Forcing prediction increases priming and adaptation in second language production

This paper presents a priming experiment with Korean learners of English designed to test the hypothesis that engagement in prediction and the consequent computation of prediction error will lead to increased priming and adaptation. Participants in the guessing-game condition, who had to predict a virtual partner’s description of prime pictures, showed marginally greater immediate priming and significantly greater adaptation in terms of change from baseline to post-test than those in a standard repetition priming condition, consistent with error-based learning accounts of structural priming. Effects were largest for learners in the middle of the proficiency range. Findings from this study suggest that priming best facilitates L2 learning when learners are engaged in the proactive creation of expectations about upcoming information.