WORD ASSOCIATION IN L1 AND L2

Word association responses in first-language (L1) Spanish and second-language (L2) English were investigated by means of response latencies and types of associative response produced. The primary aims were to establish whether (a) some response types are produced more often or faster than others, (b) participants’ L2 response time profiles mirror those of their L1, and (c) participants’ L2 association responses are mediated by their L1 and modulated by proficiency. Results indicate that responses are faster when a double association link is produced—that is, when the response is associated by form and meaning (postman → postbox) or meaning and collocation (spider → web). L2 response time profiles broadly mirror those of the L1, although L2 times are generally slower. A significant priming effect from L1 translation equivalents of cues used in the L2 association task was observed, suggesting L1 mediation in the production of L2 associative responses. Findings are discussed in light of the revised hierarchical model (Kroll & Stewart, 1994). New approaches to modeling and understanding the bilingual lexicon are also suggested.

[1]  Howard Grabois,et al.  The Convergence of Sociocultural Theory and Cognitive Linguistics , 1999 .

[2]  D. McNeill.  A study of word association , 1966 .

[3]  Albert Costa,et al.  Is lexical selection in bilingual speech production language-specific? Further evidence from Spanish–English and English–Spanish bilinguals , 1999, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

[4]  S. Becker,et al.  Long-term semantic priming: a computational account and empirical evidence. , 1997, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[5]  Wayne A. Wickelgren,et al.  Learning and memory , 1978 .

[6]  K. Nelson,et al.  The syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift revisited: a review of research and theory. , 1977, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  S. Ervin.  Changes with age in the verbal determinants of word association. , 1961, The American journal of psychology.

[8]  Paul Meara,et al.  Learners' Word Associations in French. , 1978 .

[9]  Giordana Grossi.  Relatedness proportion effects on masked associative priming: an ERP study. , 2006, Psychophysiology.

[10]  Tine Greidanus,et al.  Testing the Quality of Word Knowledge in a Second Language by Means of Word Associations: Types of Distractors and Types of Associations , 2001 .

[11]  A. D. Groot,et al.  Conceptual representation in bilingual memory: Effects of concreteness and cognate status in word association , 1998, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

[12]  J. Kroll,et al.  Transfer Between Picture Naming and Translation: A Test of Asymmetries in Bilingual Memory , 1995 .

[13]  Ram Frost,et al.  Orthography, phonology, morphology, and meaning , 1992 .

[14]  M Brysbaert,et al.  Age-of-acquisition effects in semantic processing tasks. , 2000, Acta psychologica.

[15]  P. Schwanenflugel,et al.  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEXICAL COMPETENCE AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: Variable Sensitivity , 2005, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[16]  J. Deese.  Form class and the determinants of association , 1962 .

[17]  R. Schreuder,et al.  Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language? , 1998, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

[18]  Kenneth I. Forster,et al.  Chapter 21 Memory-addressing Mechanisms and Lexical Access , 1992 .

[19]  Mitsuru Orita.  Word Associations of Japanese EFL Learners and Native Speakers : Shifts in Response Type Distribution and the Associative Development of Individual Words , 2002 .

[20]  S. Joordens,et al.  The long and short of semantic priming effects in lexical decision. , 1997, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[21]  P. Meara.  Word Associations in a Foreign Language , 1982 .

[22]  M. Masson,et al.  Beyond spreading activation: An influence of relatedness proportion on masked semantic priming , 2003, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[23]  Tess Fitzpatrick,et al.  Habits and rabbits: word associations and the L2 lexicon , 2006 .

[24]  Mark S. Seidenberg,et al.  Age-of-acquisition effects in reading aloud: Tests of cumulative frequency and frequency trajectory , 2004, Memory & cognition.

[25]  Hsuan-Chich Chen,et al.  Patterns of lexical processing in a nonnative language. , 1989 .

[26]  A. D. Groot,et al.  Lexical decision and word naming in bilinguals: Language effects and task effects , 2002 .

[27]  T. Fitzpatrick.  Word association patterns: unpacking the assumptions , 2007 .

[28]  Helmut Daller,et al.  Modelling and Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge: Fundamental issues , 2007 .

[29]  S. Gass.  Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition , 1988, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

[30]  Miguel A. Perez,et al.  Objective-AoA norms for 175 names in Spanish: relationships with other psycholinguistic variables, estimated AoA, and data from other languages , 2005 .

[31]  Jo Anne Neff van Aertselaer,et al.  Cross-Linguistic Influence in Language Learning , 2000 .

[32]  H. Nissen,et al.  Word class influence on word association test results1 , 2006 .

[33]  M. Potter,et al.  Lexical and conceptual representation in beginning and proficient bilinguals , 1984 .

[34]  James Pankhurst,et al.  A Multiple Word Association Probe in Second Language Acquisition Research , 1987, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[35]  W. Heij,et al.  Nonverbal Context Effects in Forward and Backward Word Translation: Evidence for Concept Mediation , 1996 .

[36]  D. Howard,et al.  Age of acquisition and imageability ratings for a large set of words, including verbs and function words , 2001, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[37]  Paul Meara,et al.  A further note on simulating word association behaviour in a second language , 2005 .

