This study explores how word frequency affects verb‐mediated prediction in L1 and L2 speakers, using a visual‐world eye‐tracking task. By manipulating frequency of nouns within subjects (higher; lower) and type of verbs used as predictive cues (semantically restrictive; neutral) in sentences (e.g., The {doctor/surgeon} {opened/moved} the box), we investigated the impact of frequency of early‐processed words on prediction, hypothesizing that higher‐frequency words might free up cognitive resources, thus facilitating lexical retrieval, integration with a subsequent predictive cue, and ultimately prediction. Results showed that both L1 and L2 speakers predicted the target object upon hearing restrictive verbs. However, the L2 group showed such a predictive behavior only when the sentences contained higher‐frequency subjects, whereas the L1 group did so in both conditions but faster with higher‐frequency subjects. These results suggest L2 learners’ sound ability to generate predictions, and underscore the importance of word frequency in facilitating both L1 and L2 prediction.

中文翻译：

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词法频率在预测处理中的影响：更高的频率可以提高第一语言的速度并促进第二语言预测


本研究使用视觉世界眼动追踪任务，探讨了词频如何影响 L1 和 L2 说话者的动词介导预测。通过纵主语中名词的频率（较高;较低）和句子中用作预测线索的动词类型（语义限制性;中性）（例如，The {doctor/surgeon} {opened/moved} the box），我们研究了早期处理词的频率对预测的影响，假设高频词可能会释放认知资源，从而促进词汇检索， 与随后的预测线索整合，并最终进行预测。结果显示，L1 和 L2 说话人在听到限制性动词时都会预测目标对象。然而，只有当句子包含高频主语时，L2 组才表现出这种预测行为，而 L1 组在两种情况下都表现出这种预测行为，但对高频主语更快。这些结果表明 L2 学习者具有良好的预测能力，并强调了词频在促进 L1 和 L2 预测方面的重要性。