Usage-based theories hold that mental representation of language is shaped by a lifetime of usage. Both input to which first language (L1) and second language (L2) users are exposed and their own language production affect their construction learning and entrenchment. The present study investigates L2 users’ knowledge of two introductory-it variants, Adj-that (e.g., it is clear that …) and Adj-to (e.g., it is difficult to …). We probed the extent to which adjective–variant associations in an academic section of COCA and L2 users’ engagement with academic writing affected learners’ generation of adjectives distinctively attracted to the two variants. An analysis of cue-outcome contingency was conducted to establish adjective–variant associations, and an elicitation task was carried out, probing L2 users’ ability to generate adjectives when prompted with the variants (e.g., it is [blank] to). The participants were 84 graduate students in the United States, 44 from L1 English and 40 from L1 Thai backgrounds. The results indicated that the adjective–variant associations predicted L2 users’ generation of adjectives. However, academic writing engagement did not affect learners’ performance. The findings suggest that statistical information in the input affects L2 users’ constructional representation.

基于使用的理论认为，语言的心理表征是由一生的使用塑造的。第一语言（L1）和第二语言（L2）用户所接触到的输入以及他们自己的语言产生都会影响他们的建构学习和巩固。本研究调查了 L2 用户对两种介绍性it变体的知识：Adj-that（例如，很明显……）和 Adj-to（例如，很难……）。我们探讨了 COCA 学术部分中的形容词变体关联以及 L2 用户参与学术写作的程度，在多大程度上影响了学习者对这两种变体所特别吸引的形容词的生成。对提示结果偶然性进行分析，以建立形容词-变体关联，并执行启发任务，探测 L2 用户在提示变体时生成形容词的能力（例如，it is [blank] to）。参与者是 84 名美国研究生，其中 44 名来自 L1 英语背景，40 名来自 L1 泰语背景。结果表明，形容词变体关联可以预测第二语言用户形容词的生成。然而，学术写作参与度并不影响学习者的表现。研究结果表明，输入中的统计信息会影响 L2 用户的结构表征。