[38]  M. Lippman.  Correlates of contrast word associations: Developmental trends , 1971 .

[39]  Derek Besner,et al.  Visual word recognition: A dissociation of lexical and semantic processing. , 1990, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.

[40]  Gerry T. M. Altmann,et al.  The Ascent of Babel: An Exploration of Language, Mind, and Understanding , 1997 .

[41]  Judith F. Kroll,et al.  Models of Bilingual Representation and Processing: Looking Back and to the Future. , 2005 .

[42]  F. Grosjean.  Neurolinguists, beware! The bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person , 1989, Brain and Language.

[43]  R. Bailey,et al.  The computer and literary studies , 1974 .

[44]  Mark S. Seidenberg,et al.  Age of Acquisition Effects in Word Reading and Other Tasks , 2002 .

[45]  Brent Wolter.  COMPARING THE L1 AND L2 MENTAL LEXICON , 2001, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[46]  Paul Meara,et al.  The effect of cognates on the applicability of YES/NO vocabulary tests , 1994 .

[47]  Birgit Henriksen,et al.  Vocabulary and Writing in a First and Second Language: Processes and Development , 2008 .

[48]  Robert Schreuder,et al.  The Bilingual lexicon , 1993 .

[49]  Terence Odlin,et al.  Language Transfer: Contents , 1989 .

[50]  Judith F. Kroll,et al.  Lexical memory in novice bilinguals the role of concepts in retrieving second language words , 1988 .

[51]  Paul Meara,et al.  Implementing graph theory approaches to the exploration of density and structure in L1 and L2 word association networks , 2007 .

[52]  Hsuan-Chich Chen,et al.  Semantic facilitation and translation priming effects in Chinese-English bilinguals , 1989, Memory & cognition.

[53]  J. Kroll,et al.  Category Interference in Translation and Picture Naming: Evidence for Asymmetric Connections Between Bilingual Memory Representations , 1994 .

[54]  A. Ellis.  Progress in the psychology of language , 1985 .

[55]  A. D. Groot.  Bilingual lexical representation : a closer look at conceptual representations , 1992 .

[56]  D. Entwisle,et al.  The syntactic-paradigmatic shift in children's word associations , 1964 .

[57]  J. H. Neely,et al.  Semantic and repetition priming effects for Deese/Roediger—McDermott (DRM) critical items and associates produced by DRM and unrelated study lists , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[58]  Gary B. Palmer,et al.  Languages of Sentiment: Cultural constructions of emotional substrates , 1999 .

[59]  Paul Meara.  Growing a vocabulary , 2007 .

[60]  Judith F. Kroll,et al.  Accessing Conceptual Representations for Words in a Second Language , 1993 .

[61]  J. Kroll,et al.  Handbook of bilingualism : psycholinguistic approaches , 2005 .

[62]  Keiko Koda.  Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: Orthographic knowledge in L2 lexical processing: A cross-linguistic perspective , 1996 .

[63]  Anita J. Sokmen.  Word Association Results: A Window to the Lexicons of ESL Students , 1993 .

[64]  Tess Fitzpatrick.  Word association profiles in a first and second language: puzzles and problems , 2009 .

[65]  P. E. Morris,et al.  Practical aspects of memory , 1980 .

[66]  Robert L. Politzer,et al.  Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Associations of First Year French Students , 1978 .

[67]  J. Kroll,et al.  Do Bilinguals Activate Phonological Representations in One or Both of Their Languages When Naming Words , 2001 .

[68]  Markus F Damian,et al.  Long-lasting semantic context effects in the spoken production of object names. , 2005, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[69]  M. Ross Quillian,et al.  Retrieval time from semantic memory , 1969 .

[70]  David Singleton,et al.  Exploring the second language mental lexicon , 1999 .

[71]  Brent Wolter,et al.  Assessing Proficiency through Word Associations: Is There Still Hope?. , 2002 .

[72]  Marc Brysbaert,et al.  The effect of age of acquisition: Partly frequency related, partly frequency independent , 2006 .

[73]  Klaus F. Riegel,et al.  A STUDY OF INTER‐ AND INTRALINGUAL ASSOCIATIONS IN ENGLISH AND GERMAN1 , 1972 .

[74]  Arturo E. Hernandez,et al.  Balancing bilinguals: lexical-semantic production and cognitive processing in children learning Spanish and English. , 1999, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[75]  Claudia Rodríguez-Aranda,et al.  Age-Related Differences in Performance of Phonemic Verbal Fluency Measured by Controlled Oral Word Association Task (COWAT): A Meta-Analytic Study , 2006, Developmental neuropsychology.

[76]  J. Altarriba,et al.  Concreteness, context availability, and imageability ratings and word associations for abstract, concrete, and emotion words , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[77]  Norbert Schmitt,et al.  Quantifying word association responses: what is native-like? , 1998 .

[78]  Antje S. Meyer,et al.  Exploring the time course of lexical access in language production : Picture word interference studies , 1990 .

[79]  Catriona M. Morrison,et al.  Real age of acquisition effects in word naming and lexical decision. , 2000, British journal of psychology.