Structural priming of code-switches in non-shared-word-order utterances: The effect of lexical repetition

Abstract

Code-switching is generally dispreferred at points of non-shared word order across a bilingual's two languages. In priming studies, this dispreference persists even following exposure to a code-switched non-shared-word-order utterance. The present study delves deeper into the scope of code-switching priming by investigating whether lexical repetition across target and prime, a factor known to boost structural priming, can increase code-switching at points of word order divergence. Afrikaans–English bilinguals ( n=46) heard prime sentences in which word order, lexical repetition, and switch position were manipulated and subsequently produced code-switched picture descriptions. The results show that lexical repetition boosts the priming of code-switching in a non-shared word order. The findings demonstrate that code-switching in production is affected by a dynamic interplay between factors both language-internal (i.e., word order) and language-external (i.e., priming, and specifically lexical repetition).