engleski

Word association patterns in L1 and L2 mental lexicon

This research is a part of a larger project studying the interaction between speakers' L1 and L2 and the role of L2 language proficiency in patterning L2 mental lexicon. Over the past few decades various psycholinguistic models of bilingual memory organisation have been set up, building on different assumptions regarding the relationship between bilingual speakers' lexical and conceptual stores (Chen and Leung, 1989 ; Chen and Ng, 1989 ; De Groot, 1993 ; Gerard and Scraborough, 1989 ; Kroll and Tokowicz, 2005 ; Marian and Spivey, 2003 ; Potter et al., 1984). In this study, word association test was administered to four equal size groups of Croatian-English bilingual speakers: a native speakers group and three groups of learners of English at different levels of L2 proficiency. The subjects’ task was to provide single-response word associations to a set of lexical equivalents, in either L1 or L2. The primary aim of the study was to determine the type of associative links provided by each group of students, namely, the proportion of semantic (paradigmatic and sintagmatic) and phonological (clang) associations. The obtained results are disscussed within the theoretical framework of spreading activation model of semantic memory (Collins and Loftus, 1975 ; French, 1998 ; Marian, 2009 ; Pavlenko, 2009) as well as in relation to several models of bilingual memory (lexical association vs. concept mediation). The results of the study indicate a similar pattern of associative links in L1 and L2 at different levels of L2 proficiency and challenge the idea of substantial qualitative differences between the organisation of L1 and L2 mental lexicons. The results suggest that besides the level of proficiency in L2 some other factors influence bilingual memory organisation. As such, the results are in line with some recent theoretical thinking (Aitchinson, 2003 ; Cook, 2003 ; French, 1998 ; French and Jacquet, 2004 ; Grosjean, 2001 ; Paradis, 2004) and findings of some crosslinguistic studies regarding bilingual lexical organization and processing (Dong et al., 2005 ; Fitzpatrick, 2007 ; Wolter, 2002).

word association patterns; mental lexicon; bilinguals

nije evidentirano