| The research reported in this study investigates the development of second language (L2) lexical processing. Although it is common practice to have L2 learners attempt to suppress their use of the first language (L1) in classroom contexts, recent psycholinguistic research suggests that it is impossible to do so; words in the L1 are active and compete for selection even when learners intend to read and speak in the L2 only. A series of experiments was performed with native speakers of English at different stages of L2 proficiency in Spanish. The specific goal was to examine the nature and magnitude of the activation of the L1 at different stages along the developmental continuum. One set of experiments examined the activity of the L1 in comprehension and another set of experiments examined spoken production. In addition, the participants underwent a battery of individual differences tasks in their L1 in order to investigate how individual differences in cognitive ability affected learners' ability to suppress and/or control the influence of the L1 during L2 lexical processing. The results suggest that L2 learners in fact cannot turn off their L1 during L2 comprehension or production. Moreover, the nature of the lexical competition is modulated by factors such as grammatical class, proficiency, and differences in L1 cognitive resources. Implications for models of lexical processing as well as L2 pedagogy are discussed. |
