A More Conclusive Picture of Word Associations in a Second Language

Abstract

During the last few decades, there has not been much research on word associations of second language learners and earlier research failed to provide a conclusive picture on this subject with researchers finding contradicting results. Therefore, one researcher came up with an improved method and categorisation of second language learners’ word associations. This study tried to replicate her study, using the same method, and showed that the results from both studies were fairly similar. The differences that were found could possibly be ascribed to differences in native language or proficiency of the speakers, but this cannot be said for certain. While this method seems to be promising in being able to provide a more conclusive picture of word associations in a second language, it still requires further research and fine-tuning.