Production of Familiar Phrases: Frequency Effects in Native Speakers and Second Language Learners

Current evidence suggests that native speakers and, to a lesser degree, second language learners are sensitive to the frequency with which phrases occur in language. Much of this evidence, however, comes from language comprehension. While a number of production studies have looked at phrase frequency effects in a first language, little evidence exists with respect to the production of phrases in a second language. The present study addressed this gap by examining the production of English binomial expressions by first and late second language speakers. In a phrase elicitation task, participants produced binomial expressions (bride and groom) and their reversed forms (groom and bride), which are identical in form and meaning but differ in frequency. Mixed-effects modeling revealed that native speakers' articulatory durations were modulated by phrase frequency, but not the type of stimulus (binomial vs. reversed). Nonnative speakers' articulatory durations were not affected either by phrase frequency or stimulus type. Our findings provide further evidence for the effect of multiword information on language production in native speakers, and raise important questions about the effects of phrase frequency on language production in second language learners.