HL2C-SLLAT Seminar: Anna Siyanova (Victoria University of Wellington)

Title: What affects collocational priming? A reaction time study with L1 and L2 speakers of Italian.

Presenter(s): Anna Siyanova (Victoria University of Wellington)

Date: Wednesday 18 October 2023, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

How to join: The seminars are free to attend. Simply sign up to the HL2C Mailing List or to the SLLAT mailing list to receive the link to join us via Microsoft Teams link. You do not need a Teams account to access the talk.

About: This is a joint event, co-organized by the Heritage Language 2 Consortium (HL2C) and the Second Language Learning and Teaching (SLLAT) Research Group.

Abstract: Collocational priming is a priming effect induced by collocationally related words (Hoey, 2005); it has been taken to support the cognitive reality of collocation. Studies have shown that collocational priming exists for first language (L1) speakers of English (Durrant & Doherty, 2010). However, few studies have looked at collocational priming in other languages; fewer still have focused on second language (L2) speakers. Using a lexical decision task, the present study investigates the nature of collocational priming in L1 and L2 speakers of Italian. Our findings suggest that collocational priming exists for L1 and L2 speakers, supporting Hoey’s (2005) claim that the mechanisms associated with collocation processing and representation in L1 and L2 may be comparable. More broadly, our findings align with usage-based models of language acquisition, processing, and use (Bybee, 1988; Ellis, Römer, & O’Donnell, 2016).