Is structural priming between different languages a learning effect? Modelling priming as error-driven implicit learning

To test whether error-driven implicit learning can explain cross-language structural priming, we implemented three different models of bilingual sentence production: Spanish-English, verb-final Dutch-English, and verb-medial Dutch-English. With these models, we conducted simulation experiments that all revealed clear and strong cross-language priming effects. One of these experiments included structures with different word order between the two languages. This enabled us to distinguish between the error-driven learning account of structural priming and an alternative hybrid account which predicts that identical word order is required for cross-language priming. Cross-language priming did occur in our model between structures with different word order. This is in line with results from behavioural experiments. The results of the three experiments reveal varying degrees of evidence for stronger within-language priming than cross-language priming. This is consistent with results from behavioural studies. Overall, our findings support the viability of error-driven implicit learning as an account of cross-language structural priming.