4 - The L2 mental lexicon: a law unto itself?

Summary

We come now specifically to the implications of the fact that an individual may have lexical knowledge relative not just to one language but to an indefinite number of languages. Reports often appear in the press about this or that individual claiming to speak dozens of languages. I myself had a teacher of French and German who – because of his peregrinatory upbringing – had, at least according to his own assessment, 7 languages to near-native level and a working knowledge of 13 more. While such impressive feats of polyglottism are relatively rare, most of us these days can perform – if only to the extent of understanding the signs in hypermarkets or ordering a meal – in at least one language other than our mother tongue, and research has demonstrated that lexical knowledge is an absolutely crucial factor across the whole spectrum of L2 activities (see, e.g., P. Kelly, 1991; Koda, 1989; Laufer, 1992; Laufer & Nation, 1995; Linnarud, 1986).

How then do we acquire, organize and process our lexical knowledge when more than one language is involved? Discussion of this issue in the present chapter will revolve around its two most controversial dimensions, both of which have to do essentially with the relationship between the L2 mental lexicon and the L1 mental lexicon. On the one hand, it addresses the view that the respective roles of form and meaning in the L2 lexicon are qualitatively different from their roles in the L1 mental lexicon. On the other hand, it examines the question of whether the LI mental lexicon and the L2 mental lexicon develop and/or function separately or in an integrated manner.