Language and structure activation explain cross-linguistic influence in bilingual language production: Evidence from within- and across-language priming

• Baroncini, Ioli ^[1] ; Torregrossa, Jacopo ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Mannheim

     University of Mannheim

     Stadtkreis Mannheim, Alemania

     
  2. [2] Goethe University Frankfurt

     Goethe University Frankfurt

     Frankfurt, Alemania

     
• Localización: Bilingualism: Language and cognition, ISSN 1366-7289, Vol. 29, Nº 2, 2026, págs. 294-308
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/s1366728925000379
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This study investigates cross-linguistic influence in bilingual children, examining whether activation of a bilingual’s other language or a structure from that language leads to differences in the magnitude of cross-linguistic influence. We triangulate evidence from both across-language and within-language priming experiments conducted with 36 Italian–Greek bilingual children aged 7 to 11. We designed the priming experiments to prime the verb-subject-object (VSO) word-order – an inappropriate structure in Italian but grammatical in Greek – following a VSO in Italian or in Greek. We observed a gradual increase in VSO production in Italian throughout the tasks, particularly in the across-language priming experiment. The results are discussed in terms of implicit learning mechanisms underlying priming and the connectedness of syntactic representations in bilingual grammar, supporting a model of cross-linguistic influence in which both structure and language activation play a role. Effects of age and dominance in Greek varied between the two priming conditions.

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