Compare L1 and L2 Mental Lexicon

SSLA, 23, 41–69. Printed in the United States of America.

COMPARING THE L1
AND L2 MENTAL LEXICON
A Depth of Individual Word
Knowledge Model

Brent Wolter
Hokkaido University

This paper explores the possibility that, contrary to the findings of past studies, the L1 and L2 mental lexicon may in fact be structurally similar, with depth of individual word knowledge determining a given word’s degree of integration into the mental lexicon. The paper begins by reviewing the body of evidence relevant to the research question, and then presents the design and results of an investigation comparing nonnative and native speaker patterns of responses in light of depth of word knowledge scores. In discussing the results of the study, a tentative model for the process by which words are integrated into the mental lexicon is proposed, and the long-standing belief that a shift from predominantly syntagmatic to predominantly paradigmatic responses is indicative of lexical development is challenged.

Although researchers have historically been cautious in their attempts to devise any definitive model for the structure of the L2 mental lexicon, the results of L2 studies in this area have generally supported the notion that it is in many ways fundamentally different from that of the L1. Channell (1990) concluded, after reviewing the body of L1 and L2 research, that “evidence that
I am indebted to the Editor and Assistant to the Editor of SSLA as well as to the four anonymous
SSLA reviewers for suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. Special thanks to Brent Culligan and to all the participants for their help with this study.
Address correspondence to: Brent Wolter, Institute of Language and Culture Studies, Hokkaido
University, Nishi 8, Kita 17, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan 060–0817; e-mail: [e-mail].
 2001 Cambridge University Press 0272-2631/01 $9.50

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Brent Wolter

the L2 user’s mental lexicon of a given learner

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