The present study employs a word association test to investigate the nature of Chinese English learners＇ mental lexicon by comparing the association responses of native speakers and Chinese English learners. The resu...The present study employs a word association test to investigate the nature of Chinese English learners＇ mental lexicon by comparing the association responses of native speakers and Chinese English learners. The result shows that there are significant differences in the structure of mental lexicons between Chinese English learners and native speakers. With regard to L1 mental lexicons, Chinese English learners have poorer concentricity of association and weaker association strength. Their association is more dependent on forms. They have no established systematic and stable networks between words. The semantic network in their mental lexicon is underdeveloped. The results of the experiments have some implications for L2 vocabulary teaching and learning.展开更多
文摘The present study employs a word association test to investigate the nature of Chinese English learners＇ mental lexicon by comparing the association responses of native speakers and Chinese English learners. The result shows that there are significant differences in the structure of mental lexicons between Chinese English learners and native speakers. With regard to L1 mental lexicons, Chinese English learners have poorer concentricity of association and weaker association strength. Their association is more dependent on forms. They have no established systematic and stable networks between words. The semantic network in their mental lexicon is underdeveloped. The results of the experiments have some implications for L2 vocabulary teaching and learning.
