Structural convergence is mediated by perceived linguistic and social proximity

Adaptation at the sentential level is often seen as a form of priming, driven by low-level cognitive mechanisms (Chang et al., 2000). However, recent work shows structural convergence is sensitive to speakers’ perceptions of their interlocutor’s characteristics (e.g. native-speaker status, perception of socio-cultural proximity). This study uses structural priming as a measure of listeners’ convergence with their interlocutor to address: whether these characteristics have independent effects on structural convergence, and whether convergence over the course of an experimental session can shift speakers’ perceptions about their proximity to their interlocutors.

Participants played a picture-matching game involving taking turns with a confederate to describe scenes depicting ditransitive events (Ann showed Mia ___) using the verb provided. Half of the verbs were acceptable in either double object (DO) or prepositional dative (PD) form, while the other half resulted in anomalous sentences when used in the DO form (Ann described Mia ___).

Results revealed that anomalous DO sentences using strongly PD-biased verbs were judged as less ill- formed when produced by a confederate who was perceived as more native-like, closer geographically, or having more similar interests, suggesting these characteristics mediate convergence. In addition, convergence during the session shifted participants’ judgments about their interlocutors’ social proximity.