The lexical decision task as a measure of L2 lexical proficiency

Prior applications of the lexical decision task in second language research have either examined performance accuracy (Meara and Buxton 1987) or speed of response to familiar items (Segalowitz and Segalowitz 1993). This paper examines how well the two measures together serve to discriminate among between-group levels of proficiency and within-group levels of difficulty on an English lexical decision task. Performance was compared across three levels of English proficiency (Intermediate L2, Advanced L2 and English L1 control) and four levels of item difficulty, as defined by frequency of occurrence (words from the 2000, 3000, 5000 and 10,000 most frequently occurring words). Accuracy and reaction time measures systematically decreased as a function of increasing proficiency and frequency level. Response variability, as measured by the coefficient of variance, also decreased as performance improved. The implications of the findings for the use of lexical decision tasks in second language research are discussed.

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PROCESSING OF GENDER AND NUMBER AGREEMENT IN RUSSIAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263116000012 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 97-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Natalia Romanova ◽

Kira Gor

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Priming Effect ◽

Decision Task ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Number Agreement ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Default Form ◽

Processing Mechanisms

The study investigated the processing of Russian gender and number agreement by native (n= 36) and nonnative (n= 36) participants using a visual lexical decision task with priming. The design included a baseline condition that helped dissociate the underlying components of priming (facilitation and inhibition). The results showed no differences in the magnitude of priming between native and nonnative participants, and between gender and number agreement. However, whereas the priming effect in native participants consisted of both facilitation and inhibition, in second language (L2) learners it was characterized by facilitation in the absence of inhibition. Furthermore, the nonnative processing failed to demonstrate the default form bias, which optimized gender and number processing in native participants. Taken together, the findings indicate that although highly proficient L2 learners are able to demonstrate nativelike priming effects, their processing of morphosyntactic information engages different processing mechanisms.

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Processing collocations in a second language: A case of first language activation?

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716414000113 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 (5) ◽

pp. 1193-1221 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

BRENT WOLTER ◽

JUNKO YAMASHITA

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Language Processing ◽

First Language ◽

Current Understanding ◽

Control Group ◽

Decision Task ◽

Language Activation ◽

Processing Language

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the possible influence of first language (L1) collocational patterns on second language (L2) collocational processing. A lexical decision task was used to assess whether collocational patterns acceptable in the L1 but not the L2 would still be activated when processing language entirely in the L2. The results revealed no such activation. Furthermore, L2 speakers did not produce accelerated processing for control collocations that were acceptable in the L2 but not the L1. Based on these findings, we put forth some theoretical suggestions regarding recent research indicating accelerated processing for congruent over incongruent collocations. Finally, our NS control group revealed some unexpected tendencies that cannot be easily accounted for with our current understanding of L1 language processing.

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Robustness of phonolexical representations relates to phonetic flexibility for difficult second language sound contrasts

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728918000925 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 1085-1100 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MIQUEL LLOMPART ◽

EVA REINISCH

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Learning Task ◽

Decision Task ◽

Decision Performance ◽

Distributional Learning ◽

The Relationship

Listening to speech entails adapting to vast amounts of variability in the signal. The present study examined the relationship between flexibility for adaptation in a second language (L2) and robustness of L2 phonolexical representations. Phonolexical encoding and phonetic flexibility for German learners of English were assessed by means of a lexical decision task containing nonwords with sound substitutions and a distributional learning task, respectively. Performance was analyzed for an easy (/i/-/ɪ/) and a difficult contrast (/ε/-/æ/, where /æ/ does not exist in German). Results showed that for /i/-/ɪ/ listeners were quite accurate in lexical decision, and distributional learning consistently triggered shifts in categorization. For /ε/-/æ/, lexical decision performance was poor but individual participants’ scores related to performance in distributional learning: the better learners were in their lexical decision, the smaller their categorization shift. This suggests that, for difficult L2 contrasts, rigidity at the phonetic level relates to better lexical performance.

