An Investigation into the Lexical Associations of Turkish Learners of English

Abstract

Vocabulary knowledge is a key dimension of second language (L2) proficiency, yet the network organisation of words in the mental lexicon warrants further exploration. This study investigated the L2 English lexical associations of Turkish learners to unravel an understudied topic within this specific context. The study further examined the impact of learner proficiency and lexical properties on participants’ associative patterns. A Word Association Task (WAT), with 96 cue words from three lexical classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and two frequency bands (0–1000 and 2000–3000), was administered to 120 tertiary-level learners across two groups (lower vs. higher proficiency). The findings revealed a general dominance of meaning-based (semantic) associations. However, proficiency level and word-related differences were observed for position-based (collocational) and form-based (phonological/orthographic) responses: higher-proficiency learners produced a greater proportion of position-based links, whereas lower-proficiency ones relied more on form-based associations. Lexical class also shaped associative behaviour; while nouns and adjectives elicited largely semantic links, verbs, particularly lower-frequency ones, were more likely to trigger co-occurrence combinations. These findings provide insights into the developmental trajectory of the L2 mental lexicon of Turkish learners and offer pedagogical implications for designing vocabulary instruction that fosters deeper lexical networks.