Words in Mental Lexicon: A Comparative Analysis of Word Association (WA) Responses of Pakistani L1 and Afghan L2 Speakers of Urdu

Vocabulary acquisition in both L1 and L2 has depended on the opinion of associative language learning to help recognize and elucidate the procedures of lexical acquisition and development in the mind of language learners. To date, L2 studies in this area have delivered relatively controversial findings. The current study revisited certain corresponding issues in order to gain insight into the restoration of words in the mental lexicon. Moreover, it also strived to understand the relationship between lexical development and the process of word association (WA). To better understand the relationship between lexical meaning and mental lexicon, this study explored and compared the word associations of a group of Afghan Urdu speakers and a group of Urdu native speakers. It aimed to understand how mental links are developed between lexical items in the mental lexicon, a process commonly believed to partially support vocabulary acquisition. The findings revealed that paradigmatic relations created by L2 learners are dominant in their data sets, while syntagmatic relations are leading in L1 data sets. The findings support general trends in this area of research, that is, learning of Urdu language in Pakistan by foreigners. Moreover, the findings further highlight the importance of lexical associative processes employed in second language acquisition. To conclude, the study contributes to WA research, the description of mental lexicon, and L2 language learning and teaching.