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The development of word recognition in a second language

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716400010602 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 99-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

D. Muljani ◽

Keiko Koda ◽

Danny R. Moates

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Word Recognition ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

High Frequency ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Decision Task ◽

First Languages ◽

Alphabetic Language ◽

Learning English

AbstractDo differences among first languages (LI) affect word recognition in reading a second language (L2)? Participants in this study had either Indonesian (an alphabetic language) or Chinese (a logographic language) as an L1 and were learning English (an alphabetic language) as an L2. Under the connectionist rubric, it was predicted that an alphabetic LI would facilitate word recognition in an alphabetic L2, especially if the LI and L2 have similar spelling patterns. Facilitation is relative to a logographic LI. The model also predicted a better recognition for high-frequency words in the L2 relative to low-frequency words. The results of a lexical decision task largely confirmed these hypotheses.

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Assessing automatic processing of hypernymic relations in first language speakers and advanced second language learners

The Mental Lexicon ◽

10.1075/ml.8.1.05cro ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 96-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Scott Crossley

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Language Learners ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

First Language ◽

Word Knowledge ◽

Decision Task ◽

Lexical Knowledge ◽

L1 And L2

This study investigates the depth of lexical knowledge in first language (L1) speakers and second language (L2) learners in reference to hierarchical word knowledge. Eighty-eight participants took part in a lexical decision task that assessed their speed and accuracy in recognizing words and nonwords. Prime and target pairs in the lexical decision task were related words (hyponynm to hypernym and hypernym to hyponym), unrelated words, or word to nonwords. The findings indicate bidirectional priming in L1 participants such that associated pairs (hyponynm to hypernym and hypernym to hyponym) were processed faster than unrelated words. For L2 participants, unidirectional priming effects were reported for the hyponynm to hypernym condition only. These findings provide evidence that hierarchical lexical networks characterize L1 lexicons but not L2 networks. Such findings provide important information about the organizational properties of L1 and L2 lexicons.

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Effect of Emotions in a Lexical Decision Task

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000193 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 71-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hélène Maire ◽

Renaud Brochard ◽

Jean-Luc Kop ◽

Vivien Dioux ◽

Daniel Zagar

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Emotional State ◽

Control Group ◽

Decision Task ◽

Attentional Orienting ◽

Emotional States ◽

Sequence Effect ◽

Emotion Induction ◽

Before And After

Abstract. This study measured the effect of emotional states on lexical decision task performance and investigated which underlying components (physiological, attentional orienting, executive, lexical, and/or strategic) are affected. We did this by assessing participants’ performance on a lexical decision task, which they completed before and after an emotional state induction task. The sequence effect, usually produced when participants repeat a task, was significantly smaller in participants who had received one of the three emotion inductions (happiness, sadness, embarrassment) than in control group participants (neutral induction). Using the diffusion model ( Ratcliff, 1978 ) to resolve the data into meaningful parameters that correspond to specific psychological components, we found that emotion induction only modulated the parameter reflecting the physiological and/or attentional orienting components, whereas the executive, lexical, and strategic components were not altered. These results suggest that emotional states have an impact on the low-level mechanisms underlying mental chronometric tasks.

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Are Emotions Abstract or Concrete?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000374 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 64 (5) ◽

pp. 315-324 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Xu Xu ◽

Chunyan Kang ◽

Kaia Sword ◽

Taomei Guo

Keyword(s):

Lexical Decision ◽

Lexical Decision Task ◽

Well Being ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Decision Task ◽

N400 Amplitude ◽

Abstract Nouns ◽

Concrete Nouns ◽

Emotion Concepts ◽

Healthy Participants

Abstract. The ability to identify and communicate emotions is essential to psychological well-being. Yet research focusing exclusively on emotion concepts has been limited. This study examined nouns that represent emotions (e.g., pleasure, guilt) in comparison to nouns that represent abstract (e.g., wisdom, failure) and concrete entities (e.g., flower, coffin). Twenty-five healthy participants completed a lexical decision task. Event-related potential (ERP) data showed that emotion nouns elicited less pronounced N400 than both abstract and concrete nouns. Further, N400 amplitude differences between emotion and concrete nouns were evident in both hemispheres, whereas the differences between emotion and abstract nouns had a left-lateralized distribution. These findings suggest representational distinctions, possibly in both verbal and imagery systems, between emotion concepts versus other concepts, implications of which for theories of affect representations and for research on affect disorders merit further investigation.

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