Aiming at the same target: A masked priming study directly comparing derivation and inflection in the second language

Abstract

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: We compared the processing of morphologically complex derived vs. inflected forms in native speakers of German and highly proficient native Russian second language (L2) learners of German. Design/methodology/approach: We measured morphological priming effects for derived and inflected German words. To ensure that priming effects were genuinely morphological, the design also contained semantic and orthographic control conditions. Data and analysis: 40 native speakers of German and 36 native Russian learners of L2 German participated in a masked-priming lexical-decision experiment. For both participant groups, priming effects for derived vs. inflected words were compared using linear mixed effects models. Findings/conclusions: While first language (L1) speakers showed similar facilitation effects for both derived and inflected primes, L2 speakers showed a difference between the two prime types, with robust priming effects only for derived, but not for inflected forms. Originality: Unlike in previous studies investigating derivation and inflection in L2 processing, priming effects for derived and inflected prime–target pairs were determined on the basis of the same target word, allowing for a direct comparison between the two morphological phenomena. In this respect, this is the first study to directly compare the processing of derived vs. inflected forms in L2 speakers. Significance/implications: The results are inconsistent with accounts predicting general L1/L2 differences for all types of morphologically complex forms as well as accounts assuming that L1 and L2 processing are based on the same mechanisms. We discuss theoretical implications for L2 processing mechanisms, and propose an explanation which can account for the data pattern.

Variability and Consistency in First and Second Language Processing: A Masked Morphological Priming Study on Prefixation and Suffixation

“…In the present study, we found significant morphological priming effects for both L1 and L2 speakers of German and for different types of derived words. This finding is in line with results from previous masked priming studies for (suffixed) derived word forms in a variety of languages, including English (Silva & Clahsen, ), German (Jacob et al., ), Turkish (Kirkici & Clahsen, ), and extends them to derivation by prefixation. Furthermore, in line with previous L1 research, morphological priming in both L1 and L2 speakers was clearly dissociable from facilitation due to orthographic or semantic prime–target overlap (Rastle et al., ).…”

“…For L1 speakers, morphological priming effects indicative of stem–affix decomposition were found to be reduced for irregular (relative to regular) inflected words, even for irregular forms that have segmentable affixes/morphemes (Jacob, Fleischhauer, & Clahsen, ; Neubauer & Clahsen, ; Sonnenstuhl, Eisenbeiss, & Clahsen, ). For L2 speakers, a number of masked priming studies that directly compared derivation and inflection (Jacob et al., ; Kirkici & Clahsen, ; Silva & Clahsen, ) found efficient priming effects for derivation, but reduced or no priming for regular inflection in the same speakers. In contrast, other L2 studies reported significant priming effects for inflected words (Feldman et al., ; Foote, ).…”

“…The vast majority of these studies have investigated English, for which morphological decomposition of derived words has been shown to work efficiently not only in adult L1 speakers (e.g., Rastle et al., ), but also in L2 speakers (e.g., Silva & Clahsen, ) and in children (e.g., Beyersmann, Castles, & Coltheart, ). Similarly, German derived words were shown to yield robust morphological priming effects in both L1 and L2 adults (Jacob et al., ) and in German children (Hasenäcker, Beyersmann, & Schroeder, ). In French, Quémart, Casalis, and Colé () reported significant masked priming effects with derived words in adults and children.…”

“…Furthermore, whether a particular language represents an individual's L1 or a L2 has also been reported to influence morphological decomposition. A number of previous studies found that despite having reached a high level of proficiency in a given language, L2 speakers may show reduced masked priming effects relative to L1 speakers, particularly for regularly inflected word forms (Jacob et al., ; Kirkici & Clahsen, ; Silva & Clahsen, ). Furthermore, L2 processing of morphologically complex words has been found to be more susceptible to surface form prime–target overlap than L1 processing.…”

Morphological decomposition in Bantu: a masked priming study on Setswana prefixation

“…significant priming effects with both types of primes (e.g. Jacob et al, 2018). However, the language status of written Setswana may also affect priming from suffixed inflected words, possibly yielding reduced or no priming effects for our speakers in such cases, as shown by previous studies on late bilinguals (Kirkici & Clahsen, 2013;Silva & Clahsen, 2008).…”