱发性结构启动实验(Induced Structural Priming Experiments),在实验中,被试(中国学习者)会先接触经过精心设计的“触发”语句,这些语句预设了特定的双及物构式。随后,我们会在接下来的语言产出任务(如句子填空、句子生成、图片描述等)中,观察被试对该预设构式的偏好程度。通过控制触发语句的类型、构式变体、以及被试的语言水平,我们可以更精确地量化结构启动的强度和特点。 纵向研究的可能性: 如果语料允许,我们还将考虑进行纵向研究,追踪同一批学习者在不同学习阶段的语言产出,观察结构启动效应如何随着学习的深入而演变。 本书的研究设计将严谨而系统,力求通过多角度、多层次的分析,为理解第二语言双及物构式习得提供坚实的理论和实证基础。具体而言,我们的研究将涵盖以下几个关键方面: 一、双及物构式的类型学与习得难度分析: 我们将首先对英语双及物构式进行详尽的梳理,区分其主要的类型(例如,直接给予类、告知类、教学类等),并分析不同类型构式在语义、句法上的特点。基于现有语言学理论,我们会初步探讨这些构式可能存在的习得难度,并结合中国学习者的母语背景,预测可能出现的特定挑战。 二、结构启动理论在第二语言习得中的应用: 我们将回顾结构启动相关的经典研究,并将其理论框架应用于第二语言学习情境。重点分析结构启动如何作用于学习者已有的语言知识,如何影响其对新语法结构的接收、内化与产出。我们将探讨结构启动的“激活”和“固化”机制,以及它如何帮助学习者克服语言类型学差异带来的障碍。 三、中国学习者英语双及物构式语料库的构建与标注: 我们将精心设计语料库的收集方案,力求包含不同学习者群体(如初学者、中级学习者、高级学习者)以及不同类型的语言产出(如写作、口语、课堂练习等)。语料的标注将涉及句法结构、构式类型、词汇选择、错误类型等多个层面,为后续的定量分析奠定基础。 四、量化分析与统计检验: 通过对语料库进行大规模的统计分析,我们将量化结构启动在不同类型双及物构式上的表现。我们将运用先进的统计方法,检验结构启动的显著性,并分析影响结构启动强度的潜在因素,例如,学习者的语言水平、语境因素、激活构式的类型等。 五、实验研究的设计与实施: 我们将设计并实施一系列控制实验,以直接验证结构启动在双及物构式学习中的作用。实验设计将严格控制变量,例如,通过“触发”语句来诱导学习者对特定构式的偏好,并通过后续的语言产出任务来测量这种偏好。实验结果将为语料分析提供补充和印证。 六、错误分析与认知推断: 我们将对学习者在使用双及物构式时出现的错误进行细致分类和分析,并尝试从认知心理学的角度,推断这些错误产生的原因。我们将探讨结构启动的缺失、误导或过度激活如何导致特定的错误模式,并从中反思学习者的认知过程。 七、教学启示与未来展望: 基于研究结果,我们将提出针对中国学习者英语双及物构式习得的教学启示。这可能包括如何利用结构启动原理优化教学策略,如何设计更有效的练习活动,以及如何帮助学习者更好地区分和掌握不同双及物构式。同时,我们也将对未来在这一领域的研究方向进行展望,例如,跨语言比较研究、神经语言学方法在结构启动研究中的应用等。 本书的研究,不仅是对结构启动这一重要认知现象在第二语言习得中的一次深入探索,更是对中国学习者英语语法构式学习过程的一次细致解剖。我们相信,通过认知机制的剖析和语料分析的实证,本书将为第二语言习得研究领域提供新的视角和宝贵的洞见,为英语教学实践带来有益的指导。这是一次关于大脑如何学习语言、语言结构如何在大脑中生根发芽的认知之旅,也是一场对真实语言产出现象的细致观察与深刻解读。我们期望,本书的研究成果能够为广大学术界同仁、语言教育工作者、以及所有对第二语言习得感兴趣的读者,带来新的启发和思考。