{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T04:11:45Z","timestamp":1777608705911,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]],"date-time":"2021-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614816000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010665","name":"H2020 Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["843455"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["843455"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Digital"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this article, we address the question of whether exposure to the translated output of MT systems could result in changes in the cognitive processing of English as a second language (L2 English). To answer this question, we first conducted a survey with 90 Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers with the aim of understanding how and for what purposes they use web-based MT systems. To investigate whether MT systems are capable of influencing L2 English cognitive processing, we carried out a syntactic priming experiment with 32 Brazilian Portuguese speakers. We wanted to test whether speakers re-use in their subsequent speech in English the same syntactic alternative previously seen in the MT output, when using the popular Google Translate system to translate sentences from Portuguese into English. The results of the survey show that Brazilian Portuguese L2 English speakers use Google Translate as a tool supporting their speech in English as well as a source of English vocabulary learning. The results of the syntactic priming experiment show that exposure to an English syntactic alternative through GT can lead to the re-use of the same syntactic alternative in subsequent speech even if it is not the speaker\u2019s preferred syntactic alternative in English. These findings suggest that GT is being used as a tool for language learning purposes and so is indeed capable of rewiring the processing of L2 English syntax.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/digital1010006","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]],"date-time":"2021-03-04T01:41:53Z","timestamp":1614822113000},"page":"66-85","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Can Google Translate Rewire Your L2 English Processing?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"1","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5248-2457","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nat\u00e1lia","family":"Resende","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ADAPT Centre, School of Computing, Dublin City University, 9 Dublin, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5736-5930","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andy","family":"Way","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ADAPT Centre, School of Computing, Dublin City University, 9 Dublin, Ireland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Richards, J.C., and Rodgers, T.S. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1","article-title":"Second Language Acquisition, Language Teaching and Translation Studies","volume":"8","author":"Tin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Translator"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Cook, G. (2010). Translation in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Gaspari, F., and Hutchins, J. (2007). Online and Free! Ten Years of Online Machine Translation: Origins, Developments, Current Use and Future Prospects. Proceedings of Machine Translation Summit XI, Europen Association for Machine Translation."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Moorkens, J., Castilho, S., Gaspari, F., and Doherty, S. (2018). Quality Expectations of Machine Translation. Translation Quality Assessment: From Principles to Practice, Springer International Publishing.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-91241-7"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Angelone, E., Ehrensberger-Dow, M., and Massey, G. (2019). Machine Translation: Where are we at today?. The Bloomsbury Companion to Language Industry Studies, Bloomsbury Academic Publishing.","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350024960"},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"108","article-title":"Surveying the Landscape: What is the Role of Machine Translation in Language Learning?","volume":"10","author":"Clifford","year":"2013","journal-title":"Rev. D\u2019Innovacio Educ."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Ostler, N. (2010). The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel, Walker & Company."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100930","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jneuroling.2020.100930","article-title":"Understanding bilingual brain function and structure changes? U bet! A unified bilingual experience trajectory model","volume":"56","author":"DeLuca","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Neurolinguistics"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1089\/brain.2015.0383","article-title":"Overlap and Differences in Brain Networks Underlying the Processing of Complex Sentence Structures in Second Language Users Compared with Native Speakers","volume":"6","author":"Weber","year":"2016","journal-title":"Brain Connect."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sanz, C. (2005). A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective on Second Language Acquisition: The declarative\/procedural model. Mind and Context in Adult Second Language Acquisition: Methods, Theory, and Practice, Georgetown University Press.","DOI":"10.1353\/book13064"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1080\/09588221.2011.582687","article-title":"Machine translation-assisted language learning: Writing for beginners","volume":"24","author":"Garcia","year":"2011","journal-title":"Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Rosenberg, S. (1977). Conceptualizing and formulating in sentence production. Sentence Production: Developments in Research and Theory, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; Halsted Press."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Levelt, W.J.M. (1989). Speaking: From Intention to Articulation, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6393.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1016\/0010-0285(86)90004-6","article-title":"Syntactic persistence in language production","volume":"18","author":"Bock","year":"1986","journal-title":"Cogn. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carlson, G.N., and Tanenhaus, M.K. (1989). The Isolability of Syntactic Processing. Linguistic Structure in Language Processing, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-2729-2"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-3445.129.2.177","article-title":"The persistence of structural priming: Transient activation or implicit learning?","volume":"129","author":"Bock","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2009.11.005","article-title":"Does verb bias modulate syntactic priming?","volume":"114","author":"Bernolet","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1177\/002383099804100202","article-title":"Syntactic Persistence in Dutch","volume":"41","author":"Hartsuiker","year":"1998","journal-title":"Lang. Speech"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.12963\/csd.15229","article-title":"Effects of Syntactic Structure on Sentence Comprehension Ability as a Function of the Canonicity of Word-Order and Its Relation to Working Memory Capacity in Korean-Speaking Elderly Adults","volume":"20","author":"Eun","year":"2015","journal-title":"Commun. Sci. Disord."