We tested whether second language (L2) learners rely more on explicit memory during structural priming at lower than at higher proficiency levels (Hartsuiker & Bernolet, 2017). We compared within-L2 priming with lexical overlap in 100 low and 100 high proficiency French L2 speakers under low versus high working memory load conditions induced with a letter series recall task presented between primes and targets. The high load condition would prevent explicit recall of primes during target production. Both groups primed more under low than high load. The effect of load was similar across groups, but exploratory analyses with proficiency as a continuous variable suggested that, with increasing proficiency, participants primed less under high load. We discuss how these findings support the idea that learners exploit explicit memory more during priming in early versus later stages of acquisition. Overall, this study showed that explicit memory influences syntactic processing across the L2 learning trajectory.

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外显记忆在第二语言句法发展中的作用：结构启动研究

我们测试了第二语言（L2）学习者在较低水平的结构启动过程中是否比较高水平水平更依赖外显记忆（Hartsuiker & Bernolet，2017）。我们比较了 100 个低熟练度和 100 个高熟练度法语 L2 使用者在低工作记忆负载条件和高工作记忆负载条件下的 L2 内启动和词汇重叠，这些条件是由启动项和目标之间呈现的字母系列回忆任务引起的。高负载条件将阻止在目标生产期间显式调用素数。两组在低负荷下比在高负荷下启动更多。各组之间负荷的影响相似，但以熟练程度作为连续变量的探索性分析表明，随着熟练程度的提高，参与者在高负荷下的准备较少。我们讨论这些发现如何支持学习者在习得的早期阶段与后期阶段的启动过程中更多地利用外显记忆的观点。总体而言，这项研究表明外显记忆影响整个 L2 学习轨迹的句法处理。