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1297","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03211830","article-title":"Syntactic priming in spoken production: Linguistic and temporal interference","volume":"28","author":"Braningan","year":"2000","journal-title":"Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1006\/brln.1997.1905","article-title":"Syntactic Facilitation in Agrammatic Sentence Production","volume":"62","author":"Hartsuiker","year":"1998","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1017\/S0272263106060098","article-title":"Interaction and Syntactic Priming: English L2 Speakers\u2019 Production of Dative Constructions","volume":"28","author":"McDonough","year":"2006","journal-title":"Stud. Second Lang. Acquis."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1017\/S0272263108080029","article-title":"Syntactic Priming and ESL question development","volume":"30","author":"McDonough","year":"2008","journal-title":"Stud. Second Lang. Acquis."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"931","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9922.2011.00657.x","article-title":"Structural Priming and Second Language Learning","volume":"62","author":"Shin","year":"2012","journal-title":"Lang. Learn."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1080\/01690960600824609","article-title":"The functions of structural priming","volume":"21","author":"Ferreira","year":"2006","journal-title":"Lang. Cogn. Process."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"427","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.134.3.427","article-title":"Structural priming: A critical review","volume":"134","author":"Pickering","year":"2008","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandc.2013.07.005","article-title":"Syntactic priming in Chinese sentence comprehension: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials","volume":"83","author":"Chen","year":"2013","journal-title":"Brain Cogn."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2012.12.003","article-title":"Syntactic priming and the lexical boost effect during sentence production and sentence comprehension: An fMRI study","volume":"124","author":"Segaert","year":"2013","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"Alterman, R., and Kirsh, D. (August, January 31). Syntactic alignment between computers and people: The role of belief about mental states. Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Boston, MA, USA, 2003."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2015.05.008","article-title":"Voice anthropomorphism, interlocutor modelling and alignment effects on syntactic choices in human\u2014Computer dialogue","volume":"83","author":"Cowan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Heyselaar, E., Hagoort, P., and Segaert, K. (2017). How social opinion influences syntactic processing\u2014An investigation using virtual reality. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0174405"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1080\/09540090701369125","article-title":"Prosodic alignment in human-computer interaction","volume":"19","author":"Suzuki","year":"2007","journal-title":"Connect. Sci."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"300","DOI":"10.1145\/1017494.1017498","article-title":"Toward Adaptive Conversational Interfaces: Modeling Speech Convergence with Animated Personas","volume":"11","author":"Oviatt","year":"2004","journal-title":"ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stoyanchev, S., and Stent, A. Lexical and syntactic priming and their impact in deployed spoken dialog systems. Proceedings of the Human Language Technologies: The 2009 Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics, Companion Volume: Short Papers on\u2014NAACL \u201909.","DOI":"10.3115\/1620853.1620905"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X04000056","article-title":"Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue","volume":"27","author":"Pickering","year":"2004","journal-title":"Behav. Brain Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"659","DOI":"10.3758\/MC.36.3.659","article-title":"Structural priming among prepositional phrases: Evidence from eye movements","volume":"36","author":"Traxler","year":"2008","journal-title":"Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2007.01863.x","article-title":"Syntactic Priming in Comprehension: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials","volume":"18","author":"Ledoux","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1014376204525","article-title":"Distinct Neurophysiological Patterns Reflecting Aspects of Syntactic Complexity and Syntactic Repair","volume":"31","author":"Friederici","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Psycholinguist. Res."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1037\/a0013984","article-title":"Electrophysiological and behavioral evidence of syntactic priming in sentence comprehension","volume":"35","author":"Tooley","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Segaert, K., Menenti, L., Weber, K., and Hagoort, P. (2011). A Paradox of Syntactic Priming: Why Response Tendencies Show Priming for Passives, and Response Latencies Show Priming for Actives. PLoS ONE, 6.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0024209"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.99.1.150","article-title":"From conceptual roles to structural relations: Bridging the syntactic cleft","volume":"99","author":"Bock","year":"1992","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"685","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.00685","article-title":"Stronger Syntactic Alignment in the Presence of an Interlocutor","volume":"10","author":"Schoot","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"26","article-title":"Implicit Learning and Syntactic Persistence: Surprisal and Cumulativity","volume":"3","author":"Jaeger","year":"2007","journal-title":"Univ. Rochester Work. Pap. Lang. Sci."},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Resende, N., Cowan, B., and Way, A. (2020, January 3\u20135). MT syntactic priming effects on L2 English speakers. Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the European Association for Machine Translation, Lisboa, Portugal."},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"R Core Development Team (2011). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing, R Core Development Team. Available online: www.R-project.org."},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"Bates, D., M\u00e4chler, M., and Dai, B. (2011). lme4: Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using S4 Classes, R Core Development Team. R Package Version 0.999375-33."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2007.12.005","article-title":"Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items","volume":"59","author":"Baayen","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2012.11.001","article-title":"Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal","volume":"68","author":"Barr","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.033","article-title":"The role of nondeclarative memory in the skill for language: Evidence from syntactic priming in patients with amnesia","volume":"101","author":"Heyselaar","year":"2017","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.3758\/s13428-015-0688-7","article-title":"In dialogue with an avatar, language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner","volume":"49","author":"Heyselaar","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behav. Res."}],"container-title":["Digital"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2673-6470\/1\/1\/6\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:32:23Z","timestamp":1760160743000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2673-6470\/1\/1\/6"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]]},"references-count":51,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3]]}},"alternative-id":["digital1010006"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/digital1010006","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-6470"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-6470","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,4]]